There Are A Lot Of Stressed Homeowners And Investors That Are Trying To Offload Their Properties
A report from the Wall Street Journal on Florida. “The Tampa Bay housing market had been softening even before Helene struck. About half the homes listed for sale in Tampa experienced price reductions as of Sept. 9, the third highest share of all U.S. major metropolitan areas. Dustin Pentz bought his home 10 years ago, and was one of the lucky few to avoid flooding. That is until Hurricane Helene. When police blocked his car from entering the neighborhood, he paddleboarded his way home to assess the damage. ‘This neighborhood’s amazing, great schools. But no one wants to deal with this all the time,’ said Pentz. ‘It sucks because no one wants to live here anymore. There are so many houses for sale and no one’s buying.'”
“The area’s affordability, once a large part of its appeal, is also waning as insurance premiums soar. Jacob McFadden was paying $880 a year to insure his home when he bought it in 2020. That amount has since almost quadrupled, to $3,300. Premiums will likely increase again now. ‘I don’t know how much longer I’m going to do this waterfront living,’ McFadden said, standing in front of his home with a wheelbarrow and his home’s contents scattered around the front yard. ‘This may be the end.'”
The Washington Post. “Since March 2023, a representative from Shellpoint Mortgages has called Gregory Briscoe about twice a day nearly every day. By now, he doesn’t bother picking up the phone; he knows the company will be on the other end. They’ll ask him to pay the delinquent $101,000 mortgage on his Trinidad rowhouse, which he fell behind on during the beginning of the pandemic when his handyman work fell through. Briscoe scraped together the meager funds from other contract jobs, but even after months eating a diet of ramen noodles, he said he couldn’t catch up on his debt. ‘I don’t have the money. I don’t know what you want me to do,’ he’d tell the Shellpoint representatives.”
“In October 2022, Briscoe had applied for the city’s Homeowner Assistance Fund. Briscoe was approved for funds in June of 2023, according to application files The Washington Post reviewed, but he has never received the money to pay off his mortgage. His $50,000 delinquency has doubled since then. Shellpoint has sent Briscoe notices threatening foreclosure for more than a year, he says, and he’s started to ask family and friends if they have an extra bed or couch for him. In the past week, he has started stuffing his clothes into bags he finds on the street and taking them to a nearby storage facility.”
KGW8 in Oregon. “On Monday afternoon inside the Portland Building, the city attempted to auction off six abandoned properties spanning Southeast and North Portland neighborhoods. Many of them are not only an eyesore, but have become a burden for neighbors; bringing squatters, rodents and other safety issues to the neighborhoods. The 87th Avenue property received no bids — leaving that neighborhood to keep living with its side effects. The minimum bid set by the city was for $206,010. It was previously up for auction in April after the city foreclosed in Oct. 2023. ‘Cause nobody wants to buy it. Look at it … it makes me extremely angry,’ said Sharon who lives next to one of the auctioned properties. The home there caught fire numerous times, and barely a remnant of the structure still stood among piles of trash and old mattresses filling the yard. Anyone could see the years of neglect — and smell them, too. ‘It’s been a garbage dump for at least three years now,’ said Sharon said.”
ABC 6 Action News. “A Bel Air mansion that’s on sale for more than $21 million has become the latest high-end property in Southern California to be covered in graffiti. The mansion’s pink exterior has been defaced by taggers, but does not appear any squatters have taken up residence in the 7,000-square-foot home. Eyewitness News reached out to the realtor for the property to figure out when the graffiti activity began and what’s being done to keep any vandals out. The Bel Air property isn’t the first multi-million dollar mansion in the region to be hit by graffiti in recent weeks. Two such mansions in the Hollywood Hills have seen similar activity. Two suspects were arrested last week on suspicion of vandalizing at least one of those Hollywood Hills mansions.”
Bisnow on California. “‘The recent rate cut is unlikely to have a material impact on San Francisco office prices through the end of the year,’ Ryan Miller, an analyst at Green Street, told Bisnow. ‘Many office buyers are still paying cash, getting seller financing or assuming an existing loan. Banks that have a substantial concentration in the office sector are unlikely to turn the lending spigot back on again until they work through a good chunk of underwater assets.’ Mid-Market is among the neighborhoods with a high inventory of distressed office assets, including 1455 Market St., where one of 2024’s biggest transactions closed. Los Angeles-based REIT Hudson Pacific Properties acquired its partner’s stake in the building for $95 per SF, an 80% discount from when the property sold in 2015, according to CBRE.”
NECN in Massachusetts. “Mayor Michelle Wu is sharing details about her proposal to balance Boston’s budget and the need to shore up decreasing revenue from commercial property taxes. Wu’s proposal involves a three-year tax increase for commercial properties. She says this is an alternative to increasing residential property taxes. ‘If our residents were to have a sudden shock or increase in housing costs, that would be incredibly disruptive,’ Wu said. Evan Horowitz, leader of Tuft University’s Center for State Policy Analysis (CPA), says the popularity of work-from-home has weakened commercial property values. ‘Basically, every office building is less valuable than it used to be, which means it generates less tax revenue for the city,’ Horowitz said.”
The Globe and Mail in Canada. “Name, age: George, 34. Annual income: $62,000. Debt: $0. Savings: $30,000 in savings account, $300,000 in guaranteed investment certificates (GICs). What he does: Digital marketing. Where he lives: Hamilton. Top financial concern: ‘The housing market, unemployment and the chances of an impending [market] crash are weighing heavily on me.’ The tech bubble that caused his family so much loss has shaped George’s financial decision-making. He keeps the money he inherited and has earmarked for his future condo far away from the risky stock market. ‘It’s mostly about not buying stuff that you don’t need to replace goods that you already own,’ he said, pointing to his Bose speakers from the 1990s that still work well, even if they are larger than speakers one would buy today. ‘I spend money on dates, entertainment and basic necessities. I just don’t buy crap I don’t need. If you can’t be rich, at the very least don’t make yourself poor.'”
Mansion Global on the UK. “The priciest homes across central London now cost 20% less than during the market’s 2014 peak despite lower mortgage costs, according to a report Monday from Savills. While those mortgage rates have slipped, the more pressing concern for the city’s deep-pocketed buyers and sellers has been the threat of tax changes in the impending budget—the government’s annual outline of its spending and taxation plans—the real estate firm said. ‘While we would usually expect the top end of the market to be the first to react to improved market conditions, concerns over what the budget may hold have made buyers more cautious, especially in the most discretionary prime markets,’ Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills.”
From News.com.au. “The growth in Aussie home prices has cooled considerably over the last 12 months. It’s not good news for homeowners from coast to coast. Melbourne homeowners have had a grim start to spring with a sixth straight month of falling home values, with the city’s typical unit price now below Adelaide’s. Finch Financial chief executive Julian Finch said vendors were increasingly under pressure to sell quickly. ‘(Some) sellers are now desperate. There are a lot of stressed homeowners and property investors that are trying to offload their properties and they are prepared to sell it to the first person that offers them the best deal,’ Mr Finch said.”
