by Michael Wilkerson | Sep 29, 2023 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA, War, Why America Matters Book
The U.S. Federal government appears to be headed towards a shutdown on Sunday. Payrolls will be missed, employees with be furloughed, recriminations will abound. Observers will scratch their heads and ask, how can this much disfunction exist in the government of the...
by Michael Wilkerson | Sep 20, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA
Much of the commentary on the motives behind the expansion of the BRICS trading alliance announced last month has been centered on the anti-American bias of the coalition. Specifically, that behind the smiley-faced façade of an ostensible economic cooperation...
by Michael Wilkerson | Sep 13, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA
Anyone who filled up their gas tank in the last couple of months could see this coming. Having hit a low in December 2022, U.S. retail gas prices have been on the rise ever since. The increase started slowly, then in August, more rapidly. This week, this average U.S....
by Michael Wilkerson | Aug 24, 2023 | Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics
When in 2018 then U.S. President Donald J. Trump warned Germany’s political leadership of the dangers their energy policies posed for the future of their nation, he was scornfully mocked and laughed at by the arrogant and self-satisfied representatives of the European...
by Michael Wilkerson | Aug 22, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA
Wall Street and the wealthy complain about rising interest rates, yet they are finding ways to benefit from them, while ordinary Americans suffer in multiple ways. For the first time since before the global financial crisis, the Federal Reserve’s target interest rates...
by Michael Wilkerson | Aug 15, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, USA
There is a concept in aerial navigation called “the point of no return.” As the phrase implies, the point of no return is the distance beyond which a flight’s return to the point of departure is no longer possible due to dwindling fuel supplies. More generally, the...
by Michael Wilkerson | Aug 1, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA
Have you ever been in a hotel or office building where the fire alarm is blaring, but everyone ignores it and goes happily about their business? Every few minutes, a recorded voice chimes, “Fire! Please exit the building!” but the warning is disregarded. In fact, the...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jul 18, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA
There was much rejoicing last week as June’s headline CPI came in at three percent, the lowest level of overall price level growth since March 2021. Financial media declared that the U.S. has entered “disinflation mode” and that the season of post-pandemic inflation...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jul 5, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Crypto, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA
Bank failures, an AI-led bull market, persistent inflation, Euro area recession, France engulfed in riots, and perhaps the biggest U.S. presidential corruption scandal ever. Looking back on the first half of 2023, it is hard to believe the extraordinary events and...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jun 22, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA
On the longest day of the year, the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services welcomed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to address its concerns around inflation and weakness in the U.S. economy. Powell warned Congress that the fight against inflation is far...
by Michael Wilkerson | Jun 20, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Covid-19, Finance, Inflation, USA
Those of us who have returned to frequent air travel appreciate just how unpleasant the process has become. Perhaps this simply reflects an overly sentimental view of what the experience was like pre-pandemic, but surely it has become much worse since. Outrageously...
by Michael Wilkerson | May 24, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA
Let’s get one thing off the table. Putting aside the Biden administration’s fear mongering, the U.S. government will not substantively default on its debt in June 2023. The game of high-stakes chicken being played right now with congressional leadership will resolve...
by Michael Wilkerson | May 11, 2023 | Blog Articles, Energy, Finance, Inflation, USA
This morning’s release of the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, showing annual inflation had fallen slightly from 5.0 percent in March to 4.9 percent in April, was an unpleasant reminder that price inflation, while down from last year’s highs above nine percent,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Apr 26, 2023 | Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation, USA
The last few days have revealed just how bad the first quarter was for the banking sector. Credit Suisse, which in March collapsed into the arms of its main competitor UBS, recently reported that it had lost $69 billion of customer deposits in the first quarter,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Apr 15, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Finance, Inflation
The rising cost of living, tightening credit, slowing consumer spending, along with declining real wages and retrenchment in the jobs market, are each conspiring and threaten to move the United States into recession later this year. Despite lower headline CPI,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Apr 4, 2023 | Armed Forces, Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Covid-19, Energy, Finance, Inflation, Politics, USA, War
After one year, ten increasingly stringent rounds, and over 14,500 specific sanctions imposed on Russian individuals, companies, and institutions, the U.S. led sanctions regime appears to be hurting Western economic and geostrategic interests as much or more than...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 28, 2023 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Crypto, Finance, Inflation, Trending, USA
The banking crisis, which became visible to most Americans only with the sudden and unexpected collapse of Silicon Valley Bank two weeks ago today, has not abated. There are reasons to believe it is going to get worse. So, what should one do to get out of harm’s way?...
