by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 21, 2023 | Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Politics
What happens when one zombie eats another? All the disgusting and fetid zombie parts of the consumed simply moves to the consumer. The same is true of zombie banks. When one zombie bank, full of death and corruption but better hiding it due to superior cosmetics, eats...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 20, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, USA
Banking regulators, along with the board of directors and management of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), each failed to see or prevent the problems that destroyed in less than a week one of the largest banks in the country. The regulators, whose mandate is explicitly...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 19, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, USA
One week ago Sunday, the Federal Reserve Board, alongside the FDIC and the U.S. Treasury, announced plans – in the wake of the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) – to provide liquidity to U.S. banks in an attempt to “bolster the capacity of the banking system to...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 11, 2023 | Blog Articles, Crypto, Finance, Inflation
In one of the most shocking developments to hit the banking sector since the global financial crisis fifteen years ago, Silicon Valley Bank, the country’s sixteenth largest bank with $209 billion in assets, failed on Friday. SVB’s claim to fame was its deep connection...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 7, 2023 | Blog Articles, Covid-19, Finance, Inflation, USA
I have often heard it said that the first step in recovery from addiction is to admit that one has a problem. Well, I’m not afraid to admit that over the years I’ve become completely dependent on Amazon Prime for the vast majority of my grocery and household goods...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 3, 2023 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, War
Following the launch of Russia’s “special military operation” and invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Joe Biden and EU leaders confidently asserted that Western sanctions would bring the Russian economy to its knees. A primary stated objective of sanctions was...
by Michael Wilkerson | Feb 19, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Covid-19, Crypto, Finance, Inflation, USA
One of the most important disciplines in investing, whether personally or professionally, is to look back on investments made and take stock not just of how they performed, but why. What decision-making or other avoidable errors led to bad outcomes? What lessons can...
by Michael Wilkerson | Feb 15, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Florida, Politics, USA
The rapid rise and near dominance of the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) agenda in corporate board rooms and executive suites is one of the more remarkable business transformations of the twenty-first century. ESG requires that directors and managers look...
by Michael Wilkerson | Feb 14, 2023 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Covid-19, Crypto, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA
Like many governments around the world, the Biden administration seems determined to limit Americans’ monetary freedom by taxing it away, and by manipulating and controlling how they store and spend their money. Here are a few examples of how this is happening. Let’s...
by Michael Wilkerson | Feb 14, 2023 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Politics, USA, War
I watch a lot of French news and other media in my ongoing and laborious attempt to learn a new language at midlife. I’ve learned something interesting in the process. While France and the United States are both democracies that ostensibly support freedom of speech,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jan 26, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics
There have been many sighs of relief exhaled across the United States in recent days as inflation continues to slow. New data shows that Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation has declined for the sixth month in a row, down from 9.1 percent in June 2022 to 6.5 percent...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jan 14, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Crypto, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, USA, Why America Matters Book
We’re at a turning point in history. This could be said of many things, but it is certainly true of the modern monetary system. Like most transitions in life and in history, the monetary system’s transformation is occurring slowly, then suddenly, in that the changes...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jan 5, 2023 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
2022 was a year of surprises: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, persistent inflation fueled by energy costs, the collapse of FTX and crypto markets, the revelations of the Twitter Files, and one of the worst equity markets in recent history, to name but a few. 2023 is...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 30, 2022 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
While most Americans were busy preparing for holidays with family and friends, the retiring leaders of the Senate and House spent their final days before Christmas wrangling through Congress the $1.7 trillion Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. With the clock...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 19, 2022 | Blog Articles, Crypto, Finance, New York, Trending
After weeks of speculation as to whether former billionaire now hapless adolescent actor Sam Bankman-Fried would be arrested for fraud surrounding FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange he ran into the ground, the mystery is over. The man widely known as SBF surrendered to...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 17, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, USA, Why America Matters Book
As Americans anticipate the arrival of the holidays, it appears that many households may struggle to fill their family’s Christmas stockings this year. A new poll released on Thursday reveals that 82 percent of American likely-voter respondents have been negatively...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 14, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Finance, Inflation, USA
Some interesting recent data remind us of the importance of paying attention to what governments actually do, not just what they say. Central banks are on a gold buying spree, and they are using their U.S. dollar foreign reserves to fund it. According to a report by...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 5, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA, Why America Matters Book
Americans are under increasing financial pressure, and the stress is beginning to show across multiple fronts. For well over a year now, inflation has ravaged Americans’ wallets. Despite October’s slightly lower CPI rate of 7.7 percent vs. 8.2 percent in September,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Nov 29, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Florida, Inflation, USA
No sector of the U.S. economy impacts the American middle and working classes more than housing. Most Americans have the majority of their savings and new worth tied up in their homes. Housing is the primary asset that serves as a literal and metaphorical shelter in...
by Michael Wilkerson | Nov 18, 2022 | Blog Articles, Crypto, Finance, Inflation, New York, Trending, USA
When I wrote last week about the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and the fall from grace of its founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (“Falling Meteorite FTX Scorches Crypto Landscape”), it was already apparent that this multi-billion dollar swindle was going to go down...
by Michael Wilkerson | Nov 12, 2022 | Blog Articles, Crypto, Finance, USA, Why America Matters Book
Cover art/illustration via Financial Times After several months of calm in the crypto industry, characterized by a role reversal in which equities were highly volatile and cryptocurrencies flat and boring, a familiar if tragic drama reminiscent of Icarus is now...