The Business Standard in Bangladesh. “Bogura, a town known for its thriving real estate market, is now grappling with a severe downturn as the ongoing political instability and economic turmoil have significantly dampened people’s interest in investing in new properties. ‘Three years ago, we had to fight through the pandemic to keep our business afloat. However, the current situation has taken a different turn. Due to the ongoing political situation, the real estate business has collapsed,’ Md Sairul Islam, president of the Bogura Real Estate Association, told TBS recently.”
“Anwarul Karim Dulal, owner of Tropical Building Technologies Limited, said, ‘For the last five months, our business has almost come to a halt. To put it bluntly, we barely have enough money to buy food. We are going through a very difficult time, and it’s hard to share this with anyone.’ Highlighting the massive investments in the real estate sector, Dulal further said, ‘We are currently going through a period of uncertainty. We have taken out loans from banks and invested in the business, but we are struggling to make regular loan payments. To be honest, we are now on the verge of bankruptcy.'”
The Wall Street Journal. “China’s real-estate bust left behind tens of millions of empty housing units. Now that historic glut of unoccupied property is colliding with China’s shrinking population, leaving cities stuck with homes they might never be able to fill. The country could have as many as 90 million empty housing units, according to a tally of economists’ estimates. Assuming three people per household, that’s enough for the entire population of Brazil. ‘Fundamentally, there are not enough people to fill the homes,’ said Tianlei Huang, a research fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.”
“Many will become long-term burdens to cities and investors who get saddled with assets they can’t sell and which have lost their value, yet still must be maintained. Some will just wither away, economists say. In Hegang, a frigid city near China’s border with Russia, the population has declined to 940,000 from 1.09 million in 2010. A few years ago, when Hegang’s market was hot, property enthusiasts posted online messages touting homes they said were as cheap as cabbage. Prices now are even lower, according to an online property broker, and sales have stalled. Hegang’s inventory of unsold homes more than doubled from 2019 to 2022. A 650-square-feet apartment in the city center was recently listed for just under $9,300.”
“Developers marketed Qidong as an ideal bedroom community for Shanghai, a two-hour drive away. The city’s population peaked at 1.1 million in 2020 and has declined for three consecutive years. The number of local jobs has been declining since 2007. Xiang Dayu, a property agent there, remembers feverish demand during peak years. Some buyers openly discussed buying apartments for mistresses. Others were willing to pay without inspecting homes in person. But most people—many from Shanghai—bought homes as investments and left them empty, Xiang says. Now, most units sit unoccupied much of the year, with occupancy rising to only around 60% during peak summer months.”
“Many owners are trying to sell, with dozens of units listed on auction websites. In one video recently posted to Douyin, a landlord showed a property agent around a 1,030-square-foot unit, which the owner said he bought in 2016 for around $101,000 after a beach trip to Qidong with friends. ‘I thought the unit had a nice view, so I bought it there and then. I never lived here, not even once, and bought it completely for investment purposes,’ he said in the video. He is now trying to sell the place for around $63,100.”
“‘I don’t think the housing oversupply problem has a solution, really,’ said Huang, of the Peterson Institute. ‘Fundamentally, it’s the problem of declining demographics. Ghost cities will remain ghostly.'”
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‘Many will become long-term burdens to cities and investors who get saddled with assets they can’t sell and which have lost their value, yet still must be maintained. Some will just wither away…’Ghost cities will remain ghostly’
Dan:
via GIPHY
You will own nothing
You will own nothing.
Florida is finished
‘The priciest homes across central London now cost 20% less than during the market’s 2014 peak despite lower mortgage costs’
And what caused this situation? Money laundering. Chinese, Singapore, A-rabs. This was the global ‘safe deposit box in the sky’ era, which included super lux airboxes and giant white elephant shacks like in London.
Max Keiser interview: ‘Britain is the epicentre of financial fraud’
https://www.newsweek.com/max-keiser-interview-britain-epicentre-financial-fraud-327254
“Tony Blair personified the shift away from democracy, towards control by bankers.” In modern politics, the prime minister “is really taking orders from finance.”
Money talks, and BS walks!
“Because Britain is the epicentre of financial fraud. Most major players outsource their fraud here because London is the unregulated cesspit of global finance.”
I believe it.
This Newsweek piece is worth a read. It’s pretty strong for a MSM periodical. I think Newsweek is where I learned about the original housing bubble blog, IIRC.
The Bel Air property isn’t the first multi-million dollar mansion in the region to be hit by graffiti in recent weeks. Two such mansions in the Hollywood Hills have seen similar activity.
Few things are as satisfying as seeing the societal breakdown and moral rot promoted by high-net-worth West Coast libtards encroaching on their own upscale enclaves.
Ez come, EZ woe
Melbourne homeowners have had a grim start to spring with a sixth straight month of falling home values, with the city’s typical unit price now below Adelaide’s.
But…but…muh generational wealth!
‘(Some) sellers are now desperate. There are a lot of stressed homeowners and property investors that are trying to offload their properties and they are prepared to sell it to the first person that offers them the best deal,’ Mr Finch said.”
FOMO turning to panic is a thing of terrible beauty. Die, speculator scum. Embrace the suck, FBs who bought into an insane housing bubble. The sooner y’all are insolvent, the sooner sanity can return to the housing market.
“Bogura, a town known for its thriving real estate market, is now grappling with a severe downturn as the ongoing political instability and economic turmoil have significantly dampened people’s interest in investing in new properties.
Soon we will all be Bangladesh. Heckova job, uniparty!
A 650-square-feet apartment in the city center was recently listed for just under $9,300.”
Tofu construction means these collapse-prone skybox towers aren’t “deals” no matter how deeply discounted they are. Dying in one’s sleep isn’t really a marketing point for FBs.
** “Anwarul Karim Dulal, owner of Tropical Building Technologies Limited, said, ‘For the last five months, our business has almost come to a halt. To put it bluntly, we barely have enough money to buy food. We are going through a very difficult time, and it’s hard to share this with anyone.’ Highlighting the massive investments in the real estate sector, Dulal further said, ‘We are currently going through a period of uncertainty. We have taken out loans from banks and invested in the business, but we are struggling to make regular loan payments. To be honest, we are now on the verge of bankruptcy.’
blah blah blah. you ‘effed up but not your fault.
I know . . . same ‘ol, same ‘ol.
I will buy your property for 1 gold coin. next up is that apt block in Berlin.
“‘I don’t think the housing oversupply problem has a solution, really,’ said Huang, of the Peterson Institute. ‘Fundamentally, it’s the problem of declining demographics. Ghost cities will remain ghostly.’”
Sad fact: intelligent young couples will not want to bring children into a world where they have no future. The CCP has been a disaster for China since Mao’s 1949 victory and various ill-conceived revolutionary “campaigns” and missteps. Young Heritage American couples similarly face the prospect of their children growing up as strangers in a strange land, thanks to the globalists & their Democrat-Bolshevik termites in the foundations. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Same as it ever was.
