Category: Gradually Then Suddenly

Another Zero Percent Interest Miracle!

Cronies Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing 13 Comments

Despite the official pronouncements, the main concern of central banks is not inflation or unemployment, but rather the solvency of the banks within their purview. When a bank runs into balance sheet trouble, the go-to solution is to quietly extend more credit on easier terms. The public will be the last to know which bank received the bailout just so depositors don’t get spooked.

Honk, Honk

Climate Cult Gradually Then Suddenly 16 Comments

EUGYPPIUS- 69% of Germans Support the Farmers’ Protest

You might think that this would encourage the press to moderate their ongoing smear campaign, but that would be wrong. Der Spiegel, a consistent pioneer in journalistic dishonesty, today has this dubious item drawing an ominous historical analogy with the Landvolkbewegung, or Rural People’s Movement, from the Weimar Republic:

EUGYPPIUS- The Great German Farmer Protests Have Begun

First came the farmers’ protests in the Netherlands, then the Freedom Convoy in Canada. Now the farm protests have reached Germany.

Don’t Worry, It’s Transitory

Democrats Gradually Then Suddenly 18 Comments

But they got the headlines they wanted;

There’s something wrong with previous U.S. jobs reports.

The government quietly erased 439,000 jobs through November 2023, a closer look at the numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows. That means its initial jobs results were inflated by 439,000 positions, and the job market is not as healthy as the government suggests.

Since the government wiped out 439,000 jobs after the fact, the total percentage of jobs created by the government last year is even higher. Increased government hiring has been driving the jobs numbers higher.

Welfare Mentality

entitlement generation Gradually Then Suddenly 33 Comments

Manitoba has not seen itself as a “can-do” province for decades now, with voters seeming to prefer the passivity of a “have-not” attitude instead. That same outlook has predictably infected the City of Winnipeg as well. One supposes that the main response to the city’s budgetary woes will be to go cap in hand to the province…who will predictably go cap in hand to the Feds. In the meantime, expect infrastructure to continue to crumble and crime to soar.

An accelerated regional road renewal program, funded by the federal government, has come to an end, so there will be less work done on road repairs, he said.

There is also no new money to transition Winnipeg Transit’s bus fleet to zero-emission buses, beyond what council has already committed to, nor to add more buses to the fleet.

Last month, the city released a budget projection that estimated Winnipeg would overspend its budget by $3.1 million, based on financial data from the end of September.

At the same time, the city must replenish a rainy-day fund that was nearly emptied during the pandemic.

Bursting Bubbles

Gradually Then Suddenly Great Moments In Socialism 10 Comments

I remember being told back in the 80s that the West needed to emulate the Japanese model which had allegedly conquered the business cycle with by meshing private businesses with a careful dose of central planning. Fueled by easy credit, the marriage of private and public interests turned out to be a sham and to this day the only solution offered is even more easy credit.

“I was still a student in the 90s. Life was great. I went out drinking almost every day wasting money on women, gambling, and putting anything I had left into all kinds of investments. Everything was going up and it felt like every Yen I spent was going to double next year. Our brains had been so thoroughly poisoned by the bubble of the past few years that we were all insanely optimistic. Most of us didn’t even consider that the prosperity could ever come to an end.”

Monetary Bonfire

Gradually Then Suddenly Great Moments In Socialism It's Probably Nothing 7 Comments

Ever since interest rates spiked up over the last year, every central bank is now paying out more in interest to depositors than it earns on its bond portfolio. For the U.S. Federal Reserve, those losses are now over $130 billion. In an attempt to get around the elephant in the room, the Fed has created a “deferred asset” which is a promise to pay back all those losses once interest rates fall and they can once again earn more that they pay out. Accounting gimmicks are such a sweet deal when you hold all the cards. Here’s a link to the chart at the St. Louis Fed.

 

More Of The Same

Gradually Then Suddenly Great Moments In Socialism Tommy Douglas: Not Dead Enough 11 Comments

Meet the new central planner, same as the old central planner. If even Danielle Smith cannot challenge the ludicrous premise behind single payer health care, then “reform” just means shuffling the waiting lists around.

Smith’s United Conservative Party government is expected in the spring sitting to begin passing laws to make good on her plan to dismantle Alberta Health Services, the centralized body that oversees health delivery on everything from acute care to community care.

AHS is to be replaced by four agencies, while being reduced to the role of service provider in acute care.

No Jobs For You!

