Join Us at the 2023 World Economic Conference in Orlando, Florida!

? Dates: November 17, 18, and 19 ? Location: Orlando, Florida, USA (or tune in from home with our virtual ticket options)

Are you ready to unlock the future of economics and finance? Prepare for an unforgettable World Economic Conference experience in sunny Orlando, Florida! This premier event is your gateway to insights, networking, and valuable resources that will supercharge your understanding of the global economy.

?️ What’s Included for In-Person Attendees:

1. Event Admission: Enjoy reserved seating assigned based on the order of ticket sales, ensuring you have a prime view of every presentation.
2. Presentation Slides: Gain access to the presentation slides from all speakers, allowing you to delve deeper into the topics discussed.
3. Video Recording: Can’t make it to a session? No worries! You’ll receive access to video recordings of all conference presentations, so you can catch up at your convenience.
4. WEC Event App: Connect with the conference on a whole new level. Access presentation slides, bonus reports, recordings, and more via the official WEC Event App.
5. Bonus Conference Materials: Get a package of bonus conference-related materials, including exclusive bonus reports and videos (as provided by Martin Armstrong).
6. Morning Information Sessions: Don’t miss out on important morning information sessions, screened on-site in the meeting room on Saturday and Sunday.
7. Networking Opportunities: Exclusive access to the Event App Networking Feature allows you to connect with fellow attendees, both in-person and virtual, fostering valuable professional relationships.
8. Culinary Delights: Savor delicious breakfast and lunch on Saturday and Sunday, prepared to keep you energized throughout the day.
9. Cocktail Reception: Kick off the conference in style at our Friday evening cocktail reception. Meet and mingle with fellow attendees while enjoying refreshing drinks.
10. Swag Bag: As a token of our appreciation, each in-person attendee will receive a swag bag filled with goodies, including an Armstrong Economics notebook, pen, and an event collector’s mug!

Unable to travel? We also have two different ticket options for those wishing to attend virtually! 

Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a global gathering of economic and financial minds. Secure your spot at the World Economic Conference in Orlando, Florida, and gain the knowledge, connections, and resources you need to thrive in the world of finance and economics.

Space is limited, so act now and reserve your seat! Visit our Events page to register and join us in sunny Orlando this November.

Now available at all major retailers!

The eBook will be available shortly.

The second edition of “The Plot to Seize Russia – The Untold History” is now available for purchase in paperback and hardcover on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. The ebook will be available shortly.

Book description:

“Take care of Russia,” Boris Yeltsin said as he departed his presidency in August 1999. These words were directed at current Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Yeltsin specifically picked Putin as his predecessor to prevent the takeover of Russia.

So, who was Yeltsin warning against? Newly declassified documents from the Clinton Administration prove that there was a plot to rig the Russian election of 2000. These never-before-seen documents confirm numerous attempts to implement pro-Western policies using the Russian oligarchy headed by Boris Berezovsky.

On the other side were the communists who desired a return to the glory days of the Soviet Union. As one of the largest international hedge fund managers, author Martin Armstrong found himself in the middle of perhaps the greatest espionage, or attempt at a regime change for Russia, in modern history.

The Plot to Seize Russia pulls back the curtain to expose the most extraordinary attempt to seize power in modern history, but with the pen rather than armies. These declassified documents reveal a plot that has altered our thinking about the relations between the United States and Russia. The thirst for power comes seething through every line of these papers that alter our perception of reality, change the course of history, and now threaten us with World War III.

The May jobs report came in far stronger than expected. Nonfarm payrolls rose by 172,000 while other economists were looking for roughly 80,000 to 85,000 jobs. The unemployment rate remained at 4.3%, and March and April payrolls were revised higher by a combined 93,000 jobs. Leisure and hospitality added 70,000 jobs, local government gained 55,000, healthcare added 35,000, and manufacturing managed a small increase as well. On the surface, the numbers look solid and the financial press will immediately rush out stories claiming the economy remains strong.

What they never seem to understand is that employment is always a lagging indicator. Businesses do not fire workers the moment sales soften. They cut expenses elsewhere first, halt new hiring, and delay investment. Only after the downturn becomes undeniable do layoffs begin to accelerate. Looking solely at today’s payroll number and concluding that everything is fine is the same mistake governments and central banks have made repeatedly throughout history.

The more important issue is where these jobs are being created. Once again, government-related employment, healthcare, and hospitality accounted for a large portion of the gains. These are not the sectors that create long-term productivity growth. Financial activities actually lost jobs, and many white-collar industries continue to struggle as corporations adopt AI and reduce administrative staff. We are witnessing a structural shift in the labor market that the headline payroll number completely disguises.

Wages rose only 0.3% for the month and roughly 3.4% year-over-year. With inflation still running above the Federal Reserve’s target and energy prices elevated because of geopolitical tensions, real purchasing power remains under pressure. Workers may technically have jobs, but that does not mean they are getting ahead. This is precisely why consumer confidence has remained weak despite a labor market that appears healthy on paper.

