Authored by Chris Talgo via AmericanThinker.com,

Like many deep-blue states, California has its share of deep-rooted problems. From a surge in violent crime, homelessness, and drug overdoses to a giant budget shortfall, a population exodus, and a power grid on the brink of collapse, the Golden State is suffering from multiple crises.

Yet, instead of addressing these problems and actually making life better for the 39 million Americans who currently live in California, Golden State lawmakers are focused on identity politics in the form of a comprehensive reparations plan that one California lawmaker says, “will be a blueprint for America.”

So, what does the California Reparations Task Force (CRTF) “blueprint for America” look like?

For starters, the CRTF seeks to provide all eligible Black Californians with a lump sum payment of $5 million. On top of that, eligible residents would also receive “free” college, “free” housing, and total debt forgiveness, among several other government goodies.

According to California Reparations Task Force Chair Kamilah Moore, “I hope that… this task force sets a precedent not only for what other states can do… but, of course, the federal government as well because it’s primarily the federal government’s responsibility. They are the entity that has the big enough purse, for instance, to close the wealth gap, and so I do think that the task force is headed in the right direction in terms of that precedent-setting.”

If Moore gets her wish, and other states follow California down the reparations road, the economic and social repercussions would be terrible. If the federal government were to embark on a similar quest, it would spell the end of America as we know it.

First, it must be stated that slavery never existed in California. In fact, California was a free state that fought alongside the Union against the Confederacy during the Civil War. That alone should make the reparations conversation in California moot.

Second, California (and every other state for that matter) does not have billions of dollars at its disposal to redistribute to a sliver of its population. Currently, California’s population is 39 percent Hispanic, 35 percent White, 5 percent Asian, and 4 percent Black. Is it fair to force 95 percent of Californians, all of whom had absolutely nothing to do with a reprehensible institution that was outlawed more than 150 years ago, to pay enormous sums of money to 4 percent of the population simply based on their skin color? Of course not. Actually, that is the very essence of racism.

Third, if California lawmakers really wanted to help its Black residents and close the wealth gap, one-time payments and other government handouts will not make the situation better, it arguably will make it worse.

Consider. Since the start of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “war on poverty,” the federal government has spent $22 trillion on various wealth redistribution programs. Yet, over that span, the rate of poverty remains unchanged.

Perhaps this is because giving some people other people’s money is an incentive for the former to remain indolent. In other words, government checks breed dependence on government.

On the other hand, if California lawmakers were actually interested in addressing the plight of many of the Black residents who live in the Golden State, they ought to take a forward-looking approach that would include an increased police presence, a tough on crime approach, lower taxes, fewer regulations, and commonsense policies that would make energy affordable and abundant.

And, if these same lawmakers were really audacious and genuinely wanted to throw a wrench into the cycle of poverty that has entrapped so many Black Californians, they would do everything in their power to ensure that universal school choice was the norm in the Golden State. It also would help if these so-called leaders addressed the elephant in the room: the breakdown of the Black family, which is arguably the biggest driver of poverty and so many other societal problems.

However, these are difficult conversations for leftist lawmakers, who always view more government wealth redistribution as the answer to everything. It is much easier for politicians to propose a superficial solution, like reparation payments, even though time has shown that giving people money doesn’t solve deep-seated, complex problems.

I hope the rest of the country does not follow California’s lead on this issue. Once upon a time, Americans flocked to California because it was the land of freedom and opportunity. Today, Americans are fleeing California because it has become the land of big government socialism and identity politics. Suffice to say, this is not the path that other states, or the federal government, want to tread.

Citadel founder Ken Griffin is making a monster, $300 million donation to his alma mater, Harvard University. Griffin first started his hedge fund while at the university in his dormatory, Yahoo wrote this week, and the donation brings his total gifts to the school to over $500 million. 

The school’s 150-year-old Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) will be on the receiving end of the donation. The FAS oversees undergraduate and PhD programs, as well as athethics, museums and libraries, the report said. The FAS will be renamed the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the report says.

Harvard President Larry Bacow (pictured depositing the check below) said: “Ken’s exceptional generosity and steadfast devotion enable excellence and opportunity at Harvard.”

