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.

QUESTION: Marty, I believe you said the war in Ukraine has completely changed warfare. Drones are the new weapon, and both sides are using NVIDIA chips. Former US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said he thought the war has reached a turning point and that technological superiority will give Ukraine a chance to defeat Russia.

Would you comment on that given your computer and geopolitical expertise?

Ben

ANSWER: This is starting to resemble the movie Terminator. There is a kill zone between both sides where you stick your head up, and you are killed by a drone. I know Driscoll has joined Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google and now head of the US defense company Perennial Autonomy, which operates in Ukraine. Schmidt has become the Merchant of Death (published 1934) for World War III like DuPont was for World War I. He claims he is defending democracy profiting from every kill, yet Russia has elections and Ukraine does not. Interesting how you look the other way when the money keeps rolling in.

I believe they both share the same ideas and both seem oblivious to how this war started and who has been pulling the strings. The very idea that Ukraine can defeat Russia is really absurd. Putin just warned the EU not to send troops to Ukraine. The EU & NATO want this war. Just like Iraq, there was never any planning for what came next after removing Saddam. Nobody even asks if Russia is defeated, what would happen? There is no consideration that a coup could take place and the old hardliners grab power and they too are like NATO and would love to even the score.

These people seriously lack any sense of history or geopolitics. They are too busy admiring themselves in the mirror as they spout Neocon propaganda without checking the facts. This idea that Russia can be utterly defeated is as absurd as proposing that the USA can be defeated. Propose that to the US military and high generals will quickly say they would nuke the adversary in such a condition.

China has warned Trump they will cancel any summit if the US sends military supplies to Taiwan. If you are a completely linear thinker, incapable of seeing the world as a whole, they are pushing us into World War III with this nonsense. China would join Russia and North Korea, to mention just two, because they KNOW that if Russia were destroyed, they are next. China is preparing for “national total war” – America is the enemy named in the Pentagon report.

So we now have drone wars with machines flying around using NVIDIA chips to decide autonomously who to kill. Nobody seems to think beyond the end of their nose. We have FLOCK cameras targeting people and some police departments are also engaging in tracking financial activity and using it as a pretext to pull people over. Britain has more people in prison than Russia for what they wrote on something like Facebook. Welcome to the world gone completely nuts as we head into 2032.

https://rumble.com/v7fe918-global-capital-is-warning-of-what-comes-next-martin-armstrong.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp_a

???? Satellites show Iran digging hard under Pickax Mountain, the Pentagon is testing a classified bunker weapon in New Mexico, and one forecaster has picked a date

Asked on the tarmac why oil is back above $100, Trump reframed the question:

"will you let Iran have a nuclear… pic.twitter.com/Mi3ckFkRE7

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 9, 2026

I will do a post on the private blog this weekend. Fill up now, and conserve.

PRIVATE BLOG – The Dow Crash or Low? To Be or Not To Be

Private blog posts are exclusively available to Socrates subscribers. To sign-up for Socrates or to learn more, please visit Ask-Socrates.com.

https://ask-socrates.com/

Saudi Arabia just reported something that should scare the hell out of anyone who understands how the Middle East actually functions. According to Bloomberg, Riyadh told OPEC that crude production collapsed by 1.9 million barrels per day in August to just 6.238 million barrels per day, the lowest Saudi production since 1990 and even below the wartime low reached earlier this year. Saudi exports have reportedly fallen to around 3.1 million barrels per day, the lowest in more than a decade. This is not because the Saudis suddenly decided to tighten the market to make a few extra dollars. The war with Iran and renewed Houthi threats have disrupted the export routes that keep the entire Saudi financial system alive.

People look at Saudi Arabia and see oil, skyscrapers, sovereign wealth funds, and princes. They assume there is an endless pile of money buried beneath the desert. That is complete nonsense. I have written about this repeatedly and devoted an entire report to the Sovereign Debt Crisis and the Middle East because these governments have built enormous fiscal structures around one critical assumption: oil revenue continues to flow. Saudi Arabia can have all the oil beneath the ground it wants. If it cannot pump it, ship it, insure the tankers, and deliver it to customers, that oil does not pay the bills.

