The tax man cometh!
And thanks to the Democrats in Congress, there will be more tax enforcers shining their lights into the nooks and crannies of Americans’ finances.
The Federal Reserve is all-in on the inflation fight.
Or is it?
While everybody focuses on interest rate cuts, the promised Fed balance sheet reduction isn’t going quite as promised.
Consumers continue to add to their record level of debt as higher prices squeeze wallets.
Americans added another $40.1 billion to the debt load in June, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. That represents a 10.5% year-on-year increase.
Central bank gold buying notched up again in June.
Central banks globally added 59 tons of gold to their reserves last month and there were no reported sales, according to the latest data compiled by the World Gold Council.
Despite back-to-back contractions in GDP, President Joe Biden, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and all of their supporters in the corporate media insist the US economy isn’t in a recession. But the only data they ever point to in order to back up their assertion is the “strong” labor market.
The problem with this spin is the labor market is a lagging indicator and it’s starting to show cracks.
Personal income from all sources adjusted for inflation — real income — fell for the second straight month in June and was down 1% on the year. But American consumers continue to spend. How can this be?
They’re running up debt at a dizzying pace.
This undercuts the narrative claiming the American consumer is “healthy.”
Yesterday, an Israeli law went into effect banning the use of cash in business transactions over 6,000 NIS ($1,700). Private cash transactions can’t exceed 15,000 NIS ($4,360). This is yet another escalation in the “war on cash.”
Gold demand through the first half of 2022 came in at 2,189 tons, up 12% over the first half of last year, according to the World Gold Council Gold Demand Trends Q2 report.
The White House is desperately trying to convince everybody there isn’t a recession, but the average American doesn’t seem to be buying the narrative.
Consumer confidence plunged to the lowest level since February 2021 in July, according to the latest survey by the Conference Board.
It’s getting harder and harder to deny recession reality. Even as the Biden administration tries to spin itself out of that reality with a propaganda campaign, many in the mainstream seem to be waking up.
On Monday (July 25), Reuters reported that the tanking housing market is a red warning flag signaling a recession.
