t’s simple: H – I – J – K tells the story.
Harvey: Estimate $100 billion in damages from Hurricane Harvey. Insurance helps some and costs others. As a nation it still hurts by $100 billion.
Irma: Estimate $100 billion in damages from Hurricane Irma. Insurance helps some and costs others. As a nation it still hurts by $100 billion.
Jeopardy – Triple: Debt, Deficits and the Dollar. Debt up, dollar down!
Debt and Deficits: The hurricanes will cost the U.S. government and economy many $ billions and increase the national debt and deficit. There is no plan to reduce other spending to compensate. Just borrow baby! Borrow more and more. What could go wrong? Spending is out-of-control, and that was before two Hurricanes and before the U.S. ramps up military spending, more wars, and whatever comes next.
Dollar: All that spending funded by additional debt, not productive effort, will weaken the dollar further. The dollar index is down 12% since its 14 year high in early January 2017. The index measures relative strength between other declining debt-based fiat currencies and the declining debt-based fiat dollar, which is supported by nothing but debt, taxes, and the military. Measured in gold for the same period, the dollar is down 22%.
Knox (Fort): Officially Fort Knox in Kentucky holds 147 million ounces of gold. PRETEND that official story is true, the gold is physically there, unencumbered, not leased out, and not stolen. The 147 million ounces of gold are worth $200 billion dollars – about the losses from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. That shows how low gold is valued at current prices.