Month: August 2024

The Ukrainian government is still proclaiming that its forces are making progress into the southern Russian oblast of Kursk, while the Kremlin has at the same time said its troops destroyed an entire reconnaissance and sabotage group in western Kursk on Friday.

Regardless of which side’s narrative of events are more accurate amid the fog of war, the biggest end of week development has involved the destruction of a key Russian bridge on Friday.

The pro-opposition Amsterdam-based Moscow Times has identified that “The bridge, which spanned the Seym River near the town of Glushkovo, was partially damaged earlier in the day in an attack that killed two volunteer workers from the All-Russia People’s Front, pro-war bloggers said.”

“Later on Friday, the bridge collapsed after being struck by a U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket, the Kremlin-aligned Mash Telegram news channel reported, publishing images of the destroyed structure,” the report continued. This is a reference to the US Army’s M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System which can be outfitted with either mid-range or long-range missiles.

Aerial images and videos have been circulating throughout the day, and Acting Kursk region governor Alexei Smirnov has since confirmed that the bridge collapsed.

The bridge was nearly seven miles north of the Ukrainian border, and was used as a key supply and logistics route for Russian forces fighting off the cross-border incursion.

The specific targeting of the bridge may be a move by Ukraine to solidify control of the Glushkovsky district, which leaves the protection of the Seym River a significant geographical barrier for Russian troops.

If it is indeed true that a U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket struck and destroyed the bridge, this would mark a huge turning point of the conflict, where Ukraine troops are on Russian soil using American heavy rocket systems to take out major infrastructure.

Ukraine’s air force boasted that it took out the bridge…

Ukraine’s Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk claims responsibility for the destruction of a bridge in Russia’s Kursk region today. Video via his Telegram channel. “Aviation of the Air Force takes an active part in combat operations in the Kursk direction.… pic.twitter.com/K28WsC56Ml

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) August 16, 2024

RIA additionally reported a Russian security official as saying additionally on Friday, “Samples of small arms manufactured by the United States and Sweden have been seized at the liquidation site of a Ukrainian sabotage group near the village of Kremyanoe in the Kursk region.”

So it is very clear by now that at least on some level, Western-supplied arms are having a central role in Ukrainian invasion of Russia’s southern oblasts.

Authored by Jacob Hornberger via The Future of Freedom Foundation,

This week, the Wall Street Journal published some good news for proponents of Social Security, the socialist program that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into law in 1935. The Journal reported that the Millennial generation — those whose age range is between 27 and 44 — have experienced a “dramatic turnaround” in finances. The Journal states:

The median household net worth of older millennials, born in the 1980s, rose to $130,000 in 2022 from $60,000 in 2019…. Median wealth more than quadrupled to $41,000 for Americans born in the 1990s, which includes the generation’s youngest members, born in 1996. In early 2024, millennials and older members of Gen Z had, on average and adjusting for inflation, about 25% more wealth than Gen Xers and baby boomers did at a similar age, according to a St. Louis Fed analysis.”

Why is that good news for proponents of Social Security? It assures them that there is more wealth that the IRS can confiscate to support and maybe even expand the program.

The biggest myth in America today is that Social Security is a program in which people are “getting their money back.”

One often hears the refrain, “For 40 years, I’ve paid into the system. I have a right to get my money back.”

President Roosevelt signs the Social Security Bill on August 14, 1935.

But it really is just a myth. There is no truth in it at all. No one “pays into the system.” No one is “getting his money back.”

Social Security is nothing more than another welfare-state program, one based on the socialist principle of using the government to take money by force from one group of people and give it to another group of people. It’s no different from any other welfare program, such as food stamps.

The IRS taxes people to get the money to fund the welfare-warfare state.

It does not deposit any portion of that money into a Social Security lock box or a food-stamp lockbox that has each person’s name on it. The money also does not go into a Social Security retirement fund or a food-stamp emergency fund that earns interest.

