The US Is In a Societal Panic: Why Our Tax and Economic Debates Are Irrational

David Cay Johnston is an excellent lecturer, who can address economics and public policy in clear and simple statements.

This is one of most informative talks I have heard about where we are, and how we got here, what the crony kleptocracy is, and how it works.

Johnston's concept of a societal panic corresponds to the notion of national hysteria which I have expressed on a number of occasions.  But he fills out the idea more fluently and fully.   It is a dangerous period of time which can yield new ideas and concepts, depending on how well we survive it.

It is a must watch, and I rarely say that.

Chris Hedges: The Rise of the Corporate Class and the Triumph of Managerial Malfeasance

“Antidemocracy, executive predominance, and elite rule are basic elements of inverted totalitarianism. Antidemocracy does not take the form of overt attacks upon the idea of government by the people. Instead, politically it means encouraging what I have earlier dubbed civic demobilization, conditioning an electorate to being aroused for a brief spell, controlling its attention span, and then encouraging distraction or apathy. The intense pace of work and the extended working day, combined with job insecurity, is a formula for political demobilization, for privatizing the citizenry.

It works indirectly. Citizens are encouraged to distrust their government and politicians; to concentrate upon their own interests; to begrudge their taxes; and to exchange active involvement for symbolic gratifications of patriotism, collective self-righteousness, and military prowess. Above all, depoliticization is promoted through society’s being enveloped in an atmosphere of collective fear and of individual powerlessness: fear of terrorists, loss of jobs, the uncertainties of pension plans, soaring health costs, and rising educational expenses.”

Sheldon S. Wolin, Democracy Incorporated

"Our corporate oligarchs are harvesting the nation, grabbing as much as they can, as fast as they can, in the inevitable descent."

 Chris Hedges

 

Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Cap, Cap, Pounce

Welcome to September. Ouch.

The spotlight is now on silver, and less so on gold.

Both metals took a hit that was fairly obvious starting late last night. I was surprised it did not go deeper.

It is tough to make a real short term bullish case until we break this pattern of lower highs and lower lows.

Big amount of silver get shoved around the plate at the Comex, so we will have to shift gears a bit and adjust to reports with much bigger numbers of ounces involved.

Today was the first day. Let's see how the rest of the month goes.

Have a pleasant evening.

SP 500 and NDX Futures Daily Charts - Bubble On Through M&A's and IPO's

Stocks had a bit of a roller coaster ride today, with techs trying to take the lead on the upside.

The markets are sloughing off quite a bit of exogenous risk. But that ought not to surprise us, because that is almost the very definition of a bubble in assets. The fundamentals and realities are ignored, as pieces of paper become increasingly traded on their own without regard to risks.

September is going to be marked by the biggest IPO ever. The much awaited Alibaba will be rolling out between now and about September 20. The wiseguys are also going to taking a lot of M&A activity out of the trunks and planting them in the killing fields of a toppy market. Why not? Whether you are paying with cash or stock, your currency is debased.

So barring any untoward events I would expect the markets to muddle through to the latter part of September, and then get set up for some sort of correction into October.  It will probably not be severe, again unless it is driven by some geopolitical events, because of the midyear elections coming up.  Unless of course the financiers decide to engage in some mild form of coup d'état.

I put out an excerpt from a new Harvard Business Review article earlier today that is worth reading here.

Although greed is always a factor in any human activity in our fallen world, there are times when it reaches a peak of activity and predominates, becomes a focus along with power. And then the world is turned upside down as it were. We are in such a time, I firmly believe.

Have a pleasant evening.