Economics

August 29, 2022August 27, 2022 ~ archercrosley

This appeared in the New York Times today.

“While higher interest rates, slower growth and softer labor market conditions will bring down inflation, they will also bring some pain to households and businesses,” Jerome Powell, the Fed chair, said during a speech at the Kansas City Fed’s annual conference in Wyoming. “These are the unfortunate costs of reducing inflation. But a failure to restore price stability would mean far greater pain.”

Contrary to this statement, I do not believe that slower growth will bring down inflation. Nor do I believe that increased growth will cause inflation.

The effect of growth on inflation is neutral.

What is the inflation index? It is the amount of bioavailable money divided by the number of bioavailable humans while understanding that an increase in “stuff” increases the bioavailability of humanity.

An increase in economic activity increases both bioavailable money and bioavailable humans. Likewise a decrease in economic activity decreases both bioavailable money and bioavailable humans. Thus, productivity has no effect on inflation.

None.

The government’s belief that slower growth will bring down inflation is false.

Moreover, its promotion of such is a deception.

It is a clever deception to distract you from the truth which is that an increase in the bioavailable money supply causes inflation.

The inflation that we have was caused by the Federal Reserve and the US Treasury.

Simply put, they printed up too much money.

The proper solution is to decrease the bioavailable money supply, thus the necessity to increase interest rates.

Raising interest rates will control inflation.

In our case the Fed should be more aggressive.

Unfortunately for us, the Fed fiddles while Rome burns.

If the Fed were serious it would speak with actions instead of words.

Instead, Jerome Powell issues warnings.

Hey, man, don’t tell me, show me.

Show me the beef!

If you think inflation is that big a problem, and it is, get off your ass and raise the interest rates immediately.

As George Wallace once said about Vietnam – another calamity courtesy of our elites: “We’re pussyfootin’ around in Vietnam.”

We’re pussyfootin’ around here as well.

The big story people will be talking about for a long time now will be the lack of aggressiveness of the Fed in controlling inflation in 2022.

The Fed apparently is going slow because of fear in plunging the economy into recession.

They needn’t fear that.

America can easily handle a prime rate of 8 to 9% – well above what we have now.

It can handle it because it has handled it.

By going slow in controlling inflation, with its measly 0.75% increases in Federal Funds rate, the Fed is slowly bleeding America to death.

Inflation will continue to be high, yet jobs will slowly dwindle away.

The Fed, paralyzed by a false theory that increased productivity will cause more inflation, will refuse to raise interest rates in a much more dramatic level.

Look for fifteen years of unnecessary pain.

A lot of people are going to be hurting.

It need not be that way.

Unfortunately, we live in the modern age where the permissive parent is afraid to spank the child lest the insecure parent lose their child’s love. In this case, the Fed is the parent, and the child is Corporate America which has been feasting on easy money.

What is needed here is bold action.

Junior needs a spanking.

A strong increase in interest rates will rapidly shrink up the money supply.

Inflation will fall under control, and with it consumer confidence will restore.

Yes, of course, growth will rapidly fall off, but the pain will be much shorter in duration than the pain the Fed is now leading us into.

Canceling Student Debt 2

August 27, 2022August 26, 2022 ~ archercrosley

What does the national media continue to scare us about the national debt?

Why does the national media continually focuses on the national debt?

They need to do this so that they can bring up the specter of the enormous national debt at their convenience.

If you’ll notice, they never bring up the issue of the national debt when it comes to military spending, funding of Ukraine, or their own pay raises.

The specter of the national debt is only brought up when they need it to be brought up.

When do they need it to be brought up?

When there is a bill proposed that helps out the American people.

Such as?

Eliminating the homeless.

Canceling student debt.

Affordable healthcare for all.

When these issues arise, issues that would help even the playing field between the rich and the poor, then the national debt becomes the all important issue.

That’s why they need the issue of the national debt.

Of course, the national debt issue is a bogus issue.

As explained previously the issue is bogus because the national debt is never meant to be paid off.

In fact, increasing the national debt can be a valuable tool to equaling the playing field between rich and poor.

For example, suppose that I printed up $35 trillion and gave it all to the middle-class and poor. What would be the effect of that?

I picked $35 trillion in order to make the division easier. Let’s divide $35 trillion by 350,000,000 people.