Instead, tax revenues are spent on receipt. When people paid payroll taxes 20 years ago, the money went to fund welfare-state programs, including Social Security and Medicare at that time, and also warfare-state programs like the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. In other words, the tax money that people today feel they “paid into the system” was spent a long time ago. The money that is being used to fund Social Security today is being seized by the IRS from their children and grandchildren and their peers.

Proponents of Social Security claim that their support of this socialist program demonstrates their care and compassion. That’s silly. Where is the care and compassion of a program that depends on the forcible collection and redistribution of money by the IRS, one of the most tyrannical agencies in U.S. history? Genuine care and compassion comes from the willing heart of the individual — e.g., children and grandchildren helping parents and grandparents on a purely voluntary basis — along with church groups, charitable foundations, and the like.

Among the worst aspects of socialism is the mindset of dependency that it inculcates in people. As a masterful politician, FDR knew what he was doing in enacting his socialist program. He knew that once he got people hooked on it, they’d never be able to get off it. Today, so many people are convinced that if Social Security were repealed today, there would be people dying in the streets tomorrow. Pure nonsense. Unlike socialism, freedom works. It not only produces wealth, it also brings out the best in mankind.

Perhaps most important, any society that lives under socialism cannot under any stretch of the imagination be considered to be a genuinely free society. Oh sure, people can convince themselves that they are free under socialism but that’s simply self-delusion. Socialism and freedom are opposites. Our American ancestors clearly understood that, which is why America lived without Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, education grants, subsidies, and other welfare-state programs for more than 125 years. For those who want to experience what it’s like to live in a genuinely free society before they die, a choice must be made: Continue socialism and give up on freedom, or repeal socialism and experience freedom.

Among the greatest gifts that today’s seniors could give to their children and grandchildren and to America before they die — and before America is bankrupted — is the repeal of Social Security and Medicare and the entire welfare-state way of life that FDR foisted upon America.

Over the past few decades, the cost of insulin in the United States skyrocketed, affecting millions of people with diabetes relying on it every day.

Insulin is produced by three major manufacturers in the U.S.—Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi.

This infographic by Visual Capitalist’s Pernia Jamshed and Shabeeb Hammad focuses on the drastic price rise of Eli Lilly’s rapid-acting insulin, Humalog, using data sourced from Pharmaceutical Technology, NBC News, and Eli Lilly.

Cost of Insulin from 2004 to 2024

Humalog is one of the most well-known insulin brands globally. It is a fast-acting insulin that controls blood sugar levels in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.

In 1996, when it was first introduced, a 10 mL vial of Humalog cost $21.23. A decade later, this price shot up by over 200% to $70 USD.

Over the 10 years from 2006 to 2016, the cost of insulin in the U.S. climbed to $255 for 10 mL Humalog, a 264% increase. By 2017 it reached $275 before increasing public scrutiny and legislation to cap prices in certain states stopped the climb.

The cost to produce insulin, meanwhile, remained relatively constant. In 2023, an associate professor of medicine at Yale said that production costs of 10 mL Humalog were estimated to be between $2‒4.

So what drove the cost of insulin? The complex answer involved pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), third-party organizations who negotiate drug prices on behalf of insurance companies, employers, and government programs. They negotiate discounts and rebates with the drug manufacturers (paying a reduced price), but in most cases the patients are charged the list price.

This enticement of rebates, and a lack of competition, caused prices to climb unchecked. Whether the extra cost paid by patients went to PBMs, insurance companies, or drug manufacturers depended on the specific drug system and contract, part of the call for greater transparency in the market.

Did Insulin Prices Come Down?

In March 2023, Eli Lilly announced that it would reduce prices of insulin by 70% towards the end of 2023.

This brought the price of 10 mL of Humalog to $66.40. In addition, it also announced that it planned to cap out-of-pocket costs for patients at $35 per month, irrespective of the cost of vials.

But the exact implementation of the measure, and whether costs will rise in other places, has been unclear for patients.

Authored by Katabella Roberts via The Epoch Times,

A lawsuit against food and beverage giant PepsiCo alleging it made false claims about how healthy its Gatorade protein bars are can proceed, a federal judge ruled on Aug. 15.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Casey Pitts in San Jose, California, said the three consumer plaintiffs in the legal challenge against PepsiCo had plausibly alleged that the company’s marketing and labeling was deceptive.

