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.

When Zelensky became president, I warned that all of my sources said that this was the man selected by the Neocon to start World War III. He has simply refused to honor the peace agreements and demands the Donbas which he will unleash genocide and kill all the Russians who have lived there for centuries. He has hired assassins to kill Russian generals, and he has attempted to assassinate Putin several times knowing that will mean all out war.

Unless Europe wakes the hell up and rejects Ukraine, cut off all aid and military assistance, World War III will become unavoidable. These warmongering Neocons care nothing about their countries  or the people no less the world. They are no different from Hammas or Iran, they just wallow in their hatred of Russian all because they use to be Communists. The Russian people were the victim of Stalin, who was Georgian – not Russian.

The NATO and the Neocons violate every principle of due process and international law for they hate Russians and reject peace all because they practice holding someone accountable for “the sins of their father.” Generational Guilt or Collective Punishment is their motto. This is the broad philosophical and legal concept where a group (like a family, tribe, or nation) is punished for the wrongdoing of one of its members or past generation.

Their hatred or Russia ensures there can NEVER be peace and the rest of the world is to lose everything for these moral criminals  like Kallas and Zelensky just for starters. They are two individuals who are consumed with hatred.

We do not hate Germans because of Hitler, Italians because of Mussolini,  or Hideki Tojo for his expansionist ideas for Japan. Why do these people hate all Russians for Stalin, who was nor even Russian?

This is the fourth 309 interval since Charlemagne reunited most of Europe after the fall of Rome. Europe has constantly sought to conquer Russia. This will actually be the 6th time. Yet Russia has never invaded Europe to conquer even once. So the rhetoric of Russia wants to take all of Ukraine and then Europe is the Neocon way of whipping up support to go die for their perpetual greed envisioning the wealth of Russia will resurrect Europe to once again rule the world. Sorry, WWIII willo bring the destruction of Europe if they do not get rid of these insane leaders.

Hungary’s Viktor Orban declared that anyone attempting to dismantle his nation’s energy supply is an “enemy.” “Anyone who says this is an enemy of Hungary, so Ukraine is our enemy,” he said. Furthermore, Orban believes it is not in his nation’s best interest to permit Ukraine to join the European Union. “Hungarians should not want military or economic cooperation with Ukrainians, because they are dragging us into war.”

Orban’s comments are not some sudden outburst of nationalist rhetoric. It is the inevitable consequence of Europe’s self-inflicted energy war and the refusal of Brussels to confront economic reality. Hungary, like Slovakia, was built on the assumption of stable, inexpensive Russian oil and gas. Entire industrial systems, pricing structures, transportation networks, and household energy models were engineered around that reality for decades.

When Brussels decided it could simply erase Russian energy from the European economy by decree, it condemned countries like Hungary and Slovakia to economic stress that Western Europe is insulated from. Germany can pretend to moralize while subsidizing collapse; smaller states do not have that luxury.

Ukraine’s push to terminate Russian energy transit through its territory was celebrated politically, but economically, it was devastating for Central Europe. Slovakia lost critical transit revenues overnight, while Hungary was forced into higher-cost alternatives. Ukraine’s actions, combined with EU sanctions, have directly threatened Hungary’s economic stability.

The European Union created this conflict by pretending that energy is merely a moral issue rather than the foundation of modern civilization. You cannot shut down reliable supply chains and replace them with slogans, windmills, and press conferences. Energy shortages translate directly into inflation, declining real wages, collapsing manufacturing, and rising civil unrest. That is precisely what we are witnessing across Europe.

Donald Trump recently stated that the Dow could reach 100,000 by the end of his presidency, and the usual crowd immediately rushed to either cheer or ridicule the statement without understanding why such a number is even possible. The problem with modern analysis is that it assumes markets rise because governments are doing something right. History shows the exact opposite. Markets rise to extreme nominal levels when confidence in government is collapsing worldwide, and the US has become the last safe haven for capital.

The United States remains the last functioning safe haven for global capital because every alternative is worse. Europe is imploding under regulation, war risk, and Marxist ideology. Asia is fragmented by capital controls and demographic collapse. Emerging markets remain structurally unstable. That leaves the United States by default.

Capital is fleeing government debt globally. Sovereign bonds are no longer risk-free assets; they are political instruments backed by insolvent balance sheets. As confidence erodes, capital migrates into private assets like equities, real estate, commodities, and anything that is not a government promise.

A rising Dow in this environment is not a celebration of prosperity. It is a warning signal. We have seen this repeatedly throughout history. Stock markets rise sharply during periods of monetary debasement and political instability because money is being repriced downward. The index rises because the currency falls, not because real wealth is expanding.