No thanks to plug-in hybrids.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/194000-jeep-plug-hybrid-suvs-recalled-due-fire-risk-rcna173373
Silver, Bitchez!!
https://marketsanity.com/india-imports-of-silver-have-surged-to-record-levels/
Costco can’t keep silver coins in stock. On the rare occasion when they have it, they sell it in lots of twenty 1 oz coins
Gold, Bitchez! Especially now that Iran has launched a barrage of ballistic missiles at Israel.
https://x.com/zerohedge/status/1841177544688566327
Anyone entering the People’s Republic of Colorado from the Free States deserves fair warning.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13911301/donald-trump-donor-billboard-venezuela-ahead.html
Thanks to the Keynesian fraudsters at the central banks turning housing into a speculative asset, the “Bank of Mom & Dad” is now practically indispensable for young couples seeking to get up on that housing ladder.
https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/bank-of-mum-and-dad-busier-than-ever-in-costofliving-crunch/news-story/c487b2c43a716129daabd38b60f49a8d
Invasion USA is being facilitated by the Biden-Harris regime & the entire apparatus of FedGov and the Democrat Party.
https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/1840885800587718898
The thought that the harlot could be installed sends shivers down my spine.
Things could get spicy if essential workers go on strike to demand wage hikes that keep up with the real rate of inflation, not the fake numbers put out by our Soviet-style CPI data fabricators & the Fed.
https://x.com/EndWokeness/status/1841109350867251504
Another Tuesday, another Li+ battery fire.
This time, entire house burnt down.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/30/us/video/tesla-fire-florida-hurricane-helene-digvid
Clearly, [salt] water and electronics don’t mix. The corrosive effect of [salt] water on electronics is immediate and usually irreversible unless immediate action to rinse [with pure water] and dry taken.
But he gets social credit for owning an EV so it was worth it. It was also cheaper than renting that house
“…another Li+ battery fire.”
That’s a battery cook-off!
Can we start an “October Surprise” betting pool?
Bird flu
Israel nukes Iran
Assassination attempts
I’ll say no on a stock market crash, they’re gonna keep juicing that until the election.
Im expecting videos to come out about Harris at the Diddy parties or similar.
or similar
Obama and Big Mike
New allegations against Sean Diddy Combs: 120 plaintiffs, 25 were minors, youngest victim 9yo
Wikileaks’ Assange Makes First Public Statement Since His Release From Prison
** “KGW8 in Oregon. “On Monday afternoon inside the Portland Building, the city attempted to auction off six abandoned properties spanning Southeast and North Portland neighborhoods”
Portland? put a BIRD on it !!
A reader sent these in:
This is really bad wait until end #westernnorthcarolina #hurricanehelene
https://x.com/gbiffle/status/1840580533807411327
Yup…people in flood zones don’t buy flood insurance because it’s really expensive…
But they buy the houses in flood zones because they are really cheap….
Go figure…
https://x.com/DeepThroatIPO/status/1840898163944681837
Jerome Powell says the Fed can cut rates but it can’t fix the housing crisis, per FORTUNE.
https://x.com/unusual_whales/status/1840742644118634839
The housing affordability crisis the Fed itself created with years of ZIRP and then buying $1.7 trillion MBS following Covid when there was zero reason to do so thereby in aggregate destroying any semblance of natural supply and demand.
https://x.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1840743786047000656
So let me get this straight.. over $100B in property damage in JUST Asheville NC..
Many hundreds of billions in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and other pockets of NC..
A BioLab blows up in Georgia today, evacuation orders issued to entire town.
36 ports, 45,000 employees scheduled to go on strike TOMORROW at midnight.. HALF of ALL imports in America impacted…
And we are not entering a crisis period in American history?
Buckle up, things will get crazier over the next 100 days – mark my words on this.
https://x.com/johnwilliamsbiz/status/1840474026118164656
Thank you and congratulations @moicanoufc !
https://x.com/HoppeQuotes/status/1840264142822752333
🤷♂️Gen Zers are getting fired at shocking levels. Here’s why. Six in 10 employers surveyed have already fired college graduates they’d only brought on earlier this year
https://x.com/dailyjobcuts/status/1840838218138468495
Jerome – you monetized TRILLIONS of MBS even when Case-Shiller was running +20% year over year.
You f’d up the housing market with that and a decade of ZIRP and QE.
https://x.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1836482279637684540
FED’S POWELL: HOUSING INFLATION IS ONE PIECE THAT IS DRAGGING A BIT.
https://x.com/financialjuice/status/1836481376784109855
God these people are so out of touch with the real world.
I think he’s saying that it’s ok if your rent inflation runs hot as long as a new toothbrush is cheaper.
https://x.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1840850164837466431
it’s OK if that huge fixed cost you pay every month is up 25% because the consumer crap which costs 1/100th and which you might buy every few months is cheaper! remain calm citizen, a few hedonic adjustments will fix that right up
https://x.com/semisimulacrum/status/1840854949690794132
Powell finally just admitted out loud that the @FederalReserve
‘s goal now is not 2%, but “slightly higher” than 2%.
Check the tape.
This means the real world cost of living will likely be 10%.
https://x.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1840819498032750778
“We think of core inflation as three buckets: goods inflation, non-housing services – which is by far the biggest bucket – and then housing services, and that’s rents and also owner’s equivalent rent.”
– Private Equity Bigwig Jerome Powell
https://x.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1840848706377036274
Once purchasing power is lost, it is lost forever and Federal Reserve Governor Chris Waller inadvertently made that perfectly clear when he spoke on Friday. He told CNBC in an interview that “What’s got me a little more concerned is inflation is running softer than I thought.” He’s ‘concerned’ after we just experienced a 21% jump in the cost of living since February 2020? Tell that to the shopper at Walmart or Dollar General. Remember ‘average inflation targeting’? That was a policy that the Fed implemented in August 2020 and turned out to be one of the most disastrous policy initiatives in their history dating back to 1913.
It was defined as this, “On price stability, the FOMC adjusted its strategy for achieving its longer-run inflation goal of 2 percent by noting that it “seeks to achieve inflation that averages 2 percent over time.” To this end, the revised statement states that “following periods when inflation has been running persistently below 2 percent, appropriate monetary policy will likely aim to achieve inflation moderately above 2 percent for some time.” We know that policy initiative completely blew up on them.
Governor Waller implicitly confirmed that this inflation symmetry policy is out the window as if they stuck to it, they would have to tolerate a period of time of deflation in order to ‘average’ out the recent period of high inflation at 2%. I’ll include a chart here again of how much inflation rose above its long term trend line and say again, once purchasing power is lost, it is lost forever because central bankers won’t let you get it back. @RudyHavenstein I think you’d agree.
CPI index since the 1970’s vs its trend line
https://x.com/pboockvar/status/1838222382009393627
In 2023 – at just one inept Fed Branch, @sffed – Mary Daly was paid $533K (on top of her fat benefits, pension etc.), and she had 129 “other officers” averaging $300k just in salary, each, plus about 1,700 other apparatchiks.
