MurraySabrin.com

“The Dow Jones Industrial Average provides us with some pretty strong evidence that our “stock market boom” has been fueled by debt.  On Wednesday, the Dow crossed the 20,000 mark for the first time ever, and this comes at a time when the U.S. national debt is right on the verge of hitting 20 trillion dollars.  Is this just a coincidence?  As you will see, there has been a very close correlation between the national debt and the Dow Jones Industrial Average for a very long time. For example, when Ronald Reagan took office in 1991, the U.S. national debt had just hit 994 billion dollars and the Dow was sitting at 951.  And as you can see from this chart by Matterhorn.gold via David Stockman, roughly that same ratio has held true throughout subsequent presidential administrations… During the Clinton years the Dow raced out ahead of the national debt, but an “adjustment” during the Bush years brought things back into line. The cold hard truth is that we have been living way above our…”

Source: Is It Just A Coincidence That The Dow Has Hit 20,000 At The Same Time The National Debt Is Reaching $20 Trillion?

Trump’s Waterloo?  

Source: Bull in the Mideast China Shop

A couple of months ago I read Greenspan’s autobiography, The Age of Turbulence.  Today, I reviewed his thoughts as the dot com bubble was unfolding.  At one time Greenspan writes he is worried about a bubble and then a few pages later the maestro says he does not think a bubble is occurring.  In other words, Greenspan does not accurately recall what he was thinking, or he wants it both ways.  I’ll finish my review tomorrow.

“On March 30, 1999, the Wall Street Journal’s front page headline blasted the good news across the world: “Dow Industrials Top 10,000” The day before, the all-important US stock index, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, closed above 10,000 for the first time in history. It was a major milestone, and investors cheered. A few investors, however, were concerned. They felt that US stocks were too expensive, and the entire market was in a dangerous bubble. But the Wall Street Journal answered those naysayers, as the headline of the second article on the front page ominously read: “If this is a bubble, it sure is hard to pop.” They were right.”

Source: US stocks are now the most overpriced since the 2000 crash. – Sovereign Man

Obama’s real legacy the MSM won’t talk about.  

Source: Obama Bequeaths a More Dangerous World – Consortiumnews

by Dr Ted Noel

Robert Wenzel points out the stupidity of this.  

Finished reading Sebastian Mallaby’s bio of Alan Greenspsan, The Man Who Knew.  The takeaway from the book is that Greenspan turned his back on his advocacy of laissez faire capitalism and became infected with “Potomac fever,” beginning in 1974 as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors and then as chairman of the Federal Reserve, from 1987-2006.  He knew that the Fed was creating financial bubbles but let them inflate instead of pulling the plug.  In other words, Greenspan was the ultimate “political operator” as he navigated the political minefield in Washington, DC.

I will have more to write about Greenspan in my book on financial bubbles.  I expect to post some excerpts in early May, at the earliest.

Crony capitalism is alive and well in the Trump administration.   

“U.S. Treasury Secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin isn’t jumping on the Republican bandwagon to audit the Fed.”

Source: Mnuchin Backs Fed Independence and Signals Reform Isn’t Priority – Bloomberg

Robert Wenzel takes on Trump’s threat to intervene in Chicago.

It is up to the people to end statism at home and interventionism.  Do the people want to live in a free and peaceful society?

Source: Taking the Long View by — Antiwar.com

I attended the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce luncheon featuring Senators Sarlo (D) and Oroho (R), the two lead co-sponsors of the Transportation Trust Fund and tax reduction legislation.  During the Q&A I congratulated the senators for piecing together a necessary if flawed piece of legislation to fund road repairs and construction for many years to come.

I pointed out that the income tax exemption of $100,000 of pension and other retirement income was egregiously flawed, because if a retiree earns $100,001 or more, the entire income tax exemption is lost.  I learned that the retirement income exemption will benefit 85% of the retirees in the state.  In other words, 15% of retirees whose income is greater than  $100,000 are if effect second class citizens.  One principle of taxation should be that all income earners should be treated the same.  Moreover, government is the only institution that punishes success.  Shameful.  We will see if the current legislative session fixes this injustice.

I am plodding through the bio of Alan Greenspan.  Should be done by tomorrow, which covers his decisions that caused the dot com and housing bubbles.

Frustrating day because the Internet was down.  After speaking to Netgear it seems the router is kaput.  Got a new router but my cable company has new modems, which we will get tomorrow.  Using my neighbor’s WiFI to access the internet tonight.

Almost finished reading The Man Who Knew, Mallaby’s bio of Greenspan.  I should be done either tomorrow or by early Wed.  Mallaby keeps on making snide comments about free markets and gold.  He thinks the federal government can manage the economy.

We saw La La Land this morning.  The music was wonderful, the actors were believable and the story is compelling.  Do not give up your dreams.

I started reading The Man Who Knew, an authorized biography of Alan Greenspan, by Sebastian Mallaby.  The book is sponsored by the Council of the Foreign Relations, the long time forum for the political elites who set the agenda to govern the world’s nation states.  Mallaby makes some snide comments in both the Preface and Introduction about libertarianism and gold.  I will have more to say about this in my book.