The $300 million number pales in comparison to Griffin’s $35 billion net worth. He previously donated $150 million to Harvard in 2014 which was, at the time, the single largest gift to undergraduate financial aid, Yahoo wrote. They reported that his “total philanthropic giving” is now approaching $2 billion. 

Harvard’s endowment now stands at a stunning $51 billion, as of the end of 2022. Other large gifts it has received include a $500 million gift from Mark Zuckerberg and $400 million from John Paulson. 

San Francisco is experiencing a surge in crime, despite leadership in the progressive-run town attempting to persuade everyone that the city is safe. The latest incident, and you can’t make this stuff up, involved vandalism of communication infrastructure near City Hall that caused a meeting to be canceled. 

According to The San Francisco Standard, a Tuesday meeting of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors was postponed after a telecommunications box had been “completely destroyed” down the street from the San Francisco City Hall building. 

“A fiber enclosure in an underground vault was completely destroyed, disrupting services to customers served by that portion of Comcast’s network.

“Comcast is working quickly and diligently to restore services for customers impacted by the damage to our network,” a spokesperson for Comcast told the Standard. 

Tech entrepreneur David Sachs tweeted about the incident, saying, “Can’t make this stuff up.” 

San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, which claims that crime is down in the city, had to disband their meeting today because their internet connection was vandalized. Can’t make this stuff up. https://t.co/pd9q8SbcMG

— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) April 12, 2023

Sacks has also called on the state of California to address the problem of random violent crime (read: here & here). 

As crime rates continue to rise, progressives have chosen to ignore the issue. However, the situation has become so alarming that even members of the Democratic party are beginning to criticize their own party’s approach to the matter.

State Sen. Scott Wiener tweeted this:

Some view property crime as minor. It’s not. Garage break-ins, auto vandalism, etc., have real impacts.

Here, property crime literally shut down the Board of Supervisors, in addition to interrupting internet for some San Franciscans (who may rely on internet for work). https://t.co/BLf8wBUOri

— Senator Scott Wiener (@Scott_Wiener) April 11, 2023

The vandalism of telecommunications infrastructure comes amid a broader discussion of crime in the failing liberal city. On Tuesday, the Downtown Whole Foods Market announced it would soon be closing, citing concerns over out-of-control thefts. 

By Clarissa Hawes of FreightWaves

Team drivers for Cromex Inc. of Villa Park, Illinois, say things were looking bleak after they were stranded in a Chicago-area hotel for three days more than 1,000 miles from home without a paycheck or a truck until a truckers outreach organization offered to pay their rental car expenses to get them home to Jacksonville, Florida. 

On Tuesday, the team drivers were headed home thanks to a nonprofit group, Truckers Emergency Assistance Responders (TEAR), after the drivers feared being homeless in Illinois when their funds ran out.

The father-and-son team, with a combined 24 years of driving experience under their belts, said Danijel [or Daniel] Krizanac, owner of Cromex, “ghosted” them after returning their tractor-trailer to the carrier’s yard on Friday, as they waited for a different truck to drive, which never arrived. 

Neither did their paychecks, which amounted to about $3,000 for two weeks’ pay and reimbursement for the hotel they booked to wait for their new truck to be out of the shop. 

“It was all empty promises,” said the younger trucker, who asked to be identified by his Twitter handle @RunnTDC or by SuperHussle. “I thought we were friends but now he’s in the wind and he’s not going to respond to me anymore. He’s blocked all of our numbers.”

His dad did not want to be named or interviewed for the article for fear of retaliation. 

Co. drivers paid as 1099 contractors

At one point, SuperHussle, who said the pair operated as company drivers but were paid as 1099 contractors, asked Krizanac if they could move personal items they cleared out of their other truck, check out of the hotel and stay in the new truck until it was finished amid dwindling funds. 

Krizanac’s response back to the drivers was: “Company is bankrupt and closed, bro. Trucks went back to [the] bank,” according to one of the text messages shared with FreightWaves.

As of publication on Wednesday, FreightWaves was unable to confirm that Cromex Inc. had filed for bankruptcy. 

Cromex listed 15 power units and 16 drivers when it updated its MCS-150 form in October 2022, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s SAFER website. 

However, one of the drivers said that number had dropped to around five trucks in the months leading up to the closure.

