Weekly News Wrap-Up 6.6.14

4.jpgBy Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

The top story is the global economy.  It’s not fixed and there is no real recovery. Yes, I know the stock market hit all-time highs again, but that’s because the market believes the Fed; and now the European Central Bank will continue the easy money policies.  The ECB just announced it will go to negative interest rates of -.1% on deposits. That’s right.  In, Europe you have to pay a bank to hold your money!  If Europe was really in a so-called “recovery” as we have been told constantly for several years, would it need to go negative on interest rates?  Of course, it wouldn’t.  ZeroHedge.com called the move for negative interest rates “Officially Entering the Monetary Twilight Zone.”  It is no less than confirmation that nothing the ECB has done to date has fixed anything, and, in fact, the economy has gotten worse.  Please keep in mind, the Eurozone is in trouble despite the tens of trillions of dollars the Fed pumped into it through its swap lines.   

Back here in the U.S., we are continually told there is a recovery.  Check out this headline in the USA Today newspaper:  “Fed: Economy expands across USA.”  Listen to this quote from the article that says, “While manufacturing picked up smartly across much of the country, consumer spending and housing were mixed as remnants of the adverse weather conditions continue to have some effects in the Northeast.”  What planet are they living on?  It’s June and they are still blaming the weather for the economic slowdown?  Retail and housing numbers have rolled over–they are not “mixed.”  They have tanked.  10 million homeowners still have negative equity in their homes.  Despite a near 4% 30-year mortgage rate, home prices, according to one new report, are still falling.  With this low rate, home sales should be taking off like a rocket—they are not.  Maybe this is why 70 % of Americans think the housing crisis is not over, or the worst is yet to come, according to a new survey.  Also, what we now know is the first quarter of 2014 had a -1% contraction, and that was a stunning drop from the 2.6% growth the government “officially” reported in 4th quarter of 2013.

You want proof the economy is tanking?  This is a wire story that came out the same day, and it reads “Hiring slowed by U.S. Firms in May.”  Payroll processor ADP is reporting private companies are hiring less people.  Wouldn’t it be increasing if there was a recovery?  How about the nearly 50 million people on food stamps? What about the more than 90 million people no longer in the workforce? There are record numbers of people on food stamps—nearly 50 million.  Wasn’t QE, or money printing, supposed to fix this?   The Fed printed tens of trillions of dollars since the financial panic.  It has instituted 0% interest rates, and there are no plans of ending them for years.  There is still phony accounting being allowed in that financial institutions can look solvent by attaching fantasy valuations to the underwater assets they have on the books.  With all of this, there is still no real recovery.  The Fed policies are a total failure for the common man.  What the Fed has done, according to the Department of Agriculture, is raise food prices.  Recent data shows food inflation in the U.S. is on a 22% pace for this year.

The G-7 met in Europe this week to talk about the country they kicked out of the group—Russia.  President Obama wants to push for more sanctions against Russia because of the Ukraine crisis and wants Vladimir Putin to work a peace deal with the newly elected Ukraine leader Petro Poroshenko.  Most of the rest of the G-7 members look like they don’t want to increase sanctions.  Again, the European economy is tanking.  This is why the ECB so desperately cut deposit rates to negative interest?  Obama is not going to be meeting with Putin, but the leaders of Germany, France and the UK are going to.  Doesn’t that make or President look weak with questionable support from our allies?

Finally, the prisoner trade, where we traded five killers of the Taliban for a deserter held in Afghanistan.  The Obama Administration bypassed the objections of the military and did the trade.  Why did he do it?  Lots of people, on both sides of the political spectrum, think it was a very bad idea and a very bad deal.  Sargent Bergdahl is clearly a deserter, and according to the evidence I have seen, he looks like a Taliban conspirator.  The most disturbing thing is why the President did this and why didn’t he consult Congress before he did it? Lots of people say the President had dark motives.  That may be true, but I see it as a continuation of incompetence.  I mean, they had Susan Rice go out again and say Bergdahl served with “honor and distinction.” That is clearly not the case, and she had to have known that.  It seems, every week or so, there is another Obama Administration scandal or screw-up.  The American image has been severely damaged on the world stage, and will hurt all Americans.

Join Greg Hunter as he analyzes these stories and more in the Weekly News Wrap-Up.

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Comments
  1. Anthony

    I’m starting to think that the US is actively *trying* to look as bad as possible, and build up Russia and the BRICS to look like the ‘good guys.’ What with the East buying all that gold and starting their own version of the IMF, could it be that the PTB are looking to crash the western economies and ring in the East as saviors, starting anew atop a united world? I wonder if all of this has been planned from the start, since the signing of the Bretton Woods agreement in 1944…after all, the average lifespan of the world reserve currency is only 70-100 years, going back to Spain in the 1400’s. Could it be that American’s time is up and it’s time to ‘cash in’, with the major players at the highest echelons of finance winding up atop the highest pyramid of all, as their lackeys in political positions around the world take all the heat while trying to grab a little bit of the pie for themselves before it all comes crashing down?

    This is the tapestry that I’ve woven together from your excellent interviews, Paul Craig Roberts, Gerald Celente, and especially Zerohedge. I really do wonder: is all that we are seeing on the global stage (war, famine, disease, missing airliners etc.) just a play/ploy to keep us from focusing on the bigger picture?

    In any case, I greatly appreciate your weekly wraps and especially your interviews. You really don’t sugar coat things, and that we need much more of from the MSM!

    – Anthony

    • Oracle 911

      Hi
      I don’t think so, but it is your point of view and I don’t want it take away. But everyone (especially Greg) should read this: Gazprom signs agreements to switch from dollars to euros- http://en.itar-tass.com/economy/735083
      -the de-dolarization already begun.

    • Mark Brander

      Obama is doing what God put him over America to do. Bring judgment on an evil empire. God judges His own house first, and that is America. Read the Obama prophecies of Pastor TD Hale and prophet Linda Newkirk. America is going over the cliff and into a deep abyss very very soon! revelation12 dot ca for the prophecies… they are very sobering!

    • ALLEN HALL

      Anthony: You are now in the real world. Everything you think is the real world is fantasy.
      Your thoughts are now correct. This has been all planned. No one wants to believe me on this, but years ago a friend- high up in the CIA told me that when Pres.Bush Sr. was Amb. to China- before he was CIA- he signed an agreement with China. The agreement was for China to allow Bush and the other world elite’s- can you say-New World Order- to take America down slowly. China agreed. Look at what these last 5-6 Presidents have done. Jobs to China, Clinton gave them our missile tracking technology, Our gold is now in their hands. When we don’t ship gold to them- the gig is up for the USA. Government is now letting China buy up the USA.
      We are doomed here. This is why my friend told me to leave the USA 7 years ago- he said then- “you don’t want to be here when they bring this country down!!”
      That says it all!!

      al

  2. vincentg

    Yep there is no recovery.
    The job market is not improving!
    And when the rest of the States move on raising the Minimum Wage to $15.00 what do you think that will do to the job market?

    Yep $15.00 an hour is for sure – when you hear a number like this pop out of nowhere and Politicians in multiple States talking about adopting it you can safely say it’s a sure thing.

    Food inflation is no surprise as the US has declared War on Farmers and Ranchers.

    Yes we have inflation but the War is taking it’s toll also and I don’t mean the wars overseas.

    As for Wars we also have one on Energy Companies so we can’t over look the rising energy prices.

    No matter where you look you see the country is run by people that have no intelligence at all.

    The people around the President must be Grade School Drop outs.

    Maybe after all the people that resigned they can’t seem to find anyone with a Grade school diploma.

    • wd

      Vince, my co worker has a friend that does extensivel travelling to the far east; he tells me that you can get anything in a kiosk, form beer to burgers. Even McDonalds has kiosks over there.

      He relayed that tose burgers are actually better! That a kiosk does not mess up your order. I am convinced this is next. You got what you asked for.

      Less workers means less taxes means less dollars to spend etc etc and thr trickle down effect shows it works both ways!!

      • Dwain

        US leaders are mad and desperate because they are backed into a corner. Check out these statistics. As of Jan 2014, BLS job statistics reports that out of 137 million total jobs, 110 million are in the “service” sector. 65 million serve/pillage in health care (primarily self inflicted disease) , government (now tyrannical), and education (godless secular indoctrination). Another 14 million “serve” in finance, insurance and law (irrelevance, plunder, corruption). 15 million serve in leisure and hospitality (hedonics), 16 million in retail (corporate feudalism).

        Manufacturing is only 8.9% of total jobs.

        In a real world, manufacturing is the foundation upon which all jobs subsist. Our upside down economy is possible due to the toilet paper dollars world reserve currency status. When the fiat dollar implodes, so goes its illegitimate child. Smells like a french style revolution on steroids.

