By David Glenn Cox
Call them the harbingers. The little noticed local news stories which, in a month or two, will shock the national news media. A farmer in Nebraska bemoans tough times. Costs are way up, and commodity prices are way down. Corn futures down 25% since Donald Trump was sworn into office. Prices up and income down. This little insignificant farmer calls it the worst situation in forty years. And it isn’t just one little farmer, it’s all farmers. But it’s not national news, not yet.
The US customs and border patrol says crossings from Canada are down 18% Curiously, the Canadian border patrol lists the same border crossings as down 34%. In Donald Trump’s America, who are we to believe? Little beach towns and retreats along the coasts say business is terrible this year without the Canadian tourists. Local restaurants and attractions say business is off 30 to 50%.
But it’s a great time to buy a domestic new car. Discount financing, zero percent financing and discounts, discounts, discounts! I wonder why they are all being so generous all of a sudden. I wonder why they are all advertising so heavily? Hungry? How about a nice hamburger at your local fast-food restaurant? Just by the by, our local Chipotle restaurant has apparently shut down. There could be several reasons. They are the most expensive place in town. And this is, after all, Arizona, so there is no shortage of good Mexican food. But like the car dealers, everyone is offering discounts. Harbingers of things to come. Local stories which will erupt to stun the national news media in another month or so.
Due to a climate of terror, farmers in California struggle to find enough farm workers to pick the crops. When they need 25, they can only get 10 and ten just won’t do. Like any other business, they have orders to fill on time and fresh. And it’s only the beginning. US alcohol sales in Canada are off by 66%
Here’s a little biggy. A local news story out of Las Vegas says business is terrible and bars and restaurants are laying off workers. In this case, shit rolls uphill. Las Vegas is around a $100 billion dollar a year industry. It’s the backbone of the Nevada economy. Local bars and restaurants bemoan that same 30 to 50% number. That’s $30 billion dollars. That’s not chicken feed, that is a state in trouble.
Existing home sales fell by 3% in June from last month. In the peak of the buying season and sales are down and time on the market is getting longer. From Realtor.com: “Price premium for new homes sinks to all-time low.” Prices are no longer rising. I wonder why?
Movie attendance is way down. Ticket prices are up, but attendance is way down. Bloomberg: “McDonald’s says economic stress is sapping Breakfast-Meal sales.” Quick Trip and 7-11 are offering discount lunches for those with hamburger sticker shock. Americans are eating out less because they have to.
These are all just little stories, but they all are pointing a finger in the same direction. And the tariffs just went into effect Thursday. France has joined with Canada to boycott the US and there is even an app for your phone. It is now becoming a global boycott with New York, Florida and California leading the way. Meanwhile, tourism is up in Canada, Japan and Australia. It’s us they are avoiding; can you guess why? Come on, think hard!
The king and his minions and morons just announced bond provisions of up to $15,000 to enter the United States. The Administration offers it is only on those countries who most often overstay their visas. That’s going to help the travel industry, I just know it. Forward bookings year over year for travelers coming to the US are down 13%. A really nasty authoritarian president and his masked goons and the tourists just stop coming. Whoever would have thunk it? Mass shootings, crime and gun violence, armed government thugs and concentration camps doesn’t sound like the ideal vacation destination for me.
These harbingers are all pointing to September 1. When the new jobs report is released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Heads are going to roll as they revise down that awful 73,000 new jobs number. A 40% jump in the price of coffee. Expect Starbucks to feel the pain. Inflationary pressures like nothing ever seen before in modern times. An immediate 15 to 50% rise in prices against a 1% rise in wages. What could possibly go wrong?
With a mad king and his rump duma shouting “ain’t it great!” Taxing Americans right into a financial depression. Destroying business and agriculture and industries, just to give billionaires another tax cut. Trump federalizes Washington. Openly calls for gerrymandering congressional districts. Dances around his own pedophile scandal. Wants to build a ballroom onto the White House but doesn’t know how to dance.
“A mob is coming here in six months to hang the other ninety-five of you damned scoundrels and I’m undecided whether to stick here with you or go out and lead them.” – Huey Long
“We have always known that heedless self-interest was bad morals, we now know that it is bad economics.” – Franklin Delano Roosevelt
“Corrupted by wealth and power, your government is like a restaurant with only one dish. They’ve got a set of Republican waiters on one side and a set of Democratic waiters on the other side. But no matter which set of waiters brings you the dish, the legislative grub is all prepared in the same Wall Street kitchen.” ― Huey Long
Thank you for reading and supporting “This Carbon-Based Life” I once saw this spray painted on a Simon and Garfunkel subway wall. “Truth in a time of lies” I was stunned by both its brevity and its accuracy.
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