Victory For The Market: Blackrock Drops "ESG" & Adds Saudi Oil CEO To Board
The market (i.e., billions of individual decisions) cannot be defeated by decisions of the few (i.e., authoritarians, utopians and busybodies). The few can temporarily manipulate and distort the market, but it's always a fool's errand. The market ultimately reasserts itself. Blackrock tried to overpower the market with its "ESG" or Environmental, Social & Governance scheme. But the market is, once again, having the final say.
Hello everybody and thank you for tuning in to the Liberty Report.
With us today is Chris Rossini, our co-host.
Chris, welcome to the program.
Great to be with you again, Dr. Paul.
Good.
Guess what we're going to start off with?
As usual, quite frequently on Friday, we'll talk about gold and Birch Gold Company as well.
But gold has been in the news, and we've talked about it, and we're showing we talk about BRIC and other countries that are threatening the dollar.
And I think that discussion is well deserved.
And I do believe that the dollar long term is doomed to its position in the world today.
And that the talk of gold is a serious thing.
But the big thing, recognizing what's happening and why the dollar is on the ropes and the changes are coming and people are talking more about gold, doesn't mean that you have control of an understanding of exactly when and how it'll operate.
Because there's a lot of people involved in doing it.
There's a lot of mischief.
Governments will manipulate and try to prevent things from getting out of hand.
But it certainly is getting a lot of attention.
Now, I got interested in a very serious manner in the 1960s when the prediction was that the gold ratio of $35 an ounce, which had been around for 40 years, was going to end.
In 1971, it did end.
But it was the price of gold, the ratio was at $35 an ounce, but not without a lot of government manipulation.
And I bring this subject up because I get a lot of questions about, does the government manipulate the gold price?
And will the government confiscate gold?
First, I don't think they're going to get around to confiscating gold.
They may regulate it a lot more and tax it or whatever.
But they're not going to knock on the doors like they did in the 30s.
But gold is something that they look at carefully.
I remember when gold was re-legalized in this country in 1975, it was a big day here.
Here it was illegal to buy gold.
It became legal.
But the price of gold in the market that was existing had already pushed the price of gold up.
It already discounted the stuff.
It was going illegal.
But there were a lot of people, including the government, who were thinking, boy, when it's legalized, it's going to go from $35 up to $500 in one day or something.
Well, that didn't happen.
Matter of fact, gold was very soft and actually went down.
And one of the reasons is people knew it was coming.
And the other thing was that they thought that the gold that was illegal, that when it was made legal, that there might not be such smooth sailing.
But also remember, our government and the IMF, the world governments, were very concerned about this getting out of control.
So they conspired on that very day.
They from the IMF and our treasury dumped gold, which was another interference in the gold market.
I have a lot of people, though, that argue with me on that.
And they say, oh, the libertarians, they say, they can't set the price of gold.
And I, you know, more or less agree with them, but they can have a lot of mischief and it can be caused for a long time.
And there's evidence that they have in the past.
And that makes investing in gold and protecting oneself a little more difficult because of this.
Because you can't just say, well, if there's debt, they're going to print money and the gold price is just going to go up like the debt.
You know, on long term, that's exactly what's happening.
But on the short times, things go up and down, and there are a lot of variables.
Wars are started.
And so all that has to be factored in.
So I think this is something that people have to realize that it is not real easy to decide what is the best investment or the best way to protect against what we know is coming, but not exactly.
Right now, gold has gone up a month ago significantly.
Now it's sort of meandering.
But it might be the time people have not gotten into gold.
Might be a good time to do it.
I generally think that if you understand gold and you think you have the cash to do it, don't try and out-guess the market.
But that's my personal opinion.
But right now, I think it will be an opportune time for people to get started.
One thing that we offer from the program is our partnership with Birch Gold because they have pamphlets and information on how you can invest in real gold in your gold IRA.
And it gets a little complex.
There's paperwork that has to be done.
And there's a lot of this type of activity going on.
So if you'd like to get a little bit more information on this and how you can actually hold gold in your IRA, you can get this information by texting Ron 98989A.
And they'll send you a package and tell you some of the things they have to do and what you can do to follow up.
If you have done it or are wondering about it or you want to follow through, just consider doing that.
You know, texting Ron 98989A, and they will send you this material.
But Chris, today we do want to spend a little bit more time.
We'll always talk about gold because gold is a reflection of a lot.
And I keep thinking, yeah, I think that was one of the first gifts the Christ child received.
Gold must be important then.
But gold has been around for a longer time than that, many thousands of years, even before the time Christ was born.
Gold has been a standing commodity, probably one of the most important commodities in all of history for trying to measure and guide wealth and value.
