Jobs Report is Fraud, Greatest Ponzi Scheme in History Continues

By Wayne Allyn Root

I am a small businessman at "ground zero." I don’t need Obama, the Fed, economists, or the media to tell me how the economy is doing. I live it. And I’m telling you, we’re all being lied to. The economy is not getting better, it’s getting worse. Back in late 2007 and early 2008, I publicly predicted (numerous times) that we were entering the deepest recession since the 1929 Great Depression. At the exact moment I wrote about this, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was testifying in front of Congress that the economy was fine, we were not in recession, and there was little threat of a serious economic decline. It turned out he was dead wrong about everything. A small businessman always knows. [more...]

OBAMA MAY BE THE GRINCH WHO STEALS CHRISTMAS, EXPERTS SAY

THANKSGIVING SALES: A BAD SIGN

OMINOUS OMEN FOR 2014 ECONOMY, INVESTMENT AND JOBS

IS THIS AMERICA'S "NEW NORMAL?"

By Lowell Ponte and Craig R. Smith

Thanksgiving holiday weekend sales were the weakest since 2009, despite major chain stores opening for the first time on Thanksgiving Day.

“President Barack Obama may be the Grinch who steals Christmas, judging by Thanksgiving's weak sales,” says Craig R. Smith.  “We have the smallest percentage of Americans working since Jimmy Carter was President. Only 101 million Americans have full-time jobs, but 108 million are getting means-tested welfare, paid from heavier taxes on working families. The average American family's income is down by about $3,500 since President Barack Obama took office in 2009, yet in 2013 its Federal tax burden increased by more than $1,000."

“Consumer confidence was at a 7-month low this November,” said Smith, “and 65 percent of Americans told pollsters that they were living paycheck to paycheck.  An Associated Press survey last July found that 80 percent of U.S. adults are near poverty, rely on welfare, or 'struggle with joblessness' for at least a significant part of their lives. They live in economic insecurity.  And Obamacare has left families, including millions already struggling to keep their heads above water financially, at risk of losing their health insurance and having to pay a lot more for a lot less coverage. The Manhattan Institute calculates that American families will soon be forced to pay an average of 41 percent more."

“No wonder the National Retail Federation foresaw 7 million fewer shoppers online and in stores than 2012's Thanksgiving weekend,” says Smith. On Black Friday, the number of customers visiting retail stores was down more than 11 percent over last year, and sales were down a stunning 13.2 percent.”

“Welcome to the 'New Normal,'” says Smith's co-author Lowell Ponte. “This is one more sign of our economy weakening, despite the Federal Reserve propping it up with more than $1 Trillion every year of new money conjured out of thin air.  Even the Fed in late November grimly admitted that 'Slower growth in productivity might have become the norm' in our economy."

“This means that the Federal Reserve dare not stop its stimulus spending, even though it no longer stimulates economic growth, because our 'record high' stock market and government are addicted to this cheap, easy money,” says Ponte.  “This means that taxes will keep going up, our anemic economy will keep going down, and, unless voters change things, we may be headed for our devaluing dollar to soon be destroyed in a firestorm of high inflation, or for a Great Depression of long-term stagnation."

“We're in a slow-growth period of unknown duration,” says Columbia University Nobel-laureate economist Edmund Phelps.  No wonder so many Americans are hunkering down, frightened, and spending carefully.

“This is a teachable moment for our children and grandchildren, an opportunity to instill lifelong survival skills,” says Ponte. “Do as the three Wise Men did 2,000 years ago by giving something this Christmas that politicians cannot run off a printing press – something of secure, permanent value such as a small gold coin. This could inspire a lifetime of thrift and of wanting to learn how the economy works.”

“The old saying is that if you give a person a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach your children to fish, you feed them for a lifetime. Today the politicians give people a welfare check, to make them dependent on and addicted to government for a lifetime.  This Christmas teach your children and grandchildren how to be free, independent, self-reliant, prosperous and thankful for a lifetime by giving them real values and real money,” says Ponte.

Factoid: 75% of Americans polled by CBS would have preferred that stores stayed closed on Thanksgiving. Millions nevertheless left family dinners, football and a day of rest to snap up bargains such as big screen TVs.