That’s $100,000 for each and every American.

What does that have the effect of doing?

It helps level the playing field between rich and poor.

It gives a big boost to the middle class and poor.

It helps make up for all the robbery that the rich have been engaging in.

You heard me right. The rich have been robbing the poor and middle class through exorbitant government contracts.

Government contracts are what made the Dupont family rich.

Government contracts are what made Brown and Root rich.

Government contracts are what made the Steinbriner family rich. You probably thought George Steinbrinner was just the former owner of the Yankees. No way, baby. His family made their money building Navy ships.

Why shouldn’t you get in on the action?

Now, I’m not advocating that we print up $35 trillion for people to go to Vegas.

But I think it would be a good idea to invest in projects that would benefit the people.

Those projects involve student debt relief, comprehensive healthcare for all, high speed rail, fixing the homeless.

What’s wrong with that?

Don’t be dissuaded by the bogus argument of increasing the national debt.

It’s a bogus issue.

Bogus. Bogus. Bogus.

Sincerely,

Archer Crosley

Canceling Student Debt

August 27, 2022December 21, 2022 ~ archercrosley

The recent proposal to alleviate student debt up to $20,000 per student is a good deal for students and for the United States of America.

It was a long time coming.

Conservatives, and I am one of them, shouldn’t oppose this deal simply to oppose it.

That’s what people like Sean Hannity want you to do.

How is it a bad deal to give a break to young people saddled with student debt?

It’s what Trump should’ve done.

To begin with the student’s tuitions were jacked up by the crooks at the schools and the banks.

They made out like bandits on this unholy alliance.

That’s one reason why schools were able to fund all these building projects on their campuses.

You’ve heard of Girls Gone Wild. Welcome to Buildings Gone Wild.

It was the students who got screwed.

You don’t need expensive buildings to educate students. Furthermore the problem with expensive buildings is that they require expensive maintenance.

Wise sages in Greece didn’t need expensive event centers in order to teach their students. Teaching under a tree was good enough.

What happened in our country though was that schools got addicted to money. So they increased tuition costs unnecessarily in order to feed their addiction.

Much of that money went into building unnecessary gymnasiums, media event centers, and fancy administration buildings.

The students got screwed.

Printing up money to help these poor students out is a good thing.

Conservatives would have you believe that ultimately we the American taxpayers are going to pay the debt.

That’s not true at all.

In reality, nobody’s going to pay this debt.

The money will be fabricated out of thin air by the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve in order to pay off this student loan debt.

The national debt will increase, but so what?

The national debt is not like the debt that you owe for your house or your car.

In the case of your house and car, that’s a debt that you need to pay back.

In contrast the national debt is a debt that is never going to be paid back.

The national debt never needs to be paid back because it’s never meant to be paid back.

The national debt is a giant Ponzi scheme, only in this case the Ponzi scheme artists are us.

If the national debt rises to $30 trillion, all we need do is print up $30 quadrillion in order to make that debt more insignificant.

Then in 50 to 75 years, when the national debt is equal to 30 quadrillion dollars, people in the future will print up $30 quintillion to make that debt more insignificant.

The national debt, something that the media obsesses over, is something you should never be worried about.

What you should be worried about is where the money goes.

Printing up money to alleviate student debt is a good thing because it puts more money in the hands of regular people.

I’ve written this explanation before, and it bears repeating.

If there is a net $100 in society, and you have $50, and I have $50, then we both have an equal share in society.

If I print up $100 and give it all to myself then there’s a net $200 in society. Yet I now have $150 where is you have $50. I win.

Do you get it?

It doesn’t matter how much money we print; what counts is where it goes.

If I print up $100 trillion and give it to the rich, then regular people lose. On the other hand if we print print up $100 trillion and give it to the poor, then the rich lose.

Consequently, alleviating student debt, which effectively puts money in regular people’s hands, benefits regular people, not the rich.

Why would we oppose that?

Please, please, please, please, get out of this mindset of just listening to either Fox News or CNN, whose job is to create a mindless sporting match out of politics.

You won’t learn anything there.

Think through the issue yourself.

Alleviation of student debt is a good thing.

It would’ve been a better thing had Biden canceled it all.

Yes, I know, what about the people who already paid?