Over the past 24 months, Cromex’s trucks had been inspected 20 times, and six had been placed out of service for a 30% out-of-service rate. That is higher than the industry’s national average of around 22%, according to FMCSA data.

The company’s drivers had been inspected 43 times and three were placed out of service, resulting in a 7% out-of-service rate. The national average for drivers is about 6.6%.

The firm’s trucks have been involved in three crashes, including one with injuries and two towaways over the past 24 months.  

The father-and-son team has driven for Cromex twice — once for six months and the second time for almost a year. 

“The first time we left after six months was because the truck was in the shop more than it was on the road and we barely made any money,” SuperHussle said. “We came back to Cromex when the company we moved to started to not make money or pay on time.”

When asked when he and his dad would be paid and why he gave up the truck, Krizanac responded, “Because I lose money running your a** on a truck [with] payment.”

He also texted the drivers, “You won’t get sh** now and find a new job.”

Daniel Krizanac and his wife, Ervina Krizanac, failed to respond to FreightWaves’ messages seeking comment.

As Cromex closes, new company opens

According to Illinois secretary of state business filings, Cromex Inc. was incorporated by Danijel Krizanac in April 2017 but isn’t in good standing after failing to file an annual report.

Illinois business filings state that Ervina Krizanac recently opened a trucking company called Boscro Cargo in Evanston, Illinois, with its operating authority being reinstated on March 31. According to FMCSA data, Boscro is using the same DOT and motor carrier numbers as another company she owns, Royal Queen Trans Inc., which had its operating authority revoked in March 2018. 

Before his number was blocked, SuperHussle said he sent a final plea to the company owner to pay him and his dad because they didn’t have the funds to make it back home.

Daniel Krizanac’s response was to “figure it out and start making calls for a new job,” SuperHussle said.

“Since the market went into the tank, he can’t pay us on time, if at all, and now he just lured us up here under false pretenses to dump us in the street, literally,” SuperHussle said.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has arrived in China Wednesday where he’s expected to meet with President Xi Jinping and join Beijing’s to push for peace in Ukraine, which Washington officials have dismissed as an insincere and empty ploy (that is, Xi’s 12-point peace plan), given Russia and China’s political closeness of late.

Brazil is China’s biggest trading partner, thus it could prove Lula’s most consequential foreign trip of his presidency. The two leaders are expected to sign at least 20 bilateral agreements during Lula’s two-day stay – a trip that will also be watched closely in the West.

NOW – Brazil’s Lula da Silva arrives in China.pic.twitter.com/xQqgcGW2LK

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) April 12, 2023

“Lula wants Brazil, China and other nations to help mediate the war as part of his nation’s return to the world stage, but his proposals to end the conflict have irked Ukraine and some in the West,” AP observes. “Less controversial is the Brazilian and Chinese mutual interest in trade after a rocky period under Lula’s predecessor.”

“I want the Chinese to understand that their investment here will be wonderfully welcome, but not to buy our companies. To build new things, which we need,” Lula told Brazilian journalists days ahead of the trip. Brazil each year ships tens of billions of dollars worth of soybeans, poultry, sugar cane, beef, iron ore, pulp, cotton and crude oil to China.

But more closely watched on a global level will be any statement put out related to the war in Ukraine, given that both China and Brazil alongside Russia are BRICS members, aimed at pushing back against the U.S.-dominated system of how global affairs are managed.

But there are signs that Ukraine won’t be center state during talks, as CNN quotes one regional analyst to say…

While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has dominated much diplomatic conversation in Europe and in Washington, Lula’s official schedule doesn’t mention it, despite previous vows to discuss peacemaking strategies with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

“From what I heard, removing Ukraine from the list of things that they’re going to discuss was a demand from the Chinese government,” says Igor Patrick, a research scholar at the Kissinger Institute on China at the Wilson Centre.

“There’s still some interest from the Brazilian part to raise the issue and to discuss ideas, and they hope to release a joint statement where they mention the Ukrainian conflict, calls for a peaceful solution and mediated diplomatically, but it’s not officially on the program and to a large extent that was expectable,” Patrick told CNN.

NYT: Brazil, under Lula, still refuses to provide arms to Ukraine, causing big problems for Kiev as Western arms dry up.