      • allen ols

        wd
        http://rawforbeauty.com/blog/farmers-to-face-fines-or-jail-time-for-dealing-directly-with-customers.html
        To these individuals, many of whom are parents, safety means not only food free of pathogens, but food free of pesticides, antibiotic residues, and excessive processing. It means food created the old-fashioned way—from animals allowed to eat grass instead of feed made from genetically modified (GMO) grains—and sold the old-fashioned way, privately by the farmer to the consumer, who is free to visit the farm and see the animals. Many of these consumers have viewed the secretly-made videos of downer cows being prodded into slaughterhouses and chickens so crammed into coops they can barely breathe.

      • henry

        My first grade teacher had a felt board that she used to teach addition and subtraction: If you had two oranges and I gave you three more, how many would you have. We would now see that there were five oranges and we would say five. She gave an example of subtraction that I still remember: If there are 6 birds sitting on a line and you shoot one, how many will remain? [Can you imagine a teacher today talking to 6 year olds about shooting birds?] At this point there were 5 birds on the board and a kid said 5. I said: Nope. If you shot one bird, the others would fly away, so there would be none remaining. Many years later I saw the same reasoning with the minimum wage. If you increase the minimum wage from $8 to $15, everybody would not get paid more as the static modelers predict. All of the jobs that don’t generate more than $15/hour in profit will fly away. This should be obvious but, apparently, it is not.

    • Curtis

      Anthony… you clever devil. Finally seeing thru the government (nObambi) B.S. What the hell took so long?????????

      • Robert Garner

        I was in Vietnam last fall. It is impossible to describe how different things are in that country from the picture presented by the media in the US. Upon reaching Tan Son Nhat Airport to leave and in need of a burger fix, I decided to try a cheeseburger at the Burger King. It turned out to be one of the best I have had anywhere. The lettuce, onion and tomato were fresh and tasty, the bun perfect, and the patty cooked perfectly, with just the right amount of the flame broiled taste. Overall, I did not have a single bad experience with anyone, government or private, during my stay there.

    • kathleen

      No, they are not grade school dropouts. They are very intelligent, but that intelligence has been warped by the educations they received at Progressive U. They are applying the fruits of their educations to society at large, and we are reaping the harvest of the policies they enact. The only beneficiaries of these policies are the ones at the top who engineer this stuff, and they have been filling their coffers with the labor and efforts of we the serfs.

      • allen ols

        kathaleen;
        yup!

      • allen ols

        kathaleen;
        We have developed the pernicious habit of branding anyone who tried to oppose our world domination as a “terrorist.” This has boxed us into a propaganda corner: by so demonizing our enemies we deny ourselves the ability to negotiate with them. The “we’ll never deal with terrorists” uproar among some of the lower IQ members of the US Congress and their media allies is a doleful example of such illogical behavior.

        The truly guilty parties for the bloodbath and lost war in Afghanistan are former President George W. Bush, the Congress and media, all of whom rushed America into an unnecessary war in a part of the world unknown to US policy makers. Few predicted that the world’s greatest power would break its teeth on the mountains of Afghanistan.

        In October, 2001, I wrote in the Los Angeles Times that the US would never win a war against the Afghan Pashtun warriors, and that the US should negotiate with Taliban. The wrong war against the wrong people, I warned, in a little country rightly known as the “Graveyard of Empires.”
        http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/06/eric-margolis/the-truth-about-wwii/

      • JC Davis

        If we the people could know who they are. Then it would not be a oligarchy. Good comment Kathleen. Now I know your not the same Kathleen on the Andy griffin show. LOL Ernest T Bass. I could fix it all if I had a good rock.

  3. Cry Me A Ruble

    Greg,
    Surely you know that any decision made by our beloved President isn’t made in behalf of the country but what Obama wants and we are just along for the ride. Our Narcissist in Chief knows what is best for all of us and as he said today he makes no apologies. Sieg Heil!!

    • D.B. Norton

      Crimea river, ruble, especially when you see the US. now allied to the terrorists and Bergdahl is defiant proof of that factoid! We are apparently sided with the Sunni terrorists against the Shiite terrorist nation state’s, “Iran & Syria”. Just who are our enema’s anyway’s? Were teamed up with terrorists, to fight terrorists, for the really big shoe, the big bad “BE A R_I N_D A _A I R,” Mudder Russia? She must be in the way of da new world, old odor. So hold onto your hats or toupee’s because this will be one big cockfight, cock-ale doddle do, any terrorist will do. Now you stupid smucks, bow to the old world, nude world odor and when they say jump, you better ask how high, because they will want you high, on that wacky tobacckie and i’m talking to all you dopes on dope too, because they already got ya, you he-lots. Wake up John Doe, your the hope of the world!
      See “Meet John Doe” the full movie “Ampopfilms” version, free on youtube!

    • allen ols

      cry m a ruble;
      Obama and America’s European allies are cold-shouldering Putin for re-absorbing Crimea into Russia, to which it had belonged for 300 years, and for stirring the pot in eastern Ukraine. Meanwhile, US military forces are in action or based in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Djibouti, the Philippines, Yemen, Somalia, Uganda, Central African Republic, Colombia, Kenya, Europe, South Korea, Japan – in fact, around the globe.

  4. John

    I think the prisoner trade is one of Obama’s clearest signals of him being a complete, complete sell out. There is definitely a motive behind this. I mean, there is just NO justifiable reason to do this trade with someone who deserted. It’s just infuriating how corrupt, stupid, and incompetent he is.

  5. Andrew de Berry (Rev)

    Thanks Greg:
    ‘One word of truth outweighs the whole world’. – Solzenhitsyn

    • JC Davis

      Thank you pastor for commenting with your name. Owning your thoughts is becoming a lost art. The study of Solzhenitsyn became a little to hard for me. Is there a short version of his bio.? or a specific point you would share about Solzhenitsyn.? Thanks again. JC Davis

  6. bob

    greg,
    you mention we live in a lawless world. that depends on who you are. big corps. gov’t, law enforcement and our president to name a few. the man on the street, no. try to park your money outside this country, get caught and god help you. while corporations set up outside the country they send huge amounts of money over there and now they don’t have to pay taxes. that is ok. hmmm.
    so lets think about the tbtf banks, they want to charge the customer to hold your money. but they lend out 90% of it with a interest. ( calculate the interest you would pay on a 30yr. loan) now look at the interest on a credit card. don’t even look at the late fees, oh don’t forget the over draft fees on your checking. and your cash back deals on credit cards. it’s a scam. most people can’t do math, sorry.
    now look at corporations and small business, etc. you have to have a credit card machine to do business today. i had a small business. the credit card company charges a percentage of the purchases. if i don’t use it enough a charge of $17 a month. the bank i used was .50 charge per transaction. cool. i bring in cash and 30 checks to deposit. guess what? that amounts to 31 transactions. it cost me $15.50 to put money in my business account. they also told me i need a line of credit, yeah, get more out of me. the 0 interest loans, they have calculated the chances of you being late over the length of a loan. they will make a small amount from that too. does anybody see a problem here?
    the banks have a tentacle in everything you do and it will cost you.
    where is obama’s brain with the trade deal with bergdahl, and did you notice his father in front of our nation thank allah and not much press on that. oh, and our president got a smile on his face. when are we going to wake up. there is dark forces like you said greg, but hey, he freed an american time to celebrate, right.(sheeple). again they are lawless and we turn a blind eye. obama should have never been reelected. i believe no matter who you elect this is what you are going to get. clinton signed the naffta agreement and nixon took us off the bretton woods. it goes on an on.
    i honestly believe that bernanke tried to tell congress that you need to get your s— in order, fully knowing it’s too late. we should have let the house of cards falling in 08 and straighten out from there. we might be sitting prettier, cause all we are doing is making it worse.

    • Anne Elliott

      I had no idea how stringent the credit card rules were – that’s crazy! Thanks for the scoop on that, Bob. I am now seeing “no credit cards” signs in local small businesses, and I had wondered why. Now I know!

  7. Richard Martin

    Just a quick FYI… The SNAP participation rate is going down. “SNAP participation in February 2014 dropped to 46,177,144 persons, a decrease of 353,785 persons compared with January 2014 and a decrease of 1,380,980 persons compared with February 2013. The February participation numbers are the lowest since August 2011 (45,794,474 persons).”

    http://frac.org/reports-and-resources/snapfood-stamp-monthly-participation-data/

    • emeniag

      Snap,Crackle,&Pop!

  8. smaulgld

    “Recovery” “recovery” “recovery” I have heard enough of that word! Recovery is a temporary state in between illness and wellness. The economy has been in “recovery” for over five years during the entire time the Fed has been pumping in TRILLIONS of dollars printed out of thin air into the economy . It’s not a “recovery” – its permanent debilitation made worse.

    All indicators of the housing market are down (existing homes, new homes, pending sales, mortgage applications, home ownership rate etc)-other than prices that are higher http://smaulgld.com/housing-recovery-never-was-over/.