I agree with you. For that reason, I would recommend giving an equal amount of money in cash payments to those people who already did pay.

Short of that, it’s better that we alleviate student debt.

It’s a good move for regular people.

Sincerely,

Archer Crosley

Human Resources

August 26, 2022October 5, 2022 ~ archercrosley

Are you the owner of a small business?

Are you just beginning?

How do you grade your employees performance?

Let me share my experience.

I haven’t written an evaluation on my employees – ever.

You heard me right. Ever.

Twenty seven years.

I don’t believe in evaluations. I don’t believe in attaching numbers to people.

I don’t look at people as machines to be graded.

I didn’t like being evaluated with a numerical score when I was a resident in training.

I don’t want to treat my employees that way.

I never felt that these numerical evaluations were valid anyway. I thought numerical evaluations were a feeble attempt to put objectivity on what is basically subjective.

Now before I continue, I should tell you that I have employees who have been with me for decades.

I have three employees who have been with me a minimum of 20 years. I have another employee who has been with me 13 years.

I have another employee who left for greener pastures after 12 years.

I recently hired a new employee about six months ago.

I have never written one evaluation on any of them.

How do I write an evaluation on someone I’ve worked with for 25 years?

Why why would I demean someone I have worked with for that long?

So, you might ask, how do you perform quality control on your employees?

To begin with, I resent the term quality control.

That’s a new age term that was developed in order to treat human beings like cogs in a machine.

The best way to treat employees is to value them.

That doesn’t mean that you have to go around and constantly affirm how great they are.

Don’t confuse me with the One Minute Manager who constantly has to find employees doing correct things.

If you go out of your way to constantly praise people, they will acclimate to that very quickly, and your praise will be meaningless.

Employees might even find constant praise manipulative.

Plus, you will exhaust yourself emotionally.

I think the best way to enforce positive employee behavior is to reward them financially or by giving them perks when you can’t reward them financially.

After all I’m not a big corporation. I’m not IBM. I can’t afford to pay people $200,000 a year.

But there are other things that you can do for them that are just as meaningful.

You can buy them health insurance. You can get them a retirement plan. You can give them their own office. You can give them leeway to make decisions. You can give them time off to attend their child’s play at school. You can give them time off to attend the dentist or the doctor. You can make small loans to them. You can allow their children to stay in the office when childcare is not an option. You can relieve them of the indignity of punching their entry and exit on a time clock.

You can do all sorts of things that big corporations wouldn’t even dream of doing.

Moreover, you can resolve to not constantly be on their case for every little infraction that you don’t like.

But what do you do when they do something wrong?

Rather than screaming and yelling, you can point out a constructive solution of the way that it might be done.

You can invite them into a decision making process in a very non-manipulative way.

For example if the proper logging in of information in your office isn’t being done on a timely basis, you can sit down with them and ask them how it might be done better. You can listen to their suggestions. If they don’t have any suggestions, you might make some of your own and see how they react to that.

Gentle reminders are better than holding it all in and blowing up on them.

Screaming and yelling doesn’t work.

In conjunction with that it must be remembered that many times employees are going to miss stuff.

Perfection is an illusion.

Naturally this goes contrary to modern human relations theory.

Forget about excellence.

By relentlessly pursuing perfection and screaming at your employees you can totally destroy the morale of the office. That in itself will cause people to leave the office for something better; or it will cause them to work more dysfunctionally.

The take home message here is to forget about perfection.

In conjunction with that, forget about the relentless evaluation of employees and attaching numbers to people.

When you constantly inspect people and give grades to their performance, you don’t fix anything. All you know is that you have broken-down employees.

Is that what you want?

It’s far better for you to have seemingly imperfect employees who are happy at their job, who like doing their job, than seemingly perfect employees who hate their job.

That’s my opinion on human resources.

Sincerely,

Archer Crosley

Getting Rid of Clutter

August 23, 2022 ~ archercrosley

Why is it so hard to get rid of clutter?

You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? I’m talking about all those old DVDs and books that are sitting around the house that you haven’t read in years.

Maybe you have made an attempt to get rid of these items.

But you failed, didn’t you?

Why is that?

Why is it so hard for us to get rid of clutter?

It’s difficult to get rid of these things because we are tied to them emotionally.

