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August 19, 2024 | Kamala’s Economic Plan Will Destroy the US Economy & Lead to Food Shortages

Martin Armstrong

Martin Arthur Armstrong is current chairman and founder of Armstrong Economics. He is best known for his economic predictions based on the Economic Confidence Model, which he developed.

 

 

socialism.meme_

Kamala Harris’ father was basically a radial communist. She is not far from her father’s ideas, any more than Bill Gates is different from his father’s fears of population when he created Planned Parenthood and stuck them in minority areas to reduce the population of blacks. No matter how many times Socialism has been attempted, the same result has always taken place because it is against human nature and seeks to oppress those who work to reward those who do not under this theory that everyone should be equal in material wealth – not rights.

Harris Father

Capital Gains & Unrealized Profits Tax

As they say, the apple never falls far from the tree. Indeed, whatever Trump says, most Democrats will NEVER listen. He has warned the U.S. would suffer a “1929-style depression” under a Harris presidency. The only thing about Trump is that he is a businessman. All this talk of Doubling the Capital Gains Tax and imposing taxes on Unrealized Gains alone would cause the biggest stock market crash in history. People would have to sell everything before the tax is imposed. Those who do not sell would be compelled to sell to pay the tax.

Take Amazon, for example. sure, Bezos is a billionaire on paper based on the value of his shares, as is Bill Gates. It is not cash. Taxing unrealized gains means they would have to sell 25% of their stock the first year to pay the tax. Stocks will tumble, and then the same will take place the next year. I would have to advise you to sell everything NOW for prices will crash! People would be forced to STOP investing long-term, which would kill long-term growth and cause massive unemployment. Kamala’s response will be to nationalize companies at that point because NEVER will anyone in government EVER remotely consider that their policies are to blame.

This would get even worse. Once they legalize taxing unrealized gains, there goes the farming industry, small businesses, and real estate. That house you bought for $100,000 is now worth $500,000, they will demand $125,000 in taxes. You don’t have that cash, so suddenly, you now have to sell that house to pay the tax. This is how small farming has been destroyed because when the father dies, the government wants up to 40% of the value of the land in inheritance taxes. They have been forced to sell to people like Bill Gates.

Kamala and Schwab

Green New Deal

Now add this Green New Deal that she really wants to do, forcing carbon neutrality by 2030 so she can get in line and kiss the ring of Klaus Schwab.  Just look at Europe and the economic decline unfolding there; people rose up against that in the EU elections. The farmer protests shutting down cities. Taxing cows because they fart – are we next? This Agenda 2030 would cause a deep recession and rising inflation with loss of jobs and major civil unrest. Perhaps this is what the computer is projecting will lead to the breakup of the United States. The World Economic Forum will then influence the United States as they have taken over Canada.

CNN_How_EVs_became_such_a_massive_disappointment

Carbon-neutral by 2030 is impossible. Just look at the stats: 75% of our electricity comes from burning fossil fuels. So how are they going to do that? They think they can just circumvent Congress and issue a dictatorial Executive Order requiring that 50% of all cars be electric by 20230. There is not enough power in the electric grid to accomplish this, and people are turning away from electric cars. My neighbor had two Teslas. He just relented and got a gas car. I would joke if a hurricane came, I could tie him to the roof since he would never be able to flee its path with a Tesla. And they call Putin a dictator? Executive Orders of this nature circumvent Congress and deny the people any right to object. That is anti-Democratic and cleverly circumvents the Constitution.

Executive Orders are NOT Democracy, which has become another propaganda label. Here is the World Economic Forum’s Agenda 2030, which includes ending Democracy and handing the Sovereignty of the United States to the United Nations. Harris co-sponsored the Green New Deal as a senator in 2019. Does she remember her father’s teachings like Gates?

 

2009 Ginsberg Eugenics

Counting On the Brainwashed Women?

They are counting on especially the stupidity and myopic focus of women who will vote solely on the issue of Abortion since they were successfully brainwashed as they turned racism into Women’s Rights to kill their own children. Even Justice Ginsburg pointed out that Roe vs Wade had nothing to do with women’s rights. This was the Gates and Rockefeller Agenda to reduce the world’s population. They need those brainwashed women to vote only on Abortion and not pay attention to anything else, including being drafted for war.

Kamala_Harris_Food Control Blames_Price_Gouging_for_Grocery_Inflation._Here_s_What_Economis

Price Controls

As the New York Times reported, Harris wants to impose price controls on food and blames corporations – never the government. The entire shortage began with their stupidity of locking down the economy. I had farmers sending emails that they had to kill 30,000 chickens because they could not get feed nor send them to market when trucks were not allowed to operate. Shortages took off and started this inflation. I would go to the store, and there would be no eggs. Next time, eggs were there, so you buy twice as many, for they may not be there next time. That is human nature. Hoarding in times of shortages also propels inflation.