    Car sales are up -yet as Greg points out it’s due to sub prime loans-and by the way car prices are at an all time high as are the average monthly payments which are now at a whopping $474 a month!!! http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/06/02/auto-buyers-longer-loans-more-debt/
    Quick rough household budget estimate:
    $500 a month car payment
    $150 a month car insurance
    $1800 mortgage
    $200 student loan
    $200 health car premium
    That’s nearly $3000 a month or $36K PRE tax dollars
    Add in food ($400-500?), gas ($100), heating & electric ($200) which are at or near record highs or another $10 K a year = $46K in pre state, local, social security, medicare and Federal tax dollar charges.
    Got credit card debt? The average person has $15K http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-card-data/average-credit-card-debt-household/
    Add those and you are at negative disposable income with no room for saving for college or retirement, movies, books, vacations, eating out etc! So with the modest budget above a person or dual income family can have $75-$100K and be broke.

    Now to “fix’ everything, the European Central Bank goes to negative interest rates -keep in mind Fed Chair is on record as being in favor of negative interest rates http://smaulgld.com/negative-interest-rates-and-janet-yellen/

    But probably not until European banks fleeing the ECB’s negative interest rates buy enough US Treasuries to backstop the Fed’s tapering of QE. http://smaulgld.com/negative-interest-rates-europe-means-europe-buys-u-s-treasuries/.
    To spur on the stagnating housing market ($4 trillion in money printed out of thin air wasn’t enough “stimulus” for the housing “recovery”) Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are going to reduce lending standards so that people who can’t qualify for mortgages can over pay for used homes! http://smaulgld.com/fannie-mae-freddie-mac-to-loosen-lending-standards/

    When will central banks and central planners in government realize that the incessant intermeddling in the economy makes things worse by pushing price inflation higher for consumers, asset inflation higher for the rich (stocks and homes) while doing nothing to increase wages or job growth. I suppose not until they have “fixed” it. Every dollar they print, every program they institute puts them further from a fix and drags out the process ensuring full employment for the central planners.

    • wd

      Greta angle, same thing with mortgages. You would be qualified with pre-tax income and pay with post-tax income. NUTS!!.

      Recovery is impossible form this point forward. Statistic shows that about 85 % of Americans are making 36k and less. What a disgrace!!

    • Andrew de Berry (Rev)

      Very informative SMAULGLD thanks.

    • emeniag

      Yes, uncle Sam, times r good, with enough credit, then on short notice, it’s, buddy, can you spare a dime, preferably, pre, 1965, silver, please! Tank’s a lot Unc!

  9. woody188

    I have theory that Sargent Bergdahl is a DIA Spec Op that was in deep cover with the Taliban, ala Hogan’s Hero’s. Think about it. The guy walks off post, ends up captured, but professes his love for Allah. He is a marine sargent. He escapes multiple times, but gets caught?

    No, he was meeting with his handlers and passing information on the Taliban. By the end he is playing soccer and carrying an Kalashnikov of his own hob nobbing with the Taliban. Sure they still give him an occasional beating. He is an American infidel dog after all.

    Finally, Obama wants us out of Afghanistan end of this year. So this deal is set up to extract our intelligence asset in the safest manner possible for him as his services are not going to be required in 6 months or less.

    This is the only scenario I can see that rationally explains the actions of our Executive branch. Everyone gripes because it’s all “need to know” and very few were in the know.

    What do you think Greg?

    Does this pique your investigative side or what?

    • Greg Hunter

      Woody188,
      Maybe I don’t know. That’s not what it looks like, but again, maybe.
      Greg

      • allen ols

        greg, It arrived in my mind as well, and is why i reserved my thoughts on bergdahl.

        • Greg Hunter

          Allen,
          It were Bush, I might be more open to it. The Obama Administration classified the Fort Hood shooting as workplace violence when it was clearly a terror attack. You get my drift?
          Greg

          • allen ols

            GREG,
            goog point, but i remember Bush one addresing UN, intro. NWO. And Bush chenney, rumsfield, Powell, lying about WMD s in Iraq, and Bush intro. patriot act, opening door for nobama signing NDAA w/dems and rep. signing on. I agree with PCR, washington, both sides are corrupt, playing the same game from diff. ends of the FB field. I saw a cartoon showing 2 lines, one entering one door, dems, and one entering 2 door, repbs. the funnled into one hall to the same room. Power corrupts these guys, and then they pile on money. The dems or repub. neither want term limits, they want POWER. about bengdahl, who knows for sure. I support the Jewish state, and jews, but there are corrupt jews as well. Demons, are real, Angles are Real also. There will be signs and wonders in the skys in these last days.
            I promote your site daily, Barry C just read your site, wed. and the shtf site for the first time. Great work Here, love it. al ols

        • Geo. T (formerly George)

          Al,
          My apologies on misunderstanding the Hoax comment.
          If this guy is an intelligent asset, I am the King of Prussia. do people lay awake at night trying to come up with the most bizarre things to post here? I have just read a bunch of the comments on Greg’s last post and I am taken aback.
          We have aliens from another dimension ruling the world. No , wait, they are not really aliens, they are Satan’s angles posing as aliens. Just bizarre. If people truly believe in this stuff, please take their guns and have them committed to prevent them from hurting themselves but more importantly, others.

          • allen ols

            geo. T.

            not offended, we wont agree on everything, this is an open site, and the best so far. I believe I the Father Son and Holy Ghost, and Angels, and there are Satans host of Demons as well. “We wrestle w/principalities, powers of darkness daily, just look at boxer, fienstine, pelosi, and reed. there eyes betray them, the eyes gateway to the soul.

          • Tin hat

            Geo.T,

            You should watch History Channel’s series “Ancient Alien”.

      • woody188

        Well, I am trying to find a rational explanation. Perhaps that is my problem. It’s been said to be impossible to explain crazy to rational minds. It just seems so unbelievable to think that a large portion of the Executive branch can barely keep from drooling on themselves. And this Bergdahl incident has a significant amount of detail to the story which indicates to me planted information. The devil is in the details.

    • Galaxy 500

      Sounds as credible as alien nazis running the.world and flying monkeys. And.flying monkeys scare me more that the.nazi aliens

      • emeniag

        Just follow the yellow cake road G500!

    • EnjoyTheCollapse

      Nice post, but please don’t tag the Marine Corps with Bergdahl… he is Army!

  10. Mark

    Good wrap up. I always look to your wrap up first thing Friday morning.
    In answer to your question”… doesn’t it make Obama look weak?”
    the answer is no it doesn’t. It makes him look like am insane madman.

    • Mark

      an

      • JC Davis

        I am fully convinced a common thug from east Nashville tn would make better decisions then Obama.

  11. art barnes

    Greg, retail is beyond mixed, it is in the toilet. The MSM & the Financial Press are still hoping that the middle class will start spending if they can be sold the recovery bill of goods. What they don’t know or won’t acknowledge is that the middle class has shrunk since the banking crash and doesn’t have the money to spend even if they believe there is a chicken in every pot. The working poor class already spends all it gets so they can’t be counted to spend anymore as does the millions on government programs as well. The simple fact is that no matter what the do or say there isn’t anymore money that can be spent because there is very little disposable income out there in order to purchase. The Stock Market is all the MSM & the Financial Press as well as the FED have to keep the illusion of recovery in tact, so don’t be surprised if it continue to climb because it has to in order to keep the deception of recovery alive and well – should it reverse even CNBC would have a hard time touting buy signals behind every $10 an hour job that replaced a $35 and hour one that was lost. Frankly, I believe the West is now in a “Japan Stagflation” type recovery and that will simply continue and the elite know it – things are not going to get better so prepare for more “recovery news” each and every day until we wake up and find out that the “Great American Experiment” no longer has any clothes.

    • Greg Hunter

      Good analysis Art. Thank you.
      Greg

    • emeniag

      Don’t fret, your right art, the cow’s left the barn’s long ago! They can make up fact’s, till the cows come home. But reality is reality, or your name ain’t, art barnes, right!
      Realtor’s r Realtor’s and they stand to make lots of money in this second great reflation of the hosing market, art, to bad it will be the millenniums who stand to get hosed the most, this time out, trying to get out of Ma and Pa Kettle’s basement. Somebody’s got to be left holding the hose, or er bag and their the ones! I mean didn’t Michelle tell our college students to get all the student loan money they can, to give it the old college try and not worry about paying back all those good old boy’s. Well it’s going to be the same old good ole boy’s, the US., muddling along, middle class tax’s payer, who will get the brunt of the hyper-inflating, bag of wrath. They still got something to lose, the poor don’t and the Rich have built up a nice cushion thanks to our Federal Reserve, that ain’t Federal. They wont be able to screw the German investor class this time, or the rest of the world for that matter, because they still have a free press over sea’s and when you read the new’s you know and you know when the stagflation hit’s, were all going to be screwed in the end anyways, fer sure. Those Indian people and Chi-coms & Russki’s, are going to feel pretty smart, because they rememberd the golden rule, “whom owns the gold rules”, only helicopter Ben will be happy, his dream cum true! Just remember the words of our brave stout heart-ed friend and confidant Greg’ster the Hunter, “it’s all on sale,” get it before the mass’es catch on and the shelves and showrooms and subdivisions and farm’s are bare. Never fear, will all be millionaire’s and Janet and Ben and Al, can save face by saying, we payed all our debt’s back, with worthless, hyper-inflated fiat paper currency! We wont have a republic for which it stands but a banana republic, with not even a banana to stand on, because we will have already slipped and fell, but we payed our bill’s and look we never had a shortage of toilet paper! I can just see it now, the maim steamed media, trumpeting the fact that because our rear ends r all green, we have the luck of the Irish even Kim Card-holding-Dashian. To bad there’s no such thing as luck.

