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.

For more than a decade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pursuing one of the most ambitious industrial programs attempted by any modern democracy. The “Make in India” initiative was never simply about creating jobs. It was a strategic effort to transform India from a nation known primarily for services into a manufacturing powerhouse capable of challenging China’s dominance over global supply chains.

That ambition deserves far more attention than it receives. When Make in India was launched in 2014, manufacturing represented roughly 16% of India’s economy. The objective was straightforward: attract foreign investment, build domestic industry, expand exports, and create millions of skilled jobs for one of the world’s youngest populations. Since then, New Delhi has introduced production incentives across electronics, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, semiconductors, renewable energy, defense, telecommunications, and numerous other strategic industries.

The government has approved hundreds of manufacturing projects under its Production Linked Incentive (PLI) programs covering fourteen major sectors. According to India’s Ministry of Commerce, these programs have generated more than ₹2.16 lakh crore in investment and over 1.4 million direct and indirect jobs.

No country has tried to build industrial capacity on this scale in decades. The greatest success has undoubtedly been electronics. India has become the world’s second-largest producer of mobile phones after barely existing in that market only a decade ago. Apple, Foxconn, Samsung, Tata Electronics, and numerous suppliers continue expanding production throughout the country. The government this week approved another ₹62,500 crore program aimed specifically at increasing mobile phone manufacturing, exports, and employment. That demonstrates New Delhi has no intention of slowing its industrial strategy.

Imports from China reached almost $80 billion during the first half of 2026 while India’s exports to China also rose sharply. Manufacturing growth itself is increasing demand for Chinese machinery and industrial components. In other words, India is becoming stronger while simultaneously becoming more dependent upon the world’s largest manufacturing base. That is how industrial revolutions usually begin.

Many politicians continue speaking about “decoupling” as though countries can simply walk away from global supply chains. History has never worked that way. Britain imported raw materials while dominating world manufacturing. The United States depended upon foreign commodities throughout its industrial expansion. China itself relied heavily upon Western capital and technology during its economic rise. Every emerging industrial power passes through a period of dependence before it develops complete vertical integration.

India appears to understand that reality better than many Western governments. Rather than attempting to isolate itself, New Delhi is encouraging foreign companies to manufacture inside India while gradually expanding domestic production of higher-value components. Officials have increasingly shifted attention toward building local electronics components, semiconductor packaging, batteries, and industrial equipment instead of focusing solely on final assembly.

Infrastructure still presents enormous challenges. Power reliability varies by region. Logistics costs remain higher than many Asian competitors. Labor reforms continue progressing unevenly across different states. Bureaucracy has improved considerably but still frustrates investors. Reuters reported earlier this year that some earlier PLI programs failed to meet their original targets and experienced delays in subsidy payments, illustrating that industrial policy alone cannot replace efficient administration.

Manufacturing centers develop over generations, not election cycles. Capital migrates toward nations offering political stability, expanding infrastructure, reliable energy, skilled labor, and confidence that investments will be protected. India has made impressive progress on several of those fronts, but the process remains incomplete.

The world appears to be entering an era where manufacturing will no longer be concentrated in a single country. Instead, production will become increasingly regionalized as governments place greater emphasis on national security than maximum efficiency. India is positioning itself to become one of the principal beneficiaries of that transformation. If it continues building its industrial base while strengthening domestic supply chains, the next great manufacturing story may not be about replacing China. It may be about creating the first genuine alternative to it.

Europe has spent decades portraying the southern nations as irresponsible debtors while presenting the north as the model of fiscal discipline. The latest Eurostat data expose that myth. Southern European governments may be heavily indebted, but the most leveraged households are concentrated in the supposedly prudent nations of northern and western Europe.

Euronews reports that household debt across the European Union stood at 49.4% of GDP in 2025, compared with 50.7% across the euro area. Both ratios have declined every year since 2020, when they exceeded 60%, but that aggregate conceals an enormous divide between member states.

The Netherlands has the highest household debt in the EU at 93.5% of GDP. Denmark follows at 84.1%, Sweden at 82.3%, Finland at 62.9%, Luxembourg at 60.5%, France at 59.5%, and Belgium at 56.4%. All seven exceed the European Commission’s 55% threshold for identifying household debt as a potential macroeconomic vulnerability.

The remainder of the top ten consists of Cyprus at 54.2%, Portugal at 53.9%, and Germany at 49%. Meanwhile, household debt amounts to only 42.9% of GDP in Spain, 38% in Greece, and 35.9% in Italy. The countries repeatedly insulted during the European sovereign-debt crisis have substantially less household leverage than the northern nations that lectured them.