Completely out of touch with most of America.
https://x.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1839794412542668913
michigan to restart palisades nuclear plant
will be the first nuclear reactor restart in us history:
https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/1840865223273574471
CEO Michael Dell just filed for his sale of $1.2 Billion worth of Dell
https://x.com/StockMKTNewz/status/1840858218555457934
This is but one of many reasons why I wish to be cremated when I die.
https://x.com/Mt2Aguy/status/1840866240987889940
“I’ve never seen devastation like this.” Cars and trucks were tossed around like toys in Asheville, North Carolina, after catastrophic flooding from Helene.
https://x.com/accuweather/status/1840785006421254431
This is an overhead shot coming out of the mountains from Asheville NC to Erwin TN.
We don’t have bridges anymore. Nolichucky washed them all out. Like, all the bridges 💩
It’s insane.
https://x.com/StewieCrum/status/1840175325558321590
ASTON MARTIN SHARES EXTEND DROP TO 25% AFTER PROFIT WARNING
https://x.com/FirstSquawk/status/1840668363372020125
Average US family health insurance premium…
1999: $6k
2002:$8k
2005: $11k
2008: $13k
2011: $15k
2014: $17k
2017: $19k
2020: $21k
2023: $24k
That’s a 314% increase since 1999 (6.1% per year).
(Note: US CPI inflation has increased 2.5%/year)
https://x.com/charliebilello/status/1839754299959636138
“And we are not entering a crisis period in American history?”
Stolen elections have consequences.
The Fourth Turning
Stellantis N.V. cut its 2024 profit forecast on Monday and warned it will burn through more cash than expected as Europe’s No. 2 car maker pledged to reduce output and offer big discounts to revive its U.S. business, wiping billions of its market value.
The world’s fourth biggest auto maker by sales said it was facing weakening global demand and stiff competition from China, echoing similar comments from rivals, including Volkswagen which cut its annual profit outlook on Friday.
“Competitive dynamics have intensified due to both rising industry supply, as well as increased Chinese competition,” Stellantis said in its guidance.
It said instead of positive cash flow, it now expects negative cash flow of between €5-billion and €10-billion ($7.5-billion to $15-billion).
Italian brokers Equita and Akros said that puts the automaker’s dividend and share buyback programs at risk. Stellantis said it would make no further comment beyond its guidance on Monday.
The company also said it now expects an adjusted operating profit margin of between 5.5 per cent and 7 per cent this year, down from the double-digit forecast that investors have come to expect from the auto maker because of its lucrative U.S. business.
“This warning confirms just how difficult the situation is at the company,” Bernstein analysts wrote in a client note. “The scale of the hit to margins far exceeds our already reduced expectations.”
Its shares were down as much as 14 per cent by 1052 GMT, wiping about €6-billion ($9-billion) off the company’s market value and hitting their lowest level since October, 2022.
They have fallen about 40 per cent this year, the worst performer among Europe’s carmakers.
BMW and Mercedes have also warned about lower-than-expected profits.
Stellantis’s current problems are centred on the United States, where selling costly Jeeps and pickup trucks has until now been the company’s profit engine.
But as demand softened, it has been stuck with high inventory, forcing it to lower prices. That cut its operating profit 40 per cent in the first half of the year.
The owner of the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, Citroen and Peugeot brands said on Monday it would increase consumer discounts in the United States to speed up dealer inventory reductions and slash production more than previously announced.
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/international-business/article-stellantis-cuts-its-annual-forecasts-warns-about-lower-than-expected/
Angry staff call for investigation into collapse of ISG
Former staff at failed contractor ISG have told the Enquirer that problems at the £2.2bn turnover business began to emerge nearly two years ago.
Some angry staff now want to see a formal investigation of the owners and the current and previous board as public project disruption and staff compensation for lack of consultation threatens to cost the tax payer.
Insiders blamed management’s failure to deal with legacy and ongoing problem contracts. This began to stack-up problems for the business as other events later took their toll.
Others said an atmosphere developed where people were fearful of challenging optimistic positions taken on project accounts.
One former staffer said: “Management lacked the courage to acknowledge errors or invest in solutions, simply hoping people on site and accounts could magically fix it somehow. Just make it so.”
Another said it became increasingly difficult to finish delayed schemes, with clients taking LADS and squeezing cash flow further.
Staff told the Enquirer that senior management seemed to become increasingly detached from what was happening on the ground. They also bitterly complain that they were kept in the dark about the dire state of the firm’s finances all the way to the end.
It has emerged that to cope with the cash squeeze senior management allocated monthly sums to the construction, fitout and engineering divisions. Commercial teams were then left to allocate what limited funds they had as best they could.
One insider said: “We were in a terrible position with subcontractors desperately pleading to get paid. Firms that issued seven-day notices got prioritised.”
A subcontractor trying to settle his account confirmed that this initial brinkmanship finally descended into the absurd.
He said: “At one point my ISG project contact said put in a seven day notice, it’s the only way you are going to get paid.
“Even then the overdue payment kept missing the cheque run.”
It has also emerged that ISG’s payment practices in effect gamed Government fair payment reporting tables.
https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2024/10/01/angry-staff-call-for-investigation-into-collapse-of-isg/
Careful not to stifle innovation, Newsom hesitates on major tech bills
Backstage at one of the largest artificial intelligence conferences in the world, Gov. Gavin Newsom listened to two leaders in the field debate opposite views of a high-profile bill on his desk to protect Californians from the technology.
He’s also an entrepreneur at heart whose own irritation over a city regulation, which required him to install a mop sink in his carpeted wine shop, partially motivated his interest in government.
In an interview in August, the governor cited his 2013 book, “Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government,” as an example of his approach to technology.
The governor begins the book by retelling a story about a visit from the president of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, when Newsom was mayor. Newsom writes that he was eager to tell the president about the city’s exciting new tech initiatives, such as paying parking meters with cellphones.
The president was unmoved. Estonia had been doing that for years, as well as paying for parking tickets, property taxes and other government fees. They had free Wi-Fi, too.
Newsom describes the moment as a “wake-up call” to the reality that San Francisco wasn’t on the forefront of technology, but actually lagging behind.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/careful-not-to-stifle-innovation-newsom-hesitates-on-major-tech-bills/ar-AA1rsl9k
Newsom describes the moment as a “wake-up call” to the reality that San Francisco wasn’t on the forefront of technology, but actually lagging behind.
That’s what happens when you offshore everything.
Florida woman pleads guilty in Mass. housing fraud case
A woman who formerly worked for a Massachusetts housing agency has pleaded guilty to five counts of wire fraud in a Boston federal court.
Alihea Jones, 51, of Brandon, Florida, is accused of defrauding the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
According to prosecutors, Jones worked at the DHCD remotely for 6 months in 2022, with the Residential Aid to Families in Transition (RAFT) program, which provides funds to assist low-income Massachusetts residents facing eviction and other housing emergencies. After being terminated from the job, she was still able to access the files of four RAFT program participants and authorized electronic payments to their landlords in the amounts of $7,500, $8,800, $6,925, and $10,000, but changed the routing and bank account numbers to her business, her account and that of two friends. After these transfers went through, each friend paid Jones a $2,000 kickback.
Additionally, Jones falsely filed for and obtained a $187,000 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan from a Massachusetts lender, which the SBA later forgave. When applying, Jones said she had had 17 employees and an average monthly payroll expense of $74,800, but she employed no one.
