Note to reader: Marxist fiscal and monetary policies dominate across the world, and in SE Asia, the mRNA injection campaign was even fiercer than state side. Look at what goes on in Thailand; some retirement paradise. There’s only one reason to want to live there and true Christians should never find a country like Thailand appealing.
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Thai Opposition Party Plans $15 Billion Digital Tokens to ‘Resuscitate’ Economy
•Pheu Thai to fund populist policies from budget, new revenue
•The money will be disbursed using digital wallets built on blockchain technology that can be spent on goods and services in one’s neighborhood
•Boosting GDP to 5%, tripling farm income priorities: Prommin
Thailand’s main opposition party will hand out about 500 billion baht ($15 billion) in cash if it wins next month’s election to “resuscitate” the nation’s struggling economy and provide relief to those battling “neck-deep debt,” a party official said.
A Pheu Thai-led government will distribute 10,000 baht each to about 55 million citizens who are 16 years and above within months of it coming to power, said Prommin Lertsuridej, who heads the party’s economic policy committee. The money will be disbursed using digital wallets built on blockchain technology that can be spent on goods and services in one’s neighborhood, he said.
The party, commanding a wide lead in opinion polls ahead of the May 14 vote, is also promising a steep increase in minimum wages, steps to triple farm income and a minimum monthly household income guarantee. Pheu Thai is deploying a playbook of populist policies that helped parties linked to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra emerge as the single largest party in parliament in every election in the past two decades.
Pheu Thai will aim to form a government of its own first and if it falls short of the numbers, it will join hands with other democratic parties that will agree to its policies, Prommin said in an interview. All the pre-election pledges are meant to alleviate the economic hardship faced by voters and to bolster income-generating activities that can once again place Thailand as an economic powerhouse in the region, he said.
With Thais battling near-record household debt and the economy growing at the slowest pace in the region, all the major parties are pledging freebies such as cash and debt suspension to woo voters, raising concerns such measures may widen state debt and further fuel inflation. Pledges from top nine parties, before Pheu Thai announced the digital cash scheme, already will require about 3.14 trillion baht, according to Thailand Development Research Institute.
Likening the Thai economy to a patient in the intensive care unit, Prommin said the the digital wallets will provide the necessary initial revival. “You have zero pulse and we have to resuscitate your heart with a shock. We have to use a strong measure,” he said.
The fund for the digital wallet will come from a mix of additional government revenue of 260 billion baht, 100 billion baht from tax collection, freeing up another 100 billion from redundant budget allocation and the rest from prime minister’s discretionary fund, Prommin said. The money can be spent by families on farming, daily expenses, or as investment in other businesses to generate income within a six-month period, he said.
“Our country has been economically bruised over the last eight years, with less income and more expenses for the people,” Srettha Thavisin, who is one of the party’s three prime ministerial candidates, told reporters. “The current government has been feeding IV drips with small money handouts. That’s not the right way and doesn’t stimulate the appropriate and right economic growth.”
Pheu Thai will also confer land titles to an estimated 50 million rai (8 million hectares) of agricultural land on farmers, who can then use the deeds as collateral to access capital from financial institutions, Prommin said.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-07/thai-opposition-party-plans-15-billion-digital-tokens-to-resuscitate-economy
When it comes to this financial mumbo jumo I admit to not fully grasping all the tech talk and being a bit slow on the uptake. However, a few key points in the article above made me think that the planned solution to all these failing traditional currencies is to shove digital wallets in everyone’s pocket. Crisis. Reaction. Solution.
Yes, the title says plainly what the proposed fix for Thailand is, but going back to the beginning of covid or earlier – before people were talking about the financial system breaking – who saw this coming? Is it a coincidence that bitcoin was getting shot full of holes and everyone connected to that “decentralized and fool proof system” is either in jail or going to be? Bitcoin and the like was all the rage – until is wasn’t. And in parallel to failing BC we see articles about the Fed going digital. A safer alternative! The manipulation of the public is so obvious to me but there is nothing I can do about it. No wonder big sports are so prevalent in the US and other places. Go team A! Go team B! Exactly the same as politics. It seems like a great way to train the public how to think.