by Michael Wilkerson | Nov 11, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Politics, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
The following is an excerpt from the introduction to “Why America Matters,” published in October 2022 and available here. Many years ago, as a Gen X twenty-something and Rage Against the Machine fan, I would sing along to “Testify,” a song I recognized as referencing...
by Michael Wilkerson | Nov 10, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, USA, Why America Matters Book
Homes have historically served as the primary store of value and wealth creation for most Americans. Housing represented one asset class that was available to both working and middle class Americans, facilitated in part through government sponsored entities (“GSEs”)...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 29, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Trending, USA, Why America Matters Book
As we approach the end of October, the S&P500, a reasonable barometer of the broader equity markets, is up nearly 7% since the end of September. The normally more staid DJIA is up 11.5% over the same period. While still down 16% and 10%, respectively, since the...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 28, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Trending, Uncategorised, USA, Why America Matters Book
As the Biden administration continues to drain the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a dangerous gamble to suppress gas prices and win votes before the mid-term elections, another fuel crisis is brewing. While gasoline prices have indeed come down from this summer’s...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 20, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, USA, Why America Matters Book
September’s CPI inflation result came in above expectations at 8.2 percent, marking the seventh straight month of consumer inflation above eight percent. Gone is any talk from U.S. Treasury or Federal Reserve officials of price inflation being “transitory.” If there...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 10, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, Trending, USA, Why America Matters Book
Image credit: American Greatness Gas prices are on the rise. Here’s why. Iran and Saudi Arabia have been implacable foes for centuries. Their competing brands of Islam get on no better than Brad and Angelina, and both nations contend for the same economic and...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 4, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, Trending, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
Image credit: American Greatness Who sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea, near the Danish island of Bornholm? The United States and Europe, along with Ukraine, insist it was Russia, while Russia and others point the finger straight back at the...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 3, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Trending, Uncategorised, USA, Why America Matters Book
Image credit: Shutterstock While the fourth quarter has only just begun, the end of the year can’t come fast enough for Wall Street. 2022 has been disastrous for investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 22 percent, the S&P500 has fallen 25 percent, and...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 2, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, Trending, Uncategorised, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
Image credit: Unsplash Many Americans have been waiting and watching with expectation over the past two years for a dramatic, singular, and visible event signifying a putting to rights of the gross injustices going on in our country. They’ve looked for the lies to be...
by Michael Wilkerson | Sep 18, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Covid-19, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, Trending, USA, Why America Matters Book
If you read no further than this first paragraph, in which I ask the rhetorical question, “Who pays?”—that is to say, who pays for the various Biden administration programs, whether it be student debt forgiveness, the Green New Deal, inflation, aid to Ukraine, or...
by Michael Wilkerson | Sep 14, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, Trending, USA, Why America Matters Book
Image credit: Shutterstock Money is like a battery in that it is a store of energy for future use. In the case of money, that stored energy is financial value. Money stored as savings is the purchasing power than Americans hope to eventually use to buy a home, provide...
by Michael Wilkerson | Sep 2, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, Trending, USA, Why America Matters Book
It has been more than a week, and there is still no coherent answer out of the Biden administration to the question of who will pay for student loan forgiveness, which may cost Americans anywhere between $300–500 billion by the time it’s all done. For background, the...
by Michael Wilkerson | Aug 28, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Crypto, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, USA, Why America Matters Book
Following the drubbing of the crypto markets in June 2022, with Bitcoin and Ethereum prices down nearly 75 percent and 82 percent, respectively, from their all-time highs, many market observers predicted the early death of the crypto industry. Crypto detractors,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Aug 25, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Trending, USA, Why America Matters Book
Image credit: Getty Images One of the first things a toddler learns to say is “That’s not fair!” It turns out that the idea of fairness, a concept related to justice, is intuitive from an early age. Even 3-year-olds understand that merit is fundamental to fairness....
by Michael Wilkerson | Jul 22, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
There has been much talk in recent years about the “crisis of democracy” afflicting the United States. Critics on the Left and Right—for different reasons, of course—seem to have on repeat the refrain that democracy faces an “existential threat.” Some (not all) of...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jul 20, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, USA, Why America Matters Book
The world is facing a looming food crisis. The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, said at the end of June 2022, “There is a real risk that multiple famines will be declared in 2022. And 2023 could be even worse.” Even before this crisis, around...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jul 16, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, Trending, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
Lightning strikes above the Manhattan skyline after a summer storm in New York in 2014. (Photo credit: Reuters) Article published on July 15, 2022 by Bryan Jung of The Epoch Times To read the entire article, please CLICK HERE. War sanctions against Russia,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jul 11, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Crypto, Finance, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, USA
If we want to solve America’s current economic crisis, at least three things are necessary. These initiatives may only be possible after mid-terms and a new Congress, but it’s not too early to start thinking about solutions. First and foremost, we must unshackle...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jun 15, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Stormwall Book, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
If there is anything upon which the Western consensus has agreed in recent months, it is that the Russian government is evil and must be stopped. America’s preferred way of arresting Russian efforts has been the use of economic sanctions against Russian President...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jun 10, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Stormwall Book, Trending, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
The commodities traders sitting in Geneva and Houston who buy and sell oil and gas for their industrial clients have a stern message for us. We haven’t yet seen the worse of the fuel crisis. Bottlenecks will hit the supply chain, and prices will go much higher, later...
by Michael Wilkerson | May 22, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Crypto, Finance, Inflation, Stormwall Book, Trending
Image credit: Getty Images I spent last week at Permissionless, a multi-day event touted as the “world’s largest DeFi conference” (DeFi = decentralized finance). With over 7,000 attendees, the conference focused on crypto-related topics like the metaverse, Web 3.0,...