When you think about getting rid of that book that you haven’t read in years, you look at the book and you know instinctively that it’s part of you.

You invested energy in reading that book.

And even though it’s just a book, you remember where you were when you bought the book or what was going on with your life at the time.

In addition to that there may be lessons in that book that are relevant to your existence.

That’s probably why you kept the book.

That’s in large part why it’s so hard to let go of these things.

The same goes for DVDs.

Yes, I know, it’s just a DVD. But that DVD may be a DVD that you watched on your first date with your spouse.

Or that DVD may be a movie that you watched with your son or daughter.

The movie on that DVD may have special relevance to a loved one who has passed on.

That’s why when you think about getting rid of all your DVDs that you haven’t looked at in years you stare at them and can’t make a decision.

You are paralyzed.

I know what you’re talking about. I’ve been there, babe.

So what do we do?

At some time, some of these DVDs have got to go.

Do you even have a DVD player anymore?

And the books?

Come on now, you haven’t read those books in twenty years.

The world is moving forward. Are you going to keep those books until you die?

I didn’t think so.

So how do we get rid of all this clutter?

If you try to do it all at once, you will fail.

The way to do it is to go slow.

I want you to select out only a small number of the books and the DVDs that you think you can part with and resolve to make someone else’s life better with those items.

There are still plenty of people out there who don’t have the money to buy all these newer streaming services.

There’s still plenty of people out there who do not buy electronic books.

Many of these people are poor.

It’s a good bet that there’s a Salvation Army in your town.

The best thing you can do is take those DVDs and books and allow someone else to improve their life with those items.

Knowing that the DVD or book will go to good use will make you feel a lot better.

Also, don’t think of yourself as getting rid of these items. Think of yourself as loaning these items out to someone else on a permanent basis.

After you get rid of just a small number of these items, you will see that your life isn’t going to crash on the rocks.

When the next weekend comes you can let go of more items.

Then the weekend after that you can do it again.

And again.

In time you will see that it’s easy to declutter your life.

And that, gentlemen, is how we do that.

Sincerely,

Archer Crosley

Helping the Yankees

August 22, 2022 ~ archercrosley

To begin with, I’m not traditionally a Yankees fan.

Since I grew up in Philadelphia, it is my moral duty to not like the Yankees.

It’s not like the Yankees did anything to me. My dislike is more of a territorial deal.

Plus, why should I root for a team that’s won that many championships?

Part of me is a socialist. I like to see a decent measure of equality of life.

Simply put the Yankees have won too many championships. That’s too many for one team.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate the Yankees.

Not like I do the Mets.

Now, if the Mets were in a super slump, I wouldn’t be writing this article at all.

As a Phillies fan, I would happily let the Mets lose every single game until the season ends.

And I would be dancing in the streets.

But it’s not the Mets who are slumping; it’s the Yankees.

Complicating the issue is that the coach of the Yankees is Aaron Boone.

Aaron Boone, is the son of Bob Boone who used to play catcher for the Phillies.

So I feel an emotional connection to Aaron Boone.

His father won a championship for us; consequently, I feel the need to reach out and help this man in his time of need.

Clearly when you bang your hand on a table that hard, you are at your wits end.

Did he break that hand?

Baseball is a strange and frustrating game.

The streaks and slumps in baseball are unfathomable.

How is it possible for a team that could do no wrong in the first half of the season now do no right in the second half of the season?

What switch was turned off, and where is that switch?

It’s the same players, goddamnit.

What in hell’s name changed, and what can the Yankees do to fix it?

Clearly, the manager and his players are lost.

Here is my offering.

I can’t guarantee my advice will work, but I feel confident that it will put the Yankees in a better position to win.

In short, I think the players have to get over themselves.

It’s important that they realize that winning and losing a baseball game is pretty small in comparison to some of the other major problems that are going on around us in the world today.

Losing a baseball game is nothing in comparison to losing everything in your life to war.

Losing a baseball game is nothing in comparison to living in a tent as a refugee.

Losing a baseball game is nothing in comparison to having to line up at a food bank because you can’t afford the basic necessities in life.

Losing a baseball game is nothing in comparison to living on the streets as a homeless person.

Losing a baseball game is nothing in comparison to a child undergoing chemotherapy.

