Thursday, 15 July 2021 — Wollongong, Australia

By Greg Canavan Editor, The Rum Rebellion

[6 min read]

Dear Reader,

The Financial Review reports:

‘Sydney’s prolonged lockdown for an anticipated two months will cause the national economy to shrink in the current quarter and cost thousands of jobs according to economists, stalling momentum in Australia’s bounceback from the virus recession.’

Hey, it’s all for a good cause!

This Delta variant is a beast!

Recessions brought about by unwinding of excesses are necessary evils. They teach us valuable lessons.

But recessions brought about by fearmongering politicians and health bureaucrats are a tragedy. So much pain and loss that could have been avoided.

Just how bad is this Delta variant? Rebecca Weisser, writing in The Spectator, explains…

‘The Delta virus is ten times less deadly than the flu to Australians under 65, even unvaccinated, but who cares when the majority of Australians imagine that there is a 38 per cent chance they will die if they catch Covid. The fear factor is crucial. Who would line up for a potentially dangerous experimental vaccine of dubious efficacy if it weren’t presented as the only way out of the cuckoo’s nest in which we are held indefinitely at the government’s pleasure.’

Why are people in ‘Greater Sydney’ (that includes me here in the ‘Gong, unfortunately) held hostage in their own homes by a virus that is less deadly than the flu?

And why is there so much pressure to have a vaccine so we can ‘get back to normal’?

None of this makes sense.

Clearly, our society has been infected with mass hysteria. That the majority of Australians believe they have a 38% chance of dying if they catch COVID is all the proof you need. It shows the government and media’s fear campaign has worked.

It begs the question though. Why is the mainstream media so willing to boost the government’s narrative?

Well, one way to look at it is that government is now Big Government. And Big Government is big business. Think of all the advertising dollars to be earned from spreading the government’s message. You’re likely to get a smaller piece of the pie if you’re running with a contrary narrative.

The other point is that once hysteria takes hold, it’s like a tide that sweeps all before it. COVID sceptics are conspiracy theorists. If you’re wary about taking an experimental vaccine, you’re an anti-vax whack job happy for your kids to get measles and whooping cough.

I advocated for personal choice in the matter on Twitter and got called a conspiracy theorist! Hilarious!

I also pointed out that we have managed to eradicate the flu in all of this.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, ‘There has not been a death certified due to influenza since late July 2020.’ You can see for yourself here.

This is remarkable because in 2019, there were 1,080 influenza deaths, or just over 4,000 if you include pneumonia.

How have we managed to eradicate this?

That’s a serious question. If anyone has an answer, I’d be glad to hear it.

The cynical answer is that we’re all being stitched up by the elites who have nothing but contempt for us plebs. Going back to Weisser’s article…

‘As early as February, when Pfizer was crowing about vaccine efficacy of 95 per cent, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was studying boosters. After all, there’s no revenue stream in a one-shot vaccine that protects you for a lifetime.

‘At the same time, Dr Peter Doshi, an editor of the British Medical Journal, was raising the alarm concerning the data provided by Pfizer about their trial. Pfizer calculated its vaccine efficacy based on only 170 PCR-confirmed cases of Covid excluding 3,410 cases of suspected, but unconfirmed Covid-19. If these suspected cases were all Covid it would give the vaccine an efficacy of only 19 per cent. Yet the inability of Pfizer to be able to confirm in its trial whether participants did or didn’t catch Covid didn’t bother the regulators in the US, Australia or anywhere else. It was granted emergency use authorisation.’

Yeah, that makes sense…

Corruption has become so endemic these days that it is barely noticed. And when it’s pointed out, YOU’RE the problem.

Which just goes to show how effective the sleight of hand is.

The root cause of all this, in my view anyway, is easy money. Money is just a representation of value. It’s a way for society to express the worth of your labour, whether that labour produces products or services.

When central banks can corrupt the value of money, and do so relentlessly without any meaningful pushback, the corruption seeps into all parts of society.

Corruption can take many forms. But what we’re seeing now is a form of corruption at the highest levels. EVERYONE has sold out. EVERYONE has bowed down to the (depreciating) dollar.

