September 2022 - Page 10 of 10

Economic Parallels Between The Roman Republic And Modern America

2 min read

Economic Parallels Between The Roman Republic And Modern America

Freedomist MIA September 2, 2022

The Roman Republic fell when 1/3 of the revenues were being paid into the welfare state. The Roman Republic collapsed from within, not due to external forces. You can only rob Peter to pay Paul for so long without fresh tax-payer revenue coming in to keep the system afloat.

Let’s consider the reality of the United States by looking at the Federal Budget. If Rome fell when 33% of revenues were going into the welfare system, and the whole economy collapsed under that weight, it would be fair to say that America is less than that as we have not collapsed. Look at the numbers, and we will see:

In fiscal year 2020, look at the mandatory programs:

• Social Security: $1.092T
• Medicare: $694B
• Medicaid: $447B
• Other Mandatory Programs: $743B

Those total $2.975 trillion. The receipts category (total revenue) equals $3.706 trillion. That’s 80.3% of all Federal tax revenue that goes out towards entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, WIC, and other programs.

Social Security technically is not an entitlement, as we pay into it our entire life in exchange for a retirement years income stream, but it cannot be taken away easily. Therefore, like all other entitlements, they become sticky.

The Roman Empire collapsed under 33% of revenue going towards entitlement programs. In 2020/21 the United States was at 80.3%. This is unsustainable.

Add to this the net interest on the national debt, which at around 2.0% interest on a 30-year bond is a whopping $376 Billion. At the lowest interest rates in the history of America, the net interest plus entitlement payments equal 90.4% of all US federal tax revenue. The eerie implications of the massive amount of unsustainable debt are devastating in impact on small interest rate moves.

Consider what the Net interest on $27 trillion of federal debt will be when interest rates are the following:

• 4% = $752 billion
• 6% = $1.128 trillion
• 8% = $1.504 trillion

When interest rates reach 3%, then net interest plus entitlements equal 100% of the entire federal tax revenue. Interest rates are cyclical and throughout history move from high to low or low to high around every 28 years. Interest rates in 1983 were 18% of a 30 year bond.

The interest rate cycle is at the end of its downward trend and can only go up from here. Sadly, state pension funds are not the only things facing insolvency. So is America. Consider the official Federal Budget that shows the massive number of expenditures as a percentage of revenue that entitlements and mandatory payments occupy.

Unfortunately, America is poised for default or is setting the state for a hyper-inflationary phase in the economy that will erode the wealth, standard-of-living, and livelihood of all Americans.

Mega-Trends For The Next Decade

2 min read

Mega-Trends For The Next Decade

Freedomist MIA September 2, 2022

Mr. Sune Hojgaard Sorensen, a strategic and economic Advisory Board Member of the BFI Capital Group, has identified what he calls three defining mega-trends he believes will feature prominently in the next decade, all of which have been massively accelerated by Covid.

1. DIGITALIZATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION

“According to a study conducted by McKinsey & Co in November of last year, in response to the crisis, companies have accelerated the digitalization of their customer interactions, accomplishing three or four years of progress in just seven months!” Further, Sorensen notes that “Value has moved from the tangible to the intangible, or a combination thereof.”

In 1975, only 17% of assets on the S & P 500 were intangible (patents, brand value, customer data, etc.), while 83% were tangible (buildings, equipment, cash, inventory, etc.). Today, 90% of assets are intangible. Digital finance, tele-health, remote work, online education, virtual entertainment, automation, and robotics will only increase in use.

2. THE RISE OF THE EAST

Consider that over 3.3 billion live in the countries of India, China, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Japan alone. The world’s largest shipping hubs are now in the East, and Asia’s market share has massively expanded in the past 100 years. Despite the talk of “decoupling” from China, many businesses have shown little interest in doing so.

According to MacroPolo, “Foreign businesses are just one gauge of decoupling, but they are particularly important leading indicators of shifts in supply chain ecosystems. In 2020, the respective portions of US (87%) and European (89%) businesses indicating no intention to leave China are as high or even higher than they’ve been in recent years.”

According to MacroPolo, “Foreign businesses are just one gauge of decoupling, but they are particularly important leading indicators of shifts in supply chain ecosystems. In 2020, the respective portions of US (87%) and European (89%) businesses indicating no intention to leave China are as high or even higher than they’ve been in recent years.”

World's Largest Shipping Hubs Data — World’s Largest Shipping Hubs Data

1. BIG GOVERNMENTS, BIGGER DEBT

Essentially, the US has transitioned from real engineering to financial engineering. Sorenson highlights the Congressional Budget Office projections, which predict that US Debt to GDP will pass the historical high of 106 in 2023, and in 2050 will hit 2.5x what they were at the end of 2020.

But Sorensen believes this could spell opportunity for strategic investors. “Beyond the debasement and the financial repression, big government and even bigger debt will also bring plenty of opportunity to those entrepreneurs and investors who can take a pragmatic approach, see through the smoke and mirrors, and identify the sectors that stand to benefit from all this largesse, deploying their efforts and capital accordingly.”