In total, Jones caused a loss of $222,074, with $33,225 payable to the DHCD and $188,849 payable to the SBA.
Jones is scheduled to be sentenced on January 16, 2025. She could face up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss, whichever is greater; restitution; and forfeiture.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/florida-woman-pleads-guilty-in-mass-housing-fraud-case/ar-AA1rvcIj
Oh hell no
Just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this.
The deceptive facade of China’s military
Despite technological advancements, setbacks like the Zhou-class submarine sinking, reveal a widening gap between China’s military claims and actuality
Deception is at the heart of Chinese strategy and operations, especially on matters, the military. Ancient Sinological philosophers like Sun Tzu (The Art of War) had propounded extensively on cheating (likening it to a ‘magic weapon’) as a vital underpinning of deceptive warfare. The Chinese PLA Navy Submarine Academy has formally distilled four examples of deception in war (under the manual, ‘Essentials of Sun Tzu and the Art of War and Submarine Operations’). Firstly ‘Show yourself to intimidate the enemy’, then ‘Show the false to confuse the enemy’, thirdly ‘Create momentum to harass the enemy’ and lastly ‘Deceive to obstruct the enemy’. Herein, untruth is a natural necessity as per their established treatise. India would be well versed in how the Chinese would talk about the 1962 Indo-China War but remain conspicuously silent on the reversal of fortunes about the 1967 Nathu La and Cho La border clashes. While an estimated 340 Chinese soldiers had died then (88 on the Indian side) – true to their downplaying style, they only accepted a figure of 32 fatalities. The Chinese are similarly circumspect or lying about the essential outcomes of the China-Vietnam War of 1979.
This deliberate fudging of facts was to repeat itself in the 2020 India-China skirmishes on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). While India acknowledged the loss of its Bravehearts in the bloody encounters, the Chinese shied away from acknowledging any of their own – this when the US pegged the Chinese fatalities as 20-35, the Russians estimated Chinese loss of about 45, whereas the Australians insisted at least 41 Chinese killed.
Almost a year later, the Chinese sheepishly admitted four fatalities killed in the Galwan clashes, as they gave away gallantry awards. True to their practised instincts, the Chinese always overstated their gains and downplayed their losses to deceive the onlookers (especially their citizenry) to retain ‘manufactured’ optics of infallibility and invincibility, even when the reality was a lot more unheroic. This sovereign impulse of fake claims, downplaying failures, and overstating their capabilities has been elevated to a fine art, as is the won’t of any authoritarian state reeling from regime insecurities.
It routinely manifests in their claims of making advancements in technologies, weaponry and platforms that are ostensibly cutting-edge and even ahead of peers like the United States or Russia. The reality is essentially predicated on reverse-engineering technologies that could be brazenly stolen or surreptitiously acquired – but the claim of ‘homegrown’ is gleefully posited.
A lot of ‘fifth generation’ fighters, Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles, Hypersonic technologies to Chinese nuclear submarines remain in public news but are essentially untested or unsubstantiated in live combat. While it has a considerable industrial base and budgetary allocation granted to its Defence Industry, like everything else in the Chinese realm, claims remain more impressive than reality. With this murky backdrop, came the recent news of the sinking of the latest Chinese nuclear submarine. The fact that the Zhou-class of attack submarine sank even before going into service, speaks volumes of the gap between purported technological advancements as opposed to factual efficacy. Incidentally, the US Deputy Secretary of State, Kurt Campbell, had confirmed that the Russians were helping China develop this submarine technology and that it too wasn’t necessarily home-grown, as claimed. While this sinking of the submarine is believed to have happened in May earlier, it was never owned up by the Chinese and it took satellite images to unravel the sinking of the first-in-class nuclear-powered Chinese submarine. It is certainly a major setback for China’s priority weapons programs that is key to its expansionist and hegemonic aspirations.
As if on the rebound and to stitch a counternarrative, China is believed to have fired an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile into the Pacific Ocean, in a move that seems designed to distract and deflect from the embarrassing news of its sunk submarine and to reiterate its prowess and capability. Coming as the testing does after more than four decades over the Pacific Ocean, it is unmistakably a ‘signal’ move to suggest that the ‘Dragon’ still retains sharp claws and fangs.
Incidentally, the missile is part of the PLA’s Rocket Force that was subjected to a sweeping corruption crackdown, purge, and complete overhaul last year – something that could be inflicted again on the PLA Navy leadership, which was in charge of the sunk submarine. Already the chorus of sub-standard Chinese weaponry has gained decibels from traditional clients like Pakistan or from emerging ones like Bangladesh, who complained about the quality of spares for its navy. Russia’s decline on the global stage as a military supplier has not resulted in an automatic transfer of business to the Chinese manufacturers, as earlier thought and the growing perception of ‘Made in China’ has a lot to do with the reactions. With the US returning to the Pakistani arms market (Islamabad accounts for over 50 per cent of Chinese exports), and the overall pressures of economic slowdown haunting the Chinese economy – Beijing is in a tight spot to invest, innovate, and deliver weaponry that truly delivers what it claims. It is premature to write off Chines ‘Military-Industrial complex just yet, but the chinks in its armour are getting routinely exposed. While still a ‘value player’ for the desperate, authoritarian or ‘paradise’ countries, its claim to cutting-edge technology is suspect.
https://www.dailypioneer.com/2024/columnists/the-deceptive-facade-of-china—s-military.html
While India acknowledged the loss of its Bravehearts in the bloody encounters, the Chinese shied away from acknowledging any of their own
It’s all about saving face. Of course, western politicians are no better.
Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee to represent over 50 clients in new Diddy sexual assault lawsuit
Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee announced that he would be representing more than 50 alleged victims in a lawsuit against rapper and record executive Sean “Diddy” Combs, according to a social media post on Thursday.
Lawyer Tony Buzbee said in a statement he would be working with the Ava Law Group to serve as lead counsel for more than 50 people who claim to have suffered sexual assault and/or abuse by Combs and his associates.
“This group of brave individuals include[s] both men and women; many were minors when the abuse occurred,” Buzbee announced in his statement. “Each individual story is gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. … The violations against this group of individuals are mindboggling and can only be described as debauchery and depravity, exacted by powerful people against minors and the weak.”
Buzbee also asked any other possible alleged individuals seeking assistance should come forward and contact his law firm.
“I expect many other individuals will be implicated. We expect to have a press conference early next week where some of these stories can be told as the nation learns more and grapples with the potential scope of this scandal,” he said in the statement.
https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/crime/2024/09/27/501302/houston-lawyer-to-represent-over-50-clients-in-new-diddy-sexual-assault-lawsuit/
Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee to represent over 50 clients in new Diddy sexual assault lawsuit
He’d better ask to be paid upfront. Who knows how many clients will get suicided.
Somebody bring me a teddy bear. I want to show you where Crooked Hillary touched me when I encountered her roaming the woods.
#MeToo
Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee to represent over 50 clients
120 clients according to his press conference.
