OFF THE COAST OF CORNWALL — We didn’t like the look of it. The wind was howling. The sea was stirred up, battering the docks. And we get seasick just watching an olive in a martini.
But it was too late to change our minds. We had our van packed. Passage had been booked weeks in advance. We were on the ramp. And the tide was turning. It was time to board.
That was last night. But with Dramamine and acupressure wristbands, we slept passably well. And only seven more hours to go …
Grifters and Nut Cases
Today, there are dots to be connected.
And herewith is Part Deux of The Persecution and Assassination of Donald J. Trump, as portrayed by the grifters and nut cases who have anything to do with public policy in America, 2019.
Yes, it is quite a show.
You may want to dismiss it as pure entertainment, but there is a serious side to the impeachment, to the fight with the Deep State and to the crisis that is about to overtake the U.S. economy.
And it has to do with the deeper currents of politics and economics — the ones that lead to war, bankruptcy, depression and poverty …
Sugar Boost
We saw Thursday that Mr. Trump has little to do with the success or failure of today’s economy. His tax cuts gave it a sugar boost in 2018, but that is over. And all of the indicators now suggest that the economy is rolling over into an inevitable recession.
Not that we should worry about it. Recessions are natural, normal ways of clearing the dead wood out of the forest. Bad debts, unprofitable businesses, incompetent entrepreneurs — all are roasted … so new growth can begin.
But as you know, the feds — bless their hearts — have been doing “whatever it takes” to keep the sparks from flying. They’ve dumped trillions in liquidity already … and the Federal Reserve alone is on schedule to pump in another $1 trillion this year.
And now, using Warren Buffett’s favorite measure — total stock market capitalization (the value of all the stocks put together) compared to GDP — we see there is more tinder than ever.
Back when things were more or less normal, in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, the ratio of stocks to GDP varied from a low around 30% to a high around 80%.
Then, it began to go wild. By 1999, it was at a then-record high of 136%. Then, it went down again, and in the crash of ’08 reached a low around 56%.
But then the feds got to work, pumping around the clock … and they’re still pumping, 10 years later. And guess what? The ratio is now at 140%, higher than it has ever been — and more than twice the old “normal.”
We don’t know what campfire will get away from its Boy Scouts … or which cigarette butt will be tossed out of what window and ignite which pine needles … but when the fire starts, it will be a doozy.
Deep State vs. POTUS
But that was last week’s subject. Our subject this week is the very special role played by Donald J. Trump.
In the popular narrative, the president took on the Deep State (the insiders, cronies, fixers, and B.S.-ers who actually control the government). And now, the insiders are counterattacking.
Here’s the Trump-hating New York Times:
“Trump’s War on the ‘Deep State’ Turns Against Him”
Nameless, faceless and voiceless, the C.I.A. officer who first triggered the greatest threat to President Trump’s tenure in office seemed to be practically the embodiment of the “deep state” that the president has long accused of trying to take him down. (…)
The parade of witnesses marching to Capitol Hill culminated this week with the dramatic testimony of William B. Taylor Jr., a military officer and diplomat who has served his country for 50 years. Undaunted by White House pressure, he came forward to accuse the same president who sent him to Ukraine a few months ago of abusing his power to advance his own political interests.
Taylor wasn’t the only military man to take up the Deep State cause.
James A. Russell writes:
On October 23, 40 retired admirals and generals called on Trump to conduct himself in accordance with the values of the armed forces. This extraordinary missive followed McRaven’s call in an October 17 New York Times op-ed piece that if Trump wasn’t prepared to stand up for the hallowed principles of the republic and its institutions, then it was time for a “new person” in the oval office.
Addressing an audience on the same date as McRaven’s op-ed, Mattis openly mocked Trump’s recent insults directed at him, saying that while he had gotten his spurs in Vietnam, Trump had gotten his spurs in a doctor’s office — referring to Trump’s Vietnam War draft deferment.
Even Mr. Trump’s fellow Republicans have apparently turned against him. Here’s Senator Rand Paul:
Some people, I’m not going to say Senator Graham, but there are other Republican senators up here whose allegiance is more to the Deep State than it is to the president.
Witness after witness … many of them among the deepest of the Deep State’s operatives … blab to the House committee, telling all they know, and maybe some of what they don’t know, too; who knows?
“Assassination,” scream the patriots. “Lynching,” says the president himself.
But what is really going on? And what does it have to do with our financial dots?
Loudmouth Know-Nothing
Ah … but that is where the deep, deep currents come in. It’s not the surface chop — the ebb and flow of markets, or the expansion and contraction of economies — that sinks a nation. It’s the malign long-term trends that never get corrected.
Overspending … debt … fake money … fake prices … fake wars — those are the things that corrupt the elite, distort an economy and pervert a society. And those are the things that Donald J. Trump was elected to stop.
What other plausible reason could there be for voting for such a loudmouth know-nothing?
His only virtue was that he was not like the other candidates. He was an outsider … not a card-carrying member of the elite himself. He was a real estate speculator, not a politician. And he had legitimate businesses — all over the world; he was not beholden to The Swamp for his money, his fame or his fortune.
He was just what America needed — someone who was too rich to care what The New York Times said … someone bold enough to take on the Deep State … and someone too dumb to know better.
Check back Saturday to see how it all turned out.
Regards,
Bill
• This article was originally published by Bonner & Partners. You can learn more about Bill and Bill Bonner’s Diary right here.