Economic Totalitarianism

[trollercoaster]

http://m.thelocal.de/20150611/deutsche-bank-raids-related-to-tax-evasion-prosecutor

http://m.thelocal.dk/20150612/danes-embracing-mobile-payments

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[username18333]

I don't know what part of decentralized Knowledge Age you don't get. Mankind is not going to back to the stone age and barter. Sorry.

Soc. We shall know better, my good friend, in a little while. The point which I should first wish to understand is whether the [capital] or [money] is beloved by the [1‱] because it is [money], or [money] because it is beloved of the [1‱].

(Germaneness mine.)

Instead, economically, “you bring their knife to your gunfight” (username18333).

[TPTB_need_war]

I don't know what part of decentralized Knowledge Age you don't get. Mankind is not going to back to the stone age and barter. Sorry.

Soc. We shall know better, my good friend, in a little while. The point which I should first wish to understand is whether the [capital] or [money] is beloved by the [1‱] because it is [money], or [money] because it is beloved of the [1‱].

(Germaneness mine.)

Instead, economically, “you bring their knife to your gunfight” (username18333).

I reiterate my statement. For knowledge capital to trade and invest optimally in the Knowledge Age, we need anonymous, decentralized, micropayments money.

[OROBTC]

...

TPTB's frequent references to Martin Armstrong have helped me find many further examples of Economic Totalitarianism.  Today's example is his article wondering why (and explaining...) why no banksters have personally gone to jail since the 2007 - current financial crisis started:

http://armstrongeconomics.com/archives/33417

It looks like Armstrong will be as useful a source as Zero Hedge is for further demonstrations of Economic Totalitarianism.

*   *   *

NO ONE of significance has gone to jail.

NONE of our financial problems have been solved.

[username18333]

I reiterate my statement. For knowledge capital to trade and invest optimally in the Knowledge Age, we need anonymous, decentralized, micropayments money.

Soc. Then that which is dear to the [plutocrat]s, Euthyphro, is not [money], nor is that which is [money] loved of [plutocracy], as you affirm; but they are two different things.

(Germaneness mine.)

Ontologically, “the [currency] or [money]” (qtd. in username18333) cannot (at least, substantively) undermine an international plutocracy.

[TPTB_need_war]

I reiterate my statement. For knowledge capital to trade and invest optimally in the Knowledge Age, we need anonymous, decentralized, micropayments money.

Soc. Then that which is dear to the [plutocrat]s, Euthyphro, is not [money], nor is that which is [money] loved of [plutocracy], as you affirm; but they are two different things.

(Germaneness mine.)

Ontologically, “the [currency] or [money]” (qtd. in username18333) cannot (at least, substantively) undermine an international plutocracy.

Society will always be a bell curve and not uniformly distributed.

But the Knowledge Age paradigm shifts the incentives for those who concentrate the knowledge capital, such that incentives align with the ends of the network due to the End-to-end principle of network scaling.

It was the friction of high fixed capital investment of the Industrial Age which prevented optimal network scaling.

[dominicg]

...

This thread is actually in honor of CoinCube (who started the very popular "Economic Devastation" thread).



But, that thread wanders into difficult philosophical terrain, and I am interested in hearing opinions (practical!) re what we can do about "Economic Totalitarianism":

1) The new War on CA$H (Zero Hedge is covering this tpoic pretty well)

2) ZIRP/NIRP

3) Whether any of our apparently worthless Prez candidates have any decent ideas to save our financial butts.  And who is worse (the worst).

4a) Ideas that EACH of us might be able to do to defend ourselves from abusive .gov trying to take ever-more of our hard-earned money...

4b) Where assets like BTC, "alts", physical gold, foreign real estate, "Plan B", etc. may fit in...



Ideas anyone?

I´m too old to learn to program, nor interested (in this thread) in obscure discussions of Marxism, "idiots", personal attacks, etc.

I want practical ideaz and resultz, fishez!

I suppose your 4a's answer is in 4b question. We have to create a decentralized environment not only on currency level but on every type of online transaction we make. Whether it is online transactions between banks, ecommerce, lending, borrowing, or any thing. We should promote decentralized currencies and try to attach more users to it. As big as decentralized environment becomes, smaller the disturbances from governments.

[TPTB_need_war]

We have to create a decentralized environment not only on currency level but on every type of online transaction we make. ... As big as decentralized environment becomes, smaller the disturbances from governments.