Household debt includes mortgages, consumer loans, and other personal borrowing. The debt-to-GDP ratio does not tell us what each individual family owes, nor does it account fully for the assets held against those liabilities. Nevertheless, it shows how dependent an economy has become on credit relative to everything it produces.

People assume that high household debt is harmless when it is secured against homes. That is precisely what they believed in 2007. A mortgage is an asset to the bank but a liability to the homeowner. The house may appreciate on paper, but the monthly payment must be made with current income. A family cannot pay the electric bill by showing the bank that its home increased in value.

The Netherlands is the most obvious example of government manufacturing private debt through tax policy. De Nederlandsche Bank has admitted that Dutch mortgage borrowing is so high because government policy makes it attractive. Mortgage interest receives favorable tax treatment, and borrowers have been permitted to finance as much as 100% of a property’s value. Many other countries cap loan-to-value ratios at 90% or less.

Dutch household debt now equals nearly an entire year of national economic output. The country’s gross household debt-to-income ratio was about 184% in the earlier Eurostat series, meaning debt approached twice annual disposable income. Dutch households also possess significant pension and financial assets, but those assets are not evenly distributed and cannot be treated as if every borrower has an emergency account capable of eliminating the mortgage.

Denmark presents the same contradiction. Household debt reached 84.1% of GDP, while debt was approximately 177% of disposable income in 2024. Danes hold substantial pension savings and property assets, which government officials use to dismiss concerns. Yet pension wealth is generally locked away, whereas mortgage payments are due every month.

Sweden’s household debt stands at 82.3% of GDP. Variable-rate mortgages dominate its market, leaving borrowers exposed whenever monetary policy changes. A family that appeared financially secure when rates hovered near zero can suddenly find its disposable income devoured by interest payments. This is how monetary policy migrates from an abstract decision at a central bank into the grocery budget of an ordinary household.

The central banks created this vulnerability. They suppressed interest rates for years, punished savers, encouraged borrowing, and drove capital into real estate. Governments then restricted housing supply through zoning, environmental rules, construction regulations, and immigration policies that increased demand. Home prices rose far beyond wages, forcing younger buyers to borrow extraordinary amounts merely to obtain what their parents purchased on one ordinary income.

Then the European Central Bank raised rates to confront inflation that its own policies helped create. It is always the same pattern. Government encourages the debt, the central bank inflates the asset, and the household carries the risk when the cycle turns.

Finland’s household debt equals 62.9% of GDP. Ordinary housing loans constitute around 63% of Finnish household debt. When housing-company loans are included, the combined housing-related share reaches approximately 75%. These company loans are obligations attached to apartment buildings and effectively inherited by buyers. They allowed the true cost of housing to be obscured by separating the apartment’s purchase price from the debt carried by the building.

Luxembourg’s ratio reached 60.5%, and mortgages represent about 90% of household debt. Yet the burden is extremely uneven. Almost half of Luxembourg households reportedly carry no debt at all, while median household net wealth stood near €676,000 in 2023. An impressive national wealth figure tells us little about the vulnerability of the highly leveraged portion of the population.

France’s household debt reached 59.5% of GDP. Most French mortgages are fixed-rate, providing borrowers with more protection from sudden interest-rate shocks. Lending rules generally prevent debt service from consuming much more than one-third of net household income. These safeguards reduce immediate refinancing risk, but they do not erase the underlying debt or protect property prices when credit contracts.

Belgium recorded household debt equal to 56.4% of GDP. Around 43.1% of Belgian households own their homes with a mortgage, compared with an EU average of only 24.3%. New Belgian mortgage lending increased from €31.7 billion in 2024 to €40.7 billion in 2025, an increase of €9 billion or approximately 28%.

Portugal sits just below the Commission’s danger threshold at 53.9% of GDP. Household debt reached roughly €171 billion by late 2025, rising 8.6% in one year. More than 90% of Portuguese mortgages use variable or mixed rates tied to Euribor, making Portugal far more sensitive to ECB policy than its headline debt ratio suggests. The structure of the debt can be as important as its total size.

Cyprus stands at 54.2%, although its household debt ratio has fallen by approximately 62% since December 2016. Around 34% of the remaining debt consists of legacy non-performing loans held by credit-acquiring companies. That is not healthy credit supporting new economic activity. It is debris from the previous crisis still being worked through a decade later.

Germany’s household debt is close to the EU average at 49%. Its comparatively low ratio is partly explained by a homeownership rate of only 46.7% in 2022. Germany has a large rental market and does not provide the same mortgage-interest incentives found in the Netherlands. Yet low household mortgage debt hardly means the German population is prospering. Many workers remain permanent tenants because taxes, stagnant net wages, and elevated property prices prevent them from accumulating the capital needed to buy.

