- Gary Christenson
Most of us understand "there's no free lunch." Someone must pay for the products and services we use. The acronym is TANSTAAFL, or "There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch." The saying has been around for decades, even prior to Robert Heinlein's "The Moon is A Harsh Mistress."
Our morning coffee is an example. Coffee beans were planted, grown, harvested, roasted, transported, and ground. It required energy and currency units to buy beans and heat water to make our coffee. There is no free coffee.
The same is true for food, the cars we drive, our homes and hundreds of other goods and services we need.
But Wait! A "free lunch" exists for some people.
Central banks have created over $20 trillion in "funny money" from "thin air" in their debt fueled fantasy land. They used those currency units to buy dodgy bonds, stocks, ETFs, gold, politicians and much more.
Sounds like a free lunch... billions of free lunches...
Create digital currency units, buy real goods, including gold, and... have a free lunch while enjoying your nice day. Central banks designed the system and work it for their benefit.
From Rolling Stone Magazine: The Real Housewives of Wall Street
"Christy is the wife of John Mack, the chairman of Morgan Stanley. Susan is the widow of Peter Karches, a close friend of the Macks who served as president of Morgan Stanley's investment-banking division... the Federal Reserve handed them [Christy and Susan] both low-interest loans of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars through a complicated bailout program that virtually guaranteed them millions in risk-free income."
Comment: They collected, courtesy of the Fed, a quarter of a billion dollars that guaranteed millions in risk-free income. Central bankers create "free lunches" for their friends and owners, and we pay via higher prices... The "housewives" example was one of hundreds.
OTHER "FREE" LUNCHES:
What about "food stamps" (the SNAP program)? That program creates free lunches, breakfasts and dinners...Medicare for all? After we consume the free lunch, we might need free medical care.Universal Basic Income (UBI) is supported by many politicians and could create free income for selected individuals or everyone. Free lunch, free rent, free internet, tuition etc.Google provides free Gmail but sells our data and personal information to generate revenue.Facebook gives us free social media access but sells our data and personal information.Google and Facebook are "free" only because we don't DIRECTLY pay for their services. But costs for "free" goods and services are paid via inflation, devaluation of the currency, loss of privacy, and other taxes.Prices for goods and services remained flat for a century before 1913 when a corrupted congress passed the Federal Reserve Act. Consumer price inflation thrived thereafter.
But since 1913, cigarettes have increased in price from ten cents a pack to
$6 - $10. The same is true for postage, potatoes, housing and energy. Medical care and hospital bills made the price increases for other services look tiny.
There is no free lunch for most people. We pay via devalued currency units and higher prices. When commercial banks need to cover losses or boost earnings, the Fed lowers interest rates to near zero. They create more loans and increase banker profitability.
Did your credit card interest rates decline since the 2008 crisis? How many bankers were imprisoned for their role in the fraud that created the crisis? How many families lost their homes after the crisis?
No bankers went to prison, but many homeowners lost their homes. Some people are more equal than others...
If a country subsidizes butter, it will get more butter. Because the U.S. subsidizes banker fraud, central banking, welfare, warfare, defaulted student loans, bad policies, too-big-to-fail banks and congressional stupidity... then the U.S. will get more of these problems. We'll pay via consumer price inflation and massive interest payments. However, gold and silver will preserve purchasing power.
There are no free lunches for most people. Someone pays. Central bankers may create currency units to buy gold at no cost, but the rest of us pay for their manipulations.
Central bankers and the banking cartel are not going quietly into the night. They will continue creating "free" currency units.Deficit spending will persist until it can't.Ever-increasing debt will end only when the system resets.Miles Franklin sponsored this article. They don't do free lunches, offer giveaways, make political promises or pretend our financial system is healthy. They sell silver and gold to those who understand the need for protection from ongoing dollar devaluations. Call 1-800-822-8080.
Gary Christenson
The Deviant Investor