You onto the master plan...

Also there are bigger picture network effects that have a more high level relevance to decentralization ecosystems.

[TPTB_need_war]

i've always said that when it comes down to federated server pegged SC's, go right ahead.  it doesn't change the protocol so i don't worry.

It can be the leverage that causes the protocol to effectively change by replacement of Core. A pegged side chain that is undeniably superior to Bitcoin Core could suck all the BTC out of Core and that pegged side chain could have the spvp implemented. That isn't a guarantee of it happening, but from my perspective the odds are quite high. One of the attributes that raises the odds of such is the resistance to changing the protocol of Core. Thus any undeniably superior tech is unlikely to be politically implementable in Core.

I repeat that a consensus algorithm which can't be 50% attacked has an even better odds of catapulting Core, because it won't be vulnerable in its infancy.

This journey has been like playing a strategy game. I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

this is where you are so wrong! what is superior? Bitcoin is not defined by a hierarchy of superiority, its defined by a juxtaposition of incentives that create a network of people that benefit from those incentives and so the tool is created it's spreads natural like a virus. Those who see value in the tool can use it those who don't use other tools like fiat, alts or gold or whatever they think is hierarchically superior.

the only reason a "superior" sidechain can exist is because the incentives inherent in the Bitcoin protocol have been changed and a bigger network of users could by some engendering supersede Bitcoins network in size, the result is if that were to happen yes all the Bitcoin value would be sucked out.

So superior is defined only as something all those non thinking masses you want to heard believe is better, it doesn't have to be better in any way that's important to me, in fact by your definition of "superior" could even apply to an inflationary sidechain that is followed by the economic majority, with a little manipulation from TPTB, bitcoiners would move there bitcoin over just to survive.

if you want to test whether or not your idea had market appeal use a Spin-off, if you want to co opt Bitcoin and leverage its first mover advantage promote centralized development and Sidechains. The problem is your competing with the actual TPTB for the succeeding SC, not the free market.

If you believe largest size = maximum ROI, then you don't have much experience as an investor or you haven't learned from your experience. If you believe that the largest system always subsumes the smaller, fasting growing (in percentage terms) system, then you fail to study history.

If you haven't forgotten there are three reasons people invest in Bitcoin:

1) Gain wealth

2) Change the world according to their ideology

3) Protect their future wealth against a burgeoning totalitarianism

Superior means technology, marketing, and ecosystem kicking Buttcon's a$$ on all of those key attributes.

For example, Buttcon can not do micropayments now. That is an immediate opening for example. But it is not the only one. I (or let's say the group I'm delegating to) won't reveal the entire hand of cards just yet...

If you view the world's wealth as a pie, then the earliest investors gain the largest slice of the pie. The NWO coin is the dying paradigm. Large but dying. It will expropriate all the wealth it sucks into it.

Stay in Buttcon and you will end up a pauper at the end of it all. With pegged side chains, you have potential outlet to great wealth.

Edit: the larger a system becomes, especially a political system like this, the more difficult it becomes to make any changes to it. It will become more and more brittle over time. You have no experience at all with software and scaling if you don't understand clearly that Bitcoin core is doomed long-term. You must have outlets for innovation, else you will end up with an inescapable morass. Nothing scales monolithically. Only the End-to-end principle scales and Bitcoin core doesn't have it.

[minor-transgression]

@generalisethis - Choose, or the choice will be made for you by others.

Totalitarianism is not new :  
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-14/cornering-earth-how-rothschilds-controlled-least-one-third-global-wealth-over-100-ye
"Several attempts looking to a vast increase of the bonded debt of the United States have been made, other attempts will be made. But this Government should pay every dollar of its bonded debt and then stay out of debt. It would be a wholesome example to the world. It would show to all nations the advantages of self-government and human liberty."

"Do not press a desperate enemy" - Sun Tzu.

[generalizethis]

@generalisethis - Choose, or the choice will be made for you by others.

Totalitarianism is not new : 
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-06-14/cornering-earth-how-rothschilds-controlled-least-one-third-global-wealth-over-100-ye
"Several attempts looking to a vast increase of the bonded debt of the United States have been made, other attempts will be made. But this Government should pay every dollar of its bonded debt and then stay out of debt. It would be a wholesome example to the world. It would show to all nations the advantages of self-government and human liberty."