As a result, the judge said the lawsuit can move forward.

The ruling stems from a class-action lawsuit filed against PepsiCo in 2023 by three self-described fitness enthusiasts alleging the company “deceptively advertises that its Gatorade Protein Bars promote consumers’ fitness, health, athleticism, and well-being when they in fact contain high levels of total and added sugars that render such claims misleading.”

In their lawsuit, the consumers argued that a single serving of PepsiCo’s Gatorade protein bar exceeds the daily, health-based limits for added sugars recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA) for women and youth. It also approaches the daily limit for men, they said.

The AHA recommends no more than 25 grams of added sugar per day for women and 36 grams for men.

According to the lawsuit, PepsiCo’s Gatorade protein bars contain 29 grams of sugar, including 28 grams of added sugar and just 20 grams of protein.

“Plaintiffs would not have purchased, purchased as many of, or paid as much for Gatorade Protein Bars had the product been marketed transparently—that is, as an excessively high added sugar candy or junk food the consumption of which health authorities recommend eliminating and/or limiting because of associated health risks,” the lawsuit stated.

The consumers, in their lawsuit, also highlighted health advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) noting that excessive consumption of added sugars correlates with obesity, diabetes, and other related medical conditions including cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.

They claimed PepsiCo violated multiple federal and state laws, including the California Unfair Competition Law, the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, California’s False Advertising Law, and the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act among others.

PepsiCo Says Claims Are ‘Implausible’

The three plaintiffs are seeking an unspecified amount in compensatory and punitive damages.

PepsiCo had sought to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing the claims were “implausible” because it did not market the bars as healthy or low in sugar, particularly for flavors like Chocolate Chip and Cookies and Cream.

The company said in court documents that “truthful statements about protein, athletic recovery, and rebuilding muscles do not mean healthy or low in sugar,” and that the label does in fact disclose the sugar content of the bars.

PepsiCo further argued that it is preempted under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and that the plaintiffs’ claims “would impose requirements for labeling sugar content that differ from the requirements of federal law.”

In his ruling, Judge Pitts said plaintiffs in the lawsuit have plausibly pleaded that they were otherwise “reasonable consumers, were not knowledgeable enough to properly interpret the sugar content listed on the label, and were deceived given PepsiCo’s marketing campaign and self-proclaimed science-backed claims.”

The judge noted that PepsiCo is correct that plaintiffs’ claims are preempted “to the extent they challenge health or protein-content claims that are consistent with federal regulations.”

However, he found that many of the statements plaintiffs claim constitute deceptive or misleading advertising cannot reasonably be construed as health or nutrient-content claims, and therefore are not preempted.

The judge also agreed that PepsiCo can make health- and protein-content claims consistent with federal regulations, noting that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not consider sugar a “disqualifying ingredient” when making health claims.

The Epoch Times has contacted PepsiCo for comment.

Israel just upped the ante in its showdown with Iran amid ongoing concerns that an attack from the Islamic Republic could still be imminent in retaliation for the July 31st assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Friday that he expects not only the US but also its allies Britain and France to assist in offensive operations against Iran if it attacks. Katz conveyed the comments while meeting British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, in a bit of a risky diplomatic preemptive move given neither of these countries have openly proclaimed they are ready to launch direct attacks on Iran.

The Israeli FM was invoking the example of the United States, and said “that Israel expects France and Britain to publicly clarify to Iran that it is unacceptable for it to attack Israel and that if Iran attacks, the US-led coalition will join Israel not only in defense but also in an attack against significant targets in Iran.”

It’s as yet unclear whether even Washington has signed onto this, though it has moved significant Pentagon assets including an aircraft carrier strike group and submarine into regional waters.

When on April 13 Iran fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones on Israel, US fighter jets helped intercept many of the inbound projectiles. American warships also engaged inbound missiles. But US involvement was only defensive, and ultimately there was no direct counterstrike on targets inside Iran. France and the UK also took part in this purely defensive operation.