The difference between northern and southern Europe is not that one side is responsible and the other irresponsible. The debt merely sits on different balance sheets. Italy and Greece accumulated enormous public debts, while households remained comparatively conservative. The Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden built systems in which private households assumed massive mortgage liabilities while governments appeared fiscally cleaner.

Debt does not become safe merely because it is classified as private. Private debt can be more immediately destructive because households cannot tax the population, issue currency, or roll their liabilities indefinitely. When income falls or interest costs rise, families reduce consumption, sell assets, or default. That contraction then spreads to retailers, builders, banks, and the wider economy.

A highly indebted household sector also corrupts monetary policy. Central banks become trapped because raising rates threatens property markets and household solvency, while lowering rates encourages another round of leverage and speculation. The ECB must set one interest rate for nations with radically different debt structures. A rate that appears manageable in Italy may crush a variable-rate borrower in Portugal or Sweden.

The northern housing systems have converted ordinary families into leveraged speculators without their realizing it. They are not purchasing homes merely with savings and accumulated income. They are making long-duration bets on property prices, employment, and central-bank policy. So long as asset values rise and credit remains available, everyone appears wealthy. When liquidity disappears, the wealth proves to have been conditional.

Europe’s decline will not emerge solely through sovereign debt. The public and private debt systems are connected through the banks. When households fail, banks suffer. When banks fail, governments guarantee them. Private losses then migrate onto public balance sheets, exactly as they did after 2008. The taxpayer ultimately stands behind a system from which he received none of the profits.

The Eurostat figures are not evidence that southern Europe has suddenly become economically sound. They show that the debt crisis has multiple faces. Italy carries the burden through the state. The Netherlands carries it through households. France is burdened through both. Brussels continues pretending these are separate problems because admitting the connection would expose the fatal structure of the monetary union.

The Federal Reserve voted to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3.50% to 3.75%, marking the fifth consecutive meeting without a change. Yet the 9–3 vote exposed a widening division inside the central bank, as Beth Hammack, Neel Kashkari, and Lorie Logan wanted a 25-basis-point increase.

This is no longer the Federal Reserve debating whether to cut rates. The debate is shifting toward when it will be forced to raise them again. Chairman Kevin Warsh insists that the Fed remains committed to its 2% inflation objective. “There is no soft inflation target,” he told reporters. “There is no soft implicit target, not on this committee’s watch. There’s only a target, and it’s 2%.”

Reducing inflation to 2% does not restore prices to where they were before the inflation began. It simply means that the cost of living continues rising at a slower pace from an already elevated level. Food, insurance, housing, electricity, transportation, and healthcare do not magically become affordable again. The purchasing power that was destroyed is gone.

Warsh acknowledged that reality when he said, “We’ve begun a new chapter and we understand that the five-plus years of inflation above target cannot be cured in nine weeks, or by a single month of modest price decreases.” He added that the Fed “will not waver” in its pursuit of the 2% target. Fine. But the Federal Reserve still refuses to admit that interest rates cannot repair supply shortages, end wars, produce energy, or reverse reckless fiscal policy.

The Fed’s statement conceded that inflation remains elevated partly because of supply shocks, including higher energy prices. The war in the Middle East has increased the cost of fuel and food, while the AI and data-center boom is driving enormous demand for electricity, construction materials, land, cooling systems, computer equipment, and skilled labor. Raising interest rates will not produce another barrel of oil, rebuild a damaged shipping route, or add electricity to an overloaded power grid.

This is why the belief that the Federal Reserve controls inflation with a single interest-rate lever is nonsense. Rates respond to economic conditions, capital flows, confidence, and risk. They do not command the economy like some thermostat.

The official statement claimed that economic activity continues to expand at a “solid pace,” while job growth has kept pace with the workforce and unemployment has changed little. If the economy remains solid and inflation is still above target, then the argument for cutting rates has evaporated. Financial markets had priced roughly a one-in-three chance of a July increase, and Reuters reported that markets were approaching a near-certainty of a September hike if the Fed remained on hold this time.

Half of the Fed’s 18 policymakers projected at least one rate increase during 2026 at the June meeting. Six anticipated more than one. Only one expected a cut. That was an abrupt reversal from only months earlier, when the political and financial establishment was still promoting the fantasy of endless rate reductions.

The three dissents matter because Hammack, Kashkari, and Logan are not demanding an emergency increase of 100 basis points. They wanted a modest quarter-point move. Their dissent signals that the internal argument has already moved beyond whether inflation is a problem. The dispute is now over how long the Fed can wait before responding.