"Do not press a desparate enemy" - Sun Tzu.

Define the choices.

Every age has had men and women who have claimed a solution to mankind's problems and every age has failed. Is it because problems are infinite or the correct solution has yet to be found?

Add Ockham's razor.

 

"Keep on trying." Stevie Wonder
 

[minor-transgression]

Your choices are your choices. Either choose or do not.

"Is it because problems are infinite or the correct solution has yet to be found?"

This relates to Crony Capitalism, and the Law. Most professions avoid paradox but within
Law it is everywhere. I will give an example, but caution against arguing from the
particular to the general.
Two bitcoiners enter into a contract. They agree that 2+2 does not equal 4 but one argues
for 3 and the other 5. They seek arbitration, and the decision is that the contract is null
and void. There is no correct solution and each proposition is equally valid or invalid. (If you
prefer you can argue whether 0 is positive or negative). The essential point in Law is that
both positions can be true but only one can prevail. That is paradox.
The point I want to make here is that bitcoiners should establish a principle in Law that the
Arbitrator should act for the Cryptocurrency community in general, and in this case for the
Bitcoin community in particular. There will be issues that cross national boundaries hence the
Bitcoin Community needs their Contract Law to favour their Community. They need their own
form of Crony Capitalism, and their own version of the TPP, TTIP.
 
There are other relevant matters, but it is better to proceed step by step.

[generalizethis]

Your choices are your choices. Either choose or do not.

"Is it because problems are infinite or the correct solution has yet to be found?"

This relates to Crony Capitalism, and the Law. Most professions avoid paradox but within
Law it is everywhere. I will give an example, but caution against arguing from the
particular to the general.
Two bitcoiners enter into a contract. They agree that 2+2 does not equal 4 but one argues
for 3 and the other 5. They seek arbitration, and the decision is that the contract is null
and void. There is no correct solution and each proposition is equally valid or invalid. (If you
prefer you can argue whether 0 is positive or negative). The essential point in Law is that
both positions can be true but only one can prevail. That is paradox.
The point I want to make here is that bitcoiners should establish a principle in Law that the
Arbitrator should act for the Cryptocurrency community in general, and in this case for the
Bitcoin community in particular. There will be issues that cross national boundaries hence the
Bitcoin Community needs their Contract Law to favour their Community. They need their own
form of Crony Capitalism, and their own version of the TPP, TTIP.
  
There are other relevant matters, but it is better to proceed step by step.

That's fine and I don't agree or disagree with it as outlined here--as long as we are calling it what it is and not packaging it as "Mankind's Salvation."

As for my choice, I believe Bitcoin, Monero, et al, are economic tools which can be wielded with political aims (if that's your thing), but now is more the time to position yourself behind which tool will be more useful (more disruptive) rather than try to impose your will on a nascent market that could swing wildly without the slightest (obvious) provocation. Am I the only one who thinks it is weird that the TPTB aren't fighting BTC tooth and nail in the street?

"All warfare is based on deception. There is no place where espionage is not used. Offer the enemy bait to lure him." Sun Tzu

Now, that said, the war council is greedy and doesn't understand all the implications of this pet dragon. They think they have put a rein on its neck and forced it to bow before their superior leadership, that they have found a new demigod to force secrets from the subservient while filling their coffers with untold wealth--but they have yet to see its darker kin who wait behind the palace walls.

or

"Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans." John Lennon

My main point, is that no one will give a shit a thousand years from now, and this great battle will most likely be another chapter of status (human) qou in a history that may or may not be transferred to an algorithm by our less human, more AI offspring. As Nick Land said, "Nothing human makes it out of the near-future...."

I'm more interested in watching the great evolutionary transference than any short-lived victory over the overlords while becoming just another overlord who will be taken out by another regime intent on taking out the freshly appointed overlord. In the meantime, I'm going to use the best tech available to satisfy my primal urge to procure the best available housing and food stuffs and to procreate with the best mate(s)  available   --the rest is not seeing the huge forest of primate-evolutionary-adaption-with-little-to-no-political-change from the always well fertilized tree of  political revolution.

[TPTB_need_war]

We have a confluence of negative cycles that indicate we are headed into VERY BAD TIMES.

