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Fed Chair Ignores Impact of Build Back Better Energy Policy on Supply Side of Inflation

Much has been made of comments by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in his brief explanation of what the Fed got wrong.  Last week Powell made comments during a European Central Bank forum on bank policy, implying the absence of unvaccinated workers returning to the labor force is part of the US inflation problem.

Powell’s comments seem to align with the government vaccine mandate position which ignored the rights of the worker. Considering the responsibility of the Fed to anticipate price and labor issues, Powell’s sense of credulity toward those workers who dropped out of the labor force rather than inject an untested vaccine into their body is quite remarkable.  Inartful and arrogant are soft terms for his commentary.

However, there’s a bigger “tell” in the segment of what the Fed got wrong, when you listen to Powell talk about the supply side issues and how the Fed Reserve had no model to predict the mandated lockdowns, economic activity stoppages and consequences.   Notice how Powell completely dismisses the structural energy policy, the Build Back Better agenda, that lies at the heart of the current supply side inflation issue.  Video Prompted to 01:03:34, WATCH:

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Throughout the discussion the primary focus to control inflation is reliant on a demand side cause.   The goal to reduce demand is seen as a way to mitigate and reduce inflation.  Thus, this worldview, as mistaken as it was/is, explains the justification for why the Fed waited to increase interest rates.  They never saw the radical energy policy as a structural driver of supply side inflation.

According to Powell, they thought the supply side issues would moderate quickly, without giving any consideration at all to how a radically new energy policy would embed.  He just ignores the issue completely; again, pretending not to know.  But perhaps it’s actually worse.  Perhaps he really doesn’t see a radical new energy policy as a driving force behind current inflation.  If that’s true, and he genuinely does not see it, then Fed policy in the future is going to make the recession much worse.

If you ignore massive energy price impacts, the FED will keep interest rates high despite demand dropping, and then eventually get to a place where demand has dropped so low the recession is deep, while turning toward each other and asking why are prices still so high?

Keep that disconnect in mind.

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Sunday Talks, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Discusses Ukraine, NATO, The Economy and His Conversations with Russian President Putin

If you look beyond the condescending, sanctimonious and unintelligent questioning and pantomime from CBS News Margaret Brennan, there are some very interesting aspects outlined by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.  [Transcript Here] I was looking for how CBS would inject the pending global food shortage into the interview, and what narrative angle they would use.  The coordinated media political talking point, ‘Russia starving the world‘, comes up in the last third of the interview.

Germany is the largest and most heavily industrialized economy in the European Union (EU). As a result, Germany makes most of the decisions about how the EU operates. Former German Chancellor Angela Merkel always played the role of supporting NATO; however, her approach to government was one of the most closed, controlling and nationalist hypocrisies within the European Union.  If it was in Germany’s interest it was done. If it was not directly beneficial to Germany, it was never done.

Merkel’s replacement, Olaf Scholz, is not that different from his predecessor in regard to the economics of nationalism, the predominant view for any German leader. However, Scholz is more of a collaborator, an outward looking Chancellor; seemingly more globally and communally minded than Merkel. Scholz is more accepting of Biden (USA) influence than Angela Merkel was.  Scholz is also spending more on German military than Merkel would ever consider.

In this interview, Scholz outlines the conflict in Ukraine while overlaying his perspective of Russian President Vladimir Putin as an outcome of their discussions.  WATCH:

[Transcript] – MARGARET BRENNAN: Mr. Chancellor, thank you so much for making time in your busy schedule for us.

OLAF SCHOLZ: Good morning.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So I read your biographer says you don’t often answer directly, but I’m going to try my best today. You speak with Vladimir Putin. Do you think that Russia is a terrorist state as president Zelenskyy says?

