We’ve lost control

For 35 years, I have been analyzing socioeconomic and geopolitical events and forecasting their impact on our lives. I have noted countless times how current events form future trends. The history of how we got here and the knowledge of where we are inevitably reveals the face of the future.

But as history unfolds it sometimes becomes blurred by partisan rhetoric and manipulated by agenda-driven interests in the shadows, outside the reach of accountability and transparency. While history is the best indicator of the future, it may provide unclear signs at times.

What is hardest to predict at those times? The outcome of a trend line not determined by past events, but by backroom manipulations by immoral, corrupt and power-drunk political leaders and business barons.

I speak a great deal about wildcards — the events, circumstances or hidden factors that work outside of the visible world. These, ultimately, can swing a trend line in an opposite direction or create a new one.

We are in that wildcard moment.

The rules of the game have been changed without us knowing. Without our approval. And with too many of us not caring enough to scream loudly about it, even though it is so painfully, undeniably obvious.

And it has gone global.

The Grand Manipulation is now a trend line, fully entrenched in the fabric of our daily lives. It makes it impossible for the majority of us to break free from stagnant wages, limited opportunity and declining quality of life.

Not all of us, mind you. Those immoral, power-drunk political leaders and business barons enjoy prosperity at levels unseen in modern history.

No power like the Grand Manipulation

In our forecast for 2015, we see the Grand Manipulation manifesting its power across just about every dimension of our lives.

From the jobs we have or don’t have, to the branded products we’re able to buy, the quality of health care we can afford, the media we consume, the takeover world we live in… they’re all the direct result of backroom manipulation of socioeconomic rules and boundaries once equally applied to all.

In this issue, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts writes in his piece on the Grand Manipulation:
“Normally, an economic recovery produces rising consumer spending, rising profits and more investment. But what we experience is flat and declining consumer spending as jobs are offshored and retail stores close. Profits result from labor-cost savings from employee layoffs.

“The stock market is high because corporations are the biggest purchasers of stock. Buying back their own stock supports or raises the share price, enabling executives and boards to sell their shares or cash in their options at a profitable price. The cash that Quantitative Easing has given to the mega-banks leaves ample room for speculating in stocks, thus pushing up the price despite the absence of fundamentals that would support a rising stock market.”

What conclusion can be drawn from this indisputable, fact-based depiction of the US economy? There’s only one: There are no free financial markets. From Libor, to Forex, to the floors of the exchanges, the markets are rigged.

In making our forecast, we will demonstrate the far-reaching implications of the Grand Manipulation. But we also stand firm with history. If not reversed, the future will be madness.

How prepared will you be? Standing up to immoral and corrupt practices that brought us to the Grand Manipulation won’t be easy, but doing so can turn the tide.