{"id":60532,"date":"2020-04-18T02:15:58","date_gmt":"2020-04-18T09:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=60532"},"modified":"2020-04-21T06:04:53","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T13:04:53","slug":"black-coffee-18-apr-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id60532-black-coffee-18-apr-2020.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: The Fed Awakens"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"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

And so it goes … the fifth week of the ongoing financial market meltdown. As I noted last month, I wish I could say otherwise, but the reckoning is finally here; the piper is at the door and it’s time to pay up. Too bad most people still don’t seem to understand that.<\/p>\n

Okay, let’s get started …<\/p>\n

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,<\/em>
\nBy robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;<\/em>
\nBut, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,<\/em>
\nAnd the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: ‘If you don’t work you die.’<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Rudyard Kipling, The Gods of the Copybook Headings<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? Although it’s terribly inefficient, barter is back<\/a>. Yeah, baby! Eggs for toilet paper. An Easter ham for Clorox wipes. Malbec wine for N95 masks. Surprised? You shouldn’t be — pooh pooh this all you want, folks, but barter is the telltale symptom of a collapsing economy<\/a>. Now fess up; you thought that could never<\/strong><\/em> happen here in America, did ya?<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, in the last four weeks, 22 million Americans<\/a> have filed for unemployment. For those counting at home, that’s more than the total number of jobs gained since the end of the Great Recession in 2010. It’s also 710 jobs lost for every confirmed American death from COVID-19 — a number that is surely lower than it should be, since the coronavirus is being blamed even when patients had underlying conditions …<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news, it’s expected that over the course of the next several quarters, the Fed’s balance sheet will climb to $10 trillion<\/a>. Remember, last September it was “just” $3.6 trillion, give or take a few billion. But I’m sure that’s<\/strong><\/em> nothing to worry about. Here … have an ice cream cone:<\/p>\n