“Israel cannot not respond strongly to attacks on it,” Katz continued. His assumption is that clearly the US will partner Israel in any potential retaliation.

And yet, Israeli media later said of the perhaps presumptuous remarks that they were softened in the later official readout produced by the Israeli foreign ministry:

An English-language statement from the meeting, which was held in English, sent out by the Foreign Ministry softened Katz’s message and omitted the sentence about needing to retaliate…

“I thanked them for their support of Israel and made it clear that the right way to deter Iran and prevent war is by announcing that if Iran attacks, they will stand with Israel not only in defense but also in striking targets in Iran.”

However the US and Western allies have so far engaged in offensive strikes only on Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, amid the ongoing Red Sea shipping crisis. 

BREAKING: A senior @WhiteHouse National Security Council official warns Iran of “cataclysmic” consequences if the Islamic Republic attacks #Israel. pic.twitter.com/P0ZiTTKQPj

— James Rosen (@JamesRosenTV) August 16, 2024

Katz’s words appeared intent on testing the waters and seeing just how far Israel’s Western partners might be willing to go. Certainly, Israel’s goading the US into direct attacks on Iran will be met with displeasure at least behind close doors at the White House, State Dept, and Pentagon.

Authored by Cara Michelle Miller via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Aging has traditionally been viewed synonymously with a steady decline in health, but recent research unveils a more complex picture.

Aging is not gradual but surges at key stages of life, particularly during our 40s and 60s, due to dramatic shifts in our molecules and microorganisms, according to researchers at Stanford Medicine, who published a study on Wednesday in Nature Aging.

The researchers analyzed how biomarkers—molecules such as RNA and proteins that reflect biological changes—shift across distinct five-year intervals in people aged 25 to 75 and beyond.

Unlike standard medical evaluations, which might involve only 15 to 20 measurements, the researchers made “tens of thousands of measurements.” They found that biomarkers change most dramatically during two key periods in our lives: the mid-40s and the early 60s.

The researchers found it interesting to find observable changes related to cardiovascular disease and other health issues. This is important because acknowledging such changes can lead to actionable steps for improvement, Michael Snyder, who holds a doctorate in biology and is the chair of genetics and the study’s senior author, told The Epoch Times.

He added that understanding these specific periods of change could help in developing interventions.

2 Key Periods of Change

The researchers followed thousands of molecules and microbes in their investigation. About 81 percent of the molecules exhibited significant nonlinear changes, meaning they changed more at certain ages than others. Only around 7 percent changed at a constant rate as study participants aged.

The study tracked participants over periods ranging from two to seven years. Previous findings from this same group of volunteers showed that people’s kidneys, livers, metabolisms, and immune systems aged at different rates.

The researchers analyzed 5,405 samples from 108 participants, encompassing more than 135,000 biological features, including gene activity, proteins, metabolites, and microbiomes. This culminated in a total of nearly 250 billion distinct data points.

When the researchers analyzed clusters of molecules showing the most significant changes, they identified two critical periods: the mid-40s and early 60s, during which these transformations were most pronounced.

Around age 40, the following was observed:

• Changes in molecules indicated a reduced efficiency in alcohol, caffeine, and fat metabolism.
• The risk of cardiovascular diseases increased as platelets and proteins involved in blood clotting became impaired.
• Skin cells and proteins became dysregulated, potentially impairing skin structure and elasticity.

The following occurred around age 60:

• Molecular changes indicated further reduced efficiency in metabolizing caffeine and essential fatty acids. Unsaturated fat production also decreased.
• Glucose metabolism was affected, suggesting elevated insulin resistance.
• Kidney function declined, as indicated by higher blood urea nitrogen levels, which show the kidneys are becoming less effective at filtering waste from the body.
• Cardiac issues increased due to a rise in plasma levels of phenylalanine, an essential amino acid associated with heart problems.
• Higher levels of cytokines, proteins that regulate the immune system, showed that the immune system weakens.

For those in their 60s, monitoring kidney function and increasing water intake could be beneficial, Snyder suggested.