To schedule an interview with Craig R. Smith or Lowell Ponte, contact:

For a media copy of their new book “The Great Withdrawal,” contact:

Sources:

Lauren Coleman-Lochner and others, “U.S. Retail Sales Up 2.3%, Foot Traffic Declines,” Bloomberg News, December 1, 2013. URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-01/u-s-retail-holiday-sales-up-2-3-foot-traffic-declines.html

Elizabeth A. Harris, “Thanksgiving Openings Take Sales From Black Friday,” New York Times, November 30, 2013. URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/01/business/thanksgiving-openings-take-sales-from-black-friday.html

Hope Yen, “The Big Story: Exclusive: Signs of Declining Economic Security,” Associated Press, July 28, 2013. URL: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/exclusive-4-5-us-face-near-poverty-no-work-0

Rich Miller, “Fed Reveals New Concerns About Long-Term U.S. Slowdown,” Bloomberg News, November 27, 2013.  URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-27/fed-reveals-new-concerns-about-long-term-u-s-slowdown.htm

OBAMA ECONOMY MAY TURN “BLACK FRIDAY” RED, SAY EXPERTS

OBAMA ECONOMY MAY TURN “BLACK FRIDAY” RED, SAY EXPERTS

Reason: “Uncle Sam Is Playing Santa Claus”

WHAT YOU BUY ON FRIDAY COULD MAKE

YOUR FUTURE BLACK OR RED, WARN ECONOMISTS

“TURN THIS THANKSGIVING INTO A 'THINKSGIVING' BEFORE YOU SHOP”

By Lowell Ponte and Craig R. Smith

The day after Thanksgiving is called “Black Friday,” because this is supposed to be the day that most merchants go from losing money – shown on their ledger books in red ink – to making a profit, which they record in black ink.

“Many businesses may stay in the red all of 2013 and deep into 2014 because consumer confidence is at its lowest level since 2009,” says Craig R. Smith, a monetary expert frequently interviewed by Fox's Neil Cavuto and other major business journalists.

“The reason is that Uncle Sam is Playing Santa Claus. Our politicians are spending more than $1 Trillion every year more than government takes in as taxes,” says Smith, whose latest book is “The Great Withdrawal: How the Progressives'100-Year Debasement of America and the Dollar Ends.”

“Our government now operates in the red all the time, funded by the Federal Reserve printing more than $1 Trillion every year out of thin air, which debases the value of our savings, and frightens tax-fearing, inflation-fearing investors and companies out of hiring more workers,” says Smith.

“That is why our economy is stagnant, unemployment stays high, and our stock market is addicted to and high on the Fed's conjured hallucinatory money with its seeds of coming soaring inflation.”

“America now has only 101 million full-time workers – and the lowest job participation rate since Jimmy Carter – but we have 108 million people on means-tested welfare programs,” says Smith.

“We cannot go on much longer in an economy with more takers than makers, and with more in the cart than are pulling the cart. The invisible Continuing Recession soup line of those now on Food Stamps would stretch more than 17,500 miles – more than 70 percent of the way around our planet.”

“Today 49.2 percent of U.S. households have somebody living there who gets a government check, yet average household income has fallen by at least $3,382 since the Great Recession began – and household income has fallen twice as much since President Barack Obama took office,” says Smith.

“Americans should be grateful this Thanksgiving, and on this Red Friday you ought to be buying – not trinkets and toys, but buying things that will protect you and your family in the economic storm we shall face,” says Smith's co-author Lowell Ponte, a former think tank futurist.

“More than 5 million Americans have already lost their health insurance because of Obamacare, another of Uncle Sam's 'gifts,' and the Kaiser Family Foundation warns that as many as 93 million or more of us could see our own health insurance policies cancelled by the end of 2014,” says Ponte.

“For American families, Obamacare will increase health insurance costs by an average of 41 percent, according to analysts at the Manhattan Institute,” says Ponte. “And this huge government-imposed expense is happening in an Obama-chilled economy where millions were struggling to keep their heads above water financially.”

“Politicians love to play Santa Claus, but the rest of us pay the price for this....and a much bigger price tag will soon come when people around the world stop accepting Uncle Sam's credit card....and our economy collapses into another government-caused Great Depression,” says Ponte.

“This Friday, I plan to use some of my gift dollars not to buy toys or trinkets, but to diversify with tangible things they can't run off a printing press as they do our rapidly-devaluing paper dollars in Washington,” says Ponte.

“To protect my family, I plan to follow the example of three Wise Men who followed a star – and who brought tangible, reliable gifts: the spices frankincense and myrrh, and the once-and-future universally accepted global reserve currency, gold, which will gain value as fiat currencies such as today's U.S. Dollar collapse,” says Ponte.

“As we explained in our new book The Great Withdrawal, if you want to see the coming disaster that Big Government Santa Claus politics cause, look at bankrupt Detroit. This could be a crystal ball glimpse of America's fast-approaching future.”

“If you love getting bargains on what used to be Black Friday, then remember that when the next Great Depression hits, those who still have solid money such as gold will almost certainly be able to buy the world for five cents on the dollar,” says Ponte.