  12. Jerry

    Greg I am totally focused on the economic collapse, because the reset is here, and its right now. The article you showed form USA today is a prime example of why I wouldn’t pay one red cent for that rag of a newspaper. How many articles have they ran about Gazprom? Only the biggest commodity deal of the century. Or how about the new Gold exchange system set to go line in Shanghai in July ? Its only the largest economic platform development in the last 20 years. No, there to busy trying to bury the head of economic breakdown that is beginning to rear its ugly head in every sector of our nation.

    Here’s a test you can give people who actually believe we have a recovery. Its simple. Lets totally shut down QE and see what happens? I guarantee you this country’s economy couldn’t go one week without it. Its mathematically impossible to fund 125 Trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities with 2.2 Trillion in tax revenue. Greg with 0% interest, there shouldn’t be any inflation, but yet here it is. Why? Because the dollar has been so debased with QE printing it’s beginning to lose what’s left of it’s value? Hello…Zimmbabwae !

    • Greg Hunter

      Jerry,
      What I read in it is stunning, but it is the message they are sending to the masses. Sad, winter weather still causing problems–IN JUNE!
      Greg

    • allen ols

      jerry, LM, jc,mikeand more;

      Onlookers steal groceries from SUV after driver dies in fatal crash – a shocking glimpse into the coming food riots

      Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/045465_stealing_groceries_fatal_crash_food_riots.html#ixzz33tet64aY

      • Jerry

        That’s sick!

        • allen ols

          jerry, jc, last m, mike, ann,geot, woody and more,

          COMPLETE TAKEOVER OF AMERICA BY 2016! (MUST WATCH)
          america new world order plans martial law
          YOUTUBE.COM

      • JC Davis

        Al as you said above wrestle against principalities’, and powers of darkness . The moral compass of this generation can lead them to most anything. By the way I agree with you demons are real. I personally seen a 14 yr young girl turn into a old lady. White hair and all. In a church service. After the demon left her she returned to normal, and for the first time I saw her smile.

    • Beligerant

      @Jerry: Here’s one of the craziest and wildest things I’ve ever heard at this link. I still question if this was some type of insider that called the Art Bell show in 1998 claiming to be the Antichrist and predicting the U.S. would start imploding in 2006. The startling point is he stated to Buy Gold and this is several years before gold started taking off. This was 1998 and over 4 to 5 years before gold started its bull run. Incredible or crazy, I don’t know! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuwHtTOc_Yw

      The startling point, is what he stated seems to be coming true..

  13. JC Davis

    Greg. I wish I could explain the economy as clearly as you did. I cant so I copy and paste a lot.

    • allen ols

      greg, art, jerry jc, all grea read, keep it coming!

    • Jerry

      That’s absolutely bizarre. He had me up until the point he claimed to be the same person as Christ on in hiding.

      • allen ols

        jerry
        …who are u speaking about, and what is christ on in hiding..

        i missed something i guess.

        • Jerry

          Allen
          Beligerant posted an interview that Art Bell did a few years ago with a guy who claimed to be the antichrist. Oddly enough several of his predictions came true. You have to listen to it to get the gest.

  14. Jeff Bertrand

    Greg,
    I am conservative and no fan of Obama’s policies, but the trade for the US soldier by giving up 5 top ranking Taliban is so bad at face value that there must be another explanation. It can’t be incompetence or stupidity. You can’t be that dumb. There is something behind the scenes going on. I think that they didn’t care much about the soldier. That was just cover and an excuse for giving back the 5. The soldier was the best that they had to trade for at the time so he was it. Why they did it is fascinating speculation. President Obama is showing no remorse or second thoughts. There is something else here. To make such a lopsided trade, it has to be big. Always enjoy your website. You are doing an invaluable service. Thank you.

    • smaulgld

      Jeff I thought the same. It’s almost as if it is an intentional distraction. The only people that will get riled up about it are already against Obama. His supporters will support the decision by bringing up Bush or Reagan. The rest will just follow the story-perhaps this is what is the point-it deflects attention from other issues. Obama’s press conference focused on the point that the guy was some mother’s son- which has never seemed to be a consideration for any other decisions. The whole thing has become an issue that was on no one’s minds last month. Now it’s front and center.

    • allen ols

      Jeff
      I say we trade 5, in washington, nobama, pelosie, reed, hold-her, and Mcain, for 1 soldier in Mexico.

      • Greg Hunter

        Allen,
        Now that’s a good deal.
        Greg

      • Jeff Bertrand

        Allen Los..Lol. Totally agree. That would be a breath of fresh air for this country!

  15. allen ols

    greg, good week, alot of response, PCR best interview!

    here is a new jackass interview;

    http://sgtreport.com/2014/06/jim-willie-bombshell-china-russia-have-accumulated-over-40000-tons-of-gold-reserves-for-usd-replacement/

    Willie dissects the Holy Grail Gazprom gas deal, which he states is an OPEN DOOR for the dumping of Treasury bonds in exchange for energy
    Russia Liquidating T-bonds through Euroclear in Belgium to acquire gold
    Big Surprise Coming for London Boys: Frankfurt to Become Financial Hub For All of Europe & Asia- Willie reveals insider details
    Large sovereigns (Russia, China, India, Saudi Arabia) now working together to source massive gold reserves for gold-backed USD replacement
    China & Russia Have Accumulated Over 40,000 Tons of Gold Reserves for USD Replacement!!

  16. Mohammad

    Greg,

    YOU TOO HAVE A NICE WEEKEND …. 🙂
    I LOVE IT.

    As far as the exchange with Taliban, it is very important to think all the possibility, and here no one can claim knowing details, and no one can justify the release, but, we are at a fierce proxy war with Russia who is using al-qaeda same way we used it before to kick them out of afghanistan, and she way we are using it in Libya (by we i mean US gov.). So are those fierce leaders, released in what LOOKS like a poorly thought deal, going to be aimed at Russia? Something to ponder on.

    As far as the sanctions every one knows that sanctions never get any thing done, actually it does the opposite, It is no more than buying time until the real action between superpowers begins.

  17. ConcernedAmericanDad

    Thank you Greg for another GREAT weekly dose of real news! You are spot on this morning, most especially as CNBS is leading the cheer with the wonderful news that with the latest jobs report release- we have now recovered all the jobs lost since 2008.
    Unfortunately, most will here that this evening in a two-sentence news bite and go about their weekend as usual.

  18. Veronica

    Dear Greg,
    Thanks for once again a great weekly News Wrap-Up!
    I think it is an accurate overview of the important things of the week. However, I disagree on one thing: I do not think it is clumsiness on the governments part that is the defining factor. Government is comprised of individuals, and individuals have their own agenda. Some insight on this agenda behind the scenes is what is needed. Please interview G. Edward Griffin (author of ‘The Creature from Jekyll Island’ among other numerous other things), and please ask him about ‘The Quigley Formula’!
    (for more information: either read ‘Tragedy and Hope’ by professor Caroll Quigley or alternatively see a lecture on YouTube by G. Edward Griffin [Ron Paul even mentioned Quigley’s importance in combination with Clinton so you can probably YouTube that as well]

    I’m sorry for posting this request twice (since I already posted this request at the end of the comments on PCR yesterday). I am fully aware you just can’t honor every request or can’t even respond to every comment, and I completely respect that of course. However, the reason I am posting this request again now is to make sure you at least read my comment. I have a better chance to ensure that this time, since I am now one of the first comments and not one of the last comments.

    • Greg Hunter

      Thank you Veronica.
      Greg

  19. brian

    …..pay the banks to hold your money. There is one problem though, the banks are not holding any money, they are taking it and plowing it into monster odds wagers hoping to glean enough “winnings” and woo enough additional money away from all of us to fill the gaping holes from other failed bets AND to have enough dough left over to buy a few MRAPS to deal with the silly peasants once the fluoride in the water and mass “mediacation” regiments prove to be not enough to keep even the most purple dyed in the wool kool-aid fan in steady denial of what is being done to us.

