patrick.net

Walmart warned that 2023 is going to be a tough year because the extra free money given to those on social benefits just ended. With Covid, those families on food stamps (now known as SNAP) got an extra $95 per month per household. With 21.3% of households on social benefits that gave Walmart (yes, the Waltons are the richest family in America) record profits because Walmart is the largest grocer in America.

Yes, much of Covid aid was just free money to the rich.

https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/temporary-pandemic-snap-benefits-will-end-in-remaining-35-states-in-march

Those on Medicaid were not dropped from the program even if their income rose above the threshhold because of Covid. This extra source of free money to the healthcare industry is likewise ending over the course of this year.

The end of these free money giveaways should help bring down inflation for the regular folk.

Misc says

The end of these free money giveaways should help bring down inflation for the regular folk.

I hope so, and the economy increases productivity and innovation such as get rid of the dead weight workers like the blue hairs.

.........

Misc says

record profits because Walmart is the largest grocer in America

I looked at Walmart's stock chart and its real gain is nearly 0% since February 2020 based on about 18% inflation from February 2020 to present day. Net income was $6.7 billion in 2019 and $13.7 billion in 2022 :-/

Misc says

wage increases increase the affordability.

How does that work for the unemployed? And it's not true for the employed either. I can't find many jobs in my field that will pay what I'm getting now. Most pay $20k less, and ask for more work than what I have to do. Wages have fallen behind inflation for years now, which hits people hardest in the areas we're starting to see in the past year. Transportation, utilities, food.

Misc says

We also have the highest number of houses without a mortgage. Something you have been denying.

NuttBoxer says

So using 40% as a baseline, and attributing the 20% increase to debt, you can see ownership at best has remained steady for 100 years, but in all likelihood has significantly decreased, along with the size of the land owned by individuals.

You mean dis-proving...

Misc says

You seem to think that Americans are in financial straights, but American households have near record amounts of cash, and other financial assets.

The average net wealth of US families aged 55-75 is over $1 million. ---- Hardly broke.

Calculated for inflation..? Of course not. That's actually true for us, but not anyone else that we know. And you deliberately poached the average instead of the median to try and sound right. What we know for sure is the disparity between the rich and the rest has never been greater, which the average you attempt to lie about includes. What the fuck man, you think you post a link I won't read it? Median is just over $100k. Further if you remove the inflated housing prices most people are using to stay in the black, you would end up with a negative net worth for majority of households.

Misc says

cisTits says

Misc says

The average net wealth of US families aged 55-75 is over $1 million. ---- Hardly broke.

What? In cash or t-bills?

R/E is only worth what it can be liquidated for. Stocks are far more liquid.

All assets less all liabilities.

US households are waiting for government fuckery that's why they hold $15 trillion in cash --- not stock or bonds or bitcoin ---- cash

@cisTits read the article, he's using the average that includes the billionaire's, not the median.

Looks like you missed this part.

Yes, it's misleading because it takes into account the 21.3% of the population on government social services that have nothing. Real Americans that worked their 45 years, bought a home and saved a little are way above the $1 million, and this doesn't include any pensions they may have. Regular folks end up quite well off.

Misc says

As far as those Central bankers trying to enslave everyone, they are going about it in government fashion. The largest holders of those sub 3% mortgages is the Federal Reserve. SO with inflation running about 8% and wages going up about 7% they are taking a loss on those holdings of mortgages, and treasuries each and every year.

They control the printing presses, it doesn't matter for them. You don't seem to understand the basics of inflation. If I inflate the money supply 97%, but I own 5% of that, I'll still have something. But the masses, who hold small fractions of percentages of the total will be wiped out. In a war of attrition, the one on the lever can always outlast the rest, and pick up real assets for pennies on the dollar, as they have during every bust.

And if they convert everyone to CDBC's, you think that's going to be 1-1 conversion rate? They'll reset us all to whatever they want, and themselves to whatever they want. The key to this system is greed. Inflation makes people like you think they can get something for nothing, so you look the other way as they impoverish those on the lowest rungs, because hey, you're still doing ok. But make no mistake, you're willing participation makes you just as responsible for what happens to those people. And some day you will have to face that reckoning, and it will not be pleasant.