Of course, a good communist blames the private sector, and that is what Kamala is doing. Sadly, that message is cheered, according to the polls, “with swing voters. It has been embraced by progressive groups, which regularly point to price gouging as a driver of rapid inflation or at least something that contributes to rapid price increases. Those groups cheered the announcement late Wednesday that Ms. Harris would call for a federal ban on corporate price gouging on groceries.”

Diocletian Edict on wage and price controls 301 AD

Diocletian Inflation

There are numerous examples from history that warn every time the government has attempted to impose wage and/or price controls, it has failed. If the cost of labor and production rises in the face of shortages and the final price is controlled by the government, guess what? You end up with starvation, riots, and revolution.

Roman decline silver content monetary system Armstrong Waterfall effectDiocletian Argentius

Diocletian (284-305AD) enters the scene where you see a game without silver coins being minted. Diocletian created the silver argentius around 293/94AD, which was not pure silver but at least 90% – 93.5%, and they were struck at 96 to the Roman pound, the weight of a post-reform denarius of Nero (54 to 68AD). This effort to restore the glory of Rome and its economy was not ready for such a utopian reform. The argentei began to vanish from circulation, being hoarded or exported to the East in foreign trade. Within 15 to 17 years, the debasement resumed and suddenly reduced the silver content to less than 50%.

Constantine Silver Reform

It was not until the civil war began again and the rise of Constantine I the Great (307 -337AD) that we once again found a monetary reform with the return of silver once again. Even if we look at Hammurabi Legal Code 1780BC, we will find wage and price controls. There were shortages that drove inflation at that time as well.

Nixon ClosesGoldWindow

While we understand that the gold standard collapsed and President Richard Nixon closed the gold window, ending the convertibility of the US dollar, Nixon also showed us just how dangerous unchecked executive power can be to the free-enterprise system and what awaits us ahead. At the same time as closing the gold window on August 15, 1971, Nixon also announced;

“I am today ordering a freeze on all prices and wages throughout the United States.”

After a 90-day freeze, increases would have to be approved by a “Pay Board” and a “Price Commission.” The restrictions were conveniently lifted after the 1972 election. Nixon did understand that his solution was not really a solution. He acknowledged that putting the economy with price controls

“into a permanent straitjacket would … stifle the expansion of our free enterprise system.”

Newsweek Gold Push 1971

The national emergency in the summer of ’71 was that the failure of the gold standard was in its last dying throes. They had fixed gold at $35 an ounce, but the Neocons kept sending money for endless wars. The Neocon’s lies take us into Vietnam because, as Robert S. McNamara admitted, they thought Russia was involved, but it was just a civil war. Unemployment stood at 6% in 1971; inflation was only about 4%-5%. Yet, after Nixon’s announcement, the markets rallied, the press cheered being leftists as always, and even though his speech pre-empted the popular Western Bonanza, the people loved it, too — 75% backed the plan in polls just as we see today with most cheering Kamala’s price controls.

Friedman Nixon

I knew Milton Friedman and he told me that he tried to warn Nixon that this venture would end “in utter failure and the emergence into the open of the suppressed inflation.” It worked for the 1972 election, as Kamala is hoping this time as well. It was the aftermath that nobody in the Democratic camp wanted to look at. Nixon was forced to then reimpose a temporary price freeze in June 1973, for it became obvious that the first round of price controls created shortages.

Whtcbt Cattle M 1970 1980

1973 1974 Crash

Agriculture entered a critical shortage as ranchers stopped shipping their cattle to the market, farmers could not make a profit and gave up, and once again, shortages took place, and consumers emptied the shelves of supermarkets. The stock market crashed, and as the dollar declined, there was the 1973 OPEC Embargo, which sent inflation soaring for energy touches everything.

I have expressed my opinion that Executive Orders by a president create an imperial presidency with unconstitutional delegations of authority to the executive branch. The economic damage presidents do with economic powers wielded for political gain undermines the economy, and nobody will ever accept blame in government. Presidents should NEVER have such economic powers. Price hikes from the 1973 Arab oil embargo made it politically difficult to unwind controls on gasoline, which led to the gas lines of the late 1970s. I remember those days. You were only allowed to get gas on an even and odd basis, and you were not allowed to buy more than $2.

Ford 1973 Pinto

 

At the time, I lived about 35 miles from work. There was no way I could make it to work and back two days in a row. I ran out and paid over the list price for the last Ford Pinto Stationwagon so that I could drive to work. I eventually sold my house to move closer, all because of OPEC and the shortages.