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EU Caves Putin Wins, Transportation of Russian Goods to Kaliningrad Through Lithuania Will Resume

Two weeks ago, a NATO blockade of Kaliningrad, an outpost of Russia, was triggered when Lithuania blocked the transport of goods through Suwalki corridor.  According to the Lithuanian justification they were following through on NATO sanctions against Russian goods.  However, the escalation was very provocative toward Russia and discussions between Russia and NATO countries were tense.

Apparently, Germany was increasingly concerned the blockade was creating a scenario where Russian military were going to escort the transport of railroad goods to Kaliningrad, and that would lead to escalated military conflict with Russia. “German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is eager to avoid unnecessary provocations of Russia. He has repeatedly emphasized that he would do everything in his power to ensure that NATO does not become a party to the war between Russia and Ukraine. German soldiers are stationed in Lithuania and could become involved in a possible conflict.” {link}

The EU has now dropped the blockade and the transport of goods between Kaliningrad and Russia will resume.  The EU decision was made before the NATO meeting in Madrid concluded; however, it looks like NATO postponed the announcement until after Biden left in order to save face on the reversal of position.

GERMANY – The European Commission plans to issue a clarification that will allow Russia to resume sending supplies to the exclave of Kaliningrad via Lithuania. Berlin supports the idea, but some in Vilnius are not pleased.

[…] The move will put an end to a disagreement that had not only been a significant source of tension between Russia and Brussels – but also exposed deep rifts within the EU regarding the correct approach to Moscow.

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Massive Implications, Saudi Arabia in Discussion to Join BRICS Coalition – The Outcome Would be Global Energy and Economic Cleaving

It is very curious timing in this article from Newsweek, containing massive geopolitical implications, using identified Saudi Arabia sources, would come in advance of Joe Biden’s visit to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Is this strategic geopolitical pressure from Saudi leader Mohamed Bin Salman (MbS) ahead of the meeting with Biden; or is this a genuine possibility that looms as likely?  If the former, then Joe Biden is being geopolitically slow roasted by Saudi Arabia for his previous disparagements and ideological hypocrisy in his visit.  If it is the latter, well, then the tectonic plates of international trade, banking and economics are about to shift directly under our American feet.

We have been closely monitoring the signs of a global cleaving around the energy sector taking place.  Essentially, western governments’ following the “Build Back Better” climate change agenda which stops using coal, oil and gas to power their economic engine, while the rest of the growing economic world continues using the more efficient and traditional forms of energy to power their economies.

This article from Newsweek is exactly about this dynamic with Saudi Arabia now potentially joining the BRICS team.

NEWSWEEK – Finland and Sweden’s green light to join NATO is set to bring about the U.S.-led Western military alliance’s largest expansion in decades. Meanwhile, the G7, consisting of NATO states and fellow U.S. ally Japan, has adopted a tougher line against Russia and China.

In the East, however, security and economy-focused blocs led by Beijing and Moscow are looking to take on new members of their own, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, two influential Middle Eastern rivals whose interest in shoring up cooperation on this new front could have a significant impact on global geopolitical balance.

The two bodies in question are the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and BRICS. The former was established in 2001 as a six-member political, economic and military coalition including China, Russia and the Central Asian states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan before recruiting South Asian nemeses India and Pakistan in 2017, while the latter is a grouping of emerging economic powers originally consisting of Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) upon its inception 2006, and including South Africa in 2010.

Here is the money quote:

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Cargo Routed Away from West Coast Ports as Labor Union Contracts Expire

Keep all of the Biden administration visits to the Port of Los Angeles, Port of Long Beach and Port of Oakland in mind (aka the hide the ships program) as you review this pending issue with port labor unions.   The labor union contracts expired at 5:00pm today.  Massive wage increases, the result of inflation, are demanded by the unions and White House is likely to get involved (if they are not already).

In a very weird economic scenario, the Biden administration actually benefits from a port stoppage as imports are a deduction to GDP and the U.S. economy is presumably on the “zero” growth bubble.   If the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) calculates a negative GDP in the second quarter (not likely for political reasons), the Biden administration would officially be responsible for a recession.  [Any delay in import quantification helps shape the economic statistics; however, Q2 ended yesterday.]