OPINION: Why Democrats are held to a higher standard
It’s frustrating how eagerly the media repeat accusations of liberal extremism while treating extreme Republican positions as somehow normal. They constantly demand policy details from Kamala Harris while asking no such thing from Trump. (If it’s because they think he doesn’t have any, is that not worth reporting?) They obsessed about Biden’s age and mental deterioration while shrugging off Trump’s obvious mental decline. And then there was the frenzy over Hilary’s emails eight years ago and a comparative shrug at Trump’s much larger breaches of national security.
The New York Times recently ran the headline “Harris and Trump Have Housing Ideas. Economists Have Doubts,” which put Kamala’s proposed tax cuts and grants to first-time home buyers on equal footing with Trump’s completely unrelated plan to deport millions of immigrants. This “fairness bias” or “false balance” keeps Americans oblivious to the fact that we no longer have two legitimate political parties but rather one such party competing with a conspiracy-driven cult of personality.
Naturally, news organizations want to keep ratings up by keeping the race as tight as possible. Yet, the result is that Republicans get a free pass to Crazy Town while Democrats are left to do all the work of governing and seeking middle ground with an opposition defined by obstructionism.
https://www.dnews.com/opinion/opinion-why-democrats-are-held-to-a-higher-standard2f1c7132
LOL. ok
Cute.
From CNN’s website: “Press freedom group warns a Trump victory could embolden attacks on journalists”
Sounds like those HBB threats against dog walkers have hit a nerve. /sarc
Clutch those pearls harder, vermin.
If you collect a paycheck from the New York Times, Washington Post, or other globalist filth, you are guilty of TREASON ☠️
In the past few hours, Iran launched two waves of missiles at Israel.
American taxpayers, you are going to pay for ALL of this.
And when it’s time for boots on the ground, YOU will fight and die for Muh Greatest Ally, because that Realm isn’t gonna secure itself.
Citizen! Your bankrupt nation might be getting ready to embark on another neocon regime change fiasco in the Middle East, while you’re being pauperized by taxation and the loss of your purchasing power. But that’s not important. Because the Comrades of Proven Worth (D) have ordained that you are to feel JOY as Comrade Kamala leads us into our glorious socialist future. So here’s a song to get you in the proper happy frame of mind so you can smile the clouds away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfqPJp7Q7qE
This video is more 80’s than the 80’s actually were. It’s too much.
Unrecognizable.
“There’s never been a better time to buy real estate in Tehran.” — Iran NAR
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-822801
Related article from yesterday:
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a warning to Iran on Monday, saying regime change will happen in the country “a lot sooner than people think.”
Netanyahu said that Iran’s “puppets” were being eliminated and warned that there’s “nowhere in the Middle East” that Israel cannot reach. “With every passing moment, the regime is bringing you — the noble Persian people — closer to the abyss”
https://news.antiwar.com/2024/09/30/netanyahu-says-regime-change-in-iran-will-happen-a-lot-sooner-than-people-think/
I wonder how much student loan debt these indoctrinated kids accumulated to be able to have these world views?
2:30
Unbelievable that people like this exist..
https://youtu.be/6f3juuk3rE0?si=Hd1NPTieuyuCVNI5
12,000 Comments
@greatscott3470
“Gun control does not protect you from criminals. Gun control protects criminals from you.”
-Colin Noir
@shmuck530
it’s not about gun control, it about controlling the people
3:32
GUN CONTROL: Liberals Shocked By Gun Control Facts
We decided to get a bunch of liberal actors together and film their reactions when they got hit with some epic truth bombs on gun control.
https://youtu.be/h5NU4wp4CZY?si=oDydY30KRYm9kqNW
‘This neighborhood’s amazing, great schools. But no one wants to deal with this all the time,’ said Pentz. ‘It sucks because no one wants to live here anymore. There are so many houses for sale and no one’s buying’
It’s still a balanced market Dustin. Florida UHS just changed to 8-9 months inventory indicates a balanced market.
‘I don’t have the money. I don’t know what you want me to do,’ he’d tell the Shellpoint representatives’
Yer doing what they want you to do Greg, get some boxes. Or in yer case, bags you found on the street and GTFO!.
‘The minimum bid set by the city was for $206,010. It was previously up for auction in April after the city foreclosed in Oct. 2023’
What I’m seeing in the post-foreclosure market (REO) right now is these stupid high minimum, credit bid or reserve bid. Same thing. These aren’t auctions. These are just listings. I’m watching one on Auction.com I am interested in. They are on their 4th online auction after two rounds of ‘first choice’ auctions where non-investors are excluded. That’s 6 auctions, so it isn’t an auction, it’s just another listing with a deceptive sales arrangement.
‘Cause nobody wants to buy it. Look at it … it makes me extremely angry,’ said Sharon who lives next to one of the auctioned properties. The home there caught fire numerous times, and barely a remnant of the structure still stood among piles of trash and old mattresses filling the yard. Anyone could see the years of neglect — and smell them, too. ‘It’s been a garbage dump for at least three years now’
It sounds like you’ve been a loanowner for a number of years Sharon. You must have earned mucho sweet equity! So why don’t you lift yerself out of this miserable situation? With these storms for instance. Everybody seems to be a broke a$$ loser the minute the shack gravy train stops.
‘Los Angeles-based REIT Hudson Pacific Properties acquired its partner’s stake in the building for $95 per SF, an 80% discount from when the property sold in 2015’
The knives are out on the bay aryans.
‘the need to shore up decreasing revenue from commercial property taxes. Wu’s proposal involves a three-year tax increase for commercial properties. She says this is an alternative to increasing residential property taxes’
This ever smiling commie is saying, increase taxes on CRE just as it’s getting crushed. Central planning!
‘It’s mostly about not buying stuff that you don’t need to replace goods that you already own,’ he said, pointing to his Bose speakers from the 1990s that still work well, even if they are larger than speakers one would buy today. ‘I spend money on dates, entertainment and basic necessities. I just don’t buy crap I don’t need. If you can’t be rich, at the very least don’t make yourself poor’
I like the cut of yer jib George!
+1
And related anecdotal: I try not to spend money in the City of Denver. Why give them sales tax revenue? Give it to an adjacent county, that is not Denver.
‘The growth in Aussie home prices has cooled considerably over the last 12 months. It’s not good news for homeowners from coast to coast…‘(Some) sellers are now desperate. There are a lot of stressed homeowners and property investors that are trying to offload their properties and they are prepared to sell it to the first person that offers them the best deal’
They’ve gone from red hotcakes to fooked again in Australia. I’ve seen this at least a dozen times.
‘For the last five months, our business has almost come to a halt. To put it bluntly, we barely have enough money to buy food. We are going through a very difficult time, and it’s hard to share this with anyone…We are currently going through a period of uncertainty. We have taken out loans from banks and invested in the business, but we are struggling to make regular loan payments. To be honest, we are now on the verge of bankruptcy’
This might be a messaging problem here Anwarul. I mean yer describing yer tales of woe but I don’t hear the word ‘shortage’ once?