BreadlineSovietUnion

Kamala Using the Soviet Union As Her Model?

Kamala Harris unveiled her first economic agenda – price controls that not only failed since the days of Diocletian during the 3rd Century AD, but she is also drawing on the experience of the Soviet Union that her father supported. Her price controls are also reminiscent of the Soviet Union where the belief was that the government should invade the private sector and determine the price of goods. Kamala believed that corporate price gauging is to blame, particularly at the grocery store, and ignored the shortages of COVID. The Soviet Union’s experience should also be consulted. I had a Russian girl we hired as a programmer who came to the States perhaps 20 years ago. She was stunned going shopping because she had to make so many decisions. In Russia, she explained, there was only one toilet paper. Here, there are so many brands that she did not realize everything required a decision. Price controls led to nationalization and no choice.

The same disaster occurred in the Soviet Union under Gosplan. Whether it is communism or socialism, any method that decimates the free market ends in an economic collapse. The business cycle was ignored, as were factors that drove prices. The government knew best and usurped control over the private sector from the farm to the store. Shortages, unemployment, and starvation ensued. We are all familiar with the Soviet-era breadlines and the hardships that the people endured. There was no innovation, as there was no incentive for entrepreneurship or invention, and the nation was left behind in a time capsule of the past. People lost all confidence, and the government effectively suffocated the private sector to death. They took over every aspect of the economy and free market piece by piece until the entire economy shattered. By seizing private industry, there was nobody in government who understood agriculture. Stalin then had to take all the food from Ukraine, killing up to 7 million by starvation, all to pretend this socialistic theory could work. – See the movie – Mr. Jones.

Everyone I know from Eastern Europe and/or Russia who has come to America all say the same thing. What they fled is now taking place here in America under the same slogan – fairness and equality.

Inflation.Venezuela

Venezuela – A Great Example

Let’s take a look at Venezuela. Hugo Chávez implemented price controls to combat inflation, but it backfired and caused the nation to experience one of the highest rates of inflation in the world. The government arbitrarily sets prices without taking note of demand, supply, or the cost taken on by the private sector. Businesses were no longer profitable, and small mom-and-pop stores disappeared. Those that remained could barely operate and experienced severe shortages of basic goods like food. The people panicked and began to hoard what they could as they did not know when the goods would be available again.

Venezuela.Socialism

A black market emerged. People were forced to barter and smuggle goods from nearby nations. People stopped using Venezuela’s currency as they refused to accept it, as was the case during the German hyperinflation. People saw the value of the USD, and Venezuela’s currency soon became utterly worthless. The dying private sector was unable to hold on to staff, leading to a mass uptick in unemployment. Inflation spiraled, people completely lost confidence in their government and currency. Hyperinflation ensued, people’s life’s savings were wiped out as even the most financially literate citizen lost everything.

SchwabLeninBust

However, the government prevailed and insisted socialism was the only way to ensure fairness and equality. Klaus Schwab admires Lenin and still preaches fairness and equality, although it has failed every single time. Klaus keeps a bust of Lenin on his bookshelf. EVERY single nation that implemented price controls has failed. This is the backbone of his Stakeholder Economics, which was not his original idea, but also failed.

Stakeholder Economics

It was not until Stakeholder Economics collapsed with Bretton Woods that its failure was widely recognized.

US War Ration Book

Price Control During War

Another reason to instigate World War III is that it would allow the government to instigate rationing of food when the price controls fail. Because the government is now the biggest debtor in the system, the Federal Reserve can no longer control inflation by raising interest rates. The interest expenditure of the government increases, and nobody in government ever dares to suggest reducing spending to reduce inflation. Thus, central banks have been stripped of all power.

Price control authority during World War I was given to a variety of government agencies – not just one. Only the Fuel Administration and the Food Administration truly had express statutory authority for price-fixing. Maximum prices were regulated by the War Industries Board, the Price-Fixing Committee, the Food and Fuel Administrations, the Emergency Fleet Corporation, the Railway Administration, the War and Navy Departments, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Department of Agriculture.

Of these price-fixing agencies, the War Industries Board and its successor, the Price-Fixing Committee, were clearly the most important. On July 28th, 1917, the Council of National Defense, created by the National Defense Act of August 29th, 1916, established the War Industries Board to coordinate the war effort and gave it specific directions “to consider price factors.” 

