An Urgent Economic Warning

By Ron Paul

With the pandemic waning stateside, one truth emerges from this past year... the U.S. government has leveraged the COVID-19 crisis to gain even more power and control of our lives.

Many on Capitol Hill have cynically turned the panic of our citizenry into political profit for themselves, while many are barely getting by financially.

Despite trillions in government stimulus, last year brought the most dramatic spike in U.S. poverty since the 1960s. Eighteen million Americans are still on some form of unemployment. And this year, many of those folks are in danger of losing their homes.

Don't forget, even before the panic began, 78% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck. And even though you might assume that refers to low-wage earner, one out of four families making $150,000 or more a year were in the same dire position.

And small businesses, the vital backbone of the American economy, aren't faring any better. A recent Fed report claimed 88% of these enterprises haven't returned to pre-pandemic levels, and nearly one-third say they won't survive without more government aid!

Oh yes, stocks are hitting all-time highs, but the ticker numbers are no reason to start celebrating with ticker tape. The S&P 500's price-to-earnings ratio is now more than double its long-term average with wild speculation afoot – we're due for a market crash, America.

In short, our country's struggling – and not just fiscally. The lockdowns and pandemic-induced loneliness have also taken a grievous toll on our nation's mental health. Half of all Americans admit to struggling with depression and high anxiety, while "deaths of despair," e.g., suicides and drug overdoses, are spiking.

But none of this matters to our politicians, who roll their eyes and hand you another check. To them, this health scare is a convenient opportunity to steal even more of our God-given Constitutional freedoms.

The Socialist States of America

Notice the CDC's recent guidelines about how vaccinated Americans can resume their lives? The mainstream media rejoiced at the announcement, treating it like VE Day for 2021.

I'm sorry, folks – but your freedom doesn't come from the CDC! It doesn't come from Dr. Fauci, Congress, or me... It comes from the Constitution.

But that's just how subverted our grasp of liberty has become in the past year. The truth is, after so many years in Washington, I thought I was immune to being shocked by what our government does. But D.C. never fails to disappoint.

Look at what they've done in just one year. Congress passed a $2.2 trillion stimulus package – the biggest in history. This amount eclipses the 2008 banking bailout and the 2009 Recovery Act combined. Unfortunately, free money never goes far enough.

Then they passed another $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. With around $30 trillion in debt, the U.S. government can't cover this. But no worries, the Fed will keep printing more! They've funded this entire operation with near-zero interest rates and an unprecedented level of money printing, essentially handing the U.S. Treasury a blank check.

These measures are nearly identical to the socialist "universal basic income" idea on which Andrew Yang based his failed presidential run. Nearly a third of Americans say they're counting on even more government relief. So it's likely we'll see this free money continue.

Add it all up, and the past year's "COVID relief efforts" have cost taxpayers $6 trillion. That's eight times bigger than FDR's New Deal after the Great Depression. And we know most of this money ends up in the hands of the well-connected, rather than those who most need it.

Take the most recent stimulus bill, for example...

Only 9% of the $1.9 trillion Congress approved went to the American people. The rest?

• $100 million for an underground rail project in Silicon Valley.
• $480 million to preserve Native American languages.
• $50 million in "environmental justice grants" – whatever that means.
• Budgets for the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Arts will double, costing taxpayers $470 million.
• And another $1.5 billion is going to prop up Amtrak. 

This is all indicative of a deeper problem. See, the biggest problem with a crisis like this is that nobody stops to ask the real questions.

• How does the financial system get so bad that a flu-like virus can cripple the entire U.S. economy?
• And then require $6 trillion in government spending – just to keep the country afloat?
• Will any of this stimulus fix the economy?
• Or will it just make Americans even more dependent on the government?
• And what is the dollar worth if we can print an unlimited number of them? 

But none of this matters... Everyone wants a quick fix – an easy handout. And, as we've seen in the past year, our elected officials are happy to give the masses what they want.

Unfortunately, these policies – and those that are sure to keep coming as this crisis lingers on – will cause even more damage to the Americans they're meant to help. Despite what anybody in the government or mainstream media will tell you, all this free money does is further erode the value of the U.S. dollar.

A Financial Crisis for Baby Boomers

The fissures and cracks are appearing in our fiscal system, America. What our government is trying to do today has been tried many times before, in dozens of autocratic countries. No matter who's in charge, these socialist policies always lead to disaster.

As Michael Burry, one of the few experts to predict the collapse of the housing bubble, pointed out: Germany's route to hyperinflation in the 1920s is nearly identical to what's happening in America today:

Germany [the U.S.] started by not paying adequately for its war [on COVID and the Great Financial Crisis bailout] out of the sacrifices of its people – taxes – but covered its deficits with war loans [Treasurys] and issues of new paper Reichsmarks [dollars].

The only difference is that Germany had an actual war. We have a self-inflicted one, America.

"Oh, but hyperinflation could never happen here in America," you might say.

Well, just like publisher Trish Regan has been sounding the alarm for months, and as I'm about to show you, it's already here:

• Since last December, gas prices are up more than 25% since last December – and experts predict it could soon soar to $4 a gallon or more.
• Lumber prices are up more than 180% in the past year.
• Copper and other industrial metals prices have skyrocketed and are now at their highest levels in a decade.
• Global food prices have soared to a six-year high and are likely to continue rising even higher this year. 

So far, food prices have jumped 50% since the COVID hysteria began. Now, the World Food Program predicts 2021 could be even worse, potentially resulting in "famines of biblical proportions."

If food prices continue soaring, things are about to get downright scary for millions of Americans. Study after study has shown that, throughout history, social unrest and violent rioting inevitably follow a spike in food prices. So please, as a citizen of this country, pay attention to what your government is doing right now.

And even the World Economic Forum has written about how these programs turn Americans into state-dependent, liberty-deprived people. That's because, no matter the crisis, the goalposts keep getting moved. Politicians can't bear to part with the power they grabbed from us. The toxic, long-term financial consequences will persist until this wobbly house of free-money bills comes collapsing down.

And I believe it's about to get a whole lot worse. If you don't prepare, the past year's events are about to create a crisis for Baby Boomers and others who are retired or nearing retirement.

The people running America today are living in a fantasy world. And if you're not careful, you could be the one who pays the price. The government has politicized this pandemic to make us utterly dependent on them.

But for those of you who want to reclaim your freedom and preserve your hard-earned wealth, I have a message that illustrates the necessary steps to protect yourself as an American and an investor.

Washington has paved a perilous economic path here – something worse than the Great Recession of 2008 or even the crash of 1929. You can ignore that ugly fact, or get informed by clicking here.

The choice is yours, America.