She did it again. Just like in February, when Psaki (seemingly out of the blue) gave a weird proactive statement about bad economic data that was going to be released the following day {LINK}. Earlier this afternoon White House spokesperson Jen Psaki gives another proactive justification for even worse inflation data that is about to be released from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics tomorrow.

In this brief soundbite, Psaki says the March inflation data that is going to be released tomorrow is going to show “Putin’s price hikes” on U.S. consumers.  However, even within the framework of her false justification, she attempts to blame Putin for gas price increases in January, when the Russian military operations did not start until February 24th.  The inflation news is going to be really bad tomorrow. How bad?  WATCH:

https://youtu.be/tNBvUq8e2Ko

None of this will come as a surprise to CTH readers.  We noted in the February inflation data (released in March), that things were going to be much worse in the April release.  The reason was simple, the massive gas price increases were not yet matriculated in the February data, and the massive food inflation was not yet captured by the USDA component. All of that preceded Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  None of it has anything to do with Vladimir Putin.

The inflation data that will be released tomorrow is the first visible data assembly of the second inflation wave now upon us.  Remember, inflation data lags behind the reality of the price increases. What the BLS will show tomorrow is the price results from the last half of Feb through the half of the month of March.  It will likely show the largest single month inflation increase in modern history.

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Against the backdrop of increased Russia-India trade {link}, and the BRICS discussions about new trade payment mechanisms to avoid being shackled to the dollar {link}, it would appear the people behind the White House operation to create/maintain conflict with Russia are scheduling a stern conversation with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

WHITE HOUSE – ” President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. will meet virtually with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India on Monday, April 11 to further deepen ties between our governments, economies, and our people. President Biden and Prime Minister Modi will discuss cooperation on a range of issues.” …

“President Biden will continue our close consultations on the consequences of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine and mitigating its destabilizing impact on global food supply and commodity markets.” (read more)

The message from the White House will likely be akin to: ‘Nice country of 1.5 billion hungry people you got there Modi.  With all this talk of global famine going around, it’d be a shame if you couldn’t feed them.’ Oh, and by the way, did you happen to catch what just rolled out in Pakistan?  Imagine that – what with common borders and such… 

For those unfamiliar, it appears the DoS/CIA were up to their old tricks again, because Pakistan was favorable to the position of China and Russia in the Ukraine conflict and would not take sides with NATO and western allied leaders.

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This is not some grand conspiracy, ‘out there‘ deep geopolitical possibility, or foreboding likelihood as an outcome of short-sighted western emotion.  No, this is just a predictable outcome from western created events that pushed specific countries to a natural conclusion based on their best interests.

You can debate the motives of the western leaders who structured the sanctions against Russia, and whether they knew the outcome would happen as a consequence of their effort, but the outcome was never really in doubt.  Personally, I believe this outcome is what the west intended. The people inside the World Economic Forum are not stupid – ideological, yes, but not stupid. They knew this would happen.

The finance ministers of the BRICS alliance (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have decided to create their own financial mechanisms to continue trade between nations of similar disposition.  Once the internal issues inside the BRICS alliance are resolved, and once the mechanisms are created, then other nations will be able to decide to join or not.  The great global cleaving will commence.

(Reuters) – Russia, hit by Western sanctions, has called on the BRICS group of emerging economies to extend the use of national currencies and integrate payment systems, the finance ministry said on Saturday.

[…] On Friday, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told a ministerial meeting with BRICS, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, that the global economic situation had worsened substantially due to the sanctions, the ministry’s statement said.

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I have stated for the past year ‘the absence of food will change things‘.   The inflation and food affordability crisis has now surfaced in Sri Lanka. Global media is paying attention, even sending out warnings about what this might represent for other nations.

Sri Lanka has a debt to GDP ratio of 120%, approximately the same as the United States.  However, Sri Lanka does not have the benefit of their currency being supported as the global trade currency; therefore, the debt and domestic inflation rate are directly tied together.

The rate of food inflation in March has exceeded 30%…. the absence of the public being able to afford food has now surfaced and the government is collapsing.  Read the news from Sri Lanka through the prism of what could happen in U.S. cities if we lose the dollar as the global trade currency.

(Via Reuters) – Reuters Breakingviews) – Sri Lanka’s collapse is front of mind for many. Protesters fed up with crippling shortages of essential food and fuel items are on the streets, prompting multiple members of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s cabinet to offer to resign late on Sunday.

Social unrest will probably accelerate a restructuring of some $44 billion of international sovereign debt. Though Sri Lanka’s problems follow years of mismanagement, its speedy unravelling is a warning to sturdier economies from Europe to Asia suddenly grappling with a spike in the cost of living.

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Comrade rebels, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Deputy Managing Director says the sanctions against Russia are likely to undermine the US dollar’s global dominance as a trade currency.

As we have outlined, this is ultimately the counter strategic goal of Russia and Putin’s economic allies.  It’s a feature, not a flaw, in the process that Joe Biden has triggered.

(Inside Paper) – […] “The dollar would remain the major global currency even in that landscape, but fragmentation at a smaller level is certainly quite possible,” Gopinath said in an interview with the Financial Times.  She went on to say that some countries have already begun to renegotiate the currency in which they are paid for trade.