Lula’s 2 key points: 1) our war is to improve our citizens’ lives, not with Russia; 2) we want to facilitate peace, not fuel war:https://t.co/PDqWASsLpT

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) April 12, 2023

Brazil is among BRICS countries that while friendly to the US has refused to bow to Washington pressure to provide arms or defensive aid to Ukraine.

Lula’s plane touched down in Shanghai Wednesday night, with the state visit slated to run to April 15.

Via SchiffGold.com,

In a surprise move earlier this month, OPEC announced further oil production cuts of about 1.16 million barrels per day. Analysts projected the cuts could raise the price of oil by $10 per barrel. Peter Schiff recently appeared on NewsMax’s Wake Up America and explained why these production cuts will further complicate the Federal Reserve’s efforts to fight price inflation, and more broadly, how global moves like this and others undermine the dollar.

Peter called the production cuts “a very big deal” and said it is clearly complicating efforts to bring down price inflation — especially given the fact that we’re in the midst of another financial crisis.

Not only is the supply of oil going to come down, but the supply of money – US dollars – used to buy oil is going up. The Fed has already gone back to quantitative easing to bail out the banks. So, we’re printing more money, but we’re not producing as much oil.”

Compounding the problem is the fact that the world is starting to divest itself from US dollars.

That will put more downward pressure on the value of the dollar, which of course will put more upward pressure on the price of oil.”

Wake Up America host Carl Higbie noted that President Trump made energy independence a priority. Peter said it’s not just energy independence that is necessary.

We need to be able to produce everything. We’re dependent on the rest of the world for everything that we consume because we no longer have the industrial capacity that we once enjoyed because of the policies that have been pursued for decades. We have too much regulation. We have too high taxes and too much government spending, and so we’re not producing what Americans consume. We rely on the rest of the world.”

Peter pointed out that the only way the US can rely on the world as it does is because the dollar is the reserve currency.

We may lose that privilege over the next several years, maybe even over the next few months. Who knows?”

The BRICS nations recently announced plans for a new currency. Higbie asked what impact that could have even if it only usurps a small percentage of global trade in dollars. Peter said he thinks it would hurt “substantially.”

And once they start moving in that direction, the pendulum is going to continue to swing. There are all sorts of reasons why the world should want to divest of dollars and no longer depend on the US dollar as a reserve currency, but we gave them another one. The Biden administration in slapping those economic sanctions on Russia really highlighted how dangerous it is to allow the United States to enjoy this privilege. And so, we have scared the world into divesting of dollars, something they should have done anyway because it was in their economic interest to do so.”

Peter emphasized that the dollar’s role as the world currency is a huge privilege for the US that the rest of the world pays for.

It enables Americans to live beyond our means. We’re able to consume all kinds of stuff that we did not produce. And the only reason we could do that is because we could print money that costs us nothing and our trading partners will accept that instead of actual goods. If we lose that privilege, our standard of living is going to implode.”

Higbie asked Peter what he would tell Joe Biden to do if he had 30 seconds with the president.

Well, he needs to resign. But he also needs to take Kamala Harris with him. But what we need is free market capitalism. We don’t need more government solutions to government-created problems. Government has to get out of the way so free market capitalism can clean up the mess government created.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a Tuesday press conference had warned journalists against “even setting foot” in Russia, following the arrest on espionage charges of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. 

“And I think it sends a very strong message to people around the world to beware of even setting foot there lest they be arbitrarily detained, and in the context of being arbitrarily detained not even having access for the diplomats who are there to look out for their interests and who, as a matter of solemn international obligations that Russia has undertaken, should be allowed that access,” Blinken said in the remarks.

“I’m not going to get into what measures, steps we’re taking or might take to do that.  I can simply tell you that we are engaged every single day in pressing for that access as well as pressing for Evan’s release,” he continued.

The day prior, Gershkovich was classified by the State Department and Biden administration as wrongfully detained. This means the US can legally approach the case as a hostage negotiation and thus use all available means to obtain their release, including potential prisoner swap, as was controversially done with the WNBA’s Griner. At this point, the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs can get involved, utilizing interagency resources as well.

Blinken in the new statements also confirmed President Biden spoke to Gershkovich’s family on Tuesday.