If we marked to market the Fed's balance sheet, it ends up about a negative $3 trillion.

That is a $3 trillion gain for America's households and a loss of that amount for the bankers. Right now it looks like they are government competent not anything to worry about.

Misc says

Yes, it's misleading because it takes into account the 21.3% of the population on government social services that have nothing.

Again attempting to cherry pick to not look like a liar? What I read was don't use the average, because the have's skew it way more than the have-nots. When they say greatest disparity that doesn't just mean a bunch of people are poorer, it means a bunch of people are much, MUCH richer. And the poorer side doesn't help your case, not - one - bit..

Misc says

Real Americans that worked their 45 years, bought a home and saved a little are way above the $1 million, and this doesn't include any pensions they may have. Regular folks end up quite well off.

I don't know a single person like that. But I do know people are trying to offload homes in my area for 1-2 million that are worth $400k, at best. You have no concept of real wealth, because you either never had to work hard, don't value your health, don't have kids, or aren't very close to your family. When this system implodes, all that make believe disappears, and what's left you'll be lucky if anyone wants it.

The median (since you seem to like that better) house price is $392k. Since 40% have their house paid off (a higher percent the older you are), that doesn't seem like much of a stretch to have saved $600k in financial assets over 45 years. Again this doesn't include any pensions they may have.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/272776/median-price-of-existing-homes-in-the-united-states-from-2011/#:~:text=In%20the%20third%20quarter%20of,by%20the%20end%20of%202023.

Misc says

That is a $3 trillion gain for America's households and a loss of that amount for the bankers.

But the national debt is at a record high, and the average debt for every American is also at a record. You think the central bank will pay back that treasury debt? No way! It comes from us in taxes, as we produce the only real value in this system, or time. But that's never going to pay it back, in the end a debt jubilee, via implosion, or intentional reset is how it will unwind. And if they are able to control it to their liking, as I said, you will get pennies on the dollar for what you own, if it's not seized to pay back your debts. And those pennies will come with tracking chips and slavery.

They could just as easily construct a debt jubilee by cancelling the Treasury debt the Fed holds. That's the power of having a fiat currency.

Misc says

The median (since you seem to like that better) house price is $392k. Since 40% have their house paid off, that doesn't seem like much of a stretch to have saved $600k in financial assets over 45 years. Again this doesn't include any pensions they may have.

Glad to see you've abandoned your false narrative with the first link. So, $392k is still at the top of an imploding market, house sales have dropped several months in a row now. Will continue until prices reflect current interest rates, which will keep rising regardless of what the Fed does, because they do not control them, merely attempt to manage/manipulate. So adjusted average is closer to $100k, and I'm being generous.
Now that's 40% of all homeowners, not your 45 year demographic, so let's drop that down to say 10%. Now let's look at the financial picture over the last 45 years.

Going back to 1978. So you have the financial bust of the late 70's, no savings yet. Now we're at the end of the 80's, some savings starting to develop, but here comes the SnL scandal, savings take a hit again. Ok, we're at the end of the 90's, we've gotten smarter, but here comes the dot com bust, another hit to savings. Now it's 2006 and prices will never go down patnetters!! Whoops, huge drops in stock market, housing market, 401k's wiped out, people unable to retire, starting over AGAIN. Ok, but we'll get that savings together this time, it's 2019, ohh shit, scamdemic, and my business of 40 years, gone. Now my saving's, whatever I scraped together through all those debacles is paying my daily expenses while I pray they raise Social Security benefits so I'm not on the street when I'm 80.

The reason we don't line up, I don't just espouse philosophy, I live what I preach. The socialist/communist/central bank loving Keynes worshipers have never lived their theory's, but they love to say we should. Mises should have been a god to you people, but instead you chose to follow the devil of central banking.

Misc says

They could just as easily construct a debt jubilee by cancelling the Treasury debt the Fed holds. That's the power of having a fiat currency.

Who's gonna trade with us when that happens? Most business's in the US cross borders, what will happen to them? And what about the average person holding bonds as a "safe" investment? The 401k's vested in treasuries? You think all that debt will just unwind consequence free!? Tell me when the fuck that has ever, EVER happened...

The people holding the bonds either directly or through their 401Ks still have them. It is simply the bonds already purchased by the Fed that get cancelled.