Saudi Arabia already recorded a budget deficit of 125.7 billion riyals, roughly $33.5 billion, in the first quarter of 2026 alone. That was nearly as large as the $44 billion deficit the government had projected for the entire year. Spending increased 20% while oil revenue declined 3%. Riyadh approved financing needs of roughly 217 billion riyals, or nearly $58 billion, for 2026, including money required to finance the deficit and refinance maturing debt. Now imagine what happens when the volume of oil available to sell suddenly collapses to levels not seen since the Gulf War.

This is precisely why looking only at the price of crude is so damn stupid. Yes, Brent above $100 means Saudi Arabia receives more for every barrel it successfully sells. But government revenue is PRICE × VOLUME. If production collapses 23%, exports plunge, military expenditures rise, shipping costs explode, insurance premiums soar, and infrastructure must be defended against drones and missiles, a higher oil price does not magically solve the problem. War can increase the price of the commodity while simultaneously destroying the finances of the government producing it.

Saudi Arabia is not alone. The fiscal systems throughout the Gulf were constructed during an era when oil revenue could finance enormous government expenditures, subsidies, public employment, infrastructure, defense, and social programs. These governments have attempted to diversify, but oil still provides the financial foundation supporting the transformation. Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 is supposed to create an economy less dependent on petroleum, yet the government is borrowing against future revenue to finance projects intended to reduce dependence on that same revenue. That contradiction becomes dangerous when war interrupts the cash flow.

This is what people fail to understand about the Middle East sovereign debt crisis. Governments do not simply stop spending because revenue declines. They BORROW. Saudi Arabia borrows. Bahrain borrows. Oman borrows. Iraq depends overwhelmingly on petroleum revenue. Even governments with enormous financial reserves must eventually liquidate assets or issue debt when expenditures persist while commodity income deteriorates. Oil made it possible to conceal the underlying fiscal structure because everyone assumed the money would always be there.

The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s petroleum supply. Traffic through the strait has again collapsed into the single digits on some days. Saudi Arabia spent years building the East-West pipeline so crude could be moved to Yanbu on the Red Sea and bypass Hormuz, but now the Houthi threat has demonstrated that the western route is not immune either. When both sides of the Arabian Peninsula become geopolitical choke points, Saudi Arabia has a problem that no central bank can solve by changing interest rates.

Oil does not stop at the gasoline pump. Crude feeds transportation, trucking, aviation, shipping, petrochemicals, plastics, agriculture, fertilizer production, manufacturing, mining, and virtually every supply chain on the planet. Diesel rises and the farmer pays more to operate machinery. The trucking company pays more to deliver food. The container ship pays more to cross the ocean. Airlines increase fares. Manufacturers pay more for raw materials and transportation. Those costs eventually reach the consumer.

Then comes the second wave that almost nobody talks about: sovereign debt. Higher energy prices feed inflation. Inflation prevents central banks from aggressively cutting interest rates. Higher rates increase government debt-service costs. Governments already buried beneath debt must then borrow even more merely to service what they previously borrowed. Europe is especially vulnerable because it deliberately destroyed much of its cheap energy structure in the name of climate ideology and then sanctioned Russia without having a viable replacement. Another sustained energy shock arrives while Germany is weak, France is drowning in debt, Britain cannot control its fiscal position, and governments everywhere are simultaneously demanding enormous increases in military expenditure.

The Saudis themselves are now spending more on defense simply to protect the infrastructure that generates the revenue needed to finance the government. Saudi military expenditures increased sharply earlier this year as Riyadh was forced to defend oil facilities, shipping routes, pipelines, ports, and population centers. That is money that produces no economic return whatsoever. A missile interceptor does not build a factory. It does not produce electricity. It does not create an export industry. It is consumed defending infrastructure from another weapon that may cost a fraction of the price.