Losing a baseball game is nothing in comparison to what a parent goes through in taking care of a chronic child who lives on a ventilator.

If it’s possible for the Yankees to understand this and to remove themselves from the obsession of winning a baseball game, then it’s possible for them to relax and perform as they normally would.

The best way to get over yourself is to go out and help other people.

It might be a good idea for the Yankees to not attend practice for a week or so, to stop thinking about themselves and their game.

Focusing on others and their needs is the best way for the Yankees to get over themselves.

There’s no guarantee that doing such will lead to more victories, but there is a good chance that it will put them in a better position to function more normally.

Sincerely,

Archer Crosley

America the Mobster

August 18, 2022November 9, 2022 ~ archercrosley

Have you ever wondered why we don’t have much more inflation than we do in the United States?

Our government has been printing money like crazy, and has been for sometime, so why don’t we have more inflation?

Our government has been printing trillions of dollars for all sorts of stuff – for war, for COVID-19, for foreign aid, for electric vehicles, for green energy, for the military. Shouldn’t we see more inflation?

Along those lines, how is it possible for the dollar to become stronger against other currencies? Why is the dollar stronger? You would think it would be weaker than ever?

Well, the two phenomena are related, and they have to do with America’s role in the world.

America is the top mobster in the world. We are the new King Louis. We are the Sun King.

Just as the Sun King was a ruthless thug and a parasite upon France, America is a ruthless thug and a parasite upon the world.

Ask yourself this question: How is it possible for America to run trade deficits for decades and be stronger economically?

What precisely are we giving the world in return for all these products the world is selling to us? After all, we don’t make much anymore. Yes, we do export grains and oil, but not much else on balance.

Well, we are giving the world dollars and other countries are using them.

Yes, but why are they doing that?

They are doing that because the US is currently the world’s reserve currency. In other words, America is printing money for the rest of the world.

Yes, but why would the rest of the world agree to that? What is ultimately backing this up?

Power and force.

The United States is currently the wealthiest and strongest country in the world. We have the strongest military by far, and we use it liberally.

We destroy nations like Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. We do it whenever it suits our fancy. And, if we want a nations’ resources, we either confiscate it directly through our military, or we foment an internal rebellion – as we did in Indonesia.

The United States of America uses its military and its financial power to take a cut of every country’s resources in the world.

We are no different than King Lous or Kim Jung Un.

We are ruthless. That is the basis of our power.

We are the new Peaky Blinders. Other people work for us. We are like those Soprano characters who sit around the union job site and do nothing. Or we are like John Friendly in On the Waterfront.

Why does the world put up with this?

Unfortunately, humanity naturally gravitates toward power.

There may be a minority in each country who do not like this arrangement, but too bad. The leaders of these other countries are bought off by America. These leaders are the thugs that America props up around the globe. They answer to America.

So if the citizens of Haiti or Indonesia don’t like the working conditions that America sets up for them, America will suppress these workers through one of its dictators.

America is a mobster.

America enslaves Third World nations through its military and financial power.

America also runs protection rackets around the world.

For a small fee America will not totally destroy your country. What is that fee?

More often than not that fee is foreign aid in which you agree to purchase goods off US corporations.

Or America will make you a loan either directly, or through its puppet the IMF.

Naturally, you will have to pay that back.

But of course you will never be able to pay that back because a stiff portion of that aid will go into the dictator’s pockets.

Your poor country will be helplessly mired in debt.

Your currency will then be ruthlessly devalued.

Your people will begin to hoard American one-hundred dollar bills to protect themselves against inflation. America likes this because that makes the American dollar stronger. That enables you to sell more of your slave labor exports to America.

In time, your country becomes dependent upon these slave labor exports.

If you try to stabilize your currency, your exports will go down and you will suffer.

If you decide to not sell your slave labor exports to America in order to make your nation better, the US through the CIA will send agents into your country to overthrow your leader In favor of a thug who is more amenable to what America wants.

Do you get the drift here?

America is forcing the rest of the world into slave status. We are no different than Rome.

It’s a racket.

It’s like paying a mobster a cut of all your labor.

Oh, did I forget to mention that America Capone compels all nations to buy and purchase oil with US dollars. And if you don’t you’re toast. If you try to circumvent the racket as did Gadaffi and Hussein, you’re a dead man.