Gradually Then Suddenly Great Moments In Socialism It's Probably Nothing nannystate 21 Comments

Defenders of minimum wage hikes usually claim that businesses will either effortlessly pass on the increased costs or accept a lower profit margin. There’s another way to get around such mandates, however: eliminate positions entirely.

Pizza Hut is laying off more than 1,200 delivery drivers in California.

The layoffs, which will take place through the end of February, come as California’s minimum wage is about to go up by $4. Fast-food workers in the state are set to get a pay bump of close to 30% in April as the minimum wages rises from $16 to $20 an hour.

Channeling Lyndon Johnson

Gradually Then Suddenly There Goes The Narrative Ukraine 59 Comments

Even the leftist corporate media is starting to realize just how hopeless the Ukrainian position is becoming.

Disquiet in the halls of power appears to have filtered down to the military’s rank and file, who increasingly have misgivings about inefficiency and faulty decision-making within the bureaucracy they depend on to keep them well-armed for the fight.

It took seven months to obtain the paperwork needed from multiple government agencies to train 75 men, said Konstantin Denisov, a Ukrainian soldier.

“We wasted time for nothing,” he said. Commanders elsewhere complain of not enough troops, or delays in getting drones repaired, disrupting combat missions.

In the early days of the war, Western cheerleaders were quick to assume that Russia could never make up the losses it incurred. It seems they were wrong.

Indeed, while Ukrainian soldiers have proven to be resourceful and innovative on the battlefield, Moscow has dramatically scaled up its defense industry in the past year, manufacturing armored vehicles and artillery rounds at a pace Ukraine cannot match.

Mortgage Millstone

Gradually Then Suddenly Great Moments In Socialism It's Probably Nothing 42 Comments

Variable rate mortgages are a sweet deal when interest rates are falling, but apparently not so much when rates go in the opposite direction. It makes for a life just full of surprises, but not the happy kind.

We had a 1.3 per cent variable mortgage rate, which amounted to two payments of $1,275 each month, plus $370 in monthly maintenance fees.

On June 1, the Bank of Canada raised its key interest rate to 1.5 per cent, a half per cent hike. That month, our biweekly payments rose to $1,500.

July rolled around and our payment increased yet again. A couple days later, I went to buy gas for our car, thinking Evelin and I had $600 in our joint account. To my surprise, there was only $100 in there.

We’re paying more than $5,000 a month to live in a 900-square-foot townhouse, and $3,500 of that total goes to interest alone.

 

Anyone Have A Used Honda Civic For Sale?

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing 17 Comments

Armstrong Economics- The Second-Largest Contributor to US Private Debt

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s data shows that auto loans have surpassed student loans, becoming the second-largest debt burden for U.S. consumers. Auto loan debt has reached $1.582 trillion, exceeding the $1.569 trillion in student loan debt. This surge in auto loan debt is attributed to rising vehicle prices, leading consumers to take out larger loans at higher rates.

Not to worry Joe Biden is on it.

At the same time, the government is moving full speed ahead to reach their target of 50%+ EVs by 2030. Thousands of auto dealers have penned the Biden Administration to explain how this policy is significantly hurting their business. The public is drowning in debt over mostly gas-powered purchases, and EVs are significantly more expensive to purchase and maintain.

Klaus has other ideas…

The World Economic Forum is in partnership with global governments to end private car ownership by 2050. Owning a car is becoming an increasing luxury. Insurance costs could be a topic for another time as most states have seen their premiums skyrocket. Major cities around the globe like London and New York City are implementing congestion and traffic taxes as well.

Blacking Out The Economy

Climate Cult Gradually Then Suddenly Great Moments In Socialism 6 Comments

How are things looking in the land of “nationalize the mines, banks and monopoly industry” these days? Not so good, apparently. But if it’s any consolation for South Africans, Canada’s Liberal government is actively seeking to push us in the direction of  “national blackout” as well.

Yelland said many people, including his family in Craighall Park, are experiencing 12 hours of load-shedding daily.

“If you look at the NRS048-9 specifications, they are consistent with stage 8 load-shedding. It is not stage 6 load-shedding,” Yelland said.

Jordaan added that Eskom’s latest performance and power data confirmed that Black Friday, which took place on 24 November, almost became “national blackout Friday”.

Gradually, Then Suddenly

Gradually Then Suddenly The Libranos 18 Comments

@Martyupnorth_2

Warning: The Bank of Canada is on track to lose over $5 billion in 2023.