And it has been said many times, and I happen to believe it, that some things can almost follow a gold price.
They always claim a very good man suit can be around an ounce of gold.
Gold's Historical Role00:14:45
And that generally has followed it because back in the Depression, you know, $35 probably bought you a pretty good suit.
But nowadays, you need, I guess, as much as you want to spend on a suit.
But things do go up in price, and it's not easy to figure out.
But there's always gimmicks.
Right now, the gimmick we want to talk about is Black Rock.
BlackRock is big-time business, and that's Larry Fink's little pet project.
And he's been around a while back in 1986.
He was involved in investments, and he didn't do so well back then.
Back then, when a dollar was a real dollar, he lost $100 million in a year.
So he was never perfect in his investments.
And yet he was selected, I believe, and endorsed by the officials and the deep state to manage money for the big guys, for the governments, state governments, and big corporations and all.
And he became the largest in the world.
He probably is close to it now.
$10 trillion he's been able to manage.
This is pretty amazing.
But I feared that from the very beginning because he was promising to invest in ESG, you know, environment, social, and governmental activities to appeal to the progressive and be morally correct on how your investment goes.
And they had ways of threatening people if they didn't do it.
So it was a coercive measure.
And I thought, there's enough malinvestment to go around just with the artificial interest rates we have, business and consumers trying to figure out what to do with a guide from the interest rates.
Well, they did.
They did big.
But there was news.
Of course, Chris has looked at this, and that is this past week there was some news coming out that maybe BlackRock is not doing so well.
But there's been hints of that all along.
The system was flawed from the beginning.
But I think this week, Chris, I think there's been a few things that indicates that they might be in serious trouble.
And you combine that with the already built-in malinvestment from inflating the currency and all the things that we have done the last 10 years.
That's why I think the bubble is big and the bubble is bursting.
Yes, Dr. Paul, it is good news.
We're talking about the market, how the market cannot be defeated.
It cannot be overpowered in the long term.
Now, what exactly is the market?
Well, it's very simple.
It's billions and billions of individual decisions that we each make every single day at all moments, like right now.
You know, we always choose, I value this over this.
I value this over this.
Right now, I value speaking to our audience more than anything else I could be doing right now.
And this is what 7 billion people do all the time.
We're constantly, I value this more than $10.
I value $10 more than this.
So that's what the market is.
That's why it's so powerful and cannot be overturned.
But there are always the few that have a problem with this.
They say, no, you're going to value what I tell you to value.
And that's the authoritarians, all the utopians, all the busybodies, the central planners.
And they try to manipulate the market.
And again, they can distort the market.
They can manipulate it.
But it's always temporary.
It's always a fool's errand because in the end, the market always overpowers them.
It smashes their schemes.
And this has been done throughout all time by kings, by oligarchies, by democracies, by totalitarians.
They all try to say, no, you're going to value what we say you're going to value, and they're always doomed to failure.
So that's, you know, BlackRock is just yet another example.
They came up with this ESG scheme, this environmental, social, and governance, and now they're backtracking.
They even put an oil guy, the Saudi oil CEO, on their board.
And they said that, you know, what Ron DeSantis did in Florida by pulling their money out of BlackRock and all the decisions that have been made by people boycotting these woke corporations.
This is all an agenda that's trying to be pushed into a market, and the market is saying no.
So finally, BlackRock is now starting to at least go backwards.
I'm sure they're still committed to their scheme, but the market is overpowering them and will win in the end.
You know, the person I just pointed to the board is the CEO of Aramico, who is establishment, who's not dying to put all his dollars out there and have it challenged by more malinvestment and seeing what trouble is coming and not accept this stuff that he has to do it.
So that is a good point that Chris makes on that.
And this is something that will not go away because it's a bad, and Chris must say also about the states.
They're bringing their money back out.
And that's a sign of what's happening.
But the other one is, you know, I think at the Aspen meeting this summer, it was agreed, Larry Fink talked and was on the defensive.
He says, we've sort of dropped this thing about ESG.
And I think it's rather comical because people knew that this would happen.
And yet the people went ahead.
It wasn't because they really believed in it.
Some of them did.
And they thought, oh, we'll be environmentalists and they're going to keep our money and take care of it.
But that didn't work out exactly that way.
And I think this whole thing is going to get worse because it's going to be combined with the correction from the regular malinvestment of inflation along with all this emphasis on ESG type of investment.
So this is yet to pan out.
But I think that a lot of people are not going to be very happy when they realize what has happened.
But the big thing that bothers me about this from the very beginning was the obvious connection between a friendly relationship with the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve, when they had a lot of money to pass out and deal with the big dollars, like how do they pass out money during COVID and other agencies of government, that BlackRock was involved in this.