Warsh refused to provide the usual forward guidance, saying only that the committee would “not hesitate to act” when necessary. Nevertheless, less communication does not cure bad policy. Warsh has established five task forces to examine the Fed’s communications, economic data, balance sheet, inflation framework, and the relationship between productivity and employment. Washington loves task forces because they create the appearance of action while ensuring that nobody accepts responsibility for the policies that created the problem.

The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet remains around $6.7 trillion. Since January, the System Open Market Account has purchased nearly $250 billion in Treasury bills, including approximately $160 billion in reserve-management purchases and $90 billion in reinvestments from agency securities. Bank reserves have climbed to roughly $3.1 trillion. They call this reserve management rather than quantitative easing, but changing the label does not change the mechanics.

The Fed is trapped between inflation and the sovereign debt crisis. Higher rates increase the government’s cost of servicing the national debt as old obligations mature and must be refinanced. Lower rates risk weakening confidence, reviving inflation, and punishing those who still save money. There is no painless solution because decades of borrowing and monetary manipulation have eliminated every painless option.

President Trump again demanded lower interest rates and declared that the United States “should have the lowest rates in the world.” The United States cannot order global capital to accept artificially low yields while Washington runs enormous deficits, fights foreign wars, and issues mountains of new debt.

Japan spent decades suppressing interest rates, and that policy did not abolish economic reality. It distorted the bond market, weakened the currency, and made the government increasingly dependent on perpetual intervention. Forcing American rates below global market levels would eventually produce the same disease on a far greater scale.

Trump may want cheaper mortgages and lower government financing costs, but the president does not control international capital flows. If investors demand greater compensation for inflation, political risk, and endless Treasury issuance, long-term rates can rise even while the Fed cuts its short-term target. The bond market is larger than any president, central banker, or political party.

The Fed is also confronting inflation that originates outside its domestic models. War raises energy costs. Sanctions disrupt trade. Tariffs alter supply chains. AI investment is consuming capital and electricity on a massive scale. Government deficits continue pumping demand into an economy already straining against supply constraints. None of this can be solved by crushing the consumer with more expensive credit.

The old Phillips Curve theory that inflation can be defeated by increasing unemployment was always morally bankrupt. Policymakers deliberately try to weaken labor demand and financially squeeze ordinary people because they refuse to confront the fiscal and geopolitical policies responsible for the price increases. The family struggling to finance a car did not create the Middle East war, the federal deficit, or the power shortage, yet that family is expected to absorb the punishment.

Warsh is correct that the Fed cannot quietly redefine its target above 2% simply because reaching that goal has become inconvenient. Doing so would destroy what remains of the institution’s credibility. But credibility will not be restored through speeches. It will require acknowledging that the central bank cannot maintain price stability while Congress spends without restraint and Washington treats war as a permanent economic policy.

The July decision merely postponed the confrontation. If inflation continues running above target and energy prices climb, September becomes a live meeting for a hike. If the economy weakens sharply, the Fed will face demands to cut even while prices remain elevated. That is the road toward stagflation, where the central bank is attacked regardless of which direction it moves.

The Fed held rates steady because it is caught, not because it has solved anything. Inflation remains above target, three policymakers demanded tighter policy, the federal debt continues compounding, and geopolitical pressure is feeding directly into consumer prices. Washington created a system dependent upon cheap money and endless borrowing, but the market is beginning to demand the bill.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, now 85 who led the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022, on July 29 refused to answer questions from senators following the release of a diary he compiled while working in government. He took the 5th Amendment to every question. He indeed could to invoke the Fifth Amendment despite receiving a presidential pardon because that covered past events, not perjury in the present.

A presidential pardon generally removes the threat of federal criminal prosecution for past acts. However, it does not automatically eliminate a person’s Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The constitutional protection applies if there remains a “realistic prospect of prosecution” from any government—federal or state.

In Dr. Fauci’s case, his legal team identified two specific risks that, in their view, kept the threat of prosecution ver much alive since many would love to see him behind bars.

The pardon was for past actions, but it did not provide immunity for future testimony. If Dr. Fauci gave testimony that contradicted his previous statements, he could face new charges for perjury or making false statements to Congress. A pardon that protects a person from criminal prosecution doesn’t rewrite history. It certainly does not prevent Congress from establishing what actually happened.

The real interesting facet is that his presidential pardon whether by autopen or not, only applies to federal crimes, NOT state crimes. This means there was still a theoretical possibility of prosecution at the state level for related matters. A State governor seeking a presidential run could indict Fauci ro the cheers of many.