...
Btw, just because you want to stay only in BTC, doesn't mean others won't want to speculate on higher ROI and the potential to jump back in time and front run your early investment in BTC. And they might be correct. One thing you have to contemplate is that an altcoin could be structured to benefit from the pegged side chain BTC investment it (yes an altcoin that is also a pegged side chain) and offer a higher ROI on its own coin. You might assert you'd opt for the pegged side chain clone that eliminated the side coin atribute, but market dynamics may not play nicely with your desire.

I try to never play in a game where other's have superior info, though sometimes it's not avoidable.  I don't play the various mainstream markets for this reason.  I'm also lazy.  It's funny and half-true that I don't really care that much about ROI, and if someone jumps out and back in again and does better than me, more power to them.  They have my respect for having balls, skill, and luck.

I've timed various things about as perfectly as possible (so far), but it has been almost complete luck and in a funny way that I cannot put my finger on, I think it has been a result of fairly deliberately not trying very hard to maximize my ROI and such.  I seem to be uniquely bad at predicting price behaviors on less than year long intervals.

Sometimes I've had myself half-convinced that if I had to choose between Bitcoin achieving something substantive for humanity and Bitcoin making me rich, I'd choose the former.  Sometimes not.  Since I've made some money already I'm pretty sure that I will put a fairly significant emphasis on furthering other goals going forward.  At this point I see the goals of making money and having Bitcoin (or a follow-on) being worthwhile as being fairly aligned but this is just and accident of fate.

This is the why 90% slow burn into the NWO is so assured, because most people don't act to save themselves until it is too late. They actively avoid pain if the losses to society are only 10% on each iteration:

nwo future prosperity = 0.90 ^ n, where n is time elapsed and 1 is maximum prosperity and 0 is total destruction of the human race.

Also people get lulled to sleep by their past success in following the herd.

My rebuttal is talk to some people whose grandparents lost everything in the Great Depression because they trusted society to not go F.U.B.A.R. Realize that every 79 years or so, society does default and reset.

I do firmly believe your Bitcoin will be expropriated before 2032 (most likely before 2024), unless you've cashed out to something more protective BEFORE THE NSA HAS BEEN TRACKING IT. Gold will only work if you plan to never be able to cash it nor spend it, i.e. it won't work.

I do believe there will be clawbacks and they come asking what you did with the Bitcoin you sold back in the day. And they will use any excuse to expropriate everything they can find. The only wealth that is going to survive what is coming is that which can't be found.

2017 – Sovereign Debt Cycle

Why people even buy government debt is unexplained, for lawyers take control of government and pass laws that elevate government to “quality status” when in fact it is unsecured and has typically resulted in the total destruction of capital formation. When the core economy is involved, such as Rome, the resulting episode is typically a Dark Age.

...

The sovereign defaults that began in 1931 in Austria set off the Great Depression that became a contagion, taking Greece down once more. Numerous countries defaulted on sovereign debt obligations from Europe, Asia, and South America, as the world economy contracted and entered what became known as the Great Depression. Even Britain suspended payments on its debt. Greece imposed a moratorium on paying on its outstanding foreign debt in 1932.

...

Nevertheless, we face a sovereign debt default that is not limited to Greece. The history of the financial system is not encouraging to those investors hoping that the main countries will avoid defaulting on their sovereign debt obligations. Some may take comfort in knowing that while previous defaults were dislocating to the market, the global financial system did not suffer any long-term damage because of these events, except following 1845 and 1931. These two major global defaults were interestingly 86 years apart. Adding 86 years again, curiously brings us to 2017. The whole sovereign debt crisis started to surface in 2009 which is two 86 units of time from when it began with Andrew Jackson in 1837. This is the Phase Transition on debt and we should expect the sovereign debt crisis to expand dramatically during the last phase into 2017.

309.6 Year Cycle – It’s About Time

The overall character of the present wave is a PRIVATE WAVE meaning that in such waves markets advance more rapidly and volatility rises. During a PUBLIC WAVE that ended in 1981.35, the leading trend was confidence in government so the bond markets did best and the Dow could not get through the 1000 level until the wave changed to private in 1985.

At the 309.6 year level, there are still tendencies for the PUBLIC v PRIVATE aspect. At this level it is a bit different. It is the rise and fall of empires so we have the most drastic elements at that level – the swing between civilization and isolationism through fragmentation. This is typically caused by government becoming so corrupt that people abandon the idea of collective societies as being beneficial. The Romans called the abandonment of the cities – suburbium.