“What you choose to buy this holiday season with your dollars – trinkets or solid enduring value such as gold – could determine whether you and your family are bargain buyers, or are forced to sell your possessions for pennies on the dollar, the next time the economy collapses.”

“Make this Thanksgiving a Thinksgiving, and shop Friday as if your future depends on how wisely you buy and invest your money,” says Ponte, who was a longtime Roving Editor and investigative reporter at Reader's Digest magazine.

SOURCES:

Cotten Timberlake, “Wal-Mart Touts $98 TV in Weakest Holiday Season Since '09,” Bloomberg, November 19, 2013.  URL: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-19/wal-mart-touts-98-tv-as-holiday-seen-weakest-since-2009-retail.html

Elizabeth A. Harris, “Retailers Less Than Cheerful Over Christmas Sales,” New York Times, November 14, 2013. URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/15/business/retailers-less-than-cheerful-over-christmas-sales.html

“Poverty, Taxes Reach New Highs Under Obama,” Newsmax, September 28, 2013. URL: http://www.newsmax.com/InsiderReport/Poverty-Taxes-Reach-New-Highs/2013/09/29/id/528195

Jeffrey H. Anderson, “Incomes Have Dropped Twice as Much During the 'Recovery' as During the Recession,” Weekly Standard, August 23, 2013. URL:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/incomes-have-dropped-twice-much-during-recovery-during-recession_750068.html

Digital Currency

By Kerry Lutz

I confess to being a Bitcoin (digital currency) skeptic. I had an opportunity to get in on the ground floor when the digital alternative currency was trading at just $7 per Bitcoin, but didn't bite. Today, the exchange rate hit $400. Trading Bitcoin is not for the faint of heart. Daily fluctuations of 25% or more are not uncommon. For those not in the know, the currency is open source, the number of units issued is fixed and those who hold it are anonymous. Many misconceptions about it continue, which is hampering its adoption. Governments are extremely hostile to its acceptance as money.  No surprise there. It's not like you expect the Federal Reserve to welcome alternative currencies with open arms. [more...]

Why Does the World's Richest Country Have So Many Failed Cities?

By Carl Schramm

A century ago our nation was famous around the world for creating beautiful cities. Now, we are known for failing cities. In a recent 60 Minutes report, Bob Simon noted that after he left what passes for sparks of new life in downtown, the rest of Detroit reminded him of Mogadishu - "the worst place I've ever been." A failing city, we have at least 25, is one that can never expect to return to its former prosperity. Soon Detroit's population will be one-third of what it was in 1960; there is no chance it will ever boast two million again.  While Detroit's problems are specific in their particulars, cities like Baltimore, Cleveland, Toledo, Scranton and Hartford share histories of similar policy choices that drove their continuous downward spiral. [more...]

Obamacare - The Big Scare is Here

By Michelle Seiler-Tucker

The big problem with Obamacare is no one understands it!  One thing that appears to be certain is families will be paying more than what was promised to them on Election Day.  One of the bigger issues caused by Obamacare is business owners are confused and afraid to grow their business.  As a leading authority on buying and selling businesses, I have my pulse on the emotions of the business community.  Unfortunately, many business owners are deeply concerned about the ACA and are making the tough decision not to grow their businesses.  Many owners are deciding to stop at the 49 mark and not hire any more employees.  Most businesses operate on a tight budget with minimal profit margins and they can't afford to pay out more money.  It's as simple as that. [more...]

The Latest on the IRS Scandals

By Wayne Allyn Root

It is increasingly clear that the 2012 elections, both presidential and Senate, were stolen by Obama, the Democratic Party, the IRS, and government employee unions. It’s right out of a mob movie like “The Godfather.” In a story reminiscent of the mob fixing union elections, the IRS enforcers conspired to destroy Obama's main competition - the tea parties and other conservative fundraising groups. Lois Lerner was only one of many IRS big-shots in D.C. who gave orders to IRS offices across the U.S. to "kill" the tea parties and other conservative groups. Their goal: steal the election. As of only days ago, the "fall gal" retired from the IRS. We can only guess what kind of massive payoff she received from Obama's donors. [more...]

Have Americans Forgotten How to Grow?

By Carl Schramm

In the face of a stagnating economic activity many economists are trying to explain why the medicine they have been administering these last six years isn't working. Not capable of accepting theoretical defeat, they offer new explanations. We are being told that technology has permitted big corporations to replace manufacturing jobs with either cheap foreign labor or the substitution of capital for labor using robotic technology. But, an even grander reason is on offer by Robert Gordon who says that innovation itself is slowing. He argues, much like many before him in similar moments when the mysteries of economic life produced a slowdown that in their minds shouldn't be that everything is different because people are living differently, or should be. [more...]