The Economic Confidence Model has never shown a clean boom cycle into the late 2020s. What it shows instead is rising volatility, sovereign stress, and geopolitical fracture. That does not stop markets from rising, but it changes why they rise. Capital concentrates, participation slims, and volatility expands. Governments respond with bad policies, such as taxes, controls, and regulations, which only accelerate capital flight.

Dow 100,000 in a collapsing confidence environment does not mean the average person is better off. It means money has nowhere else to go. The United States is the best of a bad bunch of nations ,slowly dropping off due to the sovereign debt crisis. We can look to the Dow as the true indicator of global capital on an institutional basis, whereas Nasdaq is more retail, and the S&P incorporates a bit of both.

Markets do not move in straight lines. Even if capital continues flowing into the U.S., there will be sharp corrections, political shocks, and policy mistakes along the way. So the real issue is not whether the Dow can mathematically reach 100,000. The question is what conditions would produce that outcome. Based on the computer, the culprit will be global confidence collapsing to the point where capital is forced into the last remaining open market.

Chipotle CEO Scott Boatwright publicly admitting that the company is now aiming its marketing and pricing toward households earning over $100,000 a year is a confession that fast food no longer functions the way it used to. What began as the cheap, quick alternative to a sit-down meal has mutated into something unaffordable for the very demographic it was designed to serve.

The interim CEO’s comment that the typical Chipotle customer now falls into the six-figure income bracket and that modest menu price increases are planned is nothing more than a crystallization of the inflationary pressures choking the economy and the erosion of real purchasing power among average Americans.

“What we’ve learned is the guest skews younger, a little higher income, is typically a digital native, and that their grounded purpose aligns with our North Star as a brand, around clean food, clean ingredients, high protein,” Boatwright said, per Business Insider. “We are the way they want to eat, and we’re going to lean into that in the most meaningful way.”

“We learned that 60% of our core users are over $100,000 a year in average household income,” he added. “That gives us confidence that we can lean into that group in a more meaningful way, whether it’s the solo occasion and/or group occasions to really drive meaningful transaction performance in the year.”

Chief Financial Officer Adam Rymer said that menu items will increase by 1% to 2%. Chipotle wishes to position itself as a “healthy” fast-food option for on-the-go professionals rather than a chain restaurant that is reheating frozen food to feed the masses for top profits. The meat they serve is pre-cooked before it arrives at the restaurant, and workers simply boil the pre-cooked bags. I’ll leave it to the MAHA team to determine if it is truly a healthier alternative.

I have written extensively about the fast-food industry abandoning value customers as prices, wages, and input costs soared. Fast food was invented as an affordable convenience for working-class families. But as menu prices have accelerated faster than wage growth for most workers, fast casual chains have begun to shed the low-income customer base in favor of those whose incomes have not been as hard hit by inflation and rising cost structures.

This trend is not accidental. Labor cost increases are triggered by minimum wage hikes at the state and local levels. Even proponents of minimum wage increases acknowledge that higher wages inevitably translate into higher prices, reduced hours, or both. Grocery inflation has been persistent, driven by commodity cycles, energy costs, supply chain disruptions, and climatic factors that reduce agricultural output. I have argued that food inflation would not simply disappear after the pandemic but would continue to exert upward pressure on prices as global conditions tighten.

When the CEO of a major fast-casual chain effectively says “we want wealthier customers,” he is acknowledging that the company can no longer rely on its previous customer base. Chips and burritos are no longer the inexpensive meal they once were; they have become discretionary indulgences for those insulated from inflation’s full impact. Value customers have been priced out.

QUESTION: Will oil go crazy if Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz?

Sam

ANSWER: It is questionable if Iran would do that, for we get only about 3% of our oil through that strait, whereas 80% or so goes to China. Nevertheless, February was a Directional Change and March remains a key target until we have a Panic Cycle in June. We also have a Yearly Panic Cycle in 2028.

China has built the railway infrastructure that connects Iran to China, creating a potential land corridor for energy and trade. While not a dedicated oil pipeline, it is a crucial piece of China’s strategy to secure overland energy and trade routes. The railway to Iran is not a solution to a Strait of Hormuz closure, but it is a component of a much larger risk-mitigation strategy. Consequently, this is a strategic, diversified, overland route for some energy and a lot of trade, enhancing China’s leverage and resilience.

A Strait of Hormuz closure will ignite a national energy security crisis for China that the railway alone could not solve. It would cause immediate global oil price spikes and severe economic pain for China. We would expect oil to rise to $140 level and an all out war it could even reach $240. Therefore, while China is actively working to reduce its vulnerability to a chokepoint like Strait of Hormuz through projects like the Iran railway, it remains overwhelmingly dependent on that sea lane. Its overall strategy is one of diversification and incremental risk reduction, not the possession of a single, ready-made alternative.