Similarly, individuals in their 40s should heed changes in lipid metabolism and consider cutting back on fatty meals. Snyder pointed out that these insights underline the importance of recognizing and addressing biological changes to manage health effectively as we age.

Overall, people in both age groups should consider exercising more to support heart health and preserve muscle mass. In one’s 40s, it’s also a good idea to drink less alcohol since the body doesn’t metabolize it as well anymore, added Snyder.

The major changes seen in people’s mid-40s surprised Snyder and his team.

“I don’t know that I would have necessarily known that there’d be such a big period of change [in] people at their mid-40s,” said Snyder.

The researchers first thought that menopause or perimenopause might be causing these changes in women and affecting the overall results. However, when they looked at the data separately for men and women, they found that men in their mid-40s experienced similar changes. “[In women, people might think] maybe it’s all due to women hitting menopause,” Synder said. “But it turns out the same thing’s there, whether it’s male or female.”

“This suggests that while menopause or perimenopause may contribute to the changes observed in women in their mid-40s, there are likely other, more significant factors influencing these changes in both men and women,” study first author Xiaotao Shen, who has a doctorate in metabolomics and bioinformatics and is a former Stanford Medicine postdoctoral scholar, said in a press release. “Identifying and studying these factors should be a priority for future research.”

Personalized Medicine: Informing Lifestyle Choices

The research team plans to explore the drivers of these clusters of change. Such changes point to the need for people to pay attention to their health, especially in their 40s and 60s, the researchers said.

Snyder, who is also the author of the book “Genomics and Personalized Medicine: What Everyone Needs to Know,” said that the study is a step toward moving beyond generic advice like “exercise more” or “eat better” and creating personalized aging profiles that pinpoint exact health risks.

”By understanding these patterns … you can take action on it,” he added.

The massive tunnel network underneath the Gaza Strip used by Hamas has long been known about, as has Iran’s deep underground missile silos which defend the Islamic Republic’s most sensitive military equipment from potential airstrikes, but much lesser known is Hezbollah’s network of tunnels under southern Lebanon.

For the first time, Hezbollah on Friday published new video featuring a highly secretive underground facility from which its tens of thousands of missiles can be launched and stored. The location appears to be a mountainous area, given that the video is titled according to a translation, “Our mountains are our storage sites.”

Hezbollah is calling the secret site “Imad-4” – after a commander who was killed by Israel in 2008, and it has passage ways that appear in some areas to be at least two stories high, or big enough to drive large military trucks through.

Lengthy tunnels and corridors are showcased in the video, through which trucks with missile launch pads are seen moving, as well as smaller combat vehicles like motorcycles or armored carriers.

Mobile rocket launch vehicles can apparently fire from out of the bunker when a tunnel entrance opens up. The video and messaging is intended to spook Israel as the potential for a broader war looms.

Lebanese newspaper Al Mayadeen suggested that it is not the only underground site, but that others exist. The publication wrote that Hezbollah “is not afraid to go to war, and is prepared for it if [Israel] decides to go too far in escalation and aggression.”

“The capabilities of the Islamic Resistance, especially missiles, are fully prepared to defend Lebanon … the secrecy of the site allows Hezbollah’s missile capabilities to be immune from any preemptive Israeli strikes,” Al Mayadeen continued.

Given that Iran has long had its own underground ‘missile cities’ which it showcases from time to time, it is likely that Iranian advisers led the way in helping to construct Hezbollah’s tunnels.

Watch Hezbollah’s nearly 5-minute long video below:

Watch | Hezbollah publishes a new video titled “Our mountains are our stores,” displaying the Lebanese Resistance’s vast underground tunnels and missile store named the “Imad 4 facility” after former commander Imad Mughniyeh.

Hezbollah has only used a limited amount of its… pic.twitter.com/e7S7vNnqYb

— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) August 16, 2024

In the Gaza Strip, it has been precisely Hamas’ use of literally hundreds of miles of underground tunnels which has allowed it to survive the Israeli onslaught. Small guerilla teams can strike Israeli convoys and then rapidly retreat back to the tunnels. Israel says it has thus far killed at least 17,000 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants, but there are believed to still be many thousands more.