Addressing the issue of lack of consular access for the detained journalists, Blinken said, “The fact that Russia has not granted that access puts it once again in violation of international commitments it’s made, commitments that are at the heart of diplomatic relations between countries and the ability of our citizens as well to be able to safely be present in other countries.”

It should be recalled that multiple months passed before Griner was declared wrongfully detained, which is what ultimately led to her being swapped for Russian arms trafficker Viktor Bout; but in Gershkovich’s case, it has only taken a few weeks. Clearly, the US administration wants to see Gershkovich back quickly, despite the major obstacles.

You’d think the Kremlin’s phony spy charge against Evan Gershkovich would stir up Anglo-US journalists & politicians to agitate against the savage imprisonment of Assange on phony spy charges.https://t.co/VIG70rvHG5

— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) April 11, 2023

With these new warnings for journalists to ‘not even step foot’ in Russia, the administration is wary that Russian authorities may go after more American citizens to use as bargaining chips and leverage.

The backlash against Bud Light has intensified following a controversial ad campaign featuring transgender ‘influencer’ Dylan Mulvaney drinking transgender-themed beer in a bathtub.

According to John Ruch, country music singer and owner of the Redneck Riviera bar in Nashville, TN, Bud Light used to be their most popular beer.

“The customers decide. Customers are king,” he told Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Monday. “I own a bar in downtown Nashville called Redneck Riviera. Our number-one selling beer up until a few days ago was what? Bud Light. We got cases and cases and cases of it sitting back there. But in the past several days, you’re hard-pressed to find anyone ordering one. So as a business owner, I go, hey if you aren’t ordering it, we got to put something else in here. At the end of the day, that’s capitalism. That’s how it works.”

According to Rich, fans are finding it “hard to stay loyal” to now-woke brands, and are instead voting with their wallets.

“And there are tons of up-and-coming American brands that people are flooding to right now,” he said.

In one video, a beer merchandiser said of the situation; “I’ve never seen such little sales as in the past few days… I can’t feed my family.”

At Braintree Brewhouse in Massachusetts, Bud Light normally outsells rivals Miller Lite and Coors Light by 25:1, according to owner Alex Kesaris, who said that this week, 80% of Bud Light drinkers ordered something else, while the 20% who did order it “weren’t on social media and hadn’t heard yet,” regarding the transgender ad campaign.

“I think society flexes it muscles sometimes and reminds manufacturers that the consumer is still in charge,” said Jeff Fitter, owner of Case & Bucks restaurant and sports bar in Barnhart Missouri, in a statement to Fox Business. “In Bud Light’s effort to be inclusive, they excluded almost everybody else, including their traditional audience.”

Fitter says he’s witnessed a ‘catastrophic decrease’ in sales of Anheuser-Busch bottled products this week of 30%, while draught beer sales plummeted 50%.

Even in Hell’s Kitchen, New York, Bud Light sales were down 70% at one pub, according to Fox Business.

The bar typically sells though three kegs of Bud Light at the event — a total of 495 12-ounce pours. 

The bar sold only four 12-ounce Bud Light bottles this week, as the dart players held a mass protest against their league sponsor. 

“They’ve already done enough damage in one week to disrupt year-long sales projections,” one beer-sales representative told the outlet. “You don’t just make up those sales. People aren’t going to drink twice as much Bud Light the following weekend to recover the lost business.”

Bud Light decided to prioritize Wokeness over their customers, now they’re hurting the people who are selling their beer

Merchandiser who sells their products to stores: “I’ve never seen such little sales as in the past few days… I can’t feed my family”pic.twitter.com/8g41TUFpOl

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) April 11, 2023

Earlier this month, Anheuser-Busch, the maker of Bud Light, sent custom beer cans to Mulvaney featuring the trans activist’s face, a move that was criticized as pushing the transgender agenda. The custom can was created to celebrate a full year of Mulvaney transitioning to “girlhood,” according to the trans star’s Instagram post on April 1. In the ad, Mulvaney is shown promoting Bud Light drinks with the hashtag #budlightpartner.

In a video, singer Kid Rock used Bud Light cans as target practice to express his anger at the promotional campaign. “Grandpa’s feeling a little frisky today,” he said.