    Oh, and what is it that is being done to us tender, trusting, dutifully “moderate” and oh- -so-measured and carefully confident peasants? You know those of us who hold our tin foil free heads high and avoid jumping to rash conclusions, those of us who dutifully gobble up every last crumb of mold encrusted excrement, being careful to suck every last gob off the fork and lick every last smear from the plate that is handed to us like a sucker punch, as we, with a snicker and taunting sneer, deride the spread legged reality that sprays its soft golden, wind blown, fanning stream of liquid into our polished straight white teeth determined to call it pure as a virgin rain. What then is it that is happening to us? Well to put it bluntly, we are being f#$#@#.

    • supreme allied commander

      Whoa man! This whole things really put the zap on your head ain’t it? take comfort in the fact that the better part of your life has been more fortunate than many others. Someday all this will be forgotten and will have meant nothing. there’s no score or tally being taken by some benevolent entity, there is no real dark evil demons or warm fuzzy angels clashing in an epic struggle for your soul. personally i welcome the extinction of mankind, then everything can go back to the way it was before there were any humanoids around here. Everbody thinks they are a unique snowflake don’t they?

      good grief!

  20. Jerry

    Greg I sometimes forget to thank you for all your efforts. In reality you are the only source of real investigative reporting left from the MSM. Thanks Greg. I know you get asked this question a lot, but I truly do not understand why other journalist are not pursuing the pathway of truth that you are on. In a totalitarian society, journalist are usually the first ones to be drug out into the street and shot. By not reporting this news they are not only undermining the future of their careers, but possibly their lives as well. History is being made Greg, and you are definitely part of it with your reporting. Thank you for having the courage to warn the American people, and giving us a fighting chance to survive what is coming.

    • Greg Hunter

      Jerry,
      Thank you for your involvement in this site!
      Greg

    • Charles H.

      Jerry,

      Here, here! You are so right about expressing appreciation to Greg. And I doubt he recognizes how far and wide he is read, or the impact he makes. For you, Jerry – it is hard to reflect on so many good people who come to this site: but there are only a few who fill the bill of being both intelligent, good commenters – and those who set an appreciable tone and overall good attitude and example. There are some that are “must reads”: but you’re not ‘exactly’ one one of those. You are a “look forward to read.” And believe me – this is just credit where credit is due.

      • Pinocchio

        There are some that are “must reads”: but you’re not ‘exactly’ one one of those. You are a “look forward to read.”

        Amen and Amen 🙂

      • Jerry

        Thank you Charles & Pinocchio. I am admittedly obsessed with the situation we find ourselves in. The event that is coming is one for the ages. I have a multitude of feelings about it. I’m mad as hell that no one besides Greg is reporting it. I scared for my kids and grandkids. In the midst of that I’m trying to prepare as best I can with the time we’ve got left for myself and my family. And then at the end of the day, I have to walk around, and pretend like everything is alright, because everyone else around me wants to live in a state of denial. This site seems to be the only place reality exist, thanks to Greg.

        • Colin - 'the farmer from NZ'

          Jerry
          Please make no apology for being obsessed on this one. To be honest we actually need lots more obsession about. So lets hope it is highly contagious!
          Awareness, knowledge and ultimately constructive obsession may be the only effective way to warn people of impending disaster and empower them to prepare for the consequences.
          I totally agree with you – the next couple of years will be one of the most testing periods in the history of mankind. The great depression of the 30’s will, with hindsight, be viewed as a sunday picnic compared to what we all face now. WWIII [financial] as far as I am concerned is already in full swing and it will be nothing short of a miracle if WWIII [military] can be avoided.
          I too am continually frustrated with friends and family who are in denial that anything at all is amiss. In fact it seems to me that the more ‘educated’ and successful they are the more they believe everything is business as usual.

        • allen ols

          jerry;
          What makes this schoolyard tiff in Paris even more churlish, D-Day, hailed by westerners as the decisive battle that defeated National Socialist Germany, would never have succeeded were it not for Stalin’s Soviet Red Army.

          Some 75% of the once mighty German Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe were destroyed by the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front: 607 German and Axis divisions, 48,000 German tanks, 77,000 German warplanes.

  21. Diogenese

    Hey Greg
    What we have is the people running the whitehouse / most everything else are the result of the US education system , a dumbed down system and getting dumber by the year yet we expect these people to have a smidgen of common sense and the capacity to see the results of their actions ,ain’t happening , dumb is as dumb does , they don’t have the ability to see that the result of their actions might be diffrent from their hopes /expectations , Hell America us loosing at chequers while the main opposition plays chess , it must be difficult for the opposition to figure out what america is aiming at in world affairs as predicting the actions / results of defective thinking must be a bitch , where the hell are they coming from ? , must be the byword of the analists in the Moscow .Washington has become Springfield , the home of Holmer Simpson .
    Yup we have the defector / deserter thing , plus the VA disaster and the dumbed down US populous say OK , hey look a squirrel !!!

  22. Dale salisbury

    Thanks for great interviews. Really enjoy.

  23. kathleen

    Greg, I commend your efforts to keep us all informed and am a regular of your show.
    Some thing you might find interesting is http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com. Joel Skousen
    does not agree with the story circulating regarding a US pre-emptive strike. You can
    go to his site and get a one time free complete brief. He has daily short stories that are
    also worthy.

  24. Timco

    Wait til the truth is exposed about the shadow inventory of unsold properties, both commercial and residential. Hint: the Fed is acquiring properties in mass for damage control, compliments of the US taxpayer.

    • Greg Hunter

      Timco,
      Great info!! Can you reveal a source?
      Greg

      • lastmanstanding

        Fabian Calvo has basically stated the same thing in past interviews here.

      • Timco

        Hi Greg,

        All. please read this. I’ll keep his name a secret, but he is a banker friend with close ties to the Fed. He tells me the US debt will be collateralized with real-estate. That’s why the Fed is so willing to let tons of gold flow East, out of America forever. Millions of vacant homes and commercial properties are now being used as a bargaining tool. The banks have agreed to cut the grass and do minor maintenance of these residential homes, as not to alert the public that they are vacant. The property taxes are being paid by the bank, curiously of the tax payer. A shocking thing is happening in America right under our noses. The sad part is, most realtors know this, but will not blow the whistle, because they are afraid of devastating their industry.

      • woody188

        Isn’t this exactly what the Troubled Asset Relief Program is all about?

        I thought the Fed was buying the assets directly or via proxy ala Freddie/Fanny?

        I’ve heard there are multi-millions of single family homes being held and marked to whatever as assets as well. Without these marked to whatever, the banks holding them are insolvent.

    • allen ols

      timco

      chinese own, 60% of manhattan, our ports, aust. ports, and alot of real estate in NZ , info from a jackass interview a day ago.

      • lastmanstanding

        I have a good friend/neighbor who work’s in transport of oil in the Bakken.

        I asked him if it is really all what it is cracked up to be. His reply was,” a. there is a lot of oil/gas. b. It is very expensive to get. c. Nearly all of it is going to China to pay the interest on the money that we owe them.

        He is from a multi-generational Montana ranching family with experience in the “system”. He is very wise as to how the earth works.

        I told him, as I have mentioned here in the past that I am readying for the dark ages if necessary…he replied, “so am I.”

        Neither of us want that, but having those on the same page nearby is comforting.

      • Charles H.

        Al,

        Does that mean that Russia won’t light-off a nuke in New York? I think there are some Arabs crazy enough to do one. Washington DC would be better; but they will probably wait until Obama leaves first. Pity.

  25. Orlando

    Don’t you guys get it, the missing plane that was never found off the coast of Australia, the release off a group of terrorists, whats next, I don’t wanna say it, you all know what I mean, something big is going to happen and it is all a plan to bring down America, all of this THANKS to the American voters.

    • JC Davis

      1 emp bomb will destroy the dollar. 3 emp bombs will destroy America as we know it.

  26. Ed

    It seems that this hostage release/trade is an attempt to win over some civilian approval and it backfired.
    Too suspiciously close in time stamp to the VA scandal and Obama’s Afghan visit.
    Just another hurried screw up by the administration that the media could not contain.
    But don’t worry, another is just around the corner and next week this will be considered old news, just move on, nothing to see here.

  27. Big truck joe

    The problem is that the cost of living, as a commenter expressed earlier, does not allow for an expansion of the economy. My wife and I combined make as much as my physician father did 15 years ago. He had discretionary income to afford real estate and travel yet we do not. With The cost of a mortgage, home-health-auto insurance, education , food, gas and of course state and federal income taxes, there’s nothing left over at the end of the year. We don’t live more than a modest middle class life but Obama would consider us “rich” . The country is broken and I am sure he isn’t fixing it- I beleive he’s making it worse.

  28. james

    G reg, for a great interview get Ann Barnhardt no sometime.