When Rome collapsed, you moved away from government and feudalism began. The same in Japan. There is a danger of a dark age perhaps after 2032. Hopefully I will be dead by then. But it is hard to put the odds on that. But this is why we are in a growing trend of dissatisfaction that is manifesting in separatist movements. This is the opposite of civilization. People are getting fed up with government and because this is the LAST 51.6 year wave in this 309.6 year cycle, it is the PHASE TRANSITION period so things can get really nuts.

...

224 Year Collapsing Wave Structure Points to Breakup of USA

April, 2013 is when Eric Snowden made his final move (no turning back) to make his revelations.

There are two types of waves on the 224 Year Cycle – the Collapsing Wave and the Protracted Wave. It appears that the USA is in the Collapsing Wave formation meaning that the 224 year runs from the birth to the peak with the total duration running minimum 296 years with the optimum being 309.6 years meaning the society splits and does not remain intact. A Protracted Wave is a society view where the wave is measured peak to peak totaling 224 years. The second Protracted Wave formation is where governments come and go, but society survives and reforms remaining intact. In the Collapsing Wave structure where it is 224 year from birth to peak, the overall duration appears to be is 296-309 years. for the conclusion whereby society breaks apart and fragmentation emerges..In the case of Rome, 309 years from the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44BC is 265AD where Rome broke apart and the Gallic Empire emerged under Postumus (259-268AD).

This Collapsing Wave structure that the United States appears to be in means it is a one-time-wonder and that the United States will break-up and the there will be no more “united” union. This is becoming self-evidence in the polarization of politics with tremendous differences in culture on a regional basis. The Obamacare is just one aspect revealing the undercurrent whereby one segment of society believes it has a right to force their views upon another group.

Marcus-Aurelius-BustSo unfortunately, the USA does not appear to be destined to remain intact otherwise we would have seen and overall structured wave of 224 years. We seem to be in the Collapsing Wave with the 224 years was from birth to peak with an overall duration of 309.6 years at best. This appears to be like the Collapsing Wave in Imperial Rome itself whereas from the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44BC to the peak in the glory of Rome and population in the city took place under Marcus Aurelius that was 224 years later in 180AD. The decline that followed brought total chaos, sovereign debt crisis, massive government seizure of capital, fragmentation of the Empire, and in the end, Rome was no longer the Capitol and that became Constantinople followed by the split of East and West. We are much more akin to the this type of Collapsing Wave formation whereby society collapses and breaks apart. Now we have the Cycle of War turning in 2014 that appears to be focused within civil unrest at least initially.

What is the 300 Year Convergence in the War Cycle?

QUESTION: Marty, you said that this cycle is the first time that the civil unrest and the international war cycle converge since the 1700s. You mean that it is a 300 year cycle of just that or is this when they align?

ANSWER: This is an alignment, not a 300 year cycle. If you have a 16 and a 18 week cycle, a some point they drift apart and then they converge. This is what sailors in the ocean called the giant wave. In wave movement you have constructive and destructive inference. When they align you get a bigger wave than normal.

This famous Japanese print known as the “Great Wave” does not portray a tsunami caused by an earthquake. The Great Wave pictures what its title denotes, simply a large okinami, which actually means a “wave of the open sea.”  Until 1995, these “Great Waves” or “Rogue Waves” were known only from stories of sailors. The 1972 movie Poseidon Adventure depicts an ocean liner turned upside down by one of these waves.

...

In our Cycle of War, we have split domestic from international. The international wave hit for events like WWI and WWII etc. Those are conflicts between countries. That is only one aspect of the Cycle of War. The second wave formation functions based upon civil unrest. This moves from protests up the scale to revolution such as the American and French Revolutions of the late 1700s.

This is what I am talking about that we have not a 300 year cycle, but the constructive inference between these two entirely different trends one domestic and one international. The Scottish vote today falls into the category of civil not international and is part of that cycle that is converging with the international where we see Russia v USA and China v Japan, and Middle East.

The Next Plague Due 2019?

This Cycle of War has been incredible for it is linked at the core with weather, economics, plagues, and natural disasters. You cannot look at war in isolation for its cause is rooted also within human nature.