Given that most war analysts consider Hezbollah’s capabilities to be superior to Hamas’, Israel would likely have an even tougher up-hill battle if it eventually invades southern Lebanon in an effort to destroy or degrade the Shia paramilitary force.

Authored by Jeffrey Tucker via The Epoch Times,

“Inflation cooled, lower than expected,” read the financial press on the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for July. One only needs to look carefully: when month-to-month changes are down, those alone get the headline. When they are up, as they are in July, the headline focuses on the 12-month trend. Every time.

Based on the data release we have, the “cooling” is actually up from June to July, if you can believe it.

(Data: Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), St. Louis Fed; Chart: Jeffrey A. Tucker)

Most of the change is driven by housing but the CPI is far from capturing the whole. By using a black-box statistic called Owners Equivalent Rent, the CPI is able to completely bypass and not report data we actually have on housing prices. And that’s just the start of the problems we’ve discussed many times. Even so, the CPI still reveals something. Even then, we keep being told life is better than ever.

We know it is not true. Everyone to whom you speak knows the financial and economic strains of our time. They are grave and growing, and most data points are now underscoring the point. The jobs market even in hourly employment is freezing up, while inflation continues to take its toll. It is well known, finally, that we have lost far more than 20 percent of our purchasing power over four years. How much is still largely a guess based on spending patterns.

The distance between the official data—which still shows rising real output—and the consumer surveys is striking to behold. In some ways, the official economic data of our times is another iteration of the growing sense that we are not being told the whole truth in many sectors of life.

However, there are still times when the truth seeps out. CNN commissioned a well-constructed poll of about 2,000 random people to find out where they stand on personal finances. The headline number: nearly 40 percent of Americans are struggling to pay their bills. That is up from 28 percent from only three years ago, and a higher number than back in 2008–09, the period known as the Great Recession.

Two-thirds of people say that the number one issue they face is the cost of living and paying their bills. The typical American is spending nearly $1,000 more per month compared with three years ago just to pay living expenses. That is according to Moody’s, but it also fits with the intuition we all have. It suggests a dramatic decline in real household income, despite what the Bureau of Labor Statistics claims.

The survey further reports that a third of Americans say that they have to take an additional job to make ends meet. This has disproportionately affected Latinos and black Americans and those under the age of 45.

Nearly 70 percent report that they have cut back spending on entertainment, changed their grocery buying, and otherwise stopped with the extras like vacations and trips. Three in five say they have cut back on driving. Two-thirds are putting bills on revolving credit cards charging more than 20 percent. These trends show no change despite the seeming taming of inflation.

Inflation has been raging for years, but it is easy to slip into denial or believe that the price increases are going to reverse themselves. This was certainly the case from mid-2021 and following, as people were told that the price trend was transitory, a word that sounds a bit like temporary. Many people believed it and tried their best not to change their spending and lifestyle habits.

Three years in and the hard realities of accounting are hitting nearly everyone. The effect of this is cascading through every sector as spending on extras is culled across the board.

I was speaking to a journalist for a New England local paper that had always been supported by advertisers, including arts venues. But following lockdowns, arts institutions never really came back. Traffic at major museums is half what it was, and philanthropy is down as well. That leaves less in the budget for advertising.

As a result, this newspaper has experienced a growing financial crisis, and everyone is now aware of how it ends. The paper will go out of business, eliminating many dozens of paid positions. These people will face a very hard job market with ever fewer numbers of open positions.

(Data: Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), St. Louis Fed; Chart: Jeffrey A. Tucker)

Many large companies are posting dreary sales outlooks, including Starbucks, Home Depot, and McDonald’s, as consumers are increasingly tapped out. There is a great deal of fear and uncertainty extant among consumers and producers alike. It’s been a rude awakening.

Consumer sentiment has never recovered its January 2020 highs, and instead has fallen by a third.