Buy a New Franchise and Throw Your Hard Earned Money down a Black Hole

By Michelle Seiler-Tucker

Many people believe that buying a franchise is a great idea, a sound bet, and that they cannot fail. How can they possibly fail as they are buying a turn-key business with a cookie cutter system, training and ongoing support?

Unfortunately, many buyers get sucked into this illusory belief system and false sense of security that franchises are a sure thing. Take my word for it, there are no sure things.

Buying new franchises can be as risky as starting a new business or throwing your money on the craps table, buying a lottery ticket, etc. Throwing your money away gambling can be a one-time loss; however, buying a new franchise can cost you money for years. If you don’t care about obtaining an ROI (return on investment) and you’re OK with throwing your money down a black hole, then go ahead and buy a new franchise.

It’s about time someone tells buyers the truth. Starting a new business or investing in a new/startup franchise is a huge gamble. At least with a franchise, you are buying systems, training and support, thus creating a slightly safer investment than starting a business from scratch. However, starting a new franchise is still very expensive and extremely risky. You'd better have a pile of working capital lying around to keep you above ground. It is proven that new franchises and businesses will operate in the red for years. Many of them will go out of business or be sold for pennies on the dollar. I have seen many new franchises file bankruptcy. People don’t fail just because they didn't write a business plan or implement a marketing plan; they fail because they run out of money. [more...]

Shuttering Fannie and Freddie Beats Making Taxpayers Shutter

By Chad Hovind

For years, banks have been spared the consequences of making bad decisions and bad loans because Fannie and Freddie have been the proverbial government pillow keeping them from feeling the pain of making risky loans.  When the loans go bad, instead of facing the music, they ask the government to take from the taxpayers and "bail them out."  Simply put, the pain of the bank's head-banging is passed on to the taxpayers.  Do banks learn the lesson?  Not if they don't feel the pain. Obama is championing a bipartisan effort to shutter Fannie and Freddie.  For years, politicians have known that they have enabled bad behavior and have been left holding the bag.  Now, at least a few politicians are trying to get us on the trajectory of moving toward privatization. [more...]

Why We Can Kiss the U.S. Economy Goodbye

By Wayne Allyn Root

In my latest book, The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide: How to Survive, Thrive, and Prosper During Obamageddon, I listed hundreds of statistics proving that the U.S. economy was headed for total collapse. But that was all written months ago. Unfortunately, the worst was yet to come.

The results are in. The picture is grim. Here are some frightening economic numbers to think about the next time the lying, manipulating, mainstream media tells you that we are in "recovery." [go here to read the facts...]

I've argued from day one that Obama's goal was to create a two class society. The two classes are the super-rich (who are beholden to Obama for corporate welfare, bailouts, and government contracts), and the poor (who are beholden to Obama for checks to survive). Look no further than the new immigration bill to see the final destruction of middle class wages.

It's About the Mid-Term Elections, Stupid

By Bill Glynn

Everything the Democrats have done before and after the election and are now doing is about the mid-term elections and the media is their weapon - the most powerful weapon of the 21st century. They never get out of campaign mode. Can you imagine if the Republicans lost the House? America would never recover from the massive social changes that would be rammed down our throats. This is not about the massive reforms and changes that must be made in order for America and the capitalism experiment to survive. It's all about politics.

I agree that roads and bridges can create jobs. So, what needs to be cut to pay for it all? The Republicans' stance (again, horribly articulated and miserably marketed) is the right plan: spend for programs that work and eliminate others that do not. Pull back on programs that incentivize people to stay at home and live off the fat of the land, and cut the heck out of the budget far more than the sequestration and drop all taxes to ZERO - 0 corporate, 0 personal and 0 capital gains. [more...]

Bill Glynn is a voice for conservative principles and publishes "On the Money" each week. He appears regularly on radio and TV talk shows across the country sharing his unique views about the economy and our nation. Check out Billy G.'s new site.

The Truth about the Minimum Wage

By Chad Hovind

Every few months you see a movie, a speech, or a picket about so-called "just wages" and a call to elevate the minimum wage.  We call out "greedy employers" for exploitation with the assumption that the minimum wage is never high enough. The assumption is that businesses are exploiting the entry level employees.  As an example, the recent picketers are calling on McDonald's to raise the minimum wage up to $15.00. How can the market determine a "fair wage" when it's not a living wage?