The Romans were great secretaries and tended to record events of this nature. When we analyzed the history of plagues, we found a strong correlation to Pi (π). The span of just the major plagues recorded by the Romans was 474 years divided by 6 events produces 79 and dividing that by Pi 3.14 gives us 25.15 years. This is very close to the 8.6 frequency (3 x 8.6 = 25.. Testing this frequency brought us to the Black Death/Plague of the 14th Century, the Great Influenza of the mid-19th Century that killed many on my own family, the influenza at World War I, the Malaria epidemic of 1940, and the next target being 2019.

[TPTB_need_war]

We have a confluence of negative cycles that indicate we are headed into VERY BAD TIMES.

...Also people get lulled to sleep by their past success in following the herd.

My rebuttal is talk to some people whose grandparents lost everything in the Great Depression because they trusted society to not go F.U.B.A.R. Realize that every 79 years or so, society does default and reset.

I do firmly believe your Bitcoin will be expropriated before 2032 (most likely before 2024), unless you've cashed out to something more protective BEFORE THE NSA HAS BEEN TRACKING IT. Gold will only work if you plan to never be able to cash it nor spend it, i.e. it won't work.

I do believe there will be clawbacks and they come asking what you did with the Bitcoin you sold back in the day. And they will use any excuse to expropriate everything they can find. The only wealth that is going to survive what is coming is that which can't be found.

...

The Hunt For Money Is Everywhere

REPLY: The horror stories are pouring in. It is now evident that the government requires banks to trace every penny you have before getting a mortgage. This has NOTHING to do with terrorism; it is the entire purpose of the NSA grabbing every phone call, text message, and email. They are hunting YOU. The banks act as their agents, tracking what you are doing, and reporting back with the answers.

Perhaps now those who did not understand our SOLUTION and why the key central piece is to demonstrate that we no longer need taxes since money is no longer tangible. If we do not end federal taxation, we will be driven fully and completely into a subservient society, bowing before not kings or gods, but government employees begging for mercy.

Is There a Shortage of Gold in Europe? Will It Be Confiscated?

Even the banks are requiring explanation for every deposit in an account to get a mortgage in the USA. Gold refiners are now required to report to the U.S. government every shipment of gold, reporting where it comes from and where it went.

They seem to be keen on watching gold bullion. The question is why? That seems to be clear from the standpoint of eliminating any alternative if they seek to move toward a cashless society.  Look at the former speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, who has been charged with lying to federal agents and evading financial reporting requirements called STRUCTURING, reportedly while attempting to conceal past sexual misconduct. This is the same money that you have paid taxes on, but you are withdrawing it in cash to pay off someone else. So you withdraw cash in amounts under $10,000 to avoid reporting. So this is NOT tax evasion; this is failing to tell the government that you have paid someone in cash and they didn’t pay their taxes.

So can they make gold illegal? Only a fool would say no. If it is illegal to pay someone in cash, they will make it illegal to pay someone in gold. This is the direction we are headed in. This is not a personal attack on gold. Sure, the gold promoters will say I am wrong for they are afraid it might reduce the whole idea of buying gold as an alternative to dollars. But this is the world we face. They are closing in the net from every possible angle. It is not just gold. This is hunting spare change in any form.

Does it mean you should not buy gold when the low comes into play? No. But it does mean there may be a risk to owning gold as it will be made illegal to conduct business. Keep in mind that they cannot imprison you for NOT paying your taxes. That would be unconstitutional. They imprison you for failing to tell them you owe taxes. It is the failure to file – not pay.

Expect Real Estate Mortgages to Become a Nightmare

As a result of Title XIV of The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (another agency to complicate matters) issued a number of mortgage related rules that are not actually voted on by Congress. They will impose far more paperwork and raise the cost of mortgages, while the Dodd-Frank portion to actually reform bank trading was vacated. As of August 1, 2015, we now have a new agency to comply with to get a mortgage and this should help to cap the real estate rally for the average American by sending prices back down.

Expect Real Estate Mortgages to Become a Nightmare

As a result of Title XIV of The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (another agency to complicate matters) issued a number of mortgage related rules that are not actually voted on by Congress. They will impose far more paperwork and raise the cost of mortgages, while the Dodd-Frank portion to actually reform bank trading was vacated. As of August 1, 2015, we now have a new agency to comply with to get a mortgage and this should help to cap the real estate rally for the average American by sending prices back down.