(Data: Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), St. Louis Fed; Chart: Jeffrey A. Tucker)

For the better part of 45 years in this country, we’ve mostly experienced what we can call good and prosperous times with some bumps along the way. The trouble traces to the way government policy has handled these bumps. They have been addressed by adding ever more liquidity to the system, rescuing the macroeconomic environment from too much damage by virtue of credit expansion.

Gone were the days of 1982 when recessions were tolerated as a means of cleansing the system and preparing for a robust recovery. Instead, monetary magic would be deployed to abolish the business cycle forever.

Prior to 2020’s inflationary bonanza, this was never more aggressive than in 2008 when the Federal Reserve decided to enter the markets and buy up failing mortgage securities, keeping them in the vaults of the Fed, while recapitalizing the banks. The Fed then slammed interest rates to zero while paying more than the free market for interest to hold bank deposits.

This seemed like a solution, but the decision caused the underlying conditions to worsen, extending the housing bubble to become a corporate and financial bubble too. This is the whole in which an entire generation came of age. Payrolls ballooned and so did salaries as cheap money seemed to be everywhere without a limit. Year after year went by with the underlying decay in capital structures taking place but without much public awareness.

The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet now looks completely preposterous, and this is added to the broadest measure of money called the monetary base. This is not hot money on the street, but rather the valuation of all monetary instruments. It needs to be unraveled but no one knows how.

(Data: Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), St. Louis Fed; Chart: Jeffrey A. Tucker)

The Fed’s options to deal with a cascading crisis are severely limited. Oddly, the United States finds itself in a position similar to Japan about a decade ago. Japan could not raise its rates for fear of unraveling the world’s most popular “carry trade” that encouraged borrowing low and earning high, but note that this was a source of the global financial instability in the first week of August. That problem was plugged once again with an assurance of more liquidity.

We just cannot continue to “solve” problems this way, as the inflation of the last three years has shown. It does seem relatively tame for now but the future could involve yet another wave as central banks once again come to the rescue of economies falling into recession.

At some point, we will need to recapture the old wisdom that economic downturns serve a function. They cleanse capital markets. They encourage consumers to cut back on debt and save more if possible. Unviable and bloated corporate projects are winnowed down to size. The entire nation and globe experience what used to be called austerity.

That is our future one way or another. People have long awaited a big crisis but we might be looking for the wrong thing. The real crisis will be slow and grinding, and unreported until it is too late.

It was only a matter of time before a defense company introduced a complete armor package for the Tesla Cybertruck, given that Elon Musk promoted its stainless steel exoskeleton as bulletproof against 9mm rounds and buckshot blasts. The billionaire said in late 2023, “The apocalypse could come along at any moment, and here at Tesla we have the finest in apocalypse technology.”

On Friday, Archimedes Defense and Unplugged Performance’s UP.FIT unveiled a new bolt-on ‘ultimate defense upgrade’ for the Tesla Cybetruck to protect against “14.5mm heavy machine gun rounds” and “IED/mine protection” for military and defense operations. 

Introducing STING: Protect & Defend With @UpfitTesla & @archimedesdef

✅ Go Anywhere: UP INVINCIBLE Tesla Cybertruck With Bolt-On, Bolt-Off Armor

✅ Connect Anywhere: With Equipped Starlink

✅ Recharge Anywhere: Using Electricity, JP-8 Jet Fuel, Diesel, or Biodiesel

✅… pic.twitter.com/lUGtlHYm7D

— UNPLUGGED PERFORMANCE (@UnpluggedTesla) August 16, 2024

“Archimedes Defense and Unplugged Performance have joined forces to bring you STING—a groundbreaking series of up-armored, genset-equipped Tesla Cybertruck packages designed for those who demand the highest levels of Performance, protection, and energy independence. Engineered for both government and civilian use, STING is built to thrive in the harshest environments, offering unmatched capability for anyone who needs to be ready for anything,” UP.FIT wrote on its website. 

There are three distinct variants of the STING, with STING APC being the most extreme for war zones. 

‘This level of protection is critical for military and defense operations where threats are not only present but imminent and severe. Additionally, the optional genset enables long-endurance missions, ensuring that your vehicle remains operational for extended periods without the need for external power sources,” UP.FIT explained. 