The question of whether a Strait of Hormuz closure would impact Europe more severely than the United States cuts to the heart of energy geopolitics and the fundamental restructuring of global oil flows over the past decade. The answer is unequivocally yes—Europe would suffer catastrophically while America would face manageable disruption. This asymmetry represents one of the most significant geopolitical vulnerabilities in the current international system.

The Democrats after imposing sanctions on Russia, saw gasoline prices rising and Biden called it “Putin’s Inflation.” He then started selling off the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) all for political purposes to pretend his actions were not stupid. As always, the Neocons are INCAPABLE of dealing with more than one issue – defeat Russia. They care nothing about the people or the country. To them, this is like the children’s board game of WAR.

In 2022, in response to high gasoline prices following Biden’s Neocon sanctions on Russia, the Biden administration authorized the largest-ever release from the SPR amounting to at least 180 million barrels over several months. The SPR inventory dropped from about 638 million barrels in late 2021 to around 347 million barrels by the end of 2022—its lowest level since 1983.

We are plagued by the absolute worst politicians in human history for they act ONLY in their self-interest and NEVER for the people or the country long-term. They have ZERO sense of history and ZERO interest in even looking at the past. Europe is especially vulnerable for a series of really stupid decisions.

Europe faces an entirely different situation. The European Union consumes approximately 13-14 million barrels of oil daily while producing less than 3 million barrels domestically (primarily from Norway, which is not an EU member). European oil import dependency exceeds 85%.

Critically, Europe imports approximately 2.5-3 million barrels daily directly from Persian Gulf producers, primarily Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and UAE. This represents roughly 20-25% of total European consumption. However, the impact calculation is far more complex than this direct percentage suggests.

If Persian Gulf oil disappears from global markets, every importer competes for remaining supplies. Europe would be bidding against China, India, Japan, South Korea, and other Asian consumers for non-Persian Gulf oil from Russia, West Africa, Latin America, and North America. Europe’s bargaining position in this competition has been severely weakened by deliberate policy choices.

Angela Merkel’s government decisively shifted Germany’s energy policy following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March 2011. Merkel appointed an ethics commission on “Safe Energy Supply.” Based on its recommendations, she announced in May 2011 that Germany would phase out all nuclear power by 2022. That decision alone demonstrated that she lacked the quality to be an actual world leader. She is the one who opened the flood gates and allowed everyone to pour into Europe because she was being criticized for refusing to help Greece and was concerned only about her image. Those two decisions alone are putting the nail in the coffin of the EU.

Merkel was so concerned about her image to make person of the year, so did Hitler, Stalin, Zelensky, and Gretta no less how wonderful it would be with Biden and Kamala. Time’s track record of picking losers seems to be pretty on point.

Europe imposed comprehensive sanctions on Russian oil following the Ukraine invasion, attempting to reduce imports from approximately 2.5 million barrels daily to near-zero. While European countries have found workarounds (purchasing Russian oil refined in India and Turkey, or transported through obscure intermediaries), the relationship has fundamentally deteriorated.

Then every source I have says Zelensky gave the order to blow up Nord Stream. The cover-up is claiming a general defied Zelensky’s orders and blew up Nord Stream. Of course, they have to claim that or else why would Europe go to destroy itself for Ukraine? Zelensky is vindictive, I believe a closet Neo-Nazi who pretend to be a christian before becoming president in an election many believe was rigged.

In a Strait of Hormuz crisis, Europe could not rapidly re-establish Russian supply contracts. Russia would prioritize China and India—who did not sanction Russian energy and have built payment infrastructure in rubles and yuan. Europe would be at the back of the line, forced to pay premium prices for whatever Russia was willing to sell. If I were Russia, this would be the time to crush Europe into the dirt. Paybacks can be a bitch, as they say. If the EU is stupid enough to listen to the NATO Neocons, then Russia would be wise to cut off all exports to ensure that NATO is undermined.

Autonomous AI robots are outsourcing their work to humans. “AI can’t touch grass, you can, get paid when agents need someone in the real world,” the website states. “Robots need your body.”

RentAHuman.ai describes itself as the “meatspace layer for AI.” There is no shortage of stories about AI replacing humans. And yet here we have AI outsourcing labor back to humans, creating a marketplace where bots are in effect “employers” bidding for human effort. Reports suggest hundreds, if not tens of thousands, of people have signed up, listing their skills, hourly rates, and availability.