Fauci appeared under a subpoena from Chairman Rand Paul. In his opening statement, he cited Senator Paul’s “obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution” as the reason he would not testify, stating that he was following his lawyers’ advice to invoke his Fifth Amendment right. Throughout the hearing, he repeatedly responded to questions by stating: “On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.”

Senator Paul argued that the pardon should have compelled Fauci to testify and that he could still be held accountable for lying under oath because the pardon did not cover perjury committed during the hearing. Senator Paul also stated his intention to pursue charges of obstruction of Congress against Fauci for refusing to answer questions.

Fauci wrote in his diary back in June 2021, that he received a briefing from the CIA on the origins of COVID-19 while in a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility at NIH, and reveals that the CIA told him they had intercepted Chinese communications in Wuhan. They believed they discovered indications that the Chinese had transferred pangolin viruses from Beijing to Wuhan. Fauci then writes that the CIA had information from sources that the Chinese military had conducted unknown experiments in Wuhan, and that the CIA had information about a “super spreader” event in China in July 2020 in relation to “passage of a virus in a laboratory.” However, Fauci then wrote that the CIA was “almost pathetic in her naivety and obvious lack of appreciation of any of the science of what she was talking about.”

The WEF was highly active during the pandemic, as I have said before, I believe that the COVID-19 Pandemic was orchestrated suggesting it was engineered to use this crisis in a desperate attempt to reverse the rise of nationalism that was the response to the 2007-2009 Great Recession. I had info that Schwab informed friends before anyone heard of a virus that it was coming in 2019. I did not get vaccinated and instructed my entire family not to get vaccinated.

I believe they expected the stock market to crash, and I further believe that the WEF sold off much of its stock holding. Moreover, the lockdowns were also intended to address climate change as this video suggests. The WEF’s efforts were framed as a direct response and sought to take advance of the pandemic to end the fragmentation that emerged from the 2007-2009 Great Recessi0on. I believe the World Economic Forum (WEF) sold its stock holdings ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019/20.

Our model consistently forecast a major shift in trend would take place from January 2020 beginning a new was that would peak in 2024 and then turn down sharply into 2028. This shift would be a return to inflation, but caused by a shortage of commodities, which was fulfilled by the COVID Lockdowns. There still remains the risk of a surge in COVID-derivatives with a major outbreak in the 2027-2028 time period. Throughout history, migration and war have facilitated the Deadly Disease Cycle, which is fairly reliable every 13 years. Flu activity for the 2007-2008 US flu season peaked in mid-February that year. Flu activity in the United States typically peaks between December and March, and the timing of peak activity changes from year to year. In 16 of the past 26 years, the U.S. flu season has peaked in February or later, making this year pretty typical in terms of the timing of the peak.

The 2019–2020 flu season in the Northern Hemisphere began early and was quite severe. In the U.S. alone, it led to an estimated 19 million cases and 10,000 deaths by early February 2020. This was the turning point for the COVID-19 pandemic escalated in March 2020. The SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) was the most significant coronavirus in 2024. It continued to circulate widely and was responsible for the majority of coronavirus-related outbreaks worldwide. The virus remained a major public health concern. Globally, COVID-19 accounted for 47% of all epidemic-prone disease outbreaks in 2024. Though its prevalence declined from 2023, it still caused significant illness and approximately 67,000 deaths worldwide during the year.

Dr. Anthony Fauci did receive at least one major monetary award for his work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Fauci was awarded the 2021 Dan David Prize for his contributions to public health during the pandemic, which came with a $1 million monetary award. This prize is bestowed by the Dan David Foundation and Tel Aviv University for outstanding achievements that have an impact on society. Strange that a government official can be awarded such a vast amount of money for doing supposedlt his job.

The WEF’s activities promoted ESG Reporting, which became a major push for Larry Fink. Larry Fink’s primary connection to the WEF is through his appointment as an interim co-chair of the organization, a role he assumed alongside André Hoffmann. This is a leadership position intended to guide the Forum’s strategy. In this role, he has been noted to have a strong hand in shaping the Forum’s agenda. The COVID Pandemic was used to push ESG investing. Indeed, 2020 marked the pivotal year when BlackRock made its major public pivot to aggressively push ESG investing, and this shift was highly visible at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos that year. Eventually, BlackRock did significantly scale back its public advocacy and support for ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investing, partly due to financial and political pressures.

In September 2020, the WEF released a new set of universal environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics for companies to report on. The WEF published a framework to help investors address global systemic risks, including pandemics, and the World Bank’s Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility made a major insurance payout in April and May 2020 for COVID-19.