Entry level jobs are not intended to be payrolls for a career to provide for a family.  They are designed as entry level, "get some job experience" training for folks who are new to the workforce. Often, high school and college students take jobs at minimum wage to start their life and make some extra money.  As a parent of two high school students, I'd love them to work hourly for $3.00-$5.00 during the summer to learn the value of money, work, and be productive. After all, many of us have teens who are playing too much X-box who could be much more productive.

When the government comes in and requires businesses to set an arbitrary minimum wage, several unintended consequences occur.  When businesses are required to raise the cost of their labor, they cannot necessarily raise the cost of the product.  Can McDonald's charge $3.00 more per hamburger if they are paying $3.00 more per employee? Usually, they can't.  Why?  Businesses are required to set their price based on the "customers' point of view."   If the price and quality of your product (in this case, a hamburger) is not perfectly balanced at the customers' desire for price and quality, they will go somewhere else.  That will result in cutting jobs and requiring longer working hours. [more...]

Saving America's economy is not a conservative-versus-liberal issue; it's an issue that affects us all. National leaders have failed to pull the country out of its financial tailspin because both major parties are working from the wrong text. In my new book, Godonomics: How to Save Our Country - and Protect Your Wallet - Through Biblical Principles of Finance, I trace capitalism back to its Biblical source.

How New York State Can Grow Its Economy

By Carl Schramm

Everyone wants a New York that is economically stronger.  The state government has a major hand to play and it's in everyone's interest to help get the correct public policy interventions in place.  Deep in New York’s history, Albany largely saw itself as improving the state's economic chances with very large public works projects – building the canal, the Thruway, the Olympic venue at Lake Placid, and the state university system. 

The cardinal economic problem New York faces is demographic.  Of course it has depopulating cities, is losing industry, has seriously underperforming schools, and a decaying tax base.  But each of these problems ultimately relates to the dynamics of who is living in New York.  In the last decade nearly two million people left New York, the majority moving to states with lower taxes, less regulation and greater economic opportunity.  How do we know?  Not only do copious anecdotal accounts tell us this; IRS data say the out-migrants went to states without income taxes, or with lower taxes, or, in all cases, with growing economies. [more...]

Our Economy's Heroes: "Financial First Responders"

By Wayne Allyn Root

It is easy to understand why the U.S. economy is in crisis and decline. Forget the delusional stock market (fueled by Fed fake money printing). On Main Street our economy is sick and getting sicker. There are no jobs.

The U.S. has 90 million working age, able-bodied Americans unemployed - that’s almost one third of the country. The workforce participation rate is the lowest in decades. The rate of business startups is the lowest in decades. Food stamps, disability, welfare, and Medicaid are at record highs. We are facing economic disaster. Why?

The answer is found in how we treat the heroes of the economy. Firefighters are heroes because they run into burning buildings. Policemen and women are heroes because they run towards the sound of gunshots. That’s why they're called "first responders." Where would we be in a crisis without these heroes?

But our economy relies on heroes, too. I call these heroes "financial first responders." They are the business owners, investors, job creators and taxpayers. Financial first responders risk their money to create jobs, to provide a better life for their employees and to provide products that consumers need at a price they can afford. They risk their financial lives, just like the police and firefighters risk their bodies. [more...]

When Economic Policy Isn't Focused on Growth, the Poor Suffer Mightily

By Carl Schramm

It’s been a long time, as in years, since we’ve had a certain sense that the economy is or might be set to enjoy sustained growth.  We are so eager for good news that any upward pointing indicator gets celebrated in the media, in part because it confirms the political biases of many people in the press about the worth of President Obama’s stimulus policies. But, even the most recent jobs data indicating that unemployment fell to 7.5 percent is clouded by the realization that the number of people who left the labor market grew to a record high.  It suggests fairly clearly that the lower rate of unemployment is what economists call “artifactual” data.  The number of permanently unemployed and those working in jobs well below their skill levels persists.  Just ask this year’s college graduating class about its prospects. [more...]

Why You Should Stop Renting and Buy a Home Now

By Lex Levinrad

Are you currently renting the home that you live in? We recently analyzed data on historical pricing for existing home sales of single family homes in the U.S. We looked at historical price data for single family homes from the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) going back to 1970. We applied historical real estate data to today’s real estate market in order to compare and analyze how a typical first time home buyer today could benefit by purchasing a home similar to the one that they are currently renting. Based on historical data, along with current home prices and mortgage rates we believe that if you are currently renting and you have decent credit then you should really think about buying a home right now. [more...]

President Obama - The CEO Who Knows Nothing

By Wayne Allyn Root

Let's assume for a moment that Obama really knew nothing about the IRS scandal. That would make him the most incompetent and clueless CEO in history. The first time the president of the United States allegedly found out about the IRS scandal was on a Friday, less than two weeks ago, just like the rest of us. We are led to believe he was watching CNN and they mentioned the IRS scandal. And I guess we’re to believe that Obama turned to his Chief of Staff and said, “Wow, those IRS dudes really went rogue!” [more...]