Everyone still trades with us like they always have, The US simply has a larger monetary base,

Silver is great. And silver is easily tested, and for a slight premium firms can buy silver and mint coins attesting to weight and purity.

But, the first $1000 of any wage, salary, or contract payment must be made in Silver Metal, not Paper or Digital.

Perhaps you didn't read my comment correctly. I said after 45 years of working. That puts the age of the householder at about 65 years old. Easily old enough to have a paid off house.

The future prices you foresee for homes is radically different from mine. We will see what will come.

RayAmerica says

I'm old enough to recall 'mortgage burning parties,' which were, when I was a very young boy, quite common. Once the borrower paid off their home, they would celebrate with their family and friends by burning the mortgage.

How old are you, 90? I only know about this because I grew up watching The Waltons, I think. I think the Waltons had an episode of that.

Misc says

If we marked to market the Fed's balance sheet, it ends up about a negative $3 trillion.

That is a $3 trillion gain for America's households and a loss of that amount for the bankers. Right now it looks like they are government competent not anything to worry about.

I'm afraid that kind of "aggregate" (implied "averaging") thinking is a grave mistake. If the FED prints out $3million to hire 30 uniformed thugs to raid your home and take whatever they want, will you or your family be better off as a result? or even those 30 thugs in uniforms getting a habit of raiding people's homes for profit? It's not an idle imagination of the impossible: think property forfeiture rules and think how much the federal government has spent on buying "vaccines" and buying media to brainwash people into taking the "vaccines." (including those in the media/celebrity dying after taking the "vaccine" themselves)

Institutions (e.g. "government," "corporations," "organizations") are all imaginary entities, and tools for some people to exploit others. Only individuals are real (and can think for their own self interest; whereas an institution is not able to think for itself)

What central banking enables is a form of multi-level human farming . . . just like slavery and feudalism. Sound money and the citizens' rights to bear arms are what create level playing ground for all, so as to avoid putting everyone (including those thinking themselves supposedly "in charge" , and their children) in danger of being farmed like animals (i.e. animals to be slaughtered after being fattened up).

Comes to think of it, when Madoff's Ponzi scam blew up, his balance book showed negative 60+ billion dollars. Did Madoff's clients reap an aggregate benefit of $60+ billion? Of course not. The overwhelming majority lost money. His biggest client Picower had pulled out over $5billion, but when investigators showed up to interview Picower for potential claw-backs, Picower was found dead in his swimming pool; not sure if suicided or someone killed him or himself faking death, but his widow eventually coughed up $5+ billion, so the other Madoff clients could get back something like 10-20 cents on the dollar. Interesting to note that when Madoff's scam gig was up, he sent his two sons (his helps running the "fund") to report him to the FBI . . . in a move that was rather similar to Genoese banksters and Venetian banksters hiring Napoleon (a Corsican Italian born to the island's representative to the City of London when Corsica was briefly British territory) at the head of a French army to invade rapidly through northern Italy destroying bank books. Madoff's self-preservation attempt to move himself into federal custody did not however prevent his two sons from being "suicided."

Reality says

danger of being farmed like animals (i.e. animals to be slaughtered after being fattened up).

That would explain the US obesity epidemic.

In Mexico, I learned that the Aztecs would fatten up prisoners before sacrificing them because the crowd would then eat the body.

Not good then to be a fat guy milling about the Aztec areas as that would have saved the Aztecs the trouble. Stacy Adams would have been good at hiding. If you were an Aztec when the priest came hunting for sacrifice victims, be sure to have your buddy Lardzuma hanging around.

Patrick says

In Mexico, I learned that the Aztecs would fatten up prisoners before sacrificing them because the crowd would then eat the body.

If I had to die a forced death, count me in if it was authentic Mexican food to fatten me up. There are worse ways to go...

https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjbxw/202302/t20230220_11027664.html

After World War II, the United States led efforts to set up the Bretton Woods System, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which, together with the Marshall Plan, formed the international monetary system centered around the U.S. dollar. In addition, the United States has also established institutional hegemony in the international economic and financial sector by manipulating the weighted voting systems, rules and arrangements of international organizations including "approval by 85 percent majority," and its domestic trade laws and regulations. By taking advantage of the dollar's status as the major international reserve currency, the United States is basically collecting "seigniorage" from around the world; and using its control over international organizations, it coerces other countries into serving America's political and economic strategy.

