| Time | Text |
|---|---|
|
Government Gaslights People About the Economy
00:03:29
|
|
| Hello everybody and thank you for tuning in to the weekly report. | |
| Government Gaslights People About the Economy. | |
| Public opinion polls consistently show the economy is one of the top issues, if not the top issue, for American voters. | |
| This may strike some as odd since official government statistics show low unemployment and declining price inflation, suggesting the Federal Reserve has engineered a soft landing, bringing down inflation without causing a recession. | |
| So why the concern over the economy? | |
| One reason is more people are realizing government economic figures hide the truth about the economy. | |
| Recession since 2022, U.S. economic income and output have fallen overall for four years is a Brownstone Institute research paper by E.J. Antoni, a research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and Dr. Peter St. Ange, a fellow with the Mises Institute. | |
| It details how the federal government understates inflation while making wages, prices, and profits economic growth appear stronger. | |
| Dr. Antonio and Dr. St. Ons used a more accurate measure of inflation than that used by government to uncover the true state of the economy. | |
| Their calculations show that the U.S. economy has been in recession since 2022. | |
| The government claims that GDP increased by approximately 13.7% from 2019 through the first half of 2024. | |
| When the more accurate inflation number is used, the result is a 2.5% decline in the GDP. | |
| The federal government's figures also show the American people's disposable income increased by 12.9% from 2019 through the first half of 2024. | |
| However, when the more accurate way of calculating price inflation is used, it shows Americans' disposable income declined by 2.3%. | |
| Dr. Antonio and Dr. St. Ans are hardly the first to expose how the government uses doctored statistics to make the economy look stronger. | |
| John Williams' shadow stats has regularly shown how government manipulates data to underreport unemployment and price inflation. | |
| Government distortions of economic data mislead the people regarding the true state of the economy. | |
| They also mislead Congress, the President, and maybe even the Federal Reserve. | |
| Until the Audit the Fed bill becomes law, we will not know for sure what data the central bank relies on. | |
| Making economic policy decisions based on flawed data enables politicians to ignore the dangers posed by Congress's refusal to cut federal spending. | |
| Government spending puts pressure on the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates low. | |
|
Dollar's World Reserve Status
00:01:37
|
|
| The Federal Reserve can keep interest rates low because the dollar's World Reserve currency status guarantees a strong demand for U.S. dollars. | |
| A growing number of countries, though, are seeking alternatives to the dollar. | |
| One reason for this is resentment over the U.S. government's use of the dollar's World Reserve currency status to force other countries to abide by U.S. demands. | |
| Saudi Arabia is moving away from exclusively using dollars for its oil trade. | |
| The petro-dollar is a major reason the dollar has been able to maintain its world reserve currency status. | |
| If the dollar loses its world reserve currency status, America would face a major economic crisis. | |
| This crisis could lead to the collapse of the welfare warfare state and the fiat monetary system that makes it possible. | |
| The danger is the replacement could be even worse as a frightened populace turns toward an authoritarian promise of security in exchange for restriction of liberty. | |
| However, the collapse could also result in a turn toward respect for the principles of liberty, limited government, free markets, and a foreign policy of peace and free trade. | |
| Those who know the truth must continue to educate our fellow citizens about the benefits of liberty. | |