‘A few years ago, when Hegang’s market was hot, property enthusiasts posted online messages touting homes they said were as cheap as cabbage. Prices now are even lower, according to an online property broker, and sales have stalled. Hegang’s inventory of unsold homes more than doubled from 2019 to 2022. A 650-square-feet apartment in the city center was recently listed for just under $9,300’
http://housingbubble.blog/?p=7624
June 16, 2023
“Beijing resident Hu Yongwei bought more than a dozen apartments in the small central Chinese city of Hebi for about $31,000 in all, betting they will be financially more rewarding than other investments. Hu, who mostly acquired two- or three-bedroom apartments built about three decades ago, spent 18,000 yuan ($2,528) this month in purchasing his 15th property in Hebi, where prices have plunged over the last two years. ‘The flats were sold very cheaply, like cabbage,’ the 39-year-old said, adding his family’s bad experience with the stock market has made him steer clear of shares.”
“Hu paid a surprisingly low 1,000 yuan excluding taxes and fees for one of his apartments in Hebi. According to one of China’s largest real estate platforms, prices are 27% off their 2021 peak in some areas in the city. Similarly, prices are as much as 24% below their top in parts of Huainan, Rushan and Gejiu. Consumer sentiment remains below the range set over the past two decades. Domestic demand is weak as consumers and companies prefer paying down debt to investing. And youth unemployment is at a record high of above 20%.”
BTW, Xitler suspended unemployment reporting over a year ago. Central planning!
How To Find A Desperate Seller? (Toronto Real Estate Market Update)
Team Sessa Real Estate
13 minutes ago
In this episode we look at the current Toronto Real Estate Market specifically the detached home prices and market trends for the week ending Sept 25, 2024. We also discuss how it’s tough to pinpoint who the actual desperate sellers are sometimes and how it’s usually best to just submit the offer that makes sense for you to find out the seller’s true motivation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkHtjo98Wr0
17 minutes.
Lawyer VOWS to Release ALL Names On Diddy ‘Client List’ as Obama NAMED | This Will DESTROY Hollywood
Benny Johnson
1 hour ago
Politicians and celebrities in PANIC after Diddy victim makes SHOCKING claim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap8dMwRuqrA
13 minutes.
I was expecting this to be the October Surprise in 2016.
Find interviews with Jaguar Wright on YouTube. She spills a lot of tea on the hip hop industry.
JD Vance is doing a nice job against his 3 opponents tonight.
Walz relied on a bogus “fact check” from the Trump/Harris debate to squirm out of answering for late-term deletions.
nice job
Phenomenal!
“Phenomenal!”
+1
No matter how they spin it.
I expected him to do well. He graduated from Yale Law School. He exceeded my high expectations.
[This is long …]
Doug Casey Exposes the Global Elites’ Plan for Feudalism 2.0—and How You Can Resist.
https://internationalman.com/articles/doug-casey-exposes-the-global-elites-plan-for-feudalism-and-how-you-can-resist/
International Man: There’s little doubt the self-anointed elite are hostile to the middle class, which is on its way to extinction thanks to soaring inflation and taxation.
It seems they would like to implement a kinder and gentler version of feudalism.
What is really going on here, and what is the end game?
Doug Casey: The middle class, the bourgeoisie, emerged with the death of feudalism, the inception of the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and finally, the Industrial Revolution.
“Middle class” has been given a bad connotation in recent times. Leftists want everybody to believe that the bourgeoisie is full of consumerist faults. They’re mocked for being concerned with material well-being and improving their status. The elites feel threatened by them. Unlike the lower class plebs, grunt workers who don’t expect more from life.
Bourgeoisie simply means city dweller. Starting in the late Middle Ages, city dwellers were independent, with their own trades and businesses. Living in towns got them out from under the control of the feudal warrior elites.
Cities became intellectual centers, where the growing wealth of the bourgeoisie—the middle class—gave them the leisure needed to develop science, technology, engineering, literature, and medicine. Universities expanded the idea of education beyond the realm of theology. Commerce and personal freedom attracted the best of the peasants, who rose to the middle class. Cities ended feudalism, a system whereby everyone was born into a class and occupation, and was expected to stay there for life, obligated to pay taxes—protection money—to his “betters”. The rise of the bourgeoisie didn’t suit the ruling classes, who liked dominating society.
Capitalism developed as the bourgeoisie became wealthy. The rest is well-known history, but the point must be made that the creation of the middle class, capitalism, and bourgeois values elevated peasants from poverty and created today’s world.
But, then and now, a certain percentage of the population wants to control everyone else. The types who go to Bilderberg, the World Economic Forum, CFR, and the like see themselves as elite new aristocrats who should dominate the others. Even though most of them came from the middle class, now that they’ve “made it,” they like to pull the ladder up. And if not eliminate, at least neuter or defang the remaining bourgeoisie.
So what’s the end game?
I think it might look something like the movie Rollerball. Keep the plebs entertained while the elite, in the form of a corporate aristocracy, controls society.
International Man: Yuval Harari is a prominent World Economic Forum (WEF) member.
He suggested that the elite should use a universal basic income, drugs, and video games to keep the “useless class” docile and occupied.
What is your take on these comments in the context of Feudalism 2.0?
Doug Casey: A nasty little fellow, Harari is what might be termed a court intellectual for the World Economic Forum. He’s there to provide an intellectual patina for the power members, who are basically the businessmen, politicos, and media personalities. They’re not thinkers or interested in ideas but philistines concerned with money and power. Harari gives them an intellectual framework to justify their actions and plans.
As far as his books are concerned, they amount to a lot of generic truisms, obvious observations, justifications of current trends, and a projection of how the world will evolve. As an author and thinker, he’s knowledgeable and intelligent but grossly overrated. He owes his success to promotion from the new wannabe aristocracy and their hangers on. He illustrates the advantages of being hooked up with power people.
Harari has gone from being just another college professor, living with his husband in Israel, to being an internationally famous multi-millionaire pundit.
He expects the “useless eaters” will be maintained on a subsistence basis until they die out. I’m not sure how much the Covid hysteria, followed by the vaccine, has to do with that. It’s becoming quite clear that Covid itself was an artificially constructed flu variant, mainly affecting the very old, very sick, and very overweight. The vaccine is useless in preventing Covid but has caused significant increases in morbidity and mortality among healthy recipients. Was it a trial run to cleanse the world of useless eaters?
I don’t know. But, based on what people like Stalin, Hitler, Mao, and Pol Pot—among many others—have done in recent years, I don’t think it’s out of the question. No doubt, the new aristocracy wants to cement themselves in place. They certainly don’t like rubbing shoulders with the hoi polloi when they visit Venice, Machu Pichu, and the like.
International Man: How does the WEF’s vision of “you will own nothing and be happy” compare to the previous feudal system of medieval Europe?
Doug Casey: Serfs, unlike slaves, had some rights; they owned tools and huts. But their position in society was fixed, they couldn’t easily move—rather like a medieval version of today’s 15-minute city. They had to recognize their betters, and not say anything challenging—like today’s increasingly draconian limits on free speech.
I expect that the gigantic amount of debt in society today will be the means of turning middle-class Americans into serfs. The lower classes are already welfare recipients who produce very little; they’ll soon be replaced by robots.
The better educated ones are buried under their college debts. But everybody is buried under growing credit card debt, auto debt, mortgage debt, and sometimes even tax debt.
