Tuesday, February 28, 2017

HEGEMONICS 101: "It Can't Happen To Me"

"Reagan proved that trade deficits don't matter, IF you're a reserve currency hegemon, and IF you enjoy surprise collapse"

I get why people voted for Trump. Hillary was eight more years of ignoring the problem. Trump was for blaming the rest of the world for America's problems. I get it, the latest clown to paper over the real problem:

Here is corporate profits % of GDP (blue) with Manufacturing employment:

Shock Doctrine 1.0 and Shock Doctrine 2.0:




Worse yet, what they all still apparently don't understand is that capital can't survive without demand. There is no such thing as a "Supply side" economy. That is a fantasy for generations who've had it too good for too long. Today's newfound Hegemonics has nothing to do with real supply and demand economics, it has only to do with being a serial conned dunce, wherein:

Quality of jobs was traded for quantity of jobs

Wages for corporate profits

Economy for a casino

Productive capacity for debt

Solvency for insolvency

Real news for fake news


Just today, we learned that Q4 GDP missed estimates. Lots of excuses were made for this of course, but buried in the fine print is the fact that the expanding trade deficit shaved 2% off of annualized GDP.

MW: Feb. 28, 2017

Blah, blah, blah...

The wide trade deficit effectively cut fourth-quarter GDP in half."

Oh, is that all. January also recorded the second largest trade deficit since August 2008, due to stronger dollar. Bueller?

Meanwhile, filed under "you can't make this shit up", jobless consumer ConnedFidence is soaring. The power of social mood at an all time casino high:



And yet even as jobless ConnedSumers evince all confidence in the Reality TV host in chief, Target's profit imploded -43% this quarter, and its forward outlook was far lower than analysts had expected...

Bueller?


Meanwhile, not to be outdone in casino land, Fidelity reduced commissions by -37% imploding the entire retail brokerage sector...

Bueller?



But, as long as the robber barons are fat and happy with their bailouts and printed money, that's all that matters...