Mike Crispi, a podcast host and former Republican New Jersey primary candidate for Congress, had called for a boycott. “Boycott Bud Light and NEVER DRINK IT AGAIN EVER,” he stated in a tweet on April 3. -The Epoch Times

pic.twitter.com/dSmCGySoul

— KidRock (@KidRock) April 4, 2023

“What’s happening, Tucker, is people who have been loyal to brands for decades and decades are finding it hard to stay loyal to them, so they start hunting down other brands that they can support. There are tons of up-and-coming American brands out there that people are flooding to, kind of like mine,” Rich continued.

🤣 This is real! I went to
my local store, and she said they haven’t sold a 12-pack or 30-pack of Bud Light this whole week!#BudLightWentWoke #budlight pic.twitter.com/lNmZ18PgnZ

— 🇺🇲Tea.Party.Patriot.1776🇺🇲 (@T3aPartyPatriot) April 8, 2023

The perfect message to Bud Light pic.twitter.com/TxhOUOz7Vb

— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) April 8, 2023

More via the Epoch Times;

A ‘Truly Inclusive’ Campaign That ‘Feels Lighter and Brighter’

Bud Light’s promotional campaign with Mulvaney came after it appointed Alissa Heinerscheid as the vice president of the company in July 2022. With her appointment, Heinerscheid became the first woman to lead Bud Light in the company’s four-decade history.

Heinerscheid admitted that she wanted to push an “inclusive” ideology within the company during a March 23 podcast, “Make Yourself at Home,” hosted by Kristin Twiford.

“Female representation in this role has been something I’ve been really committed to … Ever since I took this job, I wanted to try to move the needle in some small choices along the way.”

“I had a really clear job to do when I took over Bud Light. And it was ‘This brand is in decline. It’s been in a decline for a really long time. And if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand, there will be no future for Bud Light.’ So, I have this super-clear mandate. It’s that we need to evolve and elevate this incredibly iconic brand,” she said.

Alissa Heinerscheid, Bud Light’s VP of Marketing, doubles down on her extreme woke strategy to promote the “declining” American beer brand to “young people”, while smearing her former customers as “fratty and out of touch”.

How’s that working out for you, lady? @budlight pic.twitter.com/zNYKbMnZnu

— Old Row (@OldRowOfficial) April 9, 2023

“What does evolve and elevate mean? It means inclusivity. It means shifting the tone. It means having a campaign that’s truly inclusive and feels lighter and brighter and different. And appeals to women and to men. And representation is sort of the heart of evolution.”

“You gotta see people who reflect you in the work. And we have this hangover. I mean, Bud Light had been kind of a brand of fratty, kind of out-of-touch humor. And it was really important we had another approach.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to Anheuser-Busch for comment. The company has not made a public statement since the public backlash.

Authored by Mark Jeftovic via BombThrower.com,

Pinko politicians and corporate media teaming up to gaslight the public.

Now that inflation is here to the point where the government can no longer pretend it isn’t, the junior partner in Canada’s ruling Liberal/Socialist coalition has been busily pillorying grocery store CEO’s for their  “$1 million dollars per day in excess profits” .

There is no such thing as “excess profits”.
Only excess government.

— Mark Jeftovic, The ₿itcoin Capitalist (@StuntPope) April 10, 2023

Now the Canadian corporate media, is joining the chorus, chiming in with a survey that purports to show how

“Canadians think grocery chain price gouging is the main reason food prices have been rising in Canada. “

According to the survey, 31% of Canadians think that – but as it typical with corporate media agitprop, it is framed as though this is the prevailing sentiment.

Which came first? The perception that grocery stores cause inflation? Or politicians and the corporate press brainwashing the public with this messaging until a growing number of them come to believe it?

Grocery stores have pretty thin margins. In a case like Loblaws (Singh’s scapegoat of choice) it’s about 30% gross, and net is 3.7% based on last quarter’s figures. 

And while consumer staples tend to hold up better during recessions and tough economic times, they are typically boring, stodgy and unglamorous.

They don’t “moon” during up-cycles, and nobody gets lauded for owning or allocating to them – but some of the more seasoned and responsible fiduciaries (like pension funds and labour unions) do tend to allocate to them because they are: solid, predictable, and actually pay a steady dividend.

Where’s the crime in that?