And the corporations, of course, are all involved because they're told you invest or not.
And they would threaten them.
They say, oh, you want to, if you get into trouble, you don't want to have a loan cut off, do you?
So they go along with it and play these games.
But there's been so much combination there, as there have been so many, even with the connection of what was going on with COVID and the pharmaceuticals and how if you didn't obey the speech police, that you could be canceled.
So it's this closer relationship, whether it's economic or social or medical.
This combination is very blatantly.
And it's in the presidential campaign right now when you think about what they're doing to Robert Kennedy.
They're saying that you can't say those kind of things, those kind of things.
But the people that are pointing it out, the progressives who are no longer very much present, because the old progressives that used to be Democratic, they left the Democratic Party and they're out there trying to go after Robert Kennedy.
So what I see coming, they're already in bed with the Federal Reserve, and they are able to manipulate and punish companies.
And we already have the pressure on many government organizations.
But the point that Chris brings out with his opening statement, there's something cracking here.
You know, it's not going to work.
The market is screaming and hollering.
This can't work, can't work.
So right now, it sort of reminds me of what it was like leading up to 1971 when something has to give.
Back then, it was the government had to give, and they made gold legal again, and they allowed the market to sort it out.
And that, of course, was a time when gold went from $35 an ounce up to, at that time, up to $800 in a very short period of time.
So there are big things going on, but I think the biggest thing we ought to be concerned about is this regulation of speech, punishing people because of speech, even in our investments, and also the collusion which is building with the corporations and the government.
And the noise that you hear.
You hear a lot of people complaining like I am, but they're the ones who are the ones who are promoting all this corporatism and all this combination.
They're blaming the other side for doing what they're doing themselves.
So I think it's very interesting times, but very dangerous.
And I think this thing that's going on now with BlackRock is very significant and it's not going to go away tomorrow, Chris.
Right, Dr. Paul, and you're right.
It is cracking, and it does feel like something's going to happen.
One thing that really does have to happen, even though none of us are going to like it, is recession, because it's going to be necessary to clear out all these bad investments.
And all these bad ESG, all these political investments are made under zero interest rates, because with zero interest rates, everything looks good.
So all their utopian schemes look good, zero interest rates.
But this was all political in nature.
These are not market-generated activities.
These are not businesses saying consumers want this.
Let's provide it efficiently and profitably.
It's we want this, let's force it on everyone.
And that's, you know, and they have done a lot of that, and it has to be liquidated.
That's the long and short of it.
And that's not fun because our economy is filled with political malinvestments.
And, you know, you could even tell by the way that they think, oh, by 2050, everybody's going to be driving an electric car.
I mean, this is how you try to force your ideas on everyone.
Anybody can make predictions about 2050.
That's so far away that it's ridiculous, but that's how they get their PR.
And they push this stuff and they push it.
So it's going to have to be liquidated, and that's not going to be fun.
And the government's going to blame all the wrong people.
They're not going to blame themselves.
So everybody has to be alert.
It's not going to be who they blame.
It's not the greedy businessman who's raising prices.
It's the Fed that printed all the money and the government that spent all the money that they didn't have.
And now it's going to be time to pay the piper.
You know, they always have to make it sound good to get people to go along and scare people, you know, in national security or viruses are coming.
Scare the people so that they capitulate.
They might not have a good feeling about it, but it is serious and we can't defy our government.
And they do roll over and go along with what they tell you.
In medicine, it's safety.
That's why you have to get these shots.
Now the evidence is coming up.
That's not a very healthy thing to have done to give the shots to as many people.
And now, if you even look at the statistics now showing the damage done by the inoculations and how risky it was, I mean, it's still a serious crime in a way.
People saying for challenging science, challenging Dr. Fauci, this kind of nonsense.
Now, on this investment, it used the issue of virtue because you're a virtuous person if you were even including in your investments to do what was right for saving the planet, taking on climate control.
And this is the way to do it.
You can invest in money and make a lot of money.
A lot of people made a lot of money because they realized how powerful the forces were.
And the punishment was that if you didn't go along, you could get your business in big trouble.
So it was a pragmatic business decision then and probably less so now, where they had to do it because they didn't want this punishment.
But it was always a virtuous thing, and you were supposed to feel good about it because you were saving the planet.
But that's why we ought to be always aware of what they're telling us.
And to me, it's the eternal effort to seek out the truth from fiction.
And this is a big problem.
And it seems to me at the worst that I ever remember.
And we certainly are hearing what's going on in the campaign at the present time that people have a real job figuring out who's telling the truth and who's lying, what TV station can you contribute, or maybe you should use the internet and some special sources of information as the best way to find out what's going on.