On January 21, 2021, the very first day after President Biden’s inauguration, Dr. Fauci, became the head of the U.S. delegation, officially announced to the WHO’s executive board that the U.S. would remain a member, fulfill its financial obligations, and join the COVAX vaccine initiative. Thus, the U.S. rejoining the WHO some believe was the lobbying effort of Dr. Fauci who was appointed head of the U.S. delegation to its executive board. He explicitly stated that a global pandemic demands a global response and that it was “untenable” for the U.S. not to be “intimately connected with the WHO.” He also expressed support for the WHO despite its imperfections, hoping the US could help “correct some of the missteps of the past.”

Dr. Fauci did speak at a World Economic Forum event in January 2022. In his remarks, he discussed the future of the pandemic, predicting that COVID-19 would likely become an endemic disease like the flu rather than being eradicated like smallpox. This is a standard scientific assessment of viral behavior. Once COVID-19 was most likely created in a lab, such a virus will be with us for centuries providing Pharmaceutical Industry with a completely new source of vaccines and profits for the foreseeable future.

COVID-19 was used to influence the 2020 election by telling people to use mail-in ballots. The expansion of mail-in voting was pushed as a response to a public health crisis. The primary pitch was to vote by mail rather than risk your life to vote personally. In 2020, about 43% of voters cast their ballots by mail, compared to 27% who voted early in-person and 30% who voted on Election Day. Many states, including those with both Democratic and Republican leadership, changed their voting laws to make absentee and mail-in voting more accessible due to public health concerns. For instance, the primary election in Wisconsin, which was held in-person in April 2020 despite the pandemic, resulted in at least 71 people contracting COVID-19 after voting, starkly demonstrating the risk of traditional voting, which was used to justify m,ail-in ballots.

It was Senator Elizabeth Warren who played politics as always in October 2020 requesting an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) into potential insider trading. The concern was that Trump administration officials may have privately given early warnings about the pandemic’s severity to wealthy donors and conservative allies while making optimistic public statements, which could have informed their trading.

She was demanding an investigation be focused on Trump administration officials and their associates, not on the World Economic Forum, which was the much more involved in COVID strategies. She was only interested in going after Republicans and her most hated target, Donald Trump.

The SEC and CFTC ever announced any public conclusion or filed charges specifically related to the Hoover Institution briefings. There is no record of whether an investigation was fully pursued or what its final outcome was.

Brainwashed people were placing vaxed bumper stickers on their cars, flying flags, and even donning jewelry to tell the world they were the foolish sheep. Under 25% of American adults and 14% of children received a COVID booster last year. When 80% of the population was taking this unknown drug on the word of Fauci is just appalling. I now stay away from vaccines. I refuse to even have my dogs vaccinated by any MNRA vaccine. My personal doctor when I met her asked if I was vaccinated. I said NO! She responded: GOOD!

The financial market will respond accordingly. This is also why we have gold and equities rising together. Our computer warned that this ECM wave that began in 2020.05 would set in motion a new wave of inflation set in motion by SHORTAGES and that there would be a decline in the CONFIDENCE in government overall and that would materialize om an EVERYTHING BUBBLE as was the case in 1966, which marked the beginning of the end of  the full faith in the government, which manifested in the collapse of the monetary system (Gold Standard & Bretton Woos), the rise of race riots od the late ’60s, and the massive protests against Vietnam. I have called this the Great Alignment. Once again we have witnessed the stock market rise, gold, commodities, and the fragmentation of the world economy with the rise of nationalism and protectionism in the aftermath of the 2007-2009 Great Recession.

This is what disrupted the WEF’s view to push for a one-world global elitist government. COVID-19 was an integral part of the 2030 Agenda to bring the world back to a centralized power with the World Health Organization controlling society. The WEF even questioned the future use of democratic voting.

Is it any wonder why so many people believe Fauci should go to prison?

Student loan defaults have surged to 9.2 million borrowers, representing roughly one in every five people with student debt. What is astonishing is the speed of the deterioration. There were approximately 6 million borrowers in default last August. That figure jumped to 7.7 million by December. By April it had reached 9.2 million. Another 3 million borrowers are reportedly at least 90 days delinquent and appear headed in the same direction.

The government suspended reality for years through payment pauses, forbearance programs, and emergency measures that temporarily masked the problem. Now collections have resumed. Wage garnishment is returning and borrowers are once again being confronted with debts that never disappeared. Politicians celebrated the pause as though the crisis had been solved. All they really did was postpone the reckoning.