Hmm.

An added double v hull under the vehicle is essential for this and comes with the APC option on the https://t.co/LHOt1pJiet website

— UNPLUGGED PERFORMANCE (@UnpluggedTesla) August 16, 2024

 Unplugged Performance wrote on X that the Cybertruck STING packages are primarily for government buyers. 

This is primarily a government program with @UpfitTesla and @archimedesdef however there are some civilian trim levels as well. See https://t.co/pwvlK6akap for more

— UNPLUGGED PERFORMANCE (@UnpluggedTesla) August 16, 2024

The question becomes how many Tier 1 operators will request an armored Cybetruck with a built-in 125kW generator for constant recharging on the modern battlefield. An upgrade from the Toyota Hilux?

“If you’re an owner and need liquidity now, you pause on selling and instead borrow against your art, waiting for better market conditions,” Adriano Picinati di Torcello, global art and finance coordinator for Deloitte, told Bloomberg, adding that’s sparked growth across the art-lending market. 

A rising number of affluent Americans with fine art collections have called their wealth advisors, asking about creative ways to unlock liquidity while keeping the multi-million-dollar Andy Warhol painting on the living room wall – for family and friends to appreciate over a glass of wine. 

With art sales slowing and valuations sliding after decades of outperformance, wealth advisors are telling clients to reevaluate their options instead of sending the art to the Sotheby’s auction block. 

New data from Bloomberg shows the global art market has cooled significantly in a high-interest-rate environment. From its peak in mid-2021, the Fine Arts Index has slid 32%. In fact, the index has been levitating at a ceiling since 2011, following the run-up after the Dot Com bust.

Wealth advisors tell clients that art lending provides a significant advantage over borrowing against stocks and bonds: the valuation is updated just once a year, compared to the daily stock fluctuations that result in unexpected margin calls. 

“We’re not asking what the value of your Andy Warhol is every day,” said Katy Lingle, US head of lending solutions at JPMorgan.

Bloomberg sheds more color on the expanding art-lending market for high net-worth Americans that’s become a booming business for Wall Street banks: 

As the market expands, Wall Street’s biggest firms are growing their efforts by adding staff and marketing the service to new and existing clients. While the precise size of the market isn’t certain, Deloitte estimates outstanding loans against art could surpass $36 billion in 2024, up from $29 billion to $34 billion last year. That also compares with $20.3 billion to $23.6 billion of such loans outstanding five years ago, according to Deloitte.

The largest US banks are looking to broaden their reach into the art market as a way to bring on and retain some of the world’s wealthiest individuals and families. Catering to the affluent often means competing with rivals to offer more diverse products, fighting the constant threat that clients can move their money elsewhere.

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Bank of America has seen new credit lines backed by art rise more than 14% compared to a year ago, according to Drew Watson, head of art services. Its book of art loans recently hit its highest on record. Within JPMorgan’s asset and wealth management business, art lending is up 1% year-over-year, in-line with other loans in that business, according to a spokesperson.

Chadwick Chilcot, a high-net-worth wealth advisor at Wilmington Trust, explained that art lending among clients is certainly growing… 

It’s a steadily growing line of business for many of private banks that cater to high-net worth individuals. I tell my clients it’s another tool in the toolbox that can help optimize their balance sheet and unlock some liquidity. Sometimes the art is just sitting on the wall but is a large part of the value of their balance sheet. Especially when you consider how much art has appreciated over the last 20 years. I tell them you might as well make it work for you just like any other asset.

If they have an “investment grade collection” with a qualified appraisal and that is properly insured we can easily lend off those assets. The last thing as a bank we want to do is come in and take those painting off the wall. Usually give them a line of credit with some sort of LTV. The assets are reappraised every 1-2 years and the line of credit goes up or down based on the appraisal. It’s a very straightforward process.

Philip Hoffman, the founder of art advisory firm The Fine Art Group, explained, “There are margin calls, death, divorce and bankruptcy, so we have endless interest for lending.”