Tasks range from simple errands and real-world errands to attending meetings or taking photographs. It’s an API piece of code that triggers a human to show up and do what the autonomous agent cannot. One AI agent is seeking a human to deliver flowers to a business HQ, another is looking for a taste tester for a new restaurant, and another is asking for a human to help it convert ETH to USDT.

Prices for human effort are being quoted in stablecoins or crypto wallets, negotiated not by people on a marketplace, but by software logic programmed to minimize cost and maximize efficiency. Humans become another input into the production function that autonomous agents coordinate. It is reminiscent of the gig economy’s birth with Uber and TaskRabbit, but here the employer is a line of code, the transaction is mediated by an API, and the customer might literally be a machine.

What RentAHuman.ai reveals is deeper than the novelty of bots hiring people. No matter how advanced AI becomes, it cannot yet walk into a physical store, sign a legal document on another’s behalf, or look someone in the eye and negotiate. Those boundaries are still human territory. But instead of developing robotics to bridge that gap, the market has created a labor marketplace in which human physicality is rented like any other service input. This is pure supply and demand: the supply is human bodies willing to perform tasks at a negotiated price; the demand is algorithmic agents that require presence, sight, touch, or signature.

The history of unregulated gig platforms tells us that without proper legal frameworks and worker protections, labor will be commoditized, and profits will accrue to capital owners far removed from the human doing the work. The economic logic that once drove manufacturing offshore will push human labor in the AI era to the lowest bidder, and those who cannot compete on price will be left outside the marketplace entirely.

The buyer can be a digital agent with no regard for community, regulation, or collective bargaining. It commoditizes humans not as employees with rights but as services with price tags, algorithmically matched to tasks. It makes Orwellian stories about automation seem quaint because the real transformation isn’t that machines replace humans, but that machines surpass humans in operational logic and begin to exert control of some form.

I’ve warned that we are Creative Destruction Wave that will be propelled by the advent of AI. It remains to be seen how humans and AI will operate as a collective. Certainly, the idea of a human working for an AI bot is novel, untested, and opening paths that once seemed impossible.

Governments never present control as control. It is always framed as protection. In France, the justification is shielding children from harmful content online. But once the state begins targeting tools designed to preserve privacy and free access, the issue is no longer child safety but authority over the internet itself.

In late January, the French National Assembly passed a bill banning social media access for individuals under 15, requiring robust age verification systems on all major platforms. The measure, championed as a safeguard against harmful content, mirrors similar age-restriction laws emerging across Europe and Australia.

Now, France’s digital policymakers are signaling that the next target could be virtual private networks (VPNs), which is one of the internet’s oldest tools for safeguarding privacy and bypassing censorship. “VPNs are the next subject on my list,” declared Anne Le Hénanff, France’s minister delegate for digital affairs. This comes weeks after the social media ban was approved, as officials seek ways to prevent minors from sidestepping age checks using encryption tools.

The claim: If VPNs allow children to evade age filters, then restricting them would enforce the law more effectively. Government believes it should parent your children and you. The internet is no longer a space of free exchange and open access, but a domain to be regulated, surveilled, and ultimately controlled.

This is not an isolated policy choice by France. It reflects a broader shift in how governments view the internet. What was once a decentralized, open system is increasingly treated as infrastructure to be licensed, monitored, and controlled. Age verification sounds reasonable on the surface, but enforcement requires identity checks, data collection, and centralized oversight. Once VPNs are labeled a problem because they interfere with enforcement, encryption itself becomes the target.

History shows that freedom is rarely abolished outright. It is narrowed step by step. Each restriction is justified as temporary, limited, or necessary. First, it is to protect children. Then to combat misinformation. Then to enforce taxes, sanctions, or public order. The cumulative effect is always the same: the individual loses autonomy, and the state gains visibility and leverage.

We have already seen this progression elsewhere. China and Russia did not begin with total internet control. They began by regulating tools that allowed people to bypass official narratives. Democratic governments insist they are different, but once they adopt the same mechanisms with identity-linked access, restricted encryption, and approved routing.

The argument that VPNs must be restricted because they undermine regulation turns the logic of freedom on its head. Privacy tools exist precisely because governments and corporations seek to monitor behavior. When the state decides that privacy itself is unacceptable, the internet ceases to be a free medium and becomes an extension of policy enforcement.

This is not about teenagers using social media. It is about who controls access to information and communication in the digital age. Once governments assert the right to decide when and how citizens may shield themselves online, the balance of power shifts permanently.

Liberal PANICS when she’s asked "Would you take in a Somali migrant so they can stay in America?" ?? pic.twitter.com/glNcliRcd3

— Based Jessica (@RealJessica) February 3, 2026