Congratulations, world, you now exist to make the fancy robes and slippers that King Louis will adorn himself with.

Big Surprise

August 17, 2022August 15, 2022 ~ archercrosley

Have you heard of Lorigo Garcia-Pena?

She is an ethnic studies scholar at Harvard University.

She was recently denied tenure.

This isn’t the first time that this has happened to a minority candidate.

Recently Cornell West was denied tenure at Harvard.

He spoke in support of the Palestinians.

What makes Miss Garcia Peña’s story more compelling is the abuse she states that she suffered while at Harvard.

Tell me that it isn’t so.

It’s not possible, right? Harvard couldn’t possibly discriminate against minorities because they are always preaching to us about discrimination.

Ms Garcia-Peña states that in 2016 she was attacked on campus by two men who threw hot coffee at her and yelled, “Build the wall.” In 2019, she discovered a note on her office door saying, “You don’t belong here.” In 2020, she states, her online lecture was “Zoombombed” — and the infiltrators called for her to be lynched.

Well, why should we be surprised?

The take home message here is to always beware of the people who do the preaching. They must really need it.

Thank you Harvard.

Thank you for shining a light on yourself for who you really are.

Sincerely,

Archer Crosley

Ice Cream for Justice

August 16, 2022February 1, 2023 ~ archercrosley

The Jewish students who call for Ben & Jerry’s to evacuate ‘illegally occupied’ Vermont land are making the case for Ben and Jerry.

The students are claiming that Ben & Jerry’s headquarters in Vermont is occupying the land lawfully belonging to the Abenaki Indians.

This was done in response to Ben & Jerry’s not permitting ice cream to be sold in the West Bank in protest of Israel’s landgrab in the West Bank.

The students have an interesting point, but in a strange way they make the case against Israel’s land grab in the West Bank.

Both Ben and Jerry and the state of Israel are involved in land grabbing.

This is not unusual. Land grabbing is something that we human beings have done since the beginning of time.

What may be different in the two land grabs is that Native Americans were given reservations that were their own sovereign nations. The Palestinians have not been accorded such. Well, they were given their own inviolable areas, but that pact was violated.

Additionally, Native Americans were not restricted from joining the larger American society. Many did so.

In contrast, Palestinians are restricted from joining the larger Israeli society.

There is a difference.

Palestinians have been harassed and subjected to second class status by the state of Israel. This has occurred both in the West Bank and the Gaza strip.

The students are young and tragically uninformed about the history of Israel. They are also tragically uninformed about the history of Palestine.

There were Palestinians living in what is now Israel for thousands of years. The land now known as Israel was called Palestine.

The Palestinians did not suddenly rush into the various territories after the state of Israel was created.

They were already there.

The United States and Great Britain seeking a beachhead to control the oil and gas reserves in the Middle East, the Suez canal, and the eastern Mediterranean created the state of Israel to do just that.

To that end, the western powers helped populate Palestine with Jews from around the world.

It was always a one-sided agreement against the Palestinians with the United States and Great Britain falsely posing as neutral powerbrokers.

And that is how the state of Israel came to be.

It takes much money and organization to relocate people. Only government money can provide that.

No one lifted a hand to help the Jews for 1875 years. There was no serious movement of Jews into Palestine for 1875 years.

After Edwin Drake piped oil out of the ground in 1858, and after the energy efficiency of oil was realized, it was only a matter of time before other areas of the world were explored for oil.

First was western Pennsylvania in the late 1800s; second was Spindletop in Texas in 1902; third was the discovery of oil in Iran in 1908.

Very quickly geologists became aware of the vast oil reserves in the Middle East.

That is why the state of Israel was created. The Jews were used to colonize the Middle East for the powers that be.

That is why it was necessary to take the land away from the Palestinians.

That’s reality.

No amount of wishing can make it go away.

To date both the state of Israel and its chief benefactor, the United States of America, have chosen not to give the Palestinians a fair stake in the game.

Consequently, the landgrab continues. The harassment of Palestinians continues.

Ben & Jerry’s was making a statement.

What is that statement?

In short, what goes around comes around. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

Truth is truth.

The young students, no doubt pumped into a frothing frenzy by the ultra-conservative Likud party, strike back against Ben and Jerry’s by comparing their land grab in the Middle East with the land grab by European settlers of native American lands.