Barack Obama's Scandals Confirm That He's Not a CEO

By Carl Schramm

Every CEO is a politician. Not every politician is a CEO. The current set of messes that President Obama faces makes the point. They are as much management failures as they are political/legal nightmares. There is a price for having no market-facing executive experience. Indeed, Mr. Obama’s first cabinet had almost no private sector management experience.

Most of our better presidents have had business or military leadership experience. This is of tremendous value when running the world’s largest organization. Those who haven’t, like Bill Clinton himself, tested by failure as a politician and familiar with the executive role governors play, knew that private sector executives have a different view of what successful management is and kept a few close at hand. [more...]

It's Time for City Planners to Adapt a New Model

By Carl Schramm

Cities that are essentially supplicants to higher levels of government have one of two paths for planning. One is to become yet more proficient at supplication; in a bad national economy this path spells further decline. The other is to imagine rebuilding an economy that achieves scale growth. Planners never speak to the economic possibilities because apparently they don’t know how economic growth actually happens.

Going forward we need “proto-dynamic” plans for cities. They would sketch out an economic path leading to self-sustenance where the city produces more than it consumes in terms of the larger economy. This is the only path that will allow a city to anticipate any substantial growth and the capacity to eliminate poverty for those who live there. To form such a goal a city has to think of how it can generate sufficient industry to provide jobs for its unemployed. This must be the first order objective and it eludes planners because they have no idea of how the complexities of dynamic economies actually are sparked to life. [more...]

Carl Schramm is a best-selling author, economist and entrepreneur and blogs for the George W. Bush Institute. His column, Messy Capitalism, appears in Forbes. His writing is also published in the Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, City Journal and the Harvard Business Review. He has appeared many times on television as a guest of Charlie Rose (PBS), Brian Sullivan (CNBC), David Asman and Gerri Willis (Fox Business). 

What the Boston Terror Attack Says about the U.S. Economy

By Wayne Allyn Root

Until now, the media and terrorism experts have only discussed the human tragedy of the Boston terror attack. But what about the economic tragedy this foretells? We are in grave danger.

First, this is much more than pure terrorism; it is economic terrorism. Our radical Muslim enemies are not interested in just the immediate pain of a terrorist attack. This is all part of a long-term purposeful plan to bleed our economy dry and cause economic collapse. And it’s working.

Each time there is a new terrorist attack, no matter how small, no matter how ineffective, they scare Americans into accepting a much bigger police state. More money is spent on security, more police are hired, Homeland Security expands and dramatically increases its budget, the FBI and CIA ask for more money, each city on the terrorism threat list demands more money, and each police department in America demands more sophisticated weaponry. Don’t forget the cost to private industry. Each threat of terrorism results in millions more being spent to guard each sporting event, political event, celebrity event. This all raises taxes, the cost to attend each event, and of course the exploding national debt. Each and every attack, or even attempted attack, is met with hysterical cries to grow government bigger and spend more - and it's money we don’t have. [more...]

Obama's Plan to Destroy America

By Wayne Allyn Root

The economic news has gone from bad to worse. First, we found out the jobs numbers are collapsing. Then retail sales figures were released; they showed across the board contraction. Next, we found out U.S. business inventory figures were a disappointment. Finally, consumer confidence not only collapsed, but it was the largest miss from expectations in U.S. economic history. What exactly is our president's plan?

  

Shouldn't the American people have a right to know what our president's real economic agenda is? Is he out to help or hurt us? With things getting worse, don't we have a right to ask these questions? I have a story that sheds light on that life or death question in my new book, The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide.

President Obama and I were college classmates at Columbia University, class of '83. I know all too well how mindlessly leftist the students and faculty of that institution can be and Barack Obama is certainly no exception. My time at Columbia made it crystal clear: leftists always believe they are morally superior. While they publicly state that their mission is to save the world from prejudice, patriotism, racism, greed, and inequality, they are, in fact, hostile and resentful towards anyone who has achieved self-made success through American values. It is in this cesspool of intolerance that Obama and his Marxist cronies hatched their plan to destroy our country. [more...]

How to Survive Obamageddon and the Coming Obama Great Depression

HOW TO SURVIVE OBAMAGEDDON AND THE COMING OBAMA GREAT DEPRESSION

Wayne Allyn Root shows not only how to survive but to thrive and prosper under Obama

President Obama's second term in office guarantees that more American families than ever before will fall into poverty. Obama's destructive agenda is aimed squarely at the middle class, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and those with capitalist drive. Wayne Allyn Root's The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide: How to Survive, Thrive, and Prosper During Obamageddon is the handbook all Americans need not just to survive the next four years, but to outsmart the coming big-government disaster.


