The System Virus

At the risk of mentioning the “V” word I wanted to take the opportunity to relate some news you might have missed in the round the clock orgy of death and fear played out by the news media and why COVID-19 is just the latest opportunity for our “centralised” system to boost its profits.

Following PM Johnston’s broadcast a week past Sunday I have witnessed a level of aggressive hatred not seen since the dark days of BREXIT before December 12th. The unity so evident during those early weeks of lockdown has seemingly gone and as usual those who shout loudest know the least. Anyway – to my subject for today.

Regular readers understand what is meant by the “centralised” system – it’s the system of largely financial control forced upon the citizens of the world by the 1% – the world’s richest. Not the so-called rich Tories the socialists moan about 24/7 but the really rich.

Let’s look at a few examples in the news currently.

You may have read in certain newspapers the story about the Sunday Times Rich List and, more relevantly, those UK billionaires who are using the Government’s furlough scheme to pay their employees wages. That newspaper says 20 of our billionaires – who, tragically have lost around £54 billion in the last 2 months and are clearly feeling the pinch, need to redress their collective positions. I will not mention names but you know who they are.

Are they breaking the law or any rules in using the furlough scheme? NO.

Is it morally repugnant that they use this scheme? Answers on a postcard…

Our bigger companies may now apply for loans of up to £200 million; the new Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme will be welcomed and Ministers are – according to Sky News – finalising the details. The news media group has “learnt” that successful applicant companies would be prohibited from paying dividends to their investors and presumably, to their shareholding directors.

Why does this matter? Any solid investment adviser will remind you that the major investors in these companies are our pension funds and that “re-invested income” – like dividends – is responsible for the majority of any capital growth you may be fortunate to see [after you’ve recovered your horrendous losses of course]

Our friends at HMRC have been in the news again; in Court last week they won a long battle regarding pensions and tax relief. This is not the real story. The real story is the Judge’s comments, which were:

“HMRC guidance was not consistent with the relevant law”

Let that sink in for a minute or two.

The Judge went on to say that HMRC Manuals [rules] are merely HMRCs interpretation of the law in their internal guidance. As one scribe put it more accurately, “HMRC advice is not worth the paper it is written on”.

What happens next? Thousands of innocent people will receive tax bills.

These stories reflect the power of the “system” to achieve pretty much whatever they want. We are nothing more than pawns on a chess board. Is there anything we could have done about the outcome of these stories – and these are just the ones across my desk since the weekend. There are hundreds more.

Sadly the answer is NO. Unless of course you want to be a part of a new system. A de-centralised system. I will come back to this.

Other News
Despite the furlough scheme now supporting 8m employees at a cost of £11 billion, 0ver 865,000 people lost their jobs in April. The unemployment rate for January to March was 3.9% but the Office for Budget Responsibility [OBR] fears it will reach 10% during the current quarter which runs to June 30th.

The support scheme for the self employed has received 2m claims at a cost of £10 billion.

Other stimulus packages for companies are costing £22 billion.

Abroad and our former Euro cousins in Germany are, like us in recession BUT they have the added problem of 100 of their banks paying negative interest rates on savings accounts. In other words, you deposit 100 euros on May 1st and on June 1st you get back less than 100 euros.

Do not think this will not happen here.

In other countries banks/Governments have placed restrictions on people accessing their money; in Lebanon it is 100 pounds per week. In Venezuela the Government imposed a payment suspension on lockdown day and Argentina and Egypt impose similar restrictions. Even Australia imposed a $10,000 cash withdrawal limit on its citizens.

Money editors and financial advisers are frequently and rightly warning us of COVID-19 investment scams; these same people are quite happy to promote stock market investments through pensions, ISAs and investment bonds. How many investors were warned to get out of equities before the pandemic? How many are nursing extensive losses and the only comfort on offer is “its a marathon, not a sprint” and “it’s a good time to buy”. Then there is the penal tax system to confront when we dare to draw pension benefits…

What Can We Do?
In 2008 a new “decentralised” system was created by a bunch of disparate IT geeks in the US; tired of the decennial financial crisis involving job losses, home re-possessions, savings decimated AND then seeing the perpetrators [the banks] bailed out by the very people screwed – the tax payer – they decided enough really was enough.

They created the first commercial blockchain and the first digital unit of value or currency. This was encrypted so as to make hacking or any kind of theft impossible. The encryption led to this new currency being known as crypto currency. Bitcoin is one of 5,000 crypto currencies, soon be joined later this year by Facebook’s own currency Libra.

Bitcoin – all cryptocurrency values are influenced by one thing only. Demand. Most are in very limited supply so as demand increases ONLY one thing can happen, using simple economics. The value goes up. Think toilet rolls a few weeks ago!

This is your insurance policy over what comes after the pandemic. When the price for all the financial support is totalled up and we get the bill. When the value of fiat currency – £ and $ – falls because of hyper inflation thanks to the irresponsible printing of new money out of thin air by the banks.

With an economic depression the most likely outcome, stocks and shares will become a waste land for quite some time. Stock market indices have yet to factor in the realities of this and seem on the rise due to investors being persuaded that recovery is a viable possibility. Consider how many businesses – large and small – will survive this. Will all the banks survive? How long before UK banks pay negative interest rates and/or impose limits on our accounts?

NOW really is the time to consider the red pill. Our own version of The Matrix is our centralised system, as partially described above. Take the blue pill if you are confident the system will take care of you.

If not, we can offer you the red pill. Please, don’t wait too long.