According to Gopinath, the drastic restrictions imposed by Western countries in response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine may result in the formation of small currency blocs based on trade between individual groups of countries.  Furthermore, the use of currencies other than the dollar or the euro in global trade would result in a further diversification of central banks’ reserve assets. (read more)

This outcome, in combination with the realization the western alliance will also necessarily lose leverage for their climate change goals, is ultimately what triggered the G7 energy ministers to demand that Russia continue using euros and dollars.

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As workers and middle class Americans continue to be squeezed by Joe Biden inflation, the inability of wages to cover housing costs continues to create a burden in the housing market.

Investment groups are purchasing hard asset real estate, which continues to keep upward pressure on home values. However, ordinary Americans are no longer able to afford upgrade or starter home purchases.

Potential homeowners are forced to continue renting as prices for everything including food, gasoline and energy costs skyrocket.   Scraping by is JoeBamanomics in action.

(CNBC) – In a grim sign for the housing market’s busiest season, pending home sales, which measure signed contracts on existing homes, fell 4.1% in February compared with January, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Sales were down 5.4% compared with February 2021. Analysts were expecting a slight gain. This is the fourth straight month of declines in pending sales, which are an indicator of future closings, one to two months out.

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The World Government Summit 2022 took place on March 29 and 30 in Dubai, hosting more than 4,000 individuals from 190 countries including senior government officials, heads of international organizations, and global “experts.”   The invited participants presented ideas and worldviews from within their various fields of specialty.

One presentation that needs to be highlighted was from Dr. Pippa Malmgren, an American economist who served as special advisor on Economic Policy to President George W. Bush.

Her father, Harald Malmgren, served as a senior aide to US Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford.   In this segment, Mrs. Malmgren says the quiet part out loud.  Yes, they are no longer hiding the construct; indeed, as you will hear they are saying quite openly what the future will look like.  WATCH (2 minutes):

[Full Source – 6 hours (internal segment at 18:30)]

Transcript – Dr. Malmgren: “What underpins a world order is always the financial system. I was very privileged. My father was an adviser to Nixon when they came off the gold standard in 71. And so, I was brought up with a kind of inside view of how very important the financial structure is to absolutely everything else.

And what we’re seeing in the world today, I think, is we are on the brink of a dramatic change where we are about to, and I’ll say this boldly, we’re about to abandon the traditional system of money and accounting and introduce a new one. And the new one. The new accounting is what we call blockchain.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will hold further discussions on the purchase of Russian energy products in rubles according to TASS (Russian News) and western media.  However, in the interim Russia will continue accepting payment in euros which will be exchanged for rubles by Gazprom bank.

(left) German Chancellor Olaf Scholz – (right) Russian President Vladimir Putin

The situation is ongoing, as an outcome of the G7 energy minister’s prior emergency meeting on Monday, where they demanded Russia continue accepting both euros and dollars for the payment of Russian gas and oil purchases.  The current short-term resolution to continue accepting euros and dollars may not last long, as Russia is continuing to emphasize their demand that purchasing nations switch to rubles for future contracts.

Despite NATO, the G7 nations and western alliance agreeing to use economic and financial sanctions to block Russia from receiving dollars and euros.  Inside the alliance, there appears to be a fear that if Russia is successful in creating a financial trade system based on rubles, the G7 may lose influence on energy policy via climate change.

Inside the western alliance, the geopolitical control mechanisms that use energy sector development are under stress.  If global oil and gas is not exchanged in euros (European centric) or petrodollars (globally), the ability of the multinational agents to pressure climate change demands will be weakened.

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Col Douglas Macgregor appears for an interview with Dave Smith on his “Part Of The Problem” podcast.  Col Macgregor gives his status update on the Ukraine and Russian military along with some excellent background information on the U.S. cultural issues which are driving the U.S. position.

Additionally, Macgregor overlays the economic battle both domestically and geopolitically with the currency war and talks about economic repercussions for the U.S., NATO countries, Ukraine and Russia.   As noted by Macgregor when the Biden administration turned favorably toward Iran the Saudis immediately realized it was in their best interest to withdraw strategic support for the U.S.

It’s a good interview that goes into much more depth than the average media appearance, and permits discussion of multiple facets of the conflict in/around Ukraine. The video is prompted to begin at 17:34 when the Ukraine discussion begins. WATCH:

https://youtu.be/1PB7emtkRf4?t=1054

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Something odd is happening in the background of the G7 energy ministers’ announcement earlier today.

Remember that moment {HERE} when Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland seemed really uncomfortable and weird at the presser – just 36 hours before the Trudeau administration announced they were going to drop the Emergency Act banking sanctions against the truckers? {Go Deep}

Here is an encapsulation of what’s weird, and you don’t have to be an expert in geopolitics and international trade to see it:

The G7 countries (including the U.S.) announced today they were demanding that Russia accept payment for oil and gas in euros and dollars.  This is happening at the same time NATO is demanding (via sanctions) that Russia be blocked from accepting payments in euros and dollars.

Something is weird.  Keep in mind, the same nations in the G7 are the same nations in NATO with the exception of Japan (G7 only).

The only way this conflict could make any sense, is if the G7 energy ministers realize that forcing Russia to trade in non-euros and non-dollars will structurally undermine the G7 unilateral hold of global finance and energy policy.   In essence, the G7 see the non-sanction countries, particularly India and China, lining up to replace the petro-dollar, and that not only weakens their position financially, but it also weakens their climate change position.

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