Well, they’re right.

They are absolutely right.

Sincerely,

Archer Crosley

CNBC and the Casino

August 14, 2022August 13, 2022 ~ archercrosley

I have some financial advice for you if you are young.

Take the advice you see on CNBC with a grain of salt.

I suppose it’s OK for you to watch it for entertainment purposes.

I understand. Sometimes we are just so bored we have to listen to something.

The problem with CNBC is several fold.

Number one it gets you into the mindset of constantly buying and selling stocks.

Buy low, sell high, Jim Cramer will tell you. Pigs get greedy, hogs get slaughtered, or something to that effect.

I used to be of that mindset, and I didn’t make a dime.

I think it’s far better to choose a stock that you use, that you believe in, and hold that stock for eternity.

Forget about trying to time the market. That cannot be done.

There may be several stocks that you believe in, that you use. It’s okay to invest in those stocks.

But to be getting involved in the million and one stocks that are promoted on CNBC is a mistake.

It’s not possible for you to know all those stocks. There isn’t the time of day.

Hucksters abound and speak cleverly. It takes time to ferret these people out.

Investing in a few stocks that you know well, that you have taken the time to research is much better than being a jack of all trades at all of them.

Number two, CNBC invites you into the casino.

It gets you into the mentality of gambling.

Don’t be a gambler; be an intelligent investor who researches his stocks.

The problem with walking into the casino, is that you gradually get lured into one of the biggest scams of all: options.

This is akin to stepping over the threshold of Dracula’s castle. Once you step over the threshold, he owns you.

Stay out of the options market. You cannot win that game over the long run.

If you believe in the stock, own the stock; If you don’t believe in stock, stay away from the stock.

Betting on the month-to-month movements of a stock is a fool’s game.

Do not buy put options. Likewise, do not sell short on a stock. You will lose your shirt.

Besides that, when you buy put options or sell short, you are betting on someone to lose. I don’t care how you justify it, you are betting on someone to lose.

It’s not a morally defensible position.

This is important because we live in a moral universe.

Number three, CNBC, its hosts, its principal guests are mostly members of the empire.

They wholeheartedly support the rigged casino that is the stock market.

CNBC contributors can huff and puff, they can stomp around the room; the stock market is rigged.

The ups and downs of the market are moved by the elites and the whales.

You are a minnow. You are not going to move markets.

Even if you get together with like-minded people on Robinhood, the power elite will still stop you.

You cannot win the game on the day-to-day movements of the stock market.

Number four, CNBC lulls you into thinking that it is the news that drives the markets.

They will constantly talk about various government reports and the market’s response to that. They will show you the Dow futures moving up or down in response to the god-almighty jobs report. The obvious conclusion then is that the news drives the market.

No, the news does not ultimately drive the market. On the contrary, the news is used as a justification for why the markets move up and down.

One day the CPI is used to justify the rising market. The next day, on a down day, the same CPI is not used at all.

It is the elites who use the news to justify the movements that they choose. Bad news does not always lead to a market going down because the elites can say, “Well, the news wasn’t as bad as we thought it was going to be.” The same trick can be used for good news but in reverse.

The market is rigged.

It’s rigged so that the brokerage houses can more or less reliably put out a return on investment for their clients.

It’s called managed finance. That’s my term.

Number five, CNBC confers pseudo-expertise on young hotshots who claim special clairvoyance about the markets.

Nobody can predict the future.

These glib hucksters barely out of their 30s talk a good game. They use a lot of numbers. They use a lot of jargon also. I think they have a guy standing behind the curtain who is cranking out new jargon on a jargon machine.

Their slick delivery will convince you that they are smart and you are not.

Stay away from them.

Better yet, stay away from CNBC.

CNBC?

They are the carnival barkers for the casino. They stand outside and say: “Hey, come on in. Join the party. Have a drink.”

It’s quite enticing.

Years ago, on my first trip to Las Vegas, a taxi driver pointed toward the gleaming casinos in the distance and said to me: “Those casinos weren’t built on winners.”

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: “I’m young, I’m smart, I’m hot, I’m the master of the universe, I’ve got this game beat.”

No, you don’t.

In a casino, the house always wins.

Sincerely,

Archer Crosley