We of course knew that bitcoin was a prototype for what is coming but how do you make that change on a massive scale? Create a crisis. Manipulate the financial sector to the point that an overwhelming majority will have to accept a safe alternative to the privately run decentralized currently model. We know this. And note that “capitalism” is openly being vilified now. I suppose what I’m saying is it’s interesting to see our theories come true (not that we want it). The difference between a conspiracy theory and reality is 6 months?
Regarding the covid housing bubble. Many say it’s not a bubble but it kind of is. To me it seems that highly paid tech workers are the majority of home buyers and drove the prices beyond reason. Those tech workers are working for companies who could very well be operating on cheap money? For over a year I have been wondering if the income source for these people is going to dry up. Of course I don’t wish anything bad for anyone, but can’t help to follow the logic. If that family gets laid off, because rising interest rates are slowly destroying employers, how do they afford that overpriced house they recently bought? Logic suggests 2008 all over again but too many experts say that’s impossible because the set up isn’t the same. Or do the experts know what’s possibly coming? Are we approaching another (different) iceberg and will Blackstone and Blackrock end up scooping up more SFR’s at bargain basement prices?
You say own income generating assets (housing) but what are your thoughts on the big picture as I outlined? Perhaps a crash won’t happen and instead people will be propped up by everyone getting digital wallets? Communist housing is going up all over the place and someone has to occupy it. To me it seems something is going to break.
On a much more positive topic, today is the feast of the Annunciation (old calendar). Very important day for Christianity. Pascha is celebrated on 4/16 this year.
The problem with housing is that I am finding that prices have permanently decoupled from the traditional measures of household income and such. The recent COVID stimulus of about $6 trillion has now ended up in the financial shell for good. The consumers spent the money, which is now on the balance sheets of the corporate and individual asset owners. I explained all of this simple macroeconomic and microeconomic theory in great detail. This is why the divide between the haves and the have-nots continues to grow and why social spending is favored by the wealthiest.
The wealthy assets owners are much more intelligent and know the outcome. These entities intend to fulfill the objectives of the Great Reset and own the houses.
As the small landlord is squeezed out of the equation, rents necessarily rise as they revert to what the institutions charge. Mom and pop investors traditionally charge below market and provide an effective form of subsidized housing to the tenant. This is now vanishing.
Income generating assets are assets that generate cash flow on an ongoing basis for their owners. It’s as simple as that. For many of the regular people out there I have always recommended rental properties. It’s the easiest way to own income generating assets. For those with sizable retirement plans, I recommend owning stocks and bonds. Sports teams are income generating assets. Intelligently run businesses are priced as an income generating asset is priced. The income streams on all of these assets generally rise with the rate of inflation.
If inflation rises and bond yields rise, income generating assets tend to be supported because their income streams tend to rise faster. In a period of low interest rates, which generally means lower inflation, capitalization rates are more favorable yet the income streams increase more slowly.
Thanks for your reply. I completely follow the logic you outline that the stimulus money just goes ultimately back to Nike shoes or whatever the latest fashion is. Of course not before the money makes a temporary pit stop in the hands of the 90% so the news can report how well the gov’t is taking care of the people.
I have to translate your thinking into my reality. Income generating assets for you is rental housing but for me it’s my business. Because what I do is so behind the scenes and specialized, not many can simply jump in. Though I watched some try and eventually fail. What I need to do is focus on myself. On the services I provide to some very large companies that are essential to medicine, research, computers and so on. I’m in the repair business but really need to start thinking in terms of designing a product that the industry can’t live without. I have to define what I do as an income generating asset.