Additionally, port infrastructure specialist, John D. Porcari, is part of the Biden administration economic team.  Porcari shaped the response to the import and supply chain crisis in 2021 that formed the hilarious ‘hide the ships’ strategy.   Porcari works to prop-up the insufferable Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg who has no idea what he’s doing.

CALIFORNIA – LOS ANGELES, July 1 (Reuters) – The contract covering more than 22,000 workers at 29 U.S. West Coast ports expires late on Friday, dialing up worries that labor disruption could roil the nation’s battered supply chains, stoke inflation and threaten a weakening economy.

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European Union Inflation Hits Record 8.6 Percent for All Nations Using the Euro

It is interesting to remember the recent comments from Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, who outlined the EU energy crisis as the heart of the current inflation rate in the eurozone.  Lagarde discussed inflation in Europe while drawing a distinction in COVID-19 spending between the EU and U.S.

Essentially, according to Legarde, the EU subsidized businesses to maintain employment; the EU covered payroll expenses during lockdowns, while the U.S. sent direct payments to the American people who were impacted by the lack of work (basically everyone).

Lagarde outlined this difference in spending approach to explain why the Eurozone inflation was less than U.S. inflation.

How long did that EU Central Bank explanation hold up? Approximately two months.

The U.S. inflation rate is currently estimated at 8.6%, and today the eurozone inflation rate just reached,…. wait for it,…  Yep, an exact match at 8.6%.

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in countries using the euro set another eye-watering record, pushed higher by a huge increase in energy costs fueled partly by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Annual inflation in the eurozone’s 19 countries hit 8.6% in June, surging past the 8.1% recorded in May, according to the latest numbers published Friday by the European Union statistics agency, Eurostat. Inflation is at its highest level since recordkeeping for the euro began in 1997.

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Bill Gates Wins Legal Approval to Purchase Another 2,700 Acres of Farmland in North Dakota Bringing Total Ownership to 270,000 Acres

It’s not a secret that billionaire Bill Gates wants to radically change the process and outcome of farming, agriculture and ultimately food humans consume, in order to follow his climate change ambitions.  Bill Gates has been advocating for the removal of cows, pigs and animal-based protein for multiple years.  This is not a revelation.

However, what is new, is the amount of farmland that Bill Gates is purchasing.  Why would an entrenched climate change ideologue who wants to change food production be purchasing over a quarter million acres of prime farmland?

North Dakota – Bill Gates has secured legal approval for the controversial purchase of thousands of acres of prime North Dakota farmland, after the deal drew fury from the state’s residents.

The state’s Republican Attorney General Drew Wrigley had inquired into the land sale, and on Wednesday issued a letter saying the transaction complied with an archaic anti-corporate farming law. The Depression-era law prohibits corporations or limited liability companies from owning farmland or ranchland, but allows individual trusts to own the land if it is leased to farmers, which Gates intends to do.

Gates is the largest private owner of farmland in America after quietly amassing some 270,000 acres across dozens of states, according to last year’s edition of the Land Report 100, an annual survey of the nation’s largest landowners.

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Wall Street Advocates Begin Admitting Demand Side Economy is in Free Fall

Keep in mind as you review this article from the Wall Street Journal that every corporate (think Wall St) media outlet, has claimed for well over a year, that inflation was predominantly a demand side issue.  In essence, consumer demand was so strong that prices were rising because of it.

The demand side argument/justification for inflation was always false.  However, it was/is still the claim made by members of the Biden administration and almost every board member of the federal reserve.

All of them, almost universally, dismissed the supply side inflation argument which is the reality at the epicenter of inflation causation.

Inflation was/is an exclusive outcome of three supply side aspects which merged simultaneously: (1) the Joe Biden energy policy, (2) the Joe Biden promoted covid response via legislative spending, and (3) the promoted Biden administration monetary policy.