The Feds Are Hunting Money Retroactively – Is a Real Estate Crash Coming?

If you apply for a mortgage, you will suddenly encounter the REAL hunt for money. My sister just bought a house and to get the mortgage she had to explain every deposit and cash withdrawal in her account going back five years. My mother had simply written her a check for $400 to reimburse her for picking up some medicine. They wanted her to explain why my mother gave her $400.

Another friend, who lived with his girlfriend for five years and shared an apartment, encountered the full fury of the government’s hunt for spare change. His girlfriend had written him checks for half the rent for five years. He had to explain every one of those checks before they could get a mortgage to buy a home together.

This is completely illegal, yet banks are complying. This is all under the pretense of TERRORISM, whereby they have to know where every penny goes. This is not applying a new law with notice that from this date forward you have to keep track of everything you do with anyone else, as in East Germany, Stasi, this is being applied retroactively. The banks then report that info to the IRS and if you lie somewhere they will convert that to perjury and threaten you with five years in jail. My sister withdrew $2,000 in cash every few months for my mother for incidental purchases. Every one of those cash withdrawals had to be explained. This is between family members; there is no pretense of TERRORISM. We are watching all our privacy and rights vanish before our eyes.

It is no longer good enough that you pay your taxes. Now they want to know to whom you are giving any money, right down to $50. As a matter of law, if I pay a lawyer for work, I must issue a 1099 to document if I pay him any fees. They are tracing every dime.

This sort of red tape will come into play, seriously capping real estate in the housing market. We should expect prices to peak out in general, for this asset class is being hunted. It may be that the high end holds up better, but the low end that needs a mortgage to transact will find it increasingly difficult as the economy turns down, rates move higher, and banks back away from long-term loans.

Cash is rushing into the short-end. The long-end is starting to falter. This should be the same for most real estate markets. This is a 26-year high in Switzerland as well and the rush for condos in Toronto and NYC should top out on this wave where prices depend upon mortgages. Expect the core real estate to peak out with this wave that requires mortgages. This type of unconstitutional tracking of money will eventually discourage people from getting mortgages and as buyers are discouraged in the USA, they will move elsewhere. Caution is advisable.

[TPTB_need_war]

http://armstrongeconomics.com/archives/33539

Silver is headed below $12 and gold below $1050.

Most likely bottoming below $9 and $850. The lowest possible for gold in the $600s.

We have a bounce here in BTC and PMs, then headed for lower lows, which means < $150 for BTC and probably double-digits 

It will be a blood bath. 

You've been warned. And I have not been wrong since I started following Armstrong some years ago.

[minor-transgression]

 will try to keep this OnTopic, forgive me if I stray.

@generalisethis - you asked why TPTB are not fighting bitcoin tooth and nail?

I think that we agree that the financial system will fail in the near future,
and that the entire Real World will suffer a painful adjustment in the mid term.

For reference purposes this analysis of fiat "money" is excellent but incomplete:
http://www.firstrebuttal.com/2015/06/16/the-feds-fatal-flaw-a-predictable-end/
"Be cognisant that when extended real GDP growth falls to or below 0% it will necessarily end the central banking system i.e. death of the $
"For them, the system has, as was the sole objective, amassed wealth beyond the imagination of men and gods alike."
(H/T ZeroHedge)

If you have ever played "Monopoly" you will know that the board game is
structured to provide only one winner. The link above endorses this view in some
detail. And the board game is on sale since the 1930's.

The money system as we know it has some benefits but also some unfortunate
side effects, specifically the inevitability of Economic Totalitarianism.
That dark side of the system cannot be redeemed or counterbalanced, and
is reflected in the growth of an inter-national Deep State. This unchallenged
and absolute power leads to perverse outcomes: absolute corruption as in
kakistocracy; terrorism as in Operation Gladio; paedophilia as in Kincora; organised
criminality as in the laundering of drug profits by major banks; subversion
and regime change as in Harold Wilson's 1974 UK government.
(google for "After Dark British Intelligence" for this and Kincora)
All this is old news. Gagging orders and related actions have stemmed the flow
of information since those days.

But this is not about the actions of the Deep State, it is all about the
reasons for the Deep State's existence and a probable causal linkage to Economic
Totalitarianism

I will mention that correlation is not causation, and there is no reason to
suppose that specific acts such as those above are directly linked to the flow
of debt and the concentration of wealth. There is some suggestion that the
allocation of wealth is arbitrary, that we are not in a meritocracy, hence
kakistocracy is a probable outcome. What to do?