There is no free war. Saudi Arabia pumping the least oil since 1990 is not merely a Saudi story. It is a warning that the financial arteries of the Middle East are being squeezed at precisely the moment the sovereign debt crisis is accelerating worldwide. If oil-producing governments lose revenue, they borrow more. If oil-importing governments face higher prices, they subsidize more and borrow more. The producer gets fucked by falling volume while the consumer gets screwed by rising prices.

Welcome to America, where apparently standing around is now enough to have your movements searched through a nationwide surveillance network.

Records obtained from the Plano, Illinois Police Department reveal more than 1,200 searches involving the category “Curfew/Loitering/Vagrancy Violations.” That is from cameras controlled by ONE small police department, with law enforcement agencies elsewhere accessing those cameras as part of their searches. Additional audit records collected around the country show hundreds more searches under the same category. Flock has more than 120,000 cameras spread across 49 states, and its network has expanded into thousands of communities. This is no longer some camera sitting outside a convenience store recording a robbery. They have constructed the infrastructure to reconstruct where ordinary people travel, and police departments across jurisdictions can search that information.

This is precisely what I wrote about when I said, “Your Car Was Never the Target.” License plate readers were sold as a tool to find stolen vehicles and dangerous fugitives. Then the systems began recording the make, model, color, location, and movements of vehicles. Now Flock is developing AI systems capable of doing considerably more. Its newer investigative technology can combine camera information with police records, dispatch logs, and commercial identity databases, while other tools can search camera networks using written descriptions. Once you combine AI with a nationwide camera network, you are no longer investigating a crime after it occurs. You are constructing the machinery necessary to search the movements and associations of an entire population.

Flock’s newer AI tools can allow police to continuously search cameras in a defined area for someone matching a written description. A Texas deputy previously searched tens of thousands of cameras looking for a woman who had obtained an abortion. Officers have been accused of using Flock to track former romantic partners. Illinois discovered that federal immigration agents had gained access to state camera information despite restrictions. Now we learn the system is being searched for loitering and vagrancy. Yet they continue telling us not to worry because safeguards are coming. Flock has announced shorter default retention periods, case codes, auditing, and other controls. Fine. None of that changes the fundamental question: Why should government possess the ability to reconstruct the movements of millions of innocent people in the first place?

The Fourth Amendment was not written with an exception saying government may watch everyone so long as a private corporation owns the cameras. I wrote earlier this year about the FBI admitting that it purchases commercially available location information on Americans. This is the loophole they have discovered. Government does not always need to build the surveillance system itself anymore. Private corporations collect the information, construct the databases, and develop the technology. Government simply purchases access or contracts for the service. The private sector builds the cage and government gets the key.

People keep saying, “I have nothing to hide.” That is perhaps the most dangerous response imaginable. Liberty was never based upon proving to government that you have nothing to hide. Government was supposed to prove that it had probable cause to investigate YOU. We have turned that principle upside down. Everyone is monitored first, the information is stored, and government searches the database later when it decides somebody has become interesting. You do not need to commit murder. You do not need to rob a bank. You apparently do not even need to steal a car. You can be searched because somebody decided you were loitering.

We are all criminals now. That is where this mentality inevitably leads. Every citizen becomes a potential suspect because every citizen generates data that can be searched. Your car identifies where you travel, your phone identifies where you sleep, your credit card identifies what you buy, your bank identifies who you pay. Facial recognition identifies where you appear in real time. AI can connect information that once required hundreds of investigators and months of work in seconds. Governments of the past could only dream of possessing this kind of power.

This is how a surveillance state is created. There is no announcement from Washington declaring that privacy has ended. There is no single law abolishing the Fourth Amendment. It happens camera by camera, database by database, emergency by emergency, until one day people realize that anonymity in public has effectively disappeared. The government will insist that only criminals need to worry right up until the definition of “criminal” includes standing somewhere too long.