{"id":50434,"date":"2018-08-18T04:15:41","date_gmt":"2018-08-18T11:15:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=50434"},"modified":"2023-01-06T13:51:34","modified_gmt":"2023-01-06T21:51:34","slug":"black-coffee-18-august-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id50434-black-coffee-18-august-2018.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: If Ifs and Buts Were Candies and Nuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe<\/em> …<\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

Len asked me to fill in for him while he’s on vacation this week. I hope everybody enjoys this special “Grandfather Says<\/a>” edition of Black Coffee.<\/p>\n

Okay, away we go …<\/p>\n

“What has destroyed every previous civilization has been the tendency to the unequal distribution of wealth and power.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Henry George<\/strong><\/p>\n

“It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Thomas Sowell<\/strong><\/p>\n

“The only possible output of the way we create and distribute “money” (credit and currency) is soaring wealth\/income inequality, as all the new money flows to the wealthy, who use the ‘cheap’ money from central and private banks to lend at high rates of interest to debt-serfs, buy back corporate shares or buy up income-producing assets.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Charles Hugh Smith<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> The price of the typical single-family house across Washington state’s King, Snohomish and Pierce counties has now risen an eye-popping 53% in just four years<\/a>. But<\/em> …<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> There has been a 46% increase in people living in vehicles<\/a> including RVs in King County since 2017. Well, maybe we can “thank” the fed for conjuring up well-nigh endless fiat money, which finds its way into places like “Silicone” Valley and inflates their bubbles. Pun intended.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Retirees with some savings and other assets feel that their lives are overall quite positive, and that retirement is more or less as they expected; they don’t feel blindsided<\/a> by unpleasant surprises, their outlooks are bright, and most have no regrets about their retirement path. Many of these retirees benefit from a rapidly-disappearing aspect of the American retirement experience: the defined benefit pension. But<\/em> …<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> There has been more than a two-fold increase<\/a> in the rate at which Americans age 65 and over file for bankruptcy — and an almost five-fold increase in the percentage of older persons in the US bankruptcy system. A lack of “some savings and other assets” is too bad, but life happens. It’s all a matter of luck, I guess. (Not.)<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span>The balance of Treasury securities in July fell by $24 billion<\/a> to $2.3 trillion; that’s the lowest since April 2014. Since the beginning of the QE unwind, the Fed has shed $129 billion in Treasuries. But<\/em> …<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> The US government is set to borrow nearly $1 trillion<\/a> this year, which is an 84% jump from last year. Of course, shrinking the money supply while greatly increasing borrowing won’t pinch anybody, right? Spending cuts, anybody? No? Well … can’t we at least hold back a little on the spending? Nope — because there’s a rush to spend every penny appropriated.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In fact, a government spending spree of potentially historic proportions will play out over the final seven weeks of fiscal 2018, as federal agencies look to spend $140 billion more<\/a> than they thought they’d get before Congress signed the omnibus spending bill.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Last week, the Senate rejected proposed spending cuts<\/a> of $15 billion in previously-appropriated government funding. Onward and upward the spending goes, until … when?<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, it looks like 23% of small businesses are planning to create new jobs<\/a>. But<\/em> …<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> A survey by the National Federation of Independent Businesses found that 37% of business owners have job openings that they’ve been unable to fill. Maybe this is why:<\/p>\n