Consider that while millions lost their fortunes in the Great Depression, those who understood the times and were wise enough to get out early (like Joe Kennedy, Sr.) were able to buy stock after the crash for pennies on the dollar, becoming millionaires in the process.

Understanding & Protecting Yourself From Phishing

2 min read

Understanding & Protecting Yourself From Phishing

Freedomist MIA September 2, 2022

1. WHAT IS “PHISHING”?

“Phishing” is a type of cyberattack that seeks to mislead computer users into giving out sensitive information to malicious individuals or downloading malware onto their computers. Phishing takes numerous forms. (1) Phishing emails, (2) phishing websites, (2) phishing texts, and (3) phishing social media messages pour in upon users every day. These attacks can be highly sophisticated and seek to steal your personal information or turn your computer into a stepping stone that can be leveraged to attack other devices.

2. AN EXAMPLE OF PHISHING

As an example of computers being used as stepping stones for cyberattacks, the Solorigate breach resulted in the compromise of hundreds of corporations, as well as multiple government agencies and the Windows operating system (OS) source code. This Solorigate breach was claimed to have originated from Russian government sponsored hackers, and it demonstrates how extensive a single state-sponsored cyberattack can be. Allegedly, these attackers originally breached the SolarWinds software through a phishing attack, thereby demonstrating how hackers can quickly breach a single piece of software or computer through phishing and then spread their attacks to other organizations and government agencies.

There are some specific steps that we can take to protect ourselves from phishing attacks.

1. BE VIGILANT ONLINE

Cybercrime is rampant. Always be on guard when using the Internet or your smartphone; if anything on the web seems to be suspicious, use extreme caution when browsing that site or downloading that file. Carefully inspect websites before you enter any personal information into them.

Never click on a link in an email or text – always copy and paste those links from your email/text messenger into your browser and take a moment to inspect them before pressing the go button.

2. VERIFY, THEN TRUST

Always be suspicious of any unsolicited message you receive from a digitally-based entity. This includes phone calls, text messages, emails, and computer notifications.

3. USE SOFTWARE TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM PHISHING ATTACKS

Such software includes the following:

• Secure browsers (like Brave Browser)
• Strong antivirus software (like Avast Security or Bitdefender)
• Ad Blockers (like uBlock Origin)

4. GUARD PERSONAL INFORMATION

(a) Minimize the amount of personal information you enter into any website or app; this includes any password or passcode. Do not enter information if you are not required to do so. It is not illegal to not enter your real name when signing up for things like Gmail.

(b) Do not reuse the same password for all of your applications; if you have trouble keeping track of your passwords, use a password manager like KeePass, LastPass, or Dashlane.

California Protects a Woman’s Right to End Her Unborn Child’s Life at Home

2 min read

California Protects a Woman’s Right to End Her Unborn Child’s Life at Home

Paul Collier September 1, 2022

Californians will soon be able to terminate the life of their unborn child from the comfort of their own home after the California State Assembly passed AB 223. The bill states people cannot be charged for performing a self-induced abortion.

NEWSWATCH BLURB:

California Legislature Passes Controversial Bill Decriminalizing Self-induced Abortion – www.breitbart.com
Excerpt:

The California State Legislature passed a bill Tuesday that would protect women from legal penalties for inducing their own abortions, and which includes controversial language on “perinatal” death.

The bill, AB 2223, introduced by Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), is just one of several measures expanding abortion that the legislature has considered as the U.S. Supreme Court has reversed Roe v. Wade. Voters will consider a constitutional amendment this November that would protect abortion through birth.

Read Full Article

GO DEEPER:

Facts About Abortion: U.S. Abortion Statistics – abort73.com

Based on available state-level data, approximately 887,000 abortions took place in the United States in 2019. That’s up from approximately 872,000 abortions in 2018, 890,000 abortions in 2016, and 913,000 abortions in 2015.

Reasons Women Get Abortions – hli.org

3.5% of Abortions Are for the “Hard Cases”

Calculations based on statistics provided by medical journals and government surveys in the United States show that abortions for the “hard cases” are much rarer than most people believe.

Poll: What Americans think about abortion, in 3 charts – Vox

While Pew found that sizable majorities of Americans said abortion should be legal if a woman’s health is at stake (73 percent) or if the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest (69 percent), just over half (54 percent) said it should be legal if the baby was likely to be born with severe disabilities or health issues.

The stage of pregnancy especially affects people’s views of abortion. Pew found that in the first six weeks of pregnancy, 51 percent of people said abortion should be generally legal, compared with 26 percent who said it should be illegal. By 24 weeks into a pregnancy, just 29 percent said it should be generally legal while 42 percent said it should be generally illegal.

Abortion rates by race and ethnicity – Guttmacher Institute

What Percentage Of Pregnancies Are Aborted – PregnancyProTips.com

Abortions on Black women have now reached their highest percentage since 2000, according to newly released data from the Centers for Disease Control .

The abortion data, released in November and analyzed by Live Action News, reveals that in 2016, while Black women accounted for 38 percent of reported abortions, population estimates for 2016 show that African Americans made up just 12 percent of the population. This news comes on the heels of deliberate efforts by the abortion lobby to market abortions among women of color as a positive.