What you’re seeing around the world with the COVID con is just the manifestation of this.

Is there a solution?

Avoid groupthink, be honest with yourself…and buy gold and bitcoin…

Regards,

Greg Canavan,
Editor, The Rum Rebellion

By Bill Bonner Editor, The Rum Rebellion

A small item in an English farming magazine tells us that:

‘Used County 1474 tractor sells for 196,000 pounds ($270,000) in “spectacular” auction…a record breaker.’

The ‘County’ is a ‘Ford conversion’ tractor sold in England. This tractor was built in 1983 and sold, new, for £20,597 (about US$28,500).

Now, it’s a ‘classic’. Even adjusted for inflation, the latest price represents a gain of about US$200,000.

What to make of it? Why would a used tractor be worth so much money? Can you protect yourself from inflation with tractors?

The news brought us hope. We have several old tractors, still labouring in the fields and vineyards after years of service. Maybe one of them is worth something?

Broken records

We don’t know, but prices are on the rise almost everywhere.

In England, inflation is running at about 2.5% annually — the highest level in three years. 

And here in Ireland, a young woman we met in Dublin yesterday told us that she and her husband were unable to buy a house because ‘prices have just gone crazy’.

Small rowhouses in decent, but not deluxe, neighbourhoods sell for more than £1 million.

In the US too…inflation is working its way through the vintage record shops…leaving plenty of broken vinyl on the floor.

Asked and answered

This morning, a headline story at The Hill tells us all we need to know: ‘Democrats reach deal on $3.5T price tag for infrastructure bill’.

Whee!

You understand…this has little to do with ‘infrastructure’ — which is a local matter — and everything to do with bribing the voters and rewarding the elite special interests that control the government. The Hill continues its report:

‘“Every major program that President Biden has asked us for is funded in a robust way.” [Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.)]

‘The deal will also include funding for expanding Medicare to cover dental, vision and hearing and addressing climate change — key asks from progressives, including [Vermont Senator] Sanders.’

Right! The ‘key asks’ will get answers. Three and a half trillion of them. And that money, unlike the Federal Reserve’s Wall Street payoffs, will go directly into the consumer economy.

For many years, Wall Street has broken records. Now it’s time for Main Street to crack a few.

Inflation update

Which is why we are confident that our major forecast is correct: Like the heat of a summer’s day, inflation readings will rise. Then, expect some severe storms.

Here’s the latest from The Wall Street Journal…‘Inflation Accelerates Again in June as Economic Recovery Continues’:

‘The Labor Department said last month’s consumer-price index increased 5.4% from a year ago, the highest 12-month rate since August 2008. The so-called core price index, which excludes the often-volatile categories of food and energy, rose 4.5% from a year before.’

The WSJ is talking about the year-to-year rate. The actual increase from May to June was 0.9% — the biggest one-month increase in 13 years.

If that were to continue, it would put the inflation rate over 10% for the year.

Consumer pays the price

Globally, most stuff moves around on ships. The Harpex Index tracks the cost of moving it on container ships. The Harpex is normally in the 300–500 range.

A year ago, it was at 450. But today, it’s more than 2,600, after going up 290 points in a single week.

These costs need to be passed along to consumers. Breitbart describes what happens next:

‘A record share of small businesses say they are raising prices, data released Tuesday showed.

‘The National Federation of Independent Business said that the net percent of small businesses that have raised prices rose seven points to 47 percent, the highest seasonally adjusted inflation since 1981.’

Ultimately, all costs are passed along to consumers, as they are the source of all wealth…all output…and all consumption.

Wrong investment

But the path of true inflation never runs smooth. There will be ups and downs…broken records…shattered businesses…confusion…misunderstandings…cracked-up investments.

When the value of your money changes, you miscalculate. You make mistakes. You invest in the wrong things at the wrong times. You buy MicroStrategy, for example…or Tesla…

…when you should have bought a Massey Ferguson!

Regards,

Bill Bonner,
For The Rum Rebellion