    • allen ols

      greg, I agree, ann barnhardt, a must hear.

  29. Tom Porter

    I know the economy sucks. I just received a notice that my job is going to be eliminated in two weeks. Have been smart enough to keep out of debt and never sign contracts. Way better than most peoples situations. However, more scary to loosing my job is all these bubbles with the market, all the lies that everybody in power is touting, and the printing of money. I saw a video a while ago, doing research to discover the best thing to do to keep heads above water in this DISASTER that is rapidly approaching, and couldn’t help but laugh and cry at a Zimbabawe citizen who held up a cardboard sign stating… Starving Billionaire. I’m afraid this will be the future… of nearly everyone. IT Just doesn’t look good… almost wish I could got to the international Space Station to avoid this horrible reality. Greg, been following you for several month, your ‘page’ is the light in this eternal darkness of reality, fantastic job!

    • Greg Hunter

      Tom,
      Sorry to hear you lost your job! Hope you find employment soon. Thank you for your kind words.
      Greg

    • allen ols

      Tom P

      In December, April, and now May, the labor force participation rate has been 62.8 percent. That means that 37.2 percent were not participating in the labor force during those months.

      Before December, the last time the labor force participation rate sunk as low as 62.8 percent was February 1978, when it was also 62.8 percent. At that time, Jimmy Carter was president.

      In April, the number of those not in the labor force hit a record high of 92,018,000. In May, that number declined by 9,000 to 92,009,000. Yet, the participation rate remained the same from April to May at 62.8 percent.

      Read More @ CNSnews.com

  30. mushroom

    Dear Greg,

    Re: your comments about Sgt. Bergdawl,

    How many hot combat patrols or hot combat outposts have you served in within Afghanistan?

    Why do so many AfganVets return with do many serious psychiatric disorders? Why do so many commit suicide?

    • Greg Hunter

      Mushroom,
      None and good point, but I am going on what I heard from those who served with him.
      Greg

  31. Charles H.

    Greg,

    What a summary! Good form!
    Do you still think America will be saved? Well, it won’t disappear – but be reduced. Through the throws and permutations of reorganizations – a One World Government is coming: and the USA stands in the way of this process. The Rockefellers and Carnegies saw Industrial Monopoly as a stepping stone; the real monopoly being government, and the Monetary System like the supply of water. They got control, and we lost America. Transnationalism, as diversification goes, recognizes no patriotism, only power. An hundred years to get their tentacles out into the world (Reserve Currency), and now the time has come to remove the last impediment to the final governmental solution – a global, sustainable resource allocation for humanity; or New World Order.
    Obama has been just a tool, which has been allowed somewhat of a free-hand overall. Destabilizing the whole Middle-East; isolating Israel; alienating Allies – is only an outward and part of the gambit. Polarizing the nation, and corrupting government has weakened America immeasurably: think of Holder and the DOJ; Wall Street with NO fundamentals, just manipulation. Obamacare was a high-handed carrot to the Healthcare Industry of a guaranteed one-fifth to one-quarter of the economy, and a predictable nail in the coffin – it mimics the VA. This Terrorist prisoner exchange is another high-handed gift to realize Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s hate-America conditioning, and favors way back to his parentage and early schooling. There isn’t any incompetence here. No manufacture; no jobs; no economy – and now foist a Debt Burden that is insurmountable. (Sell America’s gold, at fire-sale prices to the East and Russia?) A polarized USA, and a polarizing world (Ukraine); with a Shake-n-Bake of Debt – some pattern, huh? Blatant lies from the WH; and a MSM that completes the Wizard’s curtain. And the whole shebang keeps rolling in one general direction with time: worse.
    I hate to believe that America is going down and that Obama is presiding over this: but the consistent indications continually reinforce such conclusions. Too much is piling-up; or the water is getting close to boiling the frog. This wears on me as much as you.

    • mushroom

      Dear Greg

      …and what did you hear initially from those who served with Tillman?

      My last comments on this issue is to mention that it always takes months or more for the truth to shake out . Combat GI’s whose word you have relied upon almost always will say what they’re pressured to say.

      Often the pressure will be enormous. For them to refuse can result in a destroyed career or MUCH WORSE.

      Thank you…

      • supreme allied commander

        Just don’t ask G500 what should be done to bowe, i completely empathize with a soldier that’s known the “military missions” are murica moolarky and can’t take it anymore. this dopey population glorifies the hapless knuckle draggers that follow any command however rediculous (apocalypse now) and shouts and crys “traitor!! treason!!” whenever we have a soldier or marine that flips lapdog generals the finger. If bowe was a “deserter” for five years why would the military go sending rescue parties to get killed for a deserter? And the fact that no gov/military officials have officially dubbed bowe a deserter is odd because if he really did skip town, the next duty day he’d be counted as AWOL. the MSM/GOV front does not add up with this story.

    • Jerry

      Well said Charles. You are so right. The City of London has plans for us. The only thing that is stopping them, is that their exchange systems are not harmonized yet, and they haven’t figured out how to get rid of the guns …..yet.

      • allen ols

        jerry
        According to Prof. John Casti a society loses its complexity very quickly once it collapses. He likens the demise of ancient Rome to the United Sates of tomorrow.
        “A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges.” — Benjamin Franklin

    • allen ols

      Charls H, good read!

      “Among the countless evils that bring about the demise of entire states, these four are probably the prior ones: internal discord, high mortality, infertility of the soil, and the deterioration of the money. The first three are so apparent that hardly anybody would contest them. The fourth evil, however, which stems from the money, is only noticed by a few, and only by those, who think deeply, for the states fall victim to demise not at the first attempt, but gradually, and almost invisibly.” — Nikolaus Kopernikus

      The perfidious goal of inflation was achieved in ancient times by reducing the content of precious metal or the weight of the coin. The weight of the “Aureus” fell from 10.5 grammes (about 20 B.C.) to 0.77 grammes (260 A.D.). The silver content of the denarius coin was gradually reduced as well in order to finance bread and circuses, the bloated bureaucracy, and the rising military expenses. In the 1st century B.C. the silver content was close to 95%, and by 286 A.D. the denarius only consisted of a mere 0.02% of silver.

      Source: http://www.accla.org

      Rome was thriving in times of low taxes. However, in the course of time the emperors started securing the good will of the people by extending gifts. Excessive administration, overregulation, and rising taxes were gradually undermining the public budget. Peak inflation was reached in the 3rd century, when Rome was turning more and more into a welfare state. When about one million people populated Rome, free wheat and later bread were given to 300,000 citizens. Emperor Augustus had stimulus packages passed, and thermal spas, streets, aqueducts, and temples were built.

      Diocletian (284-305 A.D.) was particularly ingenious in putting inflation to his use. He stepped up the money supply by a massive degree, reduced the content of precious metal in the coins, and issued bronze and purer copper coins. Taxes were raised to finance the military. In 301 A.D. Diocletian passed his infamous Edict on Prices, fixing the prices of goods and services. Whoever violated said edict was sentenced to death. Of course Diocletian’s notion that the hoarding of goods and speculators were responsible for inflation turned out to be incorrect. The Draconian punishment had little success, because the root of inflation was not being dealt with. This resulted in the first documented case of hyperinflation. While a pound of gold was traded at 50,000 denarii in 301 A.D., the price had increased 50 years later to 2.12 billion dinarii, which represented an increase by the factor of 42,000. Within a century, inflation – as measured by the price of Egyptian wheat – increased to 15,000 percent. The example of the decline of the Roman Empire highlights impressively how swelling bureaucracy and the misallocation of resources can lead to inflation and in the long run even to collapse.

      http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2014/6/7_Rome,_The_United_States_%26_The_Path_To_Destruction.html

  32. John M.

    Greg,
    There is absolutely not going to be a recovery because price pressures (from money printing) are starting to surface and assert themselves with authority. Americans are already severely strapped with low wages if they even have a job at all, so what do we think will happen when everything that most Americans buy will be spiking up quickly in price?
    The water situation out here California keeps getting worse as the rivers are drying up and the reservoirs (used for irrigation) are falling because of a terrible winter of light snow in our Sierra mountains. Many farmers are drilling expensive new wells ($75,000-$500,000) to keep crops alive and survive with some groundwater. Making matters worse, our state has been and is currently regulating us farmers to death in so many ways … and I’m sure we will soon be denied even groundwater by the Water Nazi’s (CA State Water Control Board) in order to protect fish and the environment, and to help save the planet. Bottom line: I believe the government will lie about why food prices are really going up because they will blame it on the weather (drought and climate change) just like they are currently doing with our economic recovery. The drought out here is real and will add a lot to tighter food supplies and higher prices, but I still believe that monetary inflation will be the major factor that will take food prices to levels that will truly astound Americans. The CA drought will also contribute to take prices even higher.
    As for geopolitics, it seems that our government is constantly lying to us about much of that as well, like: Benghazi, Ukraine, Russia, the Belgium Bulge, and who knows what else … Sept 11 I suppose.
    Everyone should also check out Joel Skousen’s latest blog (JoelSkousen.com) especially in light of your Wed. interview with Paul Craig Roberts. Skousen claims that Roberts is wildly speculating without proof that ” the U.S. was preparing a pre-emptive nuclear strike on Russia and China.” At the end of Skousen’s World Affair’s Brief, he also says: “Not only is the U.S. not preparing to pre-emptively strike Russia, but our government is undermining all military preparations that would resist a pre-emptive strike by Russia and China — a strike which IS going to happen.”
    Greg, I think your website following would be greatly enriched with the insights of Skousen as he is a top-tier geopolitical analyst and strategist. Can’t say I totally agree with him about everything, but like Jim Willie he seems to have a great mind and good sources. I know he is a regular guest on some other sites.
    I keep having this recurring feeling in my gut, that we Americans are being led like sheep to some big slaughter that has been specially prepared for us by those who do not have our best interests in their hearts. Maybe that’s just me, as I’m untrusting and skeptical about almost everything and everybody.