I have made the comment that mom and pop landlord golden days are gone or soon to be gone. With the advent of the tenant effectively owning the rental property through state laws on eviction, I can’t stomach getting into that this late in the game. Industrial property may be a much better option as those are not protected by housing laws. Think warehouses for Amazon. Commercial kitchens perhaps. Or any warehouse type building that can function as a depot for whatever. Blackrock will lock people up in communist housing cells and control it, but those people have a 5G internet connection in order to buy stuff. That stuff has to be stored in a building and loaded in a van.
Yes. Separate your business from the pack.
I stay away from direct ownership of commercial properties of any kind. SFRs are always in demand, provide liquidity, and stable cash flows. I chose SFRs for this reason. Pulling cash out is straight forward.
I think there is a short term glut of warehouse space, given AMZNs woes. If AMZN hits the skids via poor management, warehouse lease rates could suffer. 5G towers, same thing. I don’t want to be dependent on technology changes. I am not saying these RE areas are bad, but ownership is usually via REITs and that defeats the reason to own. Directly owning with full discretion is the best way.
Small landlords saw what happened during covid and many sold or switched to short-term rentals. This has caused a permanent recalibration in the rental market. The institutional landlord has become the marginal player now. And take my word for this, this was not by accident. The government wants to get rid of the small landlord and transfer the entire supply and demand equation over to the institutions and government, which will regulate it more easily with the institutional owners.
Moreover, many small landlords don’t have mechanisms to control expenses and those who don’t charge higher rents are finding themselves playing catch up.
I envisioned a Great Reset being one of large corporate ownership of everything with the government regulating it. At least that is the intention.
Look at how much money Walmart or Amazon have made. How about AAPL, MSFT. There’s a reason why the S&P 500 is levitating above 4,000. The earnings of the firms say they deserve these prices. Look at the energy sectors, too.
Just make sure you separate yourself from the pack and develop a niche with whatever business you run. Make yourself indispensable.
I see a great reset where the big corporations own all the assets AND run the government. These big corporations are owned by the SOS. Complete oligarchy control.
This is all part of the end time plan to usher in the Anti-Christ.
👍 now you see the picture coming into focus. These processes take time and if the outcome were different the trajectory would have been modified. Corporate and institutional ownership is key to all the economic sectors and the synagogue runs these corporations with their Federal Reserve notes that can be dispensed like toilet paper when needed. And you are correct as well with the government; it’s only just the customer service window for the SOS.
Industrial or light industrial may be a better option. Plumbers and electricians need a barn. Commercial kitchens need a barn. I need a barn. But street front commercial is circling the drain and slowly being converted to communist housing.
Owning an industrial property outright clearly has advantages, and if it’s an industrial building, there isn’t much to do. Also the leases are not bound by residential laws. Stop paying? Get out. In my case I own my “barn” and my business is an S corp. I also own my residential condo outright so expenses are low. This allowed me to cut my salary in half while keeping my helper full time during covid. Far too many businesses shut down as if it were the plan all along. Of course it was.
What I do is quite indispensable to a segment of the business population that involves science, medicine and high tech. I’m still at it after over 20 years but still small potatoes compared to my competitors. What I provide is something that eventually everyone wants. High quality work.
Exactly how I see things unfolding. The CBREs of the world will own it all and manage it. https://www.cbre.us/en Every crisis is another nail in the coffin of the small time landlord or street front business. In fact, CBRE just bought one of my customers. A company that maintains mass spectrometers. But CBRE is also a commercial real estate company so they likely own the barn too.
I’m in a deer in the headlights mode CJ; unsure of what to do. I was thinking of taking my life savings out and buying a concrete asset such as another small house. I worry about being older and unable to return to work, so my savings are crucial. Do you think that buying another small house is a good investment? The bank bail-ins have me on edge. Do you think they’ll ever raid people’s savings? They didn’t make that law for nothing.
I don’t think the bail-ins are a huge issue right now, but if you are living in the states, make sure you have no more than 250,000 in any one bank. If you have a ton of money sitting around, then I would try to do something with it.