The report also creates a serious problem for the Federal Reserve. For months there has been tremendous political pressure to cut rates. Yet a labor market producing 172,000 jobs per month with unemployment holding at 4.3% does not provide the justification for aggressive easing. In fact, some analysts are now openly discussing the possibility that rates may need to remain elevated longer than expected if inflation continues to move higher.

From a cyclical perspective, this is exactly the type of mixed economic environment we have been warning about. The economy is not collapsing, but neither is it expanding in a healthy and sustainable manner. Government hiring, wartime spending, healthcare expansion, and deficit financing can keep employment numbers elevated far longer than most analysts expect. At the same time, private-sector confidence continues to deteriorate beneath the surface. This divergence is what confuses forecasters because they are looking at individual data points rather than the broader cycle.

As we move deeper into 2026, the Panic Cycle year, volatility is likely to increase across both financial markets and geopolitics. The labor market may appear resilient today, but employment data has a long history of looking strongest immediately before conditions begin to deteriorate. The revisions always come later as the initial number is never accurate. That is why focusing exclusively on a single month’s payroll report is dangerous. The trend in confidence remains far more important than the headline number, and confidence is what ultimately drives capital flows, investment, and economic growth.

One of the most revealing stories coming out of Russia has nothing to do with missiles, tanks, or the battlefield. It concerns workers. Russia is now actively looking to India to help fill an enormous labor shortage that has developed throughout the economy, particularly in construction and infrastructure.

According to Russian officials and major financial institutions, the country faces an immediate labor shortage of at least 2.3 million workers. Construction alone is projected to require nearly 789,000 additional workers by 2030. Other estimates suggest Russia needs roughly 800,000 workers in manufacturing and another 1.5 million workers in construction and services. These are not small numbers. These are the kinds of figures that begin affecting an entire economy.

The number of work permits issued to Indian nationals has exploded. In 2021, before the Ukraine war, roughly 5,000 permits were issued. Last year that figure surged to almost 72,000. Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov went so far as to say that Russia could accept an “unlimited number” of Indian workers. When governments begin using language like that, they are acknowledging a structural problem rather than a temporary one.

Many people still measure the cost of war solely by military expenditures. They look at defense budgets and ammunition production. The larger economic cost is often the workforce itself. Russia entered this conflict already facing demographic challenges. Birth rates had been declining for years. The population was aging. Then hundreds of thousands of military-age men were either mobilized, volunteered for military service, emigrated, or were absorbed into defense industries supporting the war effort. The result is that civilian industries are now competing for workers with the military sector.

What is particularly interesting is that this shortage is not being filled by traditional sources of migrant labor from Central Asia to the extent it once was. The weaker ruble, tighter migration rules, and changing economic conditions have reduced those inflows. Russia is therefore turning increasingly toward India, where a massive pool of labor still exists. The Kremlin and New Delhi have already signed agreements designed to make it easier for Indians to work in Russia.

This development also reveals something broader about the global economy. Labor is becoming a strategic resource. Europe is struggling with demographic decline. Japan faces population contraction. China is confronting the consequences of decades of falling birth rates. Russia’s labor shortage may be receiving attention because of the war, but the underlying demographic trend is appearing throughout much of the industrialized world.

The geopolitical implications should not be ignored. Russia and India continue deepening economic ties through energy, trade, and now labor mobility. While much of the world focuses on sanctions and military developments, entirely new economic relationships are quietly being built beneath the surface. These shifts rarely receive much attention when they begin. Years later, everyone suddenly realizes the global landscape has changed.

We are entering a period where nations face rising debt burdens, labor shortages, aging populations, and increasing geopolitical tensions simultaneously. The war may have accelerated Russia’s labor crisis, but the demographic trend existed long before the first shot was fired. Governments around the world are discovering that printing money is easy. Replacing workers is not.

The shortage of 800,000 construction workers is not merely a Russian story. It is a warning sign of a much larger problem developing throughout the global economy. Capital can move instantly. Labor cannot.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported that 32 Chinese military aircraft, 10 naval vessels, and five additional official Chinese ships were operating around the island. More importantly, 25 of those aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone. That median line was once viewed as an unofficial buffer. Today, it is crossed so frequently that Beijing appears determined to normalize military operations in areas that would have been considered highly provocative only a few years ago.

The mistake many analysts continue to make is assuming that China must launch a massive sea invasion for the situation to become dangerous. Modern warfare is changing rapidly. A blockade, economic strangulation, cyberattacks, drone saturation, and missile pressure can accomplish many of the same objectives without immediately triggering a traditional war. Taiwan clearly understands this. The government is now accelerating plans to build an arsenal of more than 1,800 anti-ship missiles by 2029, including American Harpoons and domestically produced Hsiung Feng missiles. Officials openly describe creating a “kill zone” in the Taiwan Strait capable of inflicting severe losses on any attacking force.