I will argue that bitcoin, while it may be suited as a reserve currency, will
do nothing to halt the advance of a kakistocracy. Bitcoin has many similarities to
gold and to other precious metals. These have all failed in the past, for the
reasons given above. The blockchain is the new technology, can we use it to
our advantage?

Since my first post on bitcointalk.org, I have argued for a better cryptocurrency.
This is my constant position, and like you, I am interested in self preservation.
Bitcoin may be the best lifeboat available, but is it good enough?

[TPTB_need_war]

1965.15 was the end of precious metals money.

2015.75 (51.6 years later, i.e. the ECM cycle based on Pi) will be the end of cash money and the start of a massive expropriation of wealth.


U.S. Changing Credit Card Liability on October 1, 2015

Curious note: On October 1, 2015 – the day of the Big Bang – the U.S. will begin shifting to EMV (Europay, MasterCard® and Visa®) “smart card” credit cards as a more secure way of accepting payments. Anyone accepting a card without a chip will be liable for any fraudulent payments. The banks will be exempt from accepting responsibility for fraudulent cards. Instead, the risk will shift to the merchant for accepting any non-EMV cards.

The End of Bonds? Look Out Below 2015.75

Since 1985, I have warned that the Big Bang was coming 2015.75. Here is the slide from our 1998 World Economic Conference (WEC). This target is the culmination of 51.6 years from the first break in the Bretton Woods Monetary system – 1964.15.

So what was 1964.15? That was the end of silver coinage. The following year began the copper-nickel coinage. We should see important turning points in 2017 and 2020. We will be going over these targets at the upcoming WEC in November.

There is a crisis unfolding in the bond markets right now. There is no bid for bonds and liquidity is vanishing rapidly. When the crack materializes, this is going to be so bad it is scary. This is BIG BANG in spades.

The World Share Market Reports for 2015.75

There are always the FALSE MOVES that will cause many people to lose their shirts. Therefore, we have the high probability of watching a suspension in interest payments in debt, widespread banking crisis as reserves of banks are undermined, and confused governments who will respond only out of their self-interest making matters far worse as they have historically always managed to accomplish.

[TPTB_need_war]

@generalisethis - you asked why TPTB are not fighting bitcoin tooth and nail?

...

I will argue that bitcoin, while it may be suited as a reserve currency, will
do nothing to halt the advance of a kakistocracy. Bitcoin has many similarities to
gold and to other precious metals. These have all failed in the past, for the
reasons given above. The blockchain is the new technology, can we use it to
our advantage?

Since my first post on bitcointalk.org, I have argued for a better cryptocurrency.
This is my constant position, and like you, I am interested in self preservation.
Bitcoin may be the best lifeboat available, but is it good enough?

They are not fighting it because it (and arguably Monero too) are not anonymous. Thus all the incriminating evidence is being piled on to the block chain which they can use to expropriate you in the future.

No it isn't good enough, but if you read my posts over the past 2 weeks (start with this one and read backwards in the thread), you will know roughly what I am working on that is good enough.

[generalizethis]

@generalisethis - you asked why TPTB are not fighting bitcoin tooth and nail?

...

I will argue that bitcoin, while it may be suited as a reserve currency, will
do nothing to halt the advance of a kakistocracy. Bitcoin has many similarities to
gold and to other precious metals. These have all failed in the past, for the
reasons given above. The blockchain is the new technology, can we use it to
our advantage?

Since my first post on bitcointalk.org, I have argued for a better cryptocurrency.
This is my constant position, and like you, I am interested in self preservation.
Bitcoin may be the best lifeboat available, but is it good enough?

They are not fighting it because it (and arguably Monero too) are not anonymous. Thus all the incriminating evidence is being piled on to the block chain which they can use to expropriate you in the future.

No it isn't good enough, but if you read my posts over the past 2 weeks (start with this one and read backwards in the thread), you will know roughly what I am working on that is good enough.

I've been following those posts as my interest is in cold-hard digital cash. Have you actually nudged Fluffy on your questions on Monero's anonymity? The work they are doing is fantastic (and from all observations, sincere), and I'd hate to see them thrown under the bus without even knowing the full measure of your criticisms.