Apparently it’s in running a solid business that can maintain their shareholders, including those labour unions and pension funds – and just as importantly, do it without laying off employees. Even worse, it seems, is that they able to do so without needing government bailouts and special legislation in order to survive like their counterparts in the Canadian media.

Why grocery stores?

Two years ago we were sticking “Support our front-line workers” signs on our lawns. Now we are telling everybody that they all work for evil, price gouging corporations.

If Jagmeet Singh wanted to demonize an industry that unambiguously profiteered off the misery of society throughout these challenging times, could he have possibly come up with a better candidate?

Loblaws’ gross margins have been declining over the past year, despite the inflation driven rise in the top line. Contrast with Pfizer, whose gross margins and net profits literally exploded under worldwide vaccine mandates that effectively made their product compulsory, despite the mounting evidence that they were never adequately tested, never actually worked, and not even safe.

Pfizer’s gross margins are 65%, more than double Loblaws. Their top line revenues were $100 billion USD for 2022, giving them a $65 billion gross profit.

In other words:

• Loblaws operating profit margin = 3%

• Pfizer’s operating profit margin = 36%

• Loblaws net income was $438 million on roughly $13B total revenues (CAD)

• Pfizer’s net income (profits) was $36 Billion on $100 Billion Revenues (USD)

Maybe Singh should be picking on Big Pharma instead?

The real reason for inflation

Of course, we live in a pharmatocracy now, and blaming grocery store chains for cost inflation is straight out of the Marxist-Leninist playbook. Keynes was apparently quoting Lenin when he wrote the famous “best way to destroy the capitalist system was to debauch the currency” passage. We’ve all seen that one a million times, including Keynes’ comment on it that,

“The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose.”

At first glance one might think Jagmeet Singh is among those who can’t diagnose it. But I doubt that. Lesser known lines from that same Keynes passage exposed the ruse of demonizing those whose concerns are able to withstand government induced inflation:

“By this method [the State] not only confiscate, but they confiscate arbitrarily; and, while the process impoverishes many, it actually enriches some. The sight of this arbitrary rearrangement of riches strikes not only at security but [also] at confidence in the equity of the existing distribution of wealth.

Those to whom the system brings windfalls, beyond their deserts and even beyond their expectations or desires, become “profiteers,” who are the object of the hatred of the bourgeoisie, whom the inflationism has impoverished, not less than of the proletariat.

As the inflation proceeds and the real value of the currency fluctuates wildly from month to month, all permanent relations between debtors and creditors, which form the ultimate foundation of capitalism, become so utterly disordered as to be almost meaningless; and the process of wealth-getting degenerates into a gamble and a lottery.”

Lenin’s passage was never sourced beyond Keynes’ commentary on it. It is possibly apocryphal, albeit authored by a Marxist nonetheless, since it turns out Keynes was a commie anyway.

To get to the true root cause of inflation, we find it in the words of Milton Friedman:

“Inflation is always and everywhere, a monetary phenomenon. It’s always and everywhere, a result of too much money, of a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than an output.”

You look at the money supply. Here is Canada’s long term chart:

Source: TradingEconomics / StatsCan

In slightly under my lifetime, Canada’s gross M2 went from $38 billion in 1968 to $1.8 Trillion in 2020, that took 52 years.

Then when 2020 hits, we see the angle of the slope accelerates. M2 money supply moves from $1.8 Trillion to $2.4 Trillion, adding a full 33% onto the money supply in under two years.

Source: Ycharts

The graph exemplifies the old adage of “gradually, then suddenly”. At some point, inexplicably, inflation hits. Gee, I wonder where that came from?

If politicians or media pundits are blaming businesses (whose supply chain costs are skyrocketing) for inflation, you are either listening to somebody who is profoundly ignorant, deliberately deceptive, or both.

In my next piece I’m going to explain why when the economic denominator (the currency) is elastic and infinite, you get misery, poverty and ultimately a communist dictatorship;  why CBDCs are simply the next logical step toward this outcome and how an inelastic, fixed economic denominator (like Bitcoin), fixes all this and creates a virtuous feedback loop of prosperity and abundance. Join the Bombthrower mailing list to get that next piece.