A famous case, Hegeman Farms Corp. v. Baldwin, 293 U.S. 163 (1934), showed how courts would rule against the private sector during war. We should not expect any fair treatment economically. The Supreme Court held that on orders issued under the New York Milk Control Statute, dealers were required to pay milk producers a minimum price per quart. They were subject to higher minimum resale prices. However, competition made it impossible for the dealer, in this case, to sell for more than the resale minimum – his cost. There was no profit “spread,” Thus, it could not make a profit to cover the cost of its operations. The Supreme Court turned a blind eye and held that upon these facts only, there was nothing to show the degree of efficiency with which its business was conducted. Therefore, there is no ground to conclude that the price limits are arbitrary and violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

There is NO RULE OF LAW when it comes to war. Remember that!

Rationing Do With Less

During World War II, the United States took a radically different approach to fighting inflation when price controls would not work. They embarked on rationing under the claim of fairness and equality. It is clear that the Harris Administration and its policymakers will use war to arrest inflation with rationing. The threat of inflation loomed over WWII as it did under World War I than it does today. As America became an “arsenal of democracy,” we spent massively on machines and supplies for war. The federal deficit skyrocketed, from about 3 percent of GDP in 1939 to almost 27 percent of GDP in 1943 — which is far and away the worst the deficit has ever been. Meanwhile, factories, workers, and materials were all repurposed for the war. Millions of productive workers left the labor force to enlist in the armed services.

British Food Ratio Book

When the federal government began eliminating free-market pricing on goods in short supply in the early 1940s, it had to allocate these scarce resources differently. It created a rationing system in which the government assigned ration stamps to citizens. Rationing also took place in Britain. What this time? To further fairness and equality, they will take food from citizens to hand to the illegal aliens. The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project conducted a survey in which it was revealed that 10% of illegal aliens and non-citizens are already registered to vote in the 2024 election. I fear that a Harris victory will lead to a major Supreme Court battle where, legally, they will be compelled to declare the 2024 election void.

 

German 20 Mark 1918

Germany & Hyperinflation Caused In Part By Price Controls

Germans had little experience with inflation before World War I. As this First World War raged, it resulted in shortages of food, fuel, clothing, and other supplies. Naturally, prices began to rise. The German Empire’s fiscal policy accelerated the situation for to pay its bills, the state took out loans, sold bonds and printed more currency. Through the process, the value of the German mark collapsed by 50% over the course of the war. Inflation would have been even higher had the government not instituted price controls.

German 1918 Revolution

However, the price controls ended when the government collapsed in defeat in November 1918, and a Communist Revolution led to the birth of the Weimar Republic. Because the German Communists wanted even Russia to come and take Germany to be part of this great Utopian Marxist World, anyone with wealth moved out of Germany, fearing the same result as took place in Russia. Prices shot up unbelievably, but the new Weimar Republic continued the fiscal policy of the old German Empire. To fund the transition to a peacetime economy and welfare programs for ex-soldiers and impoverished civilians, the Weimar Republic continued to print money. In 1921 and 1922, policymakers even purposefully fanned inflation to show the former Allies that Germany was too weak to pay the reparations it owed.


HyperInflation

 

1922 Forced LoanThen, in December 1922, the Weimar Republic confiscated 10% of people’s assets and issued bonds that quickly became worthless. As we can see from this chart, the hyperinflation began. It was up 10fold from pre-December confiscation levels.

French Assignat Devaluation HyperinflationNo matter what country we look at, we see the same result. The French Revolution began over food shortages. Marie Antoinette’s famous line—“Let them eat cake,” which was the crust on the pan after making bread—is doubtful that she ever said that, but it stirred people and helped to create the revolution.

The examples are endless. PRICE CONTROLS DO NOT WORK. SOCIALISM DOES NOT WORK. This policy is absolute insanity. Do people realize that this is only the beginning of what we would see under a Harris presidency?

She is financially illiterate, and no one on her team has any working knowledge of how the world functions. All they do is always blame the rich, and people with little intelligence love to be portrayed as victims since nothing is ever their fault or that of the government. Blaming higher prices at the grocery store solely on corporate greed is utterly ignorant. This policy is DANGEROUS and would push the once great democracy of America into the hells of socialism. Worse yet, it will lead to food shortages as it always had and starvation, which may make Bill Gates excited.

met_the_enemy_he is us Walt_Kelly_cartoon

NOBODY ever seems to consult history. This episode with price controls from the ’70s was best illustrated by the famous cartoonist at the time, Walt Kelly, whose classic cartoon – “We have met the enemy and he is us.” We have come full circle with the Democrats advocating price controls that will lead to starvation and food shortages. They REFUSE to ever look at history.

 

History Repeat Copy

So, as they say, here we go again. History repeats because those in politics only care about winning, and to hell with history, for that is the past—not the present. This time, it will somehow be different because Kamala will be in charge.

 

Thatcher Socialism

 

 

 

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August 19th, 2024

Posted In: Armstrong Economics

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