The United States exploits the world's wealth with the help of "seigniorage." It costs only about 17 cents to produce a 100 dollar bill, but other countries had to pony up 100 dollar of actual goods in order to obtain one. It was pointed out more than half a century ago, that the United States enjoyed exorbitant privilege and deficit without tears created by its dollar, and used the worthless paper note to plunder the resources and factories of other nations.

Quote is from a Chinese propaganda site, but they're not wrong about this.

I recall the Mexican peso was about 24 to $1 USD in 1980.
Overnight it dropped to about 50 pesos to $1 USD.
Today it's 18.5 "new pesos"=18,500 pesos to $1 USD.
What is strange is the standard of living is generally higher today, but Baja Sur Mexico may be uniquely more prosperous than the mainland (except Mexico City and Guadalajara).

So their central bank essentially stole the money of everyone who had pesos by printing more of them.

Patrick says

So their central bank essentially stole the money of everyone who had pesos by printing more of them.

Just the savers. Debtors made out.

Savers lost a ton of dough in Mexico at the first big devaluation. Overnight you would lose almost 50% of your net worth.
At the same time, interest rates were sky high so you could probably keep up if you bought Mexican bonds.
Those who owned Mexico stocks made out like a bandit; Telmex was privatized and shot to the moon for example.

I found an old 5,000 peso note before I left, and thought maybe I'd change it in Mexico. Turns out it's worth about 25 cents now. I gave it to a cambio clerk and she at least accepted it as a gift.

Patrick says

So their central bank essentially stole the money of everyone who had pesos by printing more of them.

Essentially what the Federal Reserve and our reckless, corrupt, out of control Government is doing to the dollar.

Patrick says

Quote is from a Chinese propaganda site, but they're not wrong about this.

There's some truth, as the reserve currency holder does enjoy some benefit, but remember, the Federal Reserve is not a US institution. It's ownership is mostly foreign. These institutions have all been created with one sole purpose, world enslavement. The people running them have no nationalistic loyalties. And to achieve their goal, America MUST become a third world country.

clambo says

I recall the Mexican peso was about 24 to $1 USD in 1980.
Overnight it dropped to about 50 pesos to $1 USD.
Today it's 18.5 "new pesos"=18,500 pesos to $1 USD.
What is strange is the standard of living is generally higher today, but Baja Sur Mexico may be uniquely more prosperous than the mainland (except Mexico City and Guadalajara).

I remember it being 10/1 just about forever, and things in Tijuana looking much better in the 80's then they do today.

HeadSet says

Just the savers. Debtors made out.

clambo says

Savers lost a ton of dough in Mexico at the first big devaluation. Overnight you would lose almost 50% of your net worth.

When you devalue anything fiat, the winners and losers aren't along savers vs debtors, it's ultra-rich vs everyone else. Because if your wealth represents 10% of an economy, you can always take the hit. But everyone else is eventually dragged to the bottom. And at that point the ultra-rich, who run the system, are able to snap up real assets with their worthless paper at pennies on the dollar.

And this my friends, is always and solely the purpose of central banks.

https://slaynews.com/news/france-calls-europe-ditch-us-dollar-seek-strategic-autonomy/

France Calls on Europe to Ditch U.S Dollar, Seek ‘Strategic Autonomy’

There should be no reason why people can't use silver by weight at all.

I'd also like to see the States have the power to mint metal coins, so long as it is "Legal Tender valid for the payment of all debts, private or public." at least within the state itself.

Florida Florins!
Texas Thalers!

I'd prefer Florida and Texas one ounce coins.

As soon as you use a name like "dollar", then the games start because that breaks the explicit valuation by weight of silver.

The only honest currency name I know of was the British pound, which was literally a pound of silver until it wasn't.

Patrick says

As soon as you use a name like "dollar", then the games start because that breaks the explicit valuation by weight of silver.

The definition comes from Spain, and equals 20 reals of silver. Just because a corrupt system attempts to co-opt a word, does not change it's meaning. Anymore than tolerance equaling killing Christians...