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If you aren’t on my premium Bitcoin Capitalist newsletter service, then you missed me calling the bottom back in January, when BTC was about $14,000 USD cheaper.  The new cycle is here and as soon as my new site is online I’m raising the price of The Bitcoin Capitalist. You can lock in your price today and keep the old rate after the hike. 

A busy-ish day for macro with cooler-than-expected inflation (but under the hood not so great), hawkish FedSpeak (more work to do, job’s not done yet), and ‘meh’ FOMC Minutes (mild recession coming).

As a reminder, US macro data has been serially underwhelming since the last FOMC meeting…

1030ET Richmond Fed’s Barkin said policymakers still have more work to do to tame prices after fresh data Wednesday showed inflation remained well above the Fed’s 2% target.

“I certainly think we are past peak on inflation, but we still have a ways to go,” Barkin said in a CNBC interview from Roanoke, Virginia, where the bank was hosting a conference. Barkin said he sees signs that demand is cooling, but said he was wary of declaring victory on inflation too soon, and noted that prices excluding food and energy were still too high.

“There’s still more to do I think to get core inflation back down to where we’d like it to be,” he said, but he stopped short of saying whether he would support a rate hike at the Fed’s May 2-3 policy meeting.

1200ET SF Fed’s Daly was more hawkish:

“Looking ahead, there are good reasons to think that policy may have to tighten more to bring inflation down,” Daly said Wednesday in prepared remarks for an event at the Salt Lake Chamber in Utah.

1400ET The FOMC Minutes did not offer too much new insight aside from admitting that staff expect a mild recession this year – stocks initially ignored it, bonds and gold rallied modestly on the Minutes. Then stocks caught on to the recession headlines and tumbled, helped by hawkish comments from French central bank chief Villeroy:

“We may possibly still have a little way to go on rate hikes at our next meetings.”

Villeroy cautioned that the growth in core prices – which excludes energy and food costs – “remains strong and is proving sticky.”

Nasdaq was the day’s biggest loser while The Dow was the least ugly horse in the glue factory…

0DTE traders tried to ignite some upside momentum at the cash open after CPI’s spike had faded. They also tried again on the FOMC Minutes (but that quickly reversed and dragged the market to its lows)….

Source:SpotGamma

After all that chaos, rate-hike odds for May were – drum roll please – unchanged at around 75% of a 25bps hike…

Source: Bloomberg

Treasuries were volatile and ended the day mixed with the long-end underperforming. Yields tumbled on the CPI print, jumped on the weak auction and the faded, accelerating on the recession warning from the Minutes. By the close 2Y Yields were down 5bps while the long-end was up 2bps…

Source: Bloomberg

An ugly 10Y auction took yields to the highs of the day, but the ‘r word’ in the FOMC Minutes dragged yields back down. The 2y yield ended back below 4.00%…

Source: Bloomberg

The dollar dived on the CPI print (dovish) and ignored the rest of the hawkish comments…

Source: Bloomberg

Bitcoin spiked up to within a tick of $30,500 on the CPI print then drifted back below $30,000…

Source: Bloomberg

Ethereum managed to get back above $1900…

Source: Bloomberg

Oil prices surged today (after CPI and inventory data), with WTI breaking out above $83 – its highest since Nov ’22…

Source: Bloomberg

Gold was a little more chaotic today, with overnight gains fading into CPI… then spiking on CPI (before tumbling back)… and then re-rallying with futures back above $2030…

Finally, we note today’s action in gold and oil reminded us that investors had – until recently – dusted off a classic recession play…

Source: Bloomberg

As Bloomberg’s Ven Ram noted earlier, the ratio between gold and oil has surged to almost 24 from average levels of around 17 that have prevailed since the start of the millennium. Gains in bullion tend to far outstrip increases in oil prices during the onset of a recession. That’s because investors position themselves for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, after a long period of expansion when they would have been typically focused on the inflationary impulse stemming from higher energy prices.

But that recent reversal may suggest recession fears are easing a smidge (or is this a remnant of the ‘paper’ nature of the contracts used to construct the ratio – rather than the physical gold vs physical oil reality)?

Last month, the spread between high-yield dollar-denominated corporate bonds and those on investment-grade securities widened to levels that have been sufficient to trigger a recession in the past…

Source: Bloomberg

so…maybe The Fed’s staff are right after all (but will it be mild?)