While the legislative spending did create artificial economic activity, all of these inflationary sources are supply side impacts.

The demand side claim for the origin of inflation was always a ruse, a con, a complete farce intended to backstop the claim that inflation would be “transitory” once consumer spending moderated.   From that perspective every approach from government toward controlling inflation was wrong.  Not wrong by accident, wrong as a matter of deceit and purposeful media manipulation in order to maintain the “Build Back Better” or “Green New Deal” agenda….. which, I might add, benefitted from the advanced Wall Street investment in both constructs, globally and domestically.

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White House Economic Council Chair Says Biden 85% Disapproval Irrelevant When Making Economic Transition to New and Permanent U.S. Energy Program

National Economic Council Chairman Brian Deese essentially confirms what everyone suspected about Joe Biden’s polling, approval and disapproval.  It is quite obvious to everyone now that Biden is a disposable figurehead for the people inside the administration and government who are going full speed ahead with the Green New Deal via executive and regulatory action.

During a CNN segment Deese is challenged by the 85% disapproval and he ignores the opposition from the American people by saying the White House needs to “remind people as we go through this period” where energy costs are skyrocketing because climate change goals are unsustainable, during this economic “transition” they have made other progress.  WATCH: 

Joe Biden represents the once in a lifetime opportunity for every ideological leftist in government to carry out the most extreme energy policy without regard to political consequence.  Biden doesn’t even know what they are doing; that’s why there are conflicts between his statements about energy policy and the factual activity that is taking place around energy policy.  Biden couldn’t name the Interior Secretary if his life depended on it.

The extreme elements around Biden are taking advantage of his cognitive and intellectual deficit.  Obama told everyone Biden was an idiot, and now the Obama ideologues are using that idiot to fundamentally change America.   It is clear what they are doing; unfortunately, almost everyone in media and the leadership of both parties are pretending not to know what is happening.

But wait, it gets worse in the next soundbite from Deese .

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During NATO Press Conference Joe Biden Blames Russia for Upcoming Global Food Shortage

There it is folks.  I hope people can see the natural arc of this self-fulfilling prophecy now.  This also is why you should make sure you have potassium iodide tablets in your prep kit.

During a NATO press conference in Madrid [Transcript Here], today Joe Biden specifically attributed the upcoming global food shortage to Russian President Vladimir Putin.  Biden was emphatic when responding to a question about oil costs, western nation energy development and the pending food shortage.

BIDEN…”I think there’s a lot of things we can do and we will do.  But the bottom line is: Ultimately, the reason why gas prices are up is because of Russia.  Russia, Russia, Russia. The reason why the food crisis exist is because of Russia — Russia not allowing grain to get out of Ukraine.”  WATCH:

[Full Video Here – Prompted, if Needed]

Please understand… The food shortage is a done deal. We are beyond the point where current action could impact what is coming.  The timeframe to mitigate any global food shortage is in the rear-view.  Efforts to mitigate the food crisis should have been done months ago.  Nothing was or is being done.

The Western Alliance now needs a scapegoat, a justification for a food crisis that is almost certain to surface.  We do not know the scale of the shortage, but we do know global food supplies are going to be less than needed to feed the world population.

The direct cause of the food shortage is the Western government decision to prioritize climate change over food production.  The Build Back Better climate change agenda has created massive disruption with energy products (biofuel, fertilizer, diesel, natural gas etc) which are critical for the efficient production of food.  However, the western alliance cannot and will not take responsibility for the food crisis.  Instead, as you are seeing above, their plan is to blame Russia.

Stopping Russia from starving the world will be the justification for a physical escalation of conflict between NATO and Russia.  All of the signs and indicators point in this direction. None of the geopolitical or global economic signs point away from this direction.  A NATO led war with Russia is not a matter of “if”, it is a question of “when?”

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