Why are Robots Changing the Future?

Posted Aug 30, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Do you think that robots will eliminate a lot of jobs in the future?

EH

ANSWER: Yes. But you have to understand WHY are we even turning to robots. The answer to that question is TAXES & SOCIALISM! The bottom line is rather blunt. Any routine job that can be replaced by allowing the consumer to choose their own order to be it at a fast-food store or the internet will be at risk along with jobs that are easily be defined by a mathematical or logic equation will be at risk in the future. Many companies are now limiting workers to 33 hours per week or less to simply avoid having to provide benefits and pensions.

Health reform is ABSOLUTELY vital for the future. To be able to provide REASONABLE health care at a reasonable cost DEMANDS tort reform. This is what is driving the cost of medicine really high because the doctors have to pay huge insurance fees because of the lawyers. Turn on the radio and you hear ads for lawyers all the time. They are the NUMBER ONE occupation among those in Congress so you can bet they will NEVER provide tort reform against their own industry. This idea of universal health care is a real joke. They will make comparisons to Europe, but fail to explain that doctors work for the government in most cases.

Obamacare really escalated the entire problem. What Obama pulled off was the idea that forcing the youth to buy insurance would reduce the cost for those who really needed it. There were ZERO reforms and just more bureaucracy. You cannot get the benefits without reforming the system.

Then throw in the pension crisis. This is leading to growing part-time employment and makes robots VERY attractive to replace jobs because they do not require benefits and salaries. As for universal income, here we go again. This is another ploy where we keep trying to come up with schemes that support a system that is failing. Deal with the heart of the issue and just maybe we might get somewhere.

Let’s eliminate the income tax and adopt a new system which will not make labor outrageously expensive.

Life-insurance is always paying back with a cheaper dollar.

Real Estate & Understanding The Role of Debt

Posted Aug 22, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you so much for what you all do.

I was just reading today’s Blog 17-08-2018 –  ‘ Real Estate – Leverage – Transition to the Reset ‘.   The bit I did not understand was where it was written  ‘ Keep in mind that as the currency declines, then the repayment cost of a mortgage declines. One the one hand, mortgages will be unavailable but those who hold the mortgage lose the most ‘

My question is when the Reset happens in which way will the mortgage holders lose the most even if the repayment cost of a mortgage declines ?  I live in the UK

thank you so much

ANSWER: Since I posted that chart from Socrates that illustrates real estate, many people have written in to ask where can they find that on Socrates. This is part of the pro-version that will be release WE HOPE for the WEC this year. Here are the real estate markets covered by Socrates at this time.

What I mean when I say that those who hold mortgages lose in such a situation of a decline in the purchasing power of a currency is basic. The city of Detroit suspended its payments on bonds in 1937. They resumed in 1963. Now they say they never defaulted. However, they paid back with cheaper dollars. The holder of a mortgage or a bond charges interest which is supposed to be more than the inflation rate. When inflation exceeds the interest rate, then you are paying back with cheaper dollars.

Take a life-insurance policy. If you bought one in the 1940s and it was for the huge amount of $5,000, after funeral costs of say $1,500, you left your heirs a sizable chunk of money. Today, that is nothing and will cover at best 20% of the cost of a funeral. Life-insurance is always paying back with a cheaper dollar. This is the problem in Europe. Greece, Italy, and Spain were accustomed to paying their past debts with a cheaper currency. When they converted their debts to the Euro and the Euro doubled in value, suddenly they went into deflation and cannot pay their debts and survive.

The borrower always benefits over the long-run because they are traditionally paying back with cheaper currency. If you took out a mortgage in 2007 when the pound hit 2.11 and you paid it off in 2016 when the pound was 1.18, you saved 44% in real terms of currency. This is what was behind the real estate boom that government and the vast majority of people do not understand. One of the reasons I have been blamed for creating the take over boom back in the 1980s, was that I had shown some of the takeover playing how to use currency. In the case of Alan Bond who bought all the Courage Pubs back then, we were borrowing in a currency that was declining against the pound. I showed him and others how to take debt and convert it into a performing asset. They were the fun times.

NEVER voluntarily give up your DNA to anyone!!!!!!!!!!!

Giving Up your DNA to Anyone – Bad Idea

Posted Jun 16, 2018 by Martin Armstrong
The pitch by various ancestry operations is to send in your DNA by spitting into a vile and they will tell you your ethnic background. Sounds nice, but they then keep it. Why? The greatest danger is that such info can be turned over to the government at any moment. Giving up your DNA is actually giving up your entire family. People have been arrested because their DNA has been traced thanks to some family member who the government has in their database.

But the risk of a crime is not really the big issue for most people. The real risk is that insurance companies can deny insurance based upon getting your DNA covertly and determining that you are at high risk of heart attack or stroke. Canadian lawmakers passed the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act on March 8, 2017. This law would make it illegal for employers or insurance companies in Canada to discriminate against people based on their genetic information.

Back in 2008, Congress passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, which prohibits discrimination against Americans based on their genetic information in both health insurance (Title I) and employment (Title II). The danger presented is if you “voluntarily” give up your DNA, they can argue you “waived” all your rights. Then Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, The Affordable Care Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act all are supposed to protect you from discrimination based upon your DNA.

You should know that last year on August 22nd, 2017, the United States District Court of the District of Columbia ruled that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), should reconsider the rule that states it is permissible for employer-sponsored wellness programs to offer inducements in exchange for employees’ health information. The cap for these inducements is 30% of the cost of health insurance for a single person.

They are claiming that the 30% cap is to maintain the voluntary nature of workplace wellness programs. They are only allowed to gather employees’ health information IF participation in the wellness program is voluntary. In AARP v. EEOC (EEOC & DNA), the American Association for Retired Persons challenged EEOC’s rule allowing the 30% inducement, arguing the cap is in no way voluntary as it is high and, therefore, coercive. The court decision stated that EEOC had not adequately explained why it concluded that the 30% cap was reasonable to maintain the voluntariness of wellness programs. The judge did not immediately call for EEOC to strike the rule but has directed the agency to reconsider the rule and develop a reasonable explanation for the connection between voluntariness and the 30% cap. That is DISCRIMINATION based upon your DNA and people need to be very careful because insurance companies are NOTORIOUSLY dishonest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEVER voluntarily give up your DNA to anyone!!!!!!!!!!! These companies change their policies all the time. They call it “updating” but that means when you turn over your DNA and they said they would not resell that info, here comes a policy statement that retroactively changes the terms you agree to way back when. We are used to this Ex Post Facto changes in policy from Facebook, Google, and countless others. It is a HUGE risk when it comes to personal info and especially DNA.