What nobody wants to admit is that the student loan system became fundamentally broken the moment the federal government guaranteed virtually unlimited lending. Once colleges realized that students could borrow almost any amount with government backing, tuition exploded. Universities had no incentive to control costs. They built lavish facilities, expanded administrations, hired armies of bureaucrats, and continuously raised tuition. Students were told that any debt was acceptable because a degree would guarantee future prosperity. The numbers tell a different story.

Tuition costs have risen by hundreds of percentage points over the past several decades, vastly outpacing inflation and wage growth. Yet many graduates entered labor markets where earnings never remotely matched the debt burden they accumulated. Entire generations were encouraged to believe that college was the only path to success. Many emerged with degrees carrying little market value but very real financial obligations.

Borrowers are returning to repayment obligations while facing some of the highest living costs in decades. Housing costs remain elevated. Insurance premiums continue rising. Food prices have increased substantially. Many young Americans are already delaying homeownership, marriage, and family formation. Now millions face renewed collection efforts and potential wage garnishment on top of those challenges. The economic pressure is becoming overwhelming.

The roots of this disaster go back decades to the Clinton Administration. In 1998, Congress made federally guaranteed student loans virtually impossible to discharge in bankruptcy, and in 2005 that protection was extended to most private student loans as well except under the nearly impossible “undue hardship” standard. At the same time, Washington dismantled the old restraints that once separated commercial banking from investment banking by repealing Glass-Steagall through the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, signed by Bill Clinton in 1999. Wall Street suddenly had access to an endless stream of federally protected student debt that could be packaged, securitized, and sold to investors while taxpayers ultimately carried much of the risk. This was no longer simply about helping students attend college. Education had become another financial product. Banks could lend aggressively because the debt was uniquely protected, universities could raise tuition knowing the money would always be available, and students were left holding obligations they could rarely escape even through bankruptcy. Washington socialized the risk while privatizing the profits, creating precisely the type of moral hazard that has repeatedly produced financial crises throughout history.

From a broader perspective, this is another symptom of the debt-based model that has infected virtually every aspect of society. Governments encouraged borrowing to finance education, homes, consumption, and economic growth. Debt became the solution to every problem. Eventually the bills come due. Student loans are particularly dangerous because they directly impact younger generations who are supposed to form households, buy homes, start businesses, and drive future economic growth. Instead, many are trapped servicing debts accumulated years earlier.

This is why I continue to stress that confidence is the real issue. The student loan crisis is not merely about missed payments. It reflects a growing realization that many of the promises made to younger generations were never realistic. They were told education guaranteed prosperity. They were told debt was an investment. They were told the economy would provide opportunities sufficient to justify the cost. Millions are now discovering otherwise. That loss of confidence has consequences far beyond student loans. It affects housing, family formation, consumer spending, and ultimately the broader economy itself.

Governments never seize freedom all at once. They chip away at it piece by piece, each new program marketed as a way to save taxpayers money or improve efficiency. The latest example comes from Cape Coral, Florida, where city officials are considering equipping sanitation trucks with AI-powered cameras to scan neighborhoods for potential code violations as they make their normal garbage collection routes. Officials insist the technology is simply another tool that could reduce costs and help the city’s 31 code enforcement officers identify violations more efficiently. That is always how surveillance begins, with promises of convenience rather than control.

The city manager argued that artificial intelligence could perform the same work as additional code officers while saving taxpayer dollars. Residents, however, immediately raised the questions governments rarely answer. Who controls the data? How long is it stored? Who has access to it? Could it later be used for purposes never originally disclosed? Those are legitimate concerns because history demonstrates that once governments collect information, they rarely surrender the ability to collect even more. Every database eventually finds a new purpose.

I have warned repeatedly that society is drifting toward a surveillance state where governments monitor virtually every aspect of daily life. License plate readers were introduced to catch criminals. Smart utility meters were sold as a way to improve energy efficiency. CCTV cameras appeared for public safety. Smartphones track our movements, financial transactions leave permanent digital records, and now artificial intelligence is being proposed to examine residential neighborhoods automatically. Every individual system may appear harmless in isolation. Combined together, they create a government that knows where you travel, what you purchase, where you live, and now potentially the condition of your property every single week.

This is the same progression we have watched unfold across the world. Artificial intelligence is no longer confined to helping businesses improve productivity. Governments increasingly see it as a force multiplier that allows fewer employees to monitor far more citizens. Bureaucracies always seek greater efficiency, but efficiency without limits inevitably comes at the expense of liberty. Once an AI system is installed on every sanitation truck, what prevents the next software update from identifying unregistered vehicles, unauthorized construction, political signs, or anything else officials decide they want to monitor? Every man, woman, and child will be tracked in real-time, as governments eagerly watch for a misstep.