"First get mad... then get even," says Capitalist Evangelist, serial entrepreneur, and former Libertarian Vice-Presidential nominee Wayne Allyn Root. As a former classmate of President Obama at Columbia University, Root exposes how President Obama is working to steal our liberty, wages, assets, property, opportunities, and ultimately destroy the middle class using a brutally simple plan they were both taught at Columbia University. Then Root shows Americans how to fight back and protect their assets, protect the American dream, and thrive in the midst of the Obama Great Depression.


The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide exposes "The Obama Axis of Evil" - taxation, regulation, unionization, litigation, intimidation, and government strangulation. Then (unlike most books critical of the Obama administration) The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide offers no-nonsense, practical, real-life strategies for any individual to fight back, protect themselves, and even benefit from Obama's harmful policies. The Ultimate Obama Survival Guideis essential reading for anyone who not only wants to survive Obamageddon but thrive.

In The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide, you will learn:

• How Obama is "Boiling the Frog" by overwhelming the country with deficit, debt, entitlements, onerous regulations, and tax hikes designed to slowly collapse the U.S. economy without a fight.
• Why Obama's real goal is to destroy the middle class and create just two classes of Americans - the super-rich who are rewarded with bribes, stimulus and government contracts; and the poor who loyally vote for Obama in return for the handouts they need to survive.
• Why Texas should be the gold standard for saving America and why Detroit is the model for Obama's America.
• How to use Y-Pods - Your Personal Obama Defense Shields - to protect your assets, save yourself from the fall-out of the spiraling national debt, and improve your financial position.
• Which not-so-obvious investments from farmland, the oil patch, collectibles, and medical real estate could be the keys to creating your own Booming Personal Economy.
• Why a U.S. Special Forces Commando says every family member should have a MOLLIE or an ALICE and why owning a gun is essential to survival.
• What solutions and techniques eighteen self-made super-rich millionaires are employing to protect themselves from Obamageddon.

Helping Cities Fix Themselves

By Carl Schramm

There is no compelling narrative in our public discourse today about what to do with cities that are no longer economically viable - that are losing their populations in the wake of losing their economies. In every such place, and there are dozens of them, the talk is of recovery, restoration, often "renaissance." The alternative of seeing some of our cities as smaller, operating on a different and more diminutive scale, is never heard. Instead consultants bring bright visions that politicians and citizens know in their hearts can't be realized. So how should we think about the re-development of cities if the reality of de-development is ever to be turned around? [more...]

Can Austin, TX Become the Dubai of The United States?

By Carl Schramm

A new book by Daniel Brook describes the “History of Future Cities.” Mumbai, Dubai, Shanghai and St. Petersburg, he argues, will model city life in years to come because they will be more able to attract smart people from all over the world who, congregating together, will make wonderfully creative places to live and work. The book will likely be greeted as further evidence that America’s salad days are behind her. [more...]

Can Urban Entrepreneurs Save Our Cities?

By Carl Schramm

A battle of ideas about how to save our cities has recently broken out. At issue is a popular "fix" that revolves around inducing members of the nation's "creative class" to alight in a given city and rejuvenate its economy. A respected urbanologist, Joel Kotkin, has accused the idea's author, Richard Florida, of selling snake oil. Florida says a city's future depends on building something like an "arts district" where a young and rootless post-graduate crowd can hang out and be innovative. Somehow new businesses will flow because smart people have been attracted to town. Florida's point is sound, in part. Economists have known for a long time that smarter people are critical to the future economic performance of any location just as they are to the success of firms that have relatively smarter employees. Human capital makes a big difference. More smart people in any given place is a good predictor of its future economic success. [more...]

Get Ready for Bank Runs

By Wayne Allyn Root

The media was wrong in pronouncing the economic crisis over in Europe. They are wrong in America, too. The REAL economic indicators - the ones not based on fraud, propaganda, deception, or delusion - prove that the economic crisis caused by too much government, too much spending, too much taxing, too many government regulations and too many government employees with obscene salaries and pensions, is just beginning.

Get ready for bank runs, capital controls, theft of your pension funds, economic collapse, and a government armed to the teeth, that wants to disarm you - its citizens... because what is happening now in Europe is a sign of things to come under Obama.