Though I doubt they’ll raid people’s savings accounts, I suspect that all of the catalysts that got us to this point with the banking sector and monetary system will persist. Nothing has been accomplished to address the growing issues and I only see the circumstances intensifying as inflation continues.
I look at the behavior of the large players in the energy sector and the only thing I can conclude is that the powers want higher energy prices. Russia and Saudi Arabia don’t accomplish many of the financial goals they seek to achieve by cutting back their production. It’s as if they’re cutting their nose off despite their face. This basically allows the United States to produce as much as they want. I’m observing the Dynamics in the energy sector and I just am trying to figure out why it’s going this way. If I were making decisions in Russia, I would be looking at the value of the ruble, the growing spending and budget deficits at the national level, and I would be attempting to produce more oil on the margin. I don’t know why Russia is cutting back on production unless, of course, they’re just lying to try to goose prices.
Unless the Federal Reserve somehow reinvents their methods and the federal government stops their massive deficit spending, I only see one outcome. It’s going to be a slow motion tragedy throughout this decade. The average wage worker and person who squirrels away into their savings account is going to get wiped out.
The Biden regime and the federal government have been spending such exorbitant amounts and it all has little to do with covid anymore.
Be prepared for the unexpected from the authorities. For those who are amenable to doing what I’ve been doing, I recommend owning single family properties with very little leverage. For instance, my loan to value on my property portfolio is about 20%. I am also purchasing properties in friendlier jurisdictions.
I also think you have a good point here. I would pay attention to the newly promulgated laws, rules and regulations, and precedents in the wake of these ongoing crises.
If you’re very risk averse and have half a million dollars in savings, I would divide it between two Banks to keep you at the 250k level. My Truist banker tells me they have money market funds at 4% now. It’s still not as high as official CPI, but they have provided customers with more practical options.
My only concern about being a residential landlord is you are competition for the Balckrocks of the world. During covid all kinds of laws went in for tenant protection. The tenant de-facto owns your home and if you are a small time landlord, can you afford to give a place away for free? Not only that, legal action isn’t cheap. It may take 6 months to get a tenant out. It’s as if all the laws are written to destroy the mom and pop landlord. I’m leery of even renting a room out.
There are good people out there who will do the right thing but you have to somehow screen them and that takes a lot of experience. Long gone are the days where you can have a well known Hell’s Angel member serve eviction notices (and come down stairs with the front door). True story from a long time local landlord.
The consolidation of wealth – always after a crisis – has been discussed here quite often. Just look at post 2008, where people who took the bait set up by the Clinton admin to buy houses on stated income. FF to post covid that ran home prices to insanity. Many can’t afford to compete. In the SF bay area, we are starting to see over asking again. Junk houses selling for up to $400K.
None of this happens quickly. First the set up. Watch as people take the bait and ruin with it. Sit back and wait for the house of cards to fold. Pick up the pieces at a 40% discount.
Labor participation rate higher than expected. The only real surprise. Manufacturing numbers a slight disappointment.
Average Hourly Earnings (YoY) (Mar)
Act: 4.2% Cons: 4.3% Prev: 4.6%
Average Hourly Earnings (MoM) (Mar)
Act: 0.3% Cons: 0.3% Prev: 0.2%
Average Weekly Hours (Mar)
Act: 34.4 Cons: 34.5 Prev: 34.5
Government Payrolls (Mar)
Act: 47.0K Cons: 2.0K Prev: 60.0K
Manufacturing Payrolls (Mar)
Act: -1K Cons: 5K Prev: -1K
Nonfarm Payrolls (Mar)
Act: 236K Cons: 239K Prev: 326K
Participation Rate (Mar)
Act: 62.6% Cons: 62.5% Prev: 62.5%
Private Nonfarm Payrolls (Mar)
Act: 189K Cons: 215K Prev: 266K
U6 Unemployment Rate (Mar)
Act: 6.7% Cons: 6.7% Prev: 6.8%
Unemployment Rate (Mar)
Act: 3.5% Cons: 3.6% Prev: 3.6%