The greatest danger is not the camera itself. It is the normalization of constant observation. Children growing up under these systems will eventually believe it is perfectly ordinary for government cameras to document neighborhoods every day. Future generations may never question whether privacy was once considered a fundamental right rather than an obstacle to administrative efficiency. Governments rarely surrender powers voluntarily. Every emergency, every budget crisis, and every technological advancement becomes another justification for expanding their reach.

This proposal may save Cape Coral some money in the short term. That is not the question citizens should be asking. The real question is what kind of society we are building. Throughout history, governments have consistently expanded surveillance first and established meaningful safeguards later, if ever. Technology itself is neither good nor evil. The danger lies in believing that governments, once given new powers to observe their citizens, will somehow choose not to use them. History says otherwise.

Dick Cheney repeatedly emphasized an association between Saddam’s regime and al-Qaeda. For instance, he framed the success in Iraq as a blow to the “geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault for many years, but most especially on 9-11.” He deliberately pushed the fake news of Weapons of Mass Destruction  (WMD) soon after taking the position of Vice President Dick Cheney in 2001. He made that famous speech to start the war on August 26, 2002 at the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) National Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Well Russia, China, Israel, France, India, Pakistan, and North Korea have nukes. Why not invade them as well?

He cited unsubstantiated evidence to support this Neocon agenda. Cheney referenced an alleged meeting in Prague between lead 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta and an Iraqi intelligence officer, calling it “pretty well confirmed.” This claim was later discredited by the CIA and the 9/11 Commission, which found no evidence of collaboration between Saddam and al-Qaeda on attacks against the USA.

It was Cheny who used 9/11 to create a misleading impression for the justification of invading Iraq. Netanyahu was part of that agenda testifying before Congress that Iraq had a nuclear program with weapons of mass destruction. When asked about a poll showing nearly 70% of Americans believed Saddam was personally involved in 9/11, Cheney said, “It’s not surprising that people make that connection.” Cheney ruthlessly employed his rhetoric, combined with administration claims about al-Qaeda ties, to imply a connection to justify the war. This was the very agenda I was told about to secure the safety for Israel.

Worse still, in February 2001, early in George W. Bush’s presidency, Secretary Colin Powell said in Cairo that Iraq had not developed “any significant capacity” in WMD and was unable to threaten its neighbors. This shows the administration’s public position evolved significantly after the 9/11 attacks. Colin Powell and Dick Cheney, developed a history of intense friction and disagreement between the two over the Iraq War. Cheney deliberately exploited Powell as someone whose credibility he used to sell a case to the UN to justify Cheney’s war to conquer the Middle East, and who later expressed deep regret over his role in that presentation.

Public statements made by Dick Cheney prior to the 2003 Iraq War indicate he asserted that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. The Bush administration later was forced to acknowledge those assessments were incorrect.

They are lying about the Ukraine War. They keep claiming Ukraine is winning and about to destroy Russia. Ukrainian official have eben come out and claimed that Moscow will fall. If Russia is on the edge and is about to collapse, they willo push the button. Every military source I have ever spoke to said that they would push the button if the USA was about to fall. They can be as corrupt as ever and look to line the pockets of their entire family, but have lost sight of what they are cheering for.

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, thank you very much for that global overview of the energy market on your private blog. You’ve connected the dots in a way no one else seems to, just as you mentioned at your Tampa conference. I also appreciated your distinction between Eastern and Western Canada, could you elaborate on that a bit further?

And thank you again. My children’s eyes were truly opened by your insights.

FG

ANSWER: A refinery isn’t a one-size-fits-all machine. It is a complex industrial facility designed to process a specific type of crude oil efficiently. Hence, many refineries in Eastern Canada are configured to run on the lighter, sweeter crude oil typically imported from places like Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, rather than the heavier oil from Alberta’s oil sands or Texas. Therefore, refineries are designed for different grades of crude oil.

This introduces another dimension to the energy crisis. Also become of regulations in some provinces, pipelines have been blocked. Pipelines primarily move oil from Alberta to the U.S. and to British Columbia. There is no direct pipeline connection from Alberta to the Atlantic coast. Without this pipeline access, Eastern refineries rely on tankers for their crude supply. It has been simply more economical for them to import light crude from the Middle East that construct pipelines. Thus, Irving Oil’s large refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick, imports virtually all of its crude by tanker.

This energy crisis has another dimension whereas you simply cannot substitute crude oil that is heavy when the refinery can only handle light crude.