Chris?
Very good, Dr. Paul.
I will finish up with my closing statement.
And it's something that I've mentioned on the show before, but it's so important that I'm going to repeat myself.
The U.S. government is the biggest polluter on earth via the military empire.
Now, there's people who say, no, now it's China.
Whatever.
If it's China and then the U.S. military, that's not the point.
The point is our government, think about that.
The government is the biggest polluter on the earth or second, whatever.
And they are not changing that.
And when you were so saturated with environmental propaganda, do you get that sense when you hear the propaganda that it's the government itself?
No, they say it's you.
It's your plastic straws.
It's your plastic bags that you use.
You're the problem.
You're the CO2 person.
And so they're the big polluter, yet they come after us and try to micromanage our lives with their agenda.
Recognizing Propaganda's Grip00:02:40
And they have no, this is another important point.
They have no inclination of changing this.
Have you seen bases changed?
Have you seen the war stop?
Have the troops come home?
If there was a crisis and they're the biggest polluter with the military, shouldn't the troops be coming home?
We only have a few years to live.
Bring them all home.
No, it's the opposite.
They think they're going to fight Russia and China at the same time and defend every country that goes along with America.
So they obviously do not believe their own propaganda because their actions signify that they don't believe the propaganda.
So why should we believe it?
Why should we have to alter our lives and have carbon scores when they're the problem and not us?
So it's important for everybody to keep this in mind because the propaganda hits us every single day from the television to the movies to everybody to all the protesters that want no oil.
It's all goofy stuff and we have to keep an eye that they're the ones that are the problem and not us.
You know, in some ways I think the battle for us who believe in liberty and truth is that it is getting more difficult because the opposition doesn't believe that truth exists so they can do whatever they want and they have to substitute it.
And I think their religion is wokeism because it's almost a spiritual thing that goes on.
And they criticize to such a point where the enemy is anybody that's telling the truth because I believe the cultural Marxists are very much involved in this.
I believe they believe the same thing that the original Marxists believed in.
They have an idea of what society should be like and it is based on a system where they don't believe in a higher law.
And it's the same old battle.
The nature might be a little bit different.
But the spiritual part of this is wokeism.
And I think when you see these failures here, when you see Larry Fink squirming a little bit, This might be a good sign.
So, this is the big event that's happening.
And once again, the optimism that Chris gave us in his opening statement that people are changing and they're waking up.
And I think this is great.
But we have to understand that I have a belief that the people who argue the case, say, for fascism against fascism, are probably the biggest fascists themselves.
Budweiser's Economic Bubble00:02:57
So it is difficult.
But I think what's working out like this, this Budweiser thing and the many other episodes, the people have started to recognize this.
But there's a lot of damage done.
And we have to realize that the correction to admit the truth right now is, guess what?
One of the ones that is going to be the hardest to expect to accept is that our government spends too much money.
And our government spends the money because the people generally want them to spend the money.
And, you know, the idea that there is a split and a change in attitudes and all, but still, the majority of the people, when they're told that it's a critical thing that we have national security, that they stand by in the military-industrial complex.
But I'm thankful that there are more and more people now talking about a system where you don't have to endorse that nonsense.
But the big job is, is how do you cut the spending?
Well, we talked about the market finally speaking out.
Guess what?
If wages are too high and prices are too high, the market will lower them.
But not by people saying, oh, a loaf of bread, two bucks, it's going back down to a dollar.
No, it doesn't work that way.
Wow.
What happens is the debt gets liquidated and the economy gets weak and it's forced upon us, which is the kind of thing that should be avoided.
But once you develop this huge bubble, you know, they say that Larry Fink has had a true change of heart on what he's doing.
Just changing it.
If you have $10 trillion you're dealing with, you say, oh, sorry, folks, we missed the boat.
We'll come back and do this later.
A lot of ramifications from that.
But that is the unwinding of the mistakes made and the debt.
The debt is not going to be paid off in a moral, sensible way.
It will be by the market, by just saying it'll be paid off by money with so much less value through the debasement of the currency.
So I think recognizing that and recognizing that the solution is not difficult.
It's easily understood.
It doesn't have to be prolonged for years.
What we're doing now, tinkering around the edges, makes it last longer and longer and more serious.
But when you allow the correction to come, and the people who literally have to get out of this with a declaration of debt, I mean, have they really solved the problem of student loans, even with the hundreds of billions of dollars that they have to default on to a degree and it's a back and forth?
It's going to linger for a long time.
But sound money and personal liberty in a free market economy, tell you what, could go a long way to solving the problems that we have today.