QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong, with your 2015.75 turning point on the ECM, you said that was the peak in government and the following 4.3 years would turn down rather hard. You also said 2016 would be a strong rise in 3rd party activity and people are now talking even about Bernie running 3rd party. You said 2017 would be the year from political hell and it looks really crazy here in Europe and with Merkel gone, everything will change. Then you said the monetary system would change by 2020 but could come as early as 2018. You said interest rates would start to rise in 2016 as early as March and that would be the fuel behind the dollar and help create the Sovereign Debt Crisis. I understand this is not your opinion and I can now see how each is linked to create the trend. The Berlin conference was fantastic and really helped me understand how this all fits together. My question is simply this. Do you have any idea what the type of monetary system we are headed into? What survives? You said the IMF is trying to position itself for that role which you opposed. Any clue yet?
ANSWER: The Fed is between a rock and a hard place and is trying to be that little flower that sees the light. It has two choices: (1) deal with the pension crisis at home by raising rates to prevent defaults, or (2) keep rates low to save other governments in emerging markets who continue to borrow and are doomed anyhow. Then there is the question of whether the budget deficit in the USA will explode with rising rates.
The Fed has really lost control of the economy, but the mainstream still needs to figure this out. Our model goes nuts from 2018 into 2020. This is part of the peak in 2015.75. Of course, the general public does not see this yet. They should by next year and then the game will change.
Governments will not go quietly into the light. They will rage at every possible moment. They are moving toward electronic money since their solution is to force everyone to pay whatever tax they demand. On January 1, 2017, G20 will begin sharing info on everyone. Compliance in business will cost tens of billions of dollars alone. Even companies who do not have foreign clients will have to confirm they do not.
Naturally, governments will act in the most stupid manner for they will not reform. Even if they grab everything, it would not be enough to save them. So be prepared. They will get very punitive. Expect crazy laws to benefit them like constitutional amendments. They will find whatever excuse to confiscate assets; mere suspicion will become proof and it will be your burden to prove innocence.
The old guard is near death. People like John McCain and Barbara Boxer, who was shouted down in California by Bernie supporters, are out the door. We are looking at new people coming to power — the changing of the guard. In this respect, Trump is part of the new and Hillary is the old world of corrupt politics. We are turning the corner. Those in government remain clueless.
What survives is always tangible assets be it land, industry, shares, or something of value like gold, silver, antiques, etc. Whatever currency we use is only a medium of exchange between tangible assets. Currency is not “money,” it never holds its value, and by no means is it a store of wealth. It is just a medium of exchange like a language. So whatever we end up with, which I believe will be some basket of currencies, will become the new medium of exchange through which everything else is measured.
