No matter how bad the economy (and purchasing power of our money) gets, the government and its cheerleaders hang onto rising stock prices for dear life.
You could be out of a job, some friends and family members could be out of a job, your bills are rising, and yet the mainstream media is dropping confetti from the skies because stock prices are hitting record highs!
This time around though, the American public is too burned out to even play along. Stocks are at record highs, and CNBC viewership is in the toilet.
But the word still gets out. People hear through the grapevine that: "The S&P 500 hits a new record". So no matter how bad their personal economic situation is, a thought may cross their mind: "Well the economy must not be that bad...maybe it's just me and my bad luck."
The average person knows nothing about the Fed, nothing about artificial bubbles, and nothing about the fact that the stock market is just another manufactured boom that will eventually have to burst.
The Fed doesn't mind the public ignorance one bit. Did you notice that its 100 year birthday came and went with virtually no fanfare at all? With all the pomp and circumstance that the government feeds the public on the most ridiculous things, there was barely a peep about the Fed's Big Birthday.
So while the government and its media trump up the phony "recovery", and the record high stock prices, it's important to keep your feet to the ground, and recognize the truth.
Lew Rockwell pointed out the following in 2011 (though he can say the same exact words again today):
“Stock prices are just prices. They are no different from apple prices, coffee prices, and gas prices. When these go up, do we say: fantastic news, we are wealthier! Of course not. The belief that a rising stock price is great news remains one of the most wicked of all economic myths.”Capital, savings, and actual wealth are getting misallocated and eaten away by the insidious central bank. Its actions are making the economy worse.
So as the Kudlows of the world wax poetic about stock prices and "King Dollar," and people like Barry Ritholtz proclaim that this time it's not a fluke, we in the sound money & free market camp can stay grounded and watch what the Fed does with the money supply. And, of course, the best way to keep your hand on the pulse of the Fed and economy is to subscribe to The EPJ Daily Alert!
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Cost of a pint rises by 1,948% since 1973 thanks to inflation – but can you guess what has seen its price tag soar even faster?
ReplyDeleteA pint of beer cost just 14 pence in 1973 - and around £2.87 today
A detached house cost £16,980 40 years ago - now one costs £305,391
But gold has risen at the fastest rate
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/bills/article-2574890/Cost-pint-rises-1-948-1973-inflation-says-Lloyds.html#ixzz2vIR8fc2k
How is it a record high? Thought we had to measure everything in gold, the only true currency. Priced in gold, the S&P 500 is less than 1/3 what it was before the first Bush recession started in March 2001.
ReplyDeleteS&P/gold (march 2001 = 100)
http://www.research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=sQy