{"id":82757,"date":"2024-04-06T01:00:57","date_gmt":"2024-04-06T08:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=82757"},"modified":"2024-04-11T07:08:33","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T14:08:33","slug":"black-coffee-6-april-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id82757-black-coffee-6-april-2024.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: The Gaslighters"},"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

I’ve got another busy weekend ahead of me, so let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

Beware the narcissists’ lies that cast shadows on reality.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Tracy Malone<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? According to a new study by Realtor.com<\/em>, higher mortgage rates and sky-high housing prices has made it cheaper to rent<\/a> than to own a home in all of America’s largest metropolitan areas. The study – which covers the 50 largest US metropolitan areas – found that while it was already cheaper to rent than buy in 90% of those metros last year, it’s now pushed to 100% – the first time this has happened since Realtor.com<\/em> began tracking renting vs buying three years ago. Then again, this isn’t a problem in California, where most fast food workers just got a mandatory raise to $20 per hour. Oh, wait …<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news, macro analyst Matthew Piepenburg opined this week that even though Fed Chair Jerome Powell, government bureaucrats, and politicians keep reminding us we’re at ‘full employment\u2019 and nominal GDP is growing at 6%, the reality is that “nominal GDP that is \u2018growing’ on the back of over $23 trillion in US Treasuries issuance is simply debt-driven growth. However, debt-driven growth is not<\/strong><\/em> growth – it\u2019s just debt<\/a>.\u201d Now if only somebody would tell that to the stock market …<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> So while the US government data continues to pretend there’s a booming economy, Zero Hedge<\/em> noted this week that, \u201cThe official narrative is breaking<\/a> bad. ‘Soft’ survey data is literally collapsing as ‘hard’ data improves gradually. Even so, there are plenty of people who continue to believe the government statistics – and other fantastical tales …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Indeed, a CNN<\/em> poll found that 48% of Americans say they believe the economy remains depressed<\/a>, while only 35% said that things in the country today are going well. The question is: Who are you going to believe? We suspect for many people the answer depends on whether or not their student loan debt is going to be forgiven …<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> According to economist Daniel Lacalle, “The accumulated $6.3 trillion deficit of the past four years had a negative impact<\/a> on the economy. Rising taxes and persistent inflation are eroding the average American quality of life. More citizens need to hold more than one job to make ends meet, and the number of multiple jobholders has reached a multi-decade record. Gross domestic income (GDI)\u00a0 proves the economy is stagnant, and if we look at GDP and GDI excluding the accumulation of debt, they show the worst year since the 1930s.” I’m pretty<\/strong><\/em> sure there’s a word for that …<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, a recent Forbes<\/em> article highlights a fundamental flaw in how inflation is traditionally reported. The 12-month inflation snapshot reported by the government obscures the cumulative impact of inflation; that number is currently \u201cjust\u201d 4%. However, even if you believe the intentionally-tempered CPI, the cumulative<\/strong><\/em> inflation rate since 2020 gives us a more-revealing figure<\/a> of 20%. But that\u2019s never reported. Why? Because, as Forbes<\/em> points out, the cumulative 20% inflation rate means what cost $100 in January 2020 now demands $120, effectively reducing your purchasing power to just 83 cents on the dollar. Then again …<\/p>\n

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(h\/t: @Unusual_Whales)<\/p><\/div>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> By the way, John Tobey from Forbes<\/em> also observes that “the 20% four-year change is drastic. It may seem a happy occurrence for stock investors … but (for) the people whose income, savings and assets don’t rise enough, if at all, there is distress and despair. They’re the ones who must cut spending or run into financial troubles; and late loan payments are on the rise, including mortgages. What that means is key: The Fed’s self-congratulation on getting inflation down is false praise. They’ve created lasting damage for those that can least afford it.\u201d Yes. But despite this, there are still<\/strong><\/em> calls for the Fed to abandon their 2% inflation mandate. No, really<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> The good news is credit agency Standard & Poors has reaffirmed the United States\u2019 AA+ credit rating<\/a>, citing its financial situation as \u201cstable.\u201d (Insert laugh track here.)<\/em> Unfortunately, the current fraudulent debt-based currency system requires an ever-increasing supply of US dollars (USDs) to keep the global economic engine from seizing. The bad news is, so much lubricant has been injected into the economy since 2009 that the entire system is about to blow a gasket. Which is why these guys would never get hired as a central banker:<\/p>\n