What interests me is not the daily military count. It is the timeline. China has increased military pressure around Taiwan for years, yet at the same time we see military planners throughout Asia discussing preparation windows extending into 2028 and 2029. Taiwan’s missile expansion is specifically designed to reach full strength around 2029. Military officials in Europe are discussing vulnerabilities that exist until roughly the same period. We are seeing governments independently focus on the same time horizon. That is difficult to ignore.

The larger issue is confidence. Governments always believe they can manage tensions indefinitely until suddenly they cannot. China is conducting larger exercises. Taiwan is rapidly arming. Japan is expanding defense spending. The Philippines is strengthening military cooperation with the United States. The entire region is preparing for a future that policymakers increasingly believe may be unavoidable.

Our models have been warning that 2026 would be a panic-cycle year marked by rising volatility and escalating geopolitical tensions. The risks continue building into 2027, which remains a major war-risk year. By 2028, recessionary pressures, sovereign debt concerns, and civil unrest begin colliding with these geopolitical tensions. Then we arrive at the major ECM turning point in 2029. Whether Taiwan becomes the spark is impossible to know in advance. What we can observe is that governments, militaries, and markets are all increasingly behaving as if they see a storm forming on the horizon.

Africa may be the world’s test site for vaccinations, but the United States has become the test site for synthetic foods. I mentioned in an earlier article that posts have been circulating online of consumers questioning the food supply. Wild animals won’t eat the stuff, even bugs refuse to touch it. The food rarely molds and the structure itself is often questionable. Nowhere in the developed world are producers permitted to peddle this poison. Before one could at least tell processed garbage from real food, but it all blends in together now. Real produce is becoming a scarcity. Our government does indeed hate us.

(Note that you must click off the microphone mute button on each video below)

@the_journey76

Animals won’t eat fruit and vegetables from big box stores #creatorsearchinsights #tiktok #food #animals #eat

♬ original sound – The_Journey76

@heath.cho

Rubber fruit ? #fyp #funny #foryou #usa

♬ original sound – Heath Cho – Heath Cho

AVOID “CELL CULTURED,” “CELL-BASED,” AND “CULTIVATED” MEATS:

? EXTREMELY ALARMING
WAKE UP: Your Supermarket Meat
Might Be LAB-GROWN ?

This video is going
to blow your mind!

They’re sneaking “cell-cultured” or “cultivated” fake meat into packages… grown in bioreactors from animal cells, not farms.

No “lab-grown” label because they… https://t.co/SutGBQU63j pic.twitter.com/RoE6RUGTZa

— Noah B. Price (@TrueOnX) June 3, 2026

Thirty-seven years have passed since the events of June 4, 1989, and yet the Chinese government continues to devote enormous resources to preventing people from remembering it. That fact alone should tell you how significant the event remains.

According to reports, authorities this year blocked relatives of victims from visiting graves in Beijing. Members of the Tiananmen Mothers group, who for decades quietly visited cemeteries to honor family members killed during the crackdown, were reportedly warned not to attend. In Hong Kong, police maintained a heavy security presence around Victoria Park, where annual candlelight vigils once drew tens of thousands of people. Even symbolic acts of remembrance have increasingly resulted in police intervention.

Governments always claim that history belongs in the past. Yet when they continue fighting battles over memory decades later, it reveals that history is still influencing the present. The Soviet Union spent generations attempting to control historical narratives. Eastern European governments did the same. Military regimes throughout Latin America followed similar patterns. Every government eventually discovers that controlling information is far easier than controlling memory.

What interests me is the contrast between economic and political development. Since 1989, China transformed itself from a developing nation into the world’s second-largest economy. Hundreds of millions of people were lifted out of poverty. Entire cities emerged where farmland once stood. High-speed rail networks, modern ports, and industrial infrastructure appeared on a scale rarely seen in human history. Yet despite all of that economic progress, June 4 remains one of the most tightly controlled subjects in the country.

The official death toll from the crackdown remains disputed. Estimates have ranged from hundreds to potentially thousands of casualties. What is not disputed is that the event fundamentally changed China’s future. Political liberalization largely ended. Economic development accelerated, and stability became the overriding objective of government policy. The modern Chinese state that emerged over the following three decades was shaped directly by those decisions.

Today, China faces a very different set of challenges. Economic growth has slowed from the extraordinary rates that characterized earlier decades. Demographic pressures are mounting. Debt levels have risen substantially. Relations with the United States and its allies have deteriorated. Military tensions surrounding Taiwan continue to increase. Yet despite these new concerns, authorities remain determined to prevent any public discussion of the events of 1989.

History has always been one of the most powerful forces in politics. Politicians believe they shape history. More often than not, history shapes them. The fact that governments, activists, families, and foreign leaders are still arguing over events that occurred thirty-seven years ago demonstrates that certain moments never truly disappear. They simply become part of the foundation upon which future generations build their understanding of the world.

The lesson is not unique to China. Every government wants to write its own version of history. Very few succeed in making people forget it.