Economics 2.0: The Joker’s Wild

There is no real economy. For those working stiffs of Slavelandia, whose real wages have declined and whose puny bank accounts return little interest, the bottom has fallen out.

In Economics 2.0, the gauge of prosperity measured by governments and the business media has become the health of the equity markets. And the only “economy” that counts is the size of the bankroll of the White Shoe Boys: The hedge funds that get money from “investors” to place their bets on the equity market wheel of fortune; the LBO megamerger venture capitalists and private equity groups, who, under the guise of industry consolidation, kill off competition and reap robber-baron rewards by “cutting fat” i.e., wholesale firing of staff, raping the company of its creative and physical assets to temporarily improve profit margins and drive up stock valuations; and the soaring stock valuations pumped up by companies buying back their own stocks.

This is no conspiracy theory. It’s fact. Just look back several days. The global equity markets were in a tailspin on the news of lower corporate earnings, a possible Greek default on its debt and measures imposed by the Chinese government to cool down its soaring Shanghai Composite Index, which has doubled over the past 12 months, even as its overall economy retracted to six-year lows and the housing bubble deflated. Then, in a puff of monetary magic, the Beijing Banksters shoved in 1.5 trillion yuan in liquidity to keep the Ponzi scheme going. The global equity markets rejoiced on the news that more cheap money – monetary methadone – would again inflate the artificially pumped up markets.

TREND FORECAST: When will the money pumping schemes stop and true market conditions prevail? No one knows. We had forecast it would have ended three years ago! We had no idea that central banks would invent schemes-undreamed-of to keep inflating over inflated markets. A geopolitical event, a 9/11 magnitude terror strike, or a yet undetected Lehman Brothers-type event will be all that it takes to bring down the financial house of cards that is only being propped up by The Joker’s Wild.