If someone makes a lucky capital gain in the stock market or by selling his house, he might spend that money only to find that the government wants 20%, 30%, or 40% of the gain. So the gain, instead of a blessing, becomes a disaster in disguise.
Many people today are burdened by debt, living paycheck to paycheck. They’re barely getting by, under immense pressure to cover food and rent. They’d probably be quite willing to take a deal offering essentially “three hots and a cot,” a tiny apartment, internet, and some extra money to hang around Starbucks.
International Man: How do you see Feudalism 2.0 developing over the coming months and years?
What can be done to resist this agenda?
Doug Casey: Trends in motion tend to stay in motion until they reach some type of a crisis—when anything can happen. Let’s look at some economic systems, as spelled out by Karl Marx.
In Communism, the Marxist ideal, the State owns both the means of production (factories, farms, and such) as well as consumer goods (houses, cars, and theoretically, even your clothes). Mao’s China is as close as anyone’s come.
Socialism is a way station to Communism. The State owns the means of production, but individuals can still own consumer goods. There are lots of countries with socialist ideals, but no real socialist countries. Cuba probably comes closest.
Fascism is an economic system where both the means of production and consumer goods are privately owned, but they’re both 100% State-controlled. Most of the world’s countries are fascist. The word was coined by Mussolini; he meant it to describe the melding of the State, corporations, and unions.
Few people know that Marx coined the word “capitalism”. It’s a system where everything is both privately owned and privately controlled. There are no purely capitalist countries.
In feudalism, a lord owns everything but grants fiefs to subordinates. An aristocracy is supported by the plebs through taxation. Feudalism is based on the plebs providing service and taxes to the lord in exchange for “protection” from other lords.
Now for some pure speculation on my part.
Most of the world’s governments, including that of the US, are terminally bankrupt. They’ll prove unable to meet their obligations. Meanwhile, the prospect of wars, secessions, and crime is growing. I suspect wealthy corporations and individuals will wind up supplanting most traditional governments.
The result could be called neo-feudalism.
The average person is looking for someone or something to save him, to kiss everything and make it better, when times get tough. With governments bankrupt and dysfunctional, solvent and powerful individuals and corporations could take their place.
Harari and his pals want to see the plebs given a guaranteed annual income, a place to live, and entertainment until the useless eaters fade away. But it won’t be as neat as Harari’s wet dreams imagine. The world will be chaotic. We may be on our way to an idiocracy as well, where the populace is dumbed down so they don’t get dangerous ideas.
No matter how things sort out, I think we’re looking at a chaotic and dangerous situation in the near term.
I don’t see voting as a solution. Notwithstanding the differences between Harris and Trump, it just amounts to choosing the lesser of two evils, which in this case would certainly be Trump. But even if you elected Mises, Hayek, Ron Paul, or Harry Browne, I’m afraid the tide of history would wash them away.
In any event, your vote doesn’t really count. Or perhaps I should say it counts about as much as a grain of sand on a beach with hundreds of millions of grains of sand. And even then, as Stalin said, it’s not who votes that counts. It’s who counts the votes.
What can you do to resist the shape of things to come?
It’s an uphill fight because if you’re liberty-oriented, you’re part of a tiny minority at odds with the views of most of your fellow citizens, who’ve been indoctrinated by years of schooling, media, and entertainment. Collectivist memes are cemented in their minds. And when they talk to their contemporaries, they tend to mutually reinforce their beliefs.
When you’re in a group, it can be dangerous to have different beliefs, in much the same way that it’s dangerous for a chicken in a flock to have a feather out of place. The other chickens will peck it to death. Reigning ideas tend to be brutally enforced.
What can you do about this?
Other than trying to maintain your personal integrity, there’s not much you can do to roll back the tsunami. There wasn’t much that a freedom-loving Russian could do in 1917, a freedom-loving German could do in 1933, or a freedom-loving Cuban could do in 1959. Or a freedom-loving Venezuelan today.
The best you can do is to try to save yourself, your family, and your like-minded friends. Changing society for the better is a long shot. Although I hope Milei in Argentina proves me wrong.
International Man: What do you suggest individuals do to ensure they don’t become modern serfs if Feudalism 2.0 emerges?
Doug Casey: There are two types of freedom: physical and financial.
From a physical point of view, it’s important not to be tied down the way a serf might be. You don’t want all your possessions to be in one place where they’re easily controlled by the powers that be. Don’t act like a plant. Staying rooted in one place is not an optimum survival strategy for a human in tough times.
The powers that be are interested in controlling other people. It’s best to be a moving target, which makes you much harder to hit.
This is a problem for those of us who think that the US is still the land of the free. It’s not. It’s been devolving for decades. My guess is that over the next few years, perhaps starting with this election, the US will evermore closely resemble the other 200 nation-states that cover the face of the globe like a skin disease.
The single most important thing you can do is internationalize and make sure that all your assets aren’t in one bailiwick, under the control of one government.
From a financial point of view, it gives you the freedom to travel and move, especially with the coming FX controls and CBDCs. Use gold and Bitcoin. You should already have a good stash of both. If you don’t, it’s not too late to start accumulating and transferring assets into them.
Editor’s Note: The months and years ahead will be politically, economically, and socially volatile. What you do to prepare could mean the difference between suffering crippling losses and coming out ahead.
That’s precisely why, legendary investor and NY Times best-selling author Doug Casey just released this urgent report on how to survive and thrive.
[Here are some charts of various bonds and notes futures:]
https://finviz.com/futures_charts.ashx?t=BONDS&p=d
[Here is a related article:]
Strong jobs report puts aggressive rate cuts by the Fed on ice.
https://www.axios.com/2024/10/04/jobs-data-fed-rate-cuts-dream
Good news on jobs means you can say goodbye for now to your dreams of continued aggressive rate cuts from the Federal Reserve.
State of play: The Fed may have adjusted rates by a supersized half percentage point in September, but strong employment data released Friday morning put on ice the possibility that it would do so again anytime soon.
Besides the strong job growth, positive revisions and lower jobless rate, wage gains were robust in September, which could spark worries among policymakers that high inflation is not as fully vanquished as it has seemed.
By the numbers: Average hourly earnings rose 0.4% in September and over the last three months have risen at a 4.3% annual rate, higher than is consistent with the Fed’s 2% inflation target. That number was below 3% in April.
That helps explain a furious sell-off in bonds this morning, as investors have repriced the outlook for Fed policy.
The policy-sensitive two-year Treasury yield is up 0.19 percentage point this morning to 3.9% as investors anticipate both a slower pace of rate cuts and a higher terminal rate than they did before the news.
The intrigue: The jobs numbers probably aren’t enough to entirely halt the Fed’s rate-cutting campaign, given that rates remain elevated relative to inflation. But they take off the table the idea that the Fed is behind the curve of a rapidly deteriorating labor market.
What’s next: The Fed’s next policy meeting concludes Nov. 7, and the central bank’s leaders will see a full round of September inflation data and the October jobs report before then.
As of this morning, futures markets priced in 99% odds of a quarter-point rate cut at that meeting, per the CME Fedwatch tool. Those odds were 47% a week ago.