The Bank of Canada released it’s 3rd Quarter report on Nov 17, 2023, and no one wants to talk about, not even the Conservatives, because it’s so bad. They don’t want to scare Canadians.

The Bank incurred net losses of $1,459 million ($1.46 billion) and $4,461 million ($4.4 billion) for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2023, respectively, primarily because the interest incurred on deposits was greater than the interest earned on investments. The interest expense on deposits was higher as a result of increases in the Bank’s policy interest rate, which increased from 0.25% in the first quarter of 2022 to 5.00% in the third quarter of 2023

Last year the Bank of Canada had it’s first loss in its 87-year history, and they paid themselves nearly $10 million in performance bonuses. This year the bank is on track to lose over $5 billion because of band borrowing.

Bogged Down

Gradually Then Suddenly It's Probably Nothing Ukraine 10 Comments

When even the leftist corporate media starts to question the Ukraine’s war strategy, it’s generally a pretty clear sign that the honeymoon is over.

The United States provides both Israel and Ukraine with military aid, and the breakout of a new war has raised fears about whether artillery shells and air defense missiles, once intended for Kyiv and already in short supply, would be diverted to Israel. Aid for both countries faces an uncertain path in the deeply divided Congress, and Ukraine was already facing a shortfall on what it was promised by the European Union.

The president is also facing criticism in some circles for signaling that he opposes holding next year’s scheduled presidential election amid the war, and Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said last week that the country was moving toward authoritarianism.

“At some point we will no longer be any different from Russia,” Klitschko told German news outlet Der Spiegel.

Gradually, Then Suddenly

Gradually Then Suddenly Great Reset 58 Comments

As a once-loyal client, I can attest to the fact that Royal Bank customer service has gone to shit, and recent interactions at TD even worse.

With many street-facing branch staff both communicatively handicapped (English as a recent language), limited in their authorities, and apparently without access to more capable supervisor support — what reason is there to believe such a system breeds competency at higher corporate levels?

Three of Canada’s biggest lenders posted quarterly earnings on Thursday, and as was the case at Scotiabank earlier in the week, they’re all putting a lot more money aside to cover loans that might go bad.

Royal Bank, TD Bank and CIBC revealed their financial results to investors before stock markets opened on Thursday, and while all three remain very profitable, they all showed a sharp uptick in the amount of money they’re setting aside to cover bad loans, a closely watched banking metric known as provisions for credit losses.

At Royal Bank, Canada’s biggest lender set aside $720 million to cover loans that either aren’t currently being paid back as planned, or the bank is worried might soon be. That figure is up by 89 per cent from $381 million a year ago.

At TD, the bank set aside $878 million in provisions, an increase of 42 per cent from $617 million this time last year.

But I’m just the customer. If you work on the front lines at a financial institution, tell me what you know.

That Sinking Feeling

Gradually Then Suddenly Great Moments In Socialism It's Probably Nothing 16 Comments

Since GDP simply adds up all borrowing and spending in the economy, no matter whether undertaken by governments or the private sector and with no regard for what the money was spent on, it’s quite a feat to get a negative GDP number. Nonetheless, Canada seems to have done just that.

Statistics Canada reported on Nov. 30 that third-quarter GDP contracted 1.1 per cent, compared with expectations of 0.1 per cent growth, according to Bloomberg.

What’s truly remarkable is that the decline in GDP has occurred in an environment where borrowing and spending by all levels of government has risen exponentially in recent years. That can only mean that private sector spending must be cratering in order to have an overall decline. And if you’ve had to pay $50 for breakfast for two as I did recently, you can imagine just how tapped out the marginal consumer must be.

 

The Zimbabwe Solution

Gradually Then Suddenly Great Moments In Socialism It's Probably Nothing 12 Comments

After nearly thirty years of rule by a party which embraced the motto of “nationalizing the mines, banks and monopoly industry” South Africa will soon be at the point where there is nothing left to nationalize anyway.

ArcelorMittal South Africa (ACLJ.J) shares tumbled nearly 14% on Tuesday after the company said it plans to close its long steel operations due to weak demand and persistent infrastructure problems, potentially affecting 3,500 workers.

The company said steel consumption in Africa’s most advanced economy has fallen 20% over the past 7 years, due to limited spending on infrastructure and project delays.

The country’s persistent rail logistics problems and an intensifying electricity crisis had also added costs to the business…

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