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 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 | 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 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 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 | Aug 20, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, Trending, USA, Why America Matters Book
Image credit: Pexels Now a new king arose over Egypt. He said to his people, “Behold, the people of Israel are too many and too mighty for us. Come, let us deal craftily with them, or else they will multiply. When war eventually comes, they will join themselves to our...
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,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Apr 12, 2022 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Inflation, Politics, Stormwall Book, USA
In Aesop’s fable, a foolish grasshopper ignores the warnings from a prudent ant that the bountiful crop of summer food will disappear once winter arrives. The grasshopper plays and feasts while the ant labors and stores up reserves. When winter eventually arrives, the...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 4, 2022 | Blog Articles, Inflation
Image credit: Getty Images January’s headline inflation of 7.5% was the highest in the United States in forty years. Consistent with previous months, the biggest driver of higher prices was energy, rising 27%, but cars and groceries (especially proteins) also...
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 26, 2021 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, Covid-19, Energy, Inflation, Vaccines, Why America Matters Book
Photo by Sabina Music Rich on Unsplash “The inflation we’re experiencing is not transitory. It’s here to stay, and its effects will be horrific.” The inflation we’re experiencing is not transitory. It’s here to stay, and its effects will be horrific....
by Michael Wilkerson | Oct 25, 2021 | Biden Administration, Blog Articles, China, Election 2020, Inflation, Politics
Biden image credit: Pool/Getty Images “The majority of Americans, including many Democrats and Independents, are suffering from buyer’s remorse over the Biden presidency.” By the end of 2021, the majority of Americans, including many Democrats and Independents,...
by Michael Wilkerson | Apr 8, 2021 | Blog Articles, Inflation
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has made some interesting statements in recent weeks about the Fed’s view of inflation. In summary, Chairman Powell has stated that overall inflation remains below the Fed’s...
by Michael Wilkerson | Mar 5, 2021 | Blog Articles, Inflation
The prospect of inflation in the United States has moved quickly from a fringe idea to become the consensus among the financial literati. With a proposed $1.9 trillion stimulus package following unspent previous rounds, the Federal Reserve is forcing excess liquidity...
by Michael Wilkerson | Feb 16, 2021 | Blog Articles, Inflation
Let’s settle one thing up front. We’re clearly witnessing a speculative bubble in the financial markets. This time is no different. This mania will end the same way they all do: in tears. I started banging the gong in mid-2020 about the imminent risk of financial...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 10, 2020 | Blog Articles, Inflation, Trending
The late historian Barbara Tuchman, in her work The March of Folly, chronicles how governments throughout history have regularly and repeatedly pursued policies contrary to their self-interest. Looking as far back as the ancient Trojans, who imprudently took the...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 3, 2020 | Blog Articles, Covid-19, Inflation
Following the Thanksgiving weekend, the US is experiencing a spike in daily recorded COVID-19 cases well above the summer’s previous highs. Hospitals and medical facilities are once again showing signs of extreme strain. Yet given the massive impact to the economy and...
by Michael Wilkerson | Dec 2, 2020 | Blog Articles, Inflation
I recently spoke with Newsday about the risks of inflation in the near future and what that could impact. From the article: What could fuel higher inflation “The market has been signaling the risk of inflation for months,” says Michael Wilkerson, author of...
by Michael Wilkerson | Nov 18, 2020 | Blog Articles, Inflation
Come January, the president will face the daunting challenge of sustainably reviving the US economy following what has been a most difficult year for American business. Four “D” challenges: deficits, debt, disease and defaults, threaten to derail the administration’s...
by Michael Wilkerson | Nov 6, 2020 | Blog Articles, Inflation
The Following is an excerpt from a recent Op-Ed in The Hill The market has, for months, been signaling the risk of inflation. Reflationary asset trades have been among the best performers. The price of gold, the classic inflationary bellwether, is up by nearly a third...
by Michael Wilkerson | Aug 4, 2020 | Blog Articles, Inflation
For economists, tales of hyperinflations are the academic equivalent of a reading of the Apocalypse in the book of Revelation. They are for the monetarily-minded a campfire story of the horrible wraith beyond the woods, or the morbid fascination of an automobile...