The media has told us for months that "everything is fine in Europe, a recovery is underway, the worst is over." Really? How’s that working out for you? The economic crisis and contagion in Europe that was supposedly “under control” is now spiraling out of control. There is desperation in the air - fear and panic everywhere. Think I’m exaggerating? Well, don’t take my word for it; a major bank executive stated publicly last week that "only Jesus can save the EU now." [more...]

Ryan to the Rescue?

By Bill Glynn

Paul Ryan has a plan - a good one, I think, as a start. This plan reduces the budget deficit by 2023. This does nothing to the national debt; it is simply designed to stop adding to the debt by then. And $17 trillion is upon US! We spend so much that if we make dramatic changes today – which are a requirement to survive, ourselves – then we balance the corporate books. In other words, we borrow more and more up to that time. Will tax reform help? NO! Will Medicare and Medicaid reform help? NO! Will Social Security reform help? NO! Why? It will never get done and even if some changes occur, it will be piecemeal at best. And so I make this clear: it matters little because those programs are Ponzi schemes; and, yes, Gov. Perry, banished for saying it, was right. They own trillions of U.S. debt. So even if incremental changes are made, they are still holding the bag. [more...]

The Global Money Printing Campaign is Working its Magic

By Jerry Robinson

The headlines pumped out of the mainstream press this week were some of the most economically positive that I have seen recently. It seems the global embrace of quantitative easing is finally beginning to work its magic. But central banks do not appear willing (more likely able) to turn off the printing presses.

While the Fed's "wealth effect" is working, it has only served to distort the financial markets through wrong incentives and moral hazard. Today, corporations are sitting on enormous piles of cash and are not hiring like they were in the pre-crisis era. U.S. real estate is still plagued with underwater mortgages and record defaults and foreclosures. And America’s unemployment remains stubbornly high, despite the government’s best attempts at painting a different picture with their bogus "official" numbers.

The stock rally that we are experiencing likely has much more room to continue. Trillions of investment dollars are still sitting on the sidelines in bonds and cash. Americans have short memories. If the stock market continues climbing, money will come pouring into stocks. This will drive prices up even quicker. This will set the stage for the next mega-collapse. I have no predictions on dates when this will occur. However, it is certain due to the vicious cycle created by the Federal Reserve’s inflationary policies coupled with typical investor behavior. [more...]

Jerry Robinson - columnist, and radio host, is featured weekly on Worldnetdaily.com, quoted by USA Today, has appeared on Fox News, and has written columns for Townhall and FinancialSense. Host of Follow the Money Weekly, Jerry deciphers top economic and financial news on his radio show as well as in his popular newsletter, Follow the Money Quarterly.

The Future of America's Cities

By Carl Schramm

For roughly 50 years America has observed the profound decay of a large number of her once most productive and wealthiest cities. These unhappy places have been concentrated in the Northeast and along the Great Lakes.

The past of every American city was messy and the future will be more so. Places that will thrive will do so because they are the home to smart and creative people who could largely care less if they are part of a cluster, the creative class, or a cog in a city’s master plan, much less a soldier in an ideological war. Individuals make the future and cities should strive to provide the basics to make it easier for them to get there. If sufficient numbers find success they will bring everyone else along. Simply, the future belongs to those who make it. They won’t try to make it if they can’t own it. [more...]

By Forgetting Its Proud Economic History, Syracuse Loses Its Future

By Carl Schramm

For eight decades, right up to the Depression, Syracuse was one of the thirty largest cities in the country with one of the best-educated and healthiest populations. For another thirty it was among the 50 largest cities. Not surprisingly, given its economic importance, it was also one of the wealthiest cities. Everyone had good jobs. Household income was well above the national average. Family bank accounts were at times higher than those in Detroit and Philadelphia. Not surprisingly, its school system was one of the best in the country.

Today Syracuse’s civic distinctions are embarrassing. The city’s economy no longer works. A recent report from the state found that average household income was $31,000 while the state average was $55,000. It appears that its future is no longer dependent on the genius of its people but the largesse of higher order governments both state and federal. It has lost its ability to determine its own fate. [more...]

Watch Carl on The Blaze TV

In his new book, "Better Capitalism: Renewing the Entrepreneurial Strength of the American Economy," Mr. Schramm talks about the financial crisis and the recession that followed and how it underscored for us that a sustained recovery and higher long-run growth will require a heavier dose of entrepreneurship than we had previously recommended. This book lays out some concrete ways to do that. In the wake of the Great Recession and America's listless recovery from it, economists, policymakers, and media pundits have argued at length about what has gone wrong with the American capitalist system. Even so, few constructive remedies have emerged. Better Capitalism cuts through the chatter and offers a detailed, non-ideological, and practical blueprint to restore the vigor of the American economy. [more...]