  33. Jerry

    O.K. folks listen up. Do you want to know where my source gets his information from about the economic collapse and the timetable for war ? Here it is.
    http://youtu.be/gLMVZFXc_J4
    My source has a divulged more information about his connections with these people, and their plans for us. It appears from his latest information, that they are planning on collapsing the Bretton Woods Banking system soon, in order to force the world governments into a new gold backed exchange system as soon as their computers are in sync. No revelation here right? Well here’s the kicker, their plan is to use the gold backed system as a Trojan horse, to funnel the world economies…..wait for it…., into a digital world currency. The collapse, the wars, etc. are just a means to an end for these people and nothing more. I have been asked , how do I know for sure? My source does investing for these people, and they tell him ahead of time what they’re planning on doing so they can position their investments for maximum gain. Manipulation, Nothing new here, it just on a bigger scale.

    All in all, I found this all a little hard to swallow at first, and then I realized that these same people are involved with the Federal Reserve Bank that is running our country. Folks these people are outside our laws because they are not part of the government, but yet they control every facet of it. Give Greg credit, he was the one that blew the whistle on QE. Our Constitution, our way of life, is literally in their hands, and when their ready, they’re going to unseat the dollar. As I said before. You can do whatever you want with this information.

    The time frames maybe a little off, but you can bet your bottom dollar

    • allen ols

      Jerry
      …..enter the mark, or chip, in hand or forehead…

      • JC Davis

        Al. or survive on locus and honey.

      • Jerry

        Allen
        You are so right. I truly believe the motivating factor behind the globalist desire to collapse the system is rooted in global warming fears. Check out this statement by Prince Charles.

        http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/10859230/Prince-Charles-reform-capitalism-to-save-the-planet.html

        When you hear statements like this, its not hard to understand how the City of London is involved.

      • Charles H.

        Al,

        There may be a couple steps before we get to the chip. All the NATO resolutions they try to slip through Congress toward Gun Control and confiscation – which Martial Law would short-cut to – worries me. I think the whole Western World (G7) will ‘condense’ to some solidarity, before having to mozy-up to a World-Order table.
        Personally – to heck with digital. It can disappear, or be changed, or hacked. It is STILL CONTROL; a substitution for fiat. All the Techies Generation will swallow this whole like a Bitcoin.

    • OnThe Beach__ 19142014 --------------------------------------------------2014

      J e r r y, _________________1 9 1 4———————————————-
      The Bible prophesied the disastrous events that have occurred since 1914
      “Another came forth, a fiery-coloured horse, and to the one seated upon it was granted to take peace away from the earth so that they should slaughter one another, and a great sword was given him. And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say: `Come!’ And I saw, and , look! a black horse; and the one seated upon it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice as if in the midst of the four living creatures say: `A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the olive oil and the wine.’ And when he opened the forth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say: `Come!’ And I saw, and, look! a pale horse; and the one seated upon it had the name Death. And Hades was closely following him. And authority was given them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with a long sword and with food shortage and with deadly plaque and by the wild beasts of the earth.”
      ___________________R e v e l a t i o n 6 : 4–8—————————————–
      __________(See also Luke 21:10-24; 2 Timothy 3: 1-5)

    • Beligerant

      The end goal seems obvious which is where a few families and their hand picked oligarch’s rule everything similar to the 14th or 16th century. I follow Freed Gold’s website and they just posted that Gold Has Been Freed. This is big!!

  34. Russ

    The Bergdahl story feels like a big distraction. There are too many things about this story that doesn’t make sense, and it’s in the news everywhere all week. Hmmm. Is there something Obama doesn’t want us to look at?

  35. thomas

    Foolish me. I think the reason Obama doesn’t consult Congress, the military, or the written rule of law is he’s enjoying the perks of dictatorship, and can’t be bothered with the trappings of democracy.

    • allen ols

      thomas,
      ha, good one.
      he’s enjoying the perks of dictatorship, and can’t be bothered with the trappings of democracy.

  36. John M.

    Jerry,
    I agree that modern wars and collapses are almost certainly planned by a cabal of London/New York/European banking families and their associates, but I’m not so sure these manipulators have complete control over the Russians and Chinese, digital money or not. In the past, Germany and Russia were financed in both world wars by Western bankers so that they could gain even more power and wealth. It may not have really mattered back then if Germany had been the winner of either war as those banksters may have somehow hedged themselves to control the new governments of Germany just in case. Western bankers are capable of almost anything, as they may be using Russia and China once again to dethrone America as the military and hegemonic leader. But what makes the bankers so confident that they can take the power and gold away from Eastern leaders at the appropriate time? I wouldn’t count on it, as the Russians and Chinese seem to have the momentum of dominating economic production and controlling the natural resources needed for economies and human life. I’d love to be a fly on the wall in one of those secret, power meetings with those guys being so cool and calculating!
    But then again, Bible prophecy does suggest that we will have a one-world government and a one-world currency which also implies that the Eastern powers will either be somewhat outsmarted or complicit in the new world order that is being established. Either way, America will cease to exist with its current Constitution, property rights, and civil freedoms. These have been slowly slipping away with the passage of time anyway by nearly every Congress and Administration.
    I agree, that websites, such as Greg’s, are invaluable for Americans. Our only hope is that enough Americans can stop their evil plans by seeing through their lies and deceptions, as happened with foiling the attack on Syria. But will Americans be able to form a powerful critical mass or will they continue to be hypnotized by what flows off their flat screens?
    We must also remember that we are dealing with powerful spiritual forces that hate God and his creation of mankind, if one takes the Bible seriously. Somewhere along the way I lost that childhood feeling that America was only capable of bringing good and justice to the world. I love America and many of the values that it used to stand for, but I don’t like what it has become and it appears to have been destroyed from forces within.
    Jerry, you always bring to this site a lot of really good stuff, just like all the contributors to Greg’s wonderful forum.

    • Jerry

      John
      I’m a little like you. I find it hard to believe that the Russians and Chinese are involved with the Banking Cabal to, but then I remind myself that they are drowning in debt also and are looking for a way out. The scheme appears to be to use Russia and China to bring down the down the US and install a gold backed exchange system in place of the dollar. My source repeated several times that the City of London is concerned about the armed citizenry here in the US, and according to him, that would have already done it if not for that. When you connect that statement with the reports of Russian troops sightings, it begins to make sense. I try not buy into conspiracy theories, but you have to ask yourself, what are they doing here, if the US is really at logger heads with Russia? All I know is that these big time investors are hot footing it out of here, so they know something is coming. Our only hope is that the American people wake up in time to take their government back and arrest these people before they have a chance to implement their plan.

    • Charles H.

      John M,

      If you concede that the impetus toward a One World Government is spiritual; then all the machinations of man only fall in-line with the higher power. The wisdom of man is foolishness with God. He lets man cook-up all the solutions, and feel proud in his ingenuity: but, in the end, we will arrive where God through Scripture ordains.

  37. Ambrose

    Greg,

    Where did all the stimulus money go? Most Americans are still lost on the road to economic recovery.

    Have you seen this article about the corrupt officials in China?

    “In China, corruption cases keep cropping up” in Los Angeles Times
    http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-corruption-20140516-story.html

    It is interesting to know that corrupt officials are helping to keep the country’s inflation down. I wonder if the same happens to the U.S.? Too bad the corrupt Chinese officials do not live in the U.S. where “Rich” criminals can usually buy their ways out of the justice system and run free. In Communist China, corrupt officials could be sentenced to death.

    Have a great weekend!

    Ambrose

    • Greg Hunter

      Good to know Ambrose. Thank you for posting this comment and link.
      Greg

    • Colin - 'the farmer from NZ'

      Ambrose

      “Where did all the stimulus money go”
      My understanding is a lot of this ‘Stimulus’ money went……. well…… nowhere!
      Or in other words it was only ever electronic book entries and much of it [ approx 80%] went from the Fed to the commercial banks and then straight back to the Fed as bank reserves which are in effect interest earning deposits. In june 2013 these reserves totaled approx. $1.8 trillion. As far as I know the Fed pays the princely sum of 0.25% on these deposits.

      Re Corrupt Chinese officials.
      I am told that many are relocating overseas most often to the US and Australia where they continue to ply their trade in relative safety.

  38. todd

    till we stop paying young girls to have illegitimate children and cut out all the free stuff to the hords of irresponsibile breeders,things will not get better,[as long as they are allowed to vote]

  39. David

    Greg – you said: “Lots of people, on both sides of the political spectrum, think it was a very bad idea and a very bad deal. Sargent Bergdahl is clearly a deserter, and according to the evidence I have seen, he looks like a Taliban conspirator. ”

    Have you ever changed your mind about something? Had a crisis of conscience? To suggest that Bergdahl is “a Taliban conspirator” based on something you’ve seen on mainstream news – Fox, MSNBC, CNN or whatever – is wrong. Wait until you get information straight from the horses mouth. I would submit to anyone making a judgement about Bergdahl that they first walk a mile in his shoes. I served in the military near the end of the Vietnam war and was gung ho like many others. Then in 1999-2000 I went back to SE Asia to help with demining and UXO clearing operations for a few months. It was eye opening to see the damage that the US military does and the waste it lays to people even years later. It opened my eyes. After returning home I promptly shred my DD-214 and (not so) honorable discharge and threw away every remnant of my military service. I discouraged my children and their friends from enlisting by telling them the truth about what the military does and how it serves global interests. To judge Bergdahl for choosing to obey his conscience is itself unconscionable. I’ve seen his colleagues interviewed and what they have had to say about him. If it were up to me I’d be asking them a lot of questions like “why would you violate your oath and willingly wage violence in an undeclared and immoral war?” I’d like them to explain their rationale for serving an organization that does nothing but prop up global banking and corporate interests. I’d like them to explain their rationale for serving a commander-in-chief who constantly chips away at liberty and has effectively destroyed the constitution that they have sword an oath to defend. I seriously doubt that they could defend their actions if confronted with really difficult questions. And by the way, one of his colleagues who was doing the criticizing has a shaved head and a long “Taliban” like beard yet nobody suggested that he’d converted to Islam. Never judge a book by its cover.

  40. Matt

    To echo others’ sentiment, I enjoy the interviews. You’ve been intelligent to not allow politicians and the accompanying nonsense. Finance is the foundation for civilization, and I hope I’m still around in a few years.

    My only solution for a citizens revolt would be for them to remove their holding from banks.

    Unfortunately, that is occurring without much effort

  41. Felicia

    Looks like there is talk about the same tactics used in the U , which is corruptively creating ways to create profits is coming to our shores:

    http://www.infowars.com/economist-u-s-banks-preparing-to-charge-customers-for-deposits/

  42. Jerry

    Paul Craig Roberts
    may have been right this past week, about going nuclear.
    http://english.pravda.ru/world/americas/02-06-2014/127711-obama_war_russia_china-0/
    My source who has “City of London” contacts says no. Its going to be a conventional war that will only last about two weeks before NATO pull back away from the Russian borders. Banking elites don’t gamble with their own money. Just ours.

  43. JC Davis

    Greg. Your just to slow posting our comments.. LOL Get on it bud. What if we all gave 10 bucks would you hire a helper? Its ok. just razzing you.

  44. Jerry

    Just about the time I think I have all the dots in line, then something quite unexpected happens. This from another source.

    Most recently the Vatican in collaboration with an entrusted Elder, The Sultan of Sulu, a guardian/holder of The Dragon Family Global Account assets, attempted to steal fifteen (15) Quadrillion dollars from the Dragon Family. Their attempt was thwarted. Had this transaction been allowed to take place, the cabal’s coffers would have been replenished and the results for humanity would have been disastrous! Truly the world dodged a fateful bullet only days ago!

    I can’t confirm the accuracy of this information, because this contact has ties with the Chinese dragon family, and not the “City of London” like my other source does, who I know is reputable. But it does seem curious to me that these two factions know each other enough to try and work a deal. Like I said before, maybe they collaborating this collapse together, and they’re just working out who gets to sit at the head of the table.

  45. Ugly

    Repent. For The End is near….

  46. Diogenese

    The game changer has arrived , contracts and payments in other than the $ . http://en.itar-tass.com/economy/735083

  47. Agent P

    Regarding the Bergdahl story:

    The 1st rule of a successful psyops operation is confusion… None on this board know the ‘real story’ about Mr. Bergdahl, nor our political leadership’s objectives regarding it, and anything claimed here is pure speculation, for in a sea of Lies one can only piece the elements of truth together in retrospect (the rear-view mirror).

    It could be a PR ‘flub’. It could be a carefully crafted/choreographed theatre presentation for public consumption. It could be convenient ‘cover’ for other hotplate stories, like the VA debacle, or Benghazi, or the ongoing IRS scandals, or – fill in the blanks… This administration’s actions are simply the result of institutionalized governmental corruption that have been ‘stacking’ since the Kennedy administration, and before it.

    What we Do Know – what our collective ‘gut’ tells us however is, that a major event, or series of events awaits straight ahead. The handwriting-on-the-wall floats all around us for those who have eyes to see. Some suggest we are in a slow decline, others (including myself), suggest that a ‘shock’ is coming, followed by confusion, relative calm, and then a cascading series of follow-on shocks – economic, geopolitical and environmental (not politically-motivated ‘environmental’ either), that will spiral into a maelstrom of societal upheaval none before seen. It’s coming. You know it. You can feel it. You don’t know how to express it without coming off as a ‘kook’ or ‘conspiracy’ nutter, but the deepest part of your being intrinsically understands it. You look at someone else and no words need be spoken, because you both know it.

    Right now there is a rather strange eerie calm – due in no small part to what the public is being fed via mainstream media programming of entertainment uber-alles, political theatre and outright confusion. The stock market continues to make new highs in face of underlying data that suggests otherwise, mainstream financial commentators, analysts and prognosticators underpin the ‘bull market’ argument with positive LEI data, positive Advance/Decline line data and myriad other information to support the meme of a ‘new era’ in post-recession U.S.

    What they (mistakenly) discount however, is the geopolitical situation and how closely that is tied to the success or failure of domestic U.S. economic stability, not the least of which has to do with the unwind of $DX domination in the world currency/trade arena.
    Time will tell of course, but there is no time to waste with regard to what each must do in order to prepare for what lies ahead.

    ~P

  48. David Hinton

    Hence, the new verb “riced”, as in one being lied to – they have been “riced”.

  49. Rumplestiltskin

    I did not use to be a racist, but find myself falling into that pit of racial divisiveness. When our Black President surrounds himself with Black personnel, WHO ALL LIE, didn’t they think we would start to question all Black motives. Did those morons actually think they could thwart the vicissitudes racial thought by lying about their motives after they are caught red handed lying about something else.

    It is becoming apparent that the greater society of Blacks no longer care about our nation, and because many have nothing, expect the government to support them. The Black contingency surrounding our President believe they need supporting because if it doesn’t America will decay from the inside out.

    So this is essentially what is happening; The working class in the West and East must support the decaying Midwest with our labors and taxes. How long will that inequity go on before what’s left of the working class wakes up and says it won’t continue to do so.

    Low class morons voted in a Black man because he was black, but then didn’t bother to think about what changes he planned to make, nor did they understand what qualified him to be President. Nothing he did in his life prepared him to rule over the largest economic nation on earth.

    “Community Organizer” indeed. Did those ignorant voters bother to understand exactly what that title meant. A Community Organizer is no more than a rabble-rouser who jacks up their constituency with emotional appeals, such that the ignorant will do whatever is asked of them with little question while using racial centrist ideology.

    That may have worked fine in the largely Black Chicago Community, but when that ignorance spilled over into the rest of the nation, the premise of what Obama was doing became more and more evident as more Americans woke up and started to voice their opinions. The Black community was sold a bill of goods by a smart talking smart aleck who was being used, BECAUSE HE WAS BLACK. OMG no one would dare question the motives of a Black President !

    BUT WE ARE, AND WHAT WE ARE DISCOVERING DOESN’T SIT WELL WITH THE LARGER WHITE COMMUNITY. IF THEY WANT TO MAKE US OUT TO BE RACIST, OK, THEN WE’LL BE RACIST.

  50. Jon

    Hi Greg,

    I have enjoyed your site and you’re doing a great job. But please don’t give the excuse of incompetence for the release of the Taliban. As difficult as it is, and was for me, we all should avail ourselves of the concept of “full spectrum dominance”.

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