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Thanksgiving; A Time for Thanks, A Time For Change:

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Message Mike Folkerth

Good Morning Middle America, Welcome to your King of Simple News Network, where we reduce even the complicated, down to my level.

WORLD NEWS: With crude oil hitting more than $99.00 in trading, analysts had this to say, "The market is now really looking at $100 a barrel as the next target to hit," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore." You heard it here first, just after $99.00 comes a $100.00. Powerful minds come up with powerful information.

But, all and all, that does not bode well for the U.S. due to the fact that it isn't our oil. Okay, okay, maybe 25% of it is produced on U.S. soil, but I don't think we can get along on that. And we may as well get used to it, times are changing and that change will be felt more in the U.S. than any place on earth.

This country was built on growth. Exponential or ever expanding growth. Just like blowing air into a balloon with the plan to expand the balloon every day; at some point it pops. Sort of like a dot-com pop, or a housing bubble pop. We live in a finite world and infinite expansion has natural barriers.

In other words, there are natural impenetrable barriers to excessive growth and we have arrived there unscheduled.

I did a live presentation yesterday and during the question and answer period one alert young man asked me, "How can we turn this around and how bad will it hurt?" I answered that to turn it around we would need totally new leadership and it's going to hurt real bad." He said, "I was afraid of that."

I was also asked if the weak dollar would bolster imports and if that wouldn't turn the country around? I only had 15 minutes left and a complete answer would have taken two hours, so I gave them the short answer of, no.

 

Here's the problem; the loaded rate for say, an auto worker is somewhere north of $75.00. A Chinese assembly worker gets around $3.00...per day. Oh, a ten hour day.

Here's another problem. In the U.S., we have little cost adders such as Social Security, Medicare, workers comp, unemployment insurance, medical insurance, liability insurance, state tax, federal tax, OSHA, 401- K's, paid vacation, legal fees, property tax, fuel tax, inventory tax. . .well, you get the picture. So will we soon gain parity with China, the short answer is still no.

What our falling dollar will do, is create hyper-inflation. As the trillions of dollars held in foreign reserves begin to return to the U.S., inflation will go bonkers. I could explain the whole reason why, but in short, there are so many dollars with so little backing that they become less valuable and the outcome isn't pretty.

So what can you personally do? Now remember, I said it won't be painless. The very first thing you can do is sit down to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow and be thankful for what we do have; freedom.

The second thing you can do is to take that opportunity to talk this situation over with your family. While doing so, mentioning cutting way back on Christmas gifts would be a brilliant idea. And, a plan that everyone is going to love, at least those who write the checks. Trust me, you're going to need that money.

The third thing you can do (tomorrow) is figure out how as a family, you can cut costs, reduce debt and continue to live the good life by having more days like Thanksgiving and fewer days at the Mall.

The fourth thing you can do, and possibly the most important, is to talk about leadership in this county. Middle America does not have a candidate for president in the top tier.

The ultra-wealthy of the world purchased those candidates in Washington a long time ago. Now we need to use the only tool that we have left and elect a President who represents all of the people, not all of the people with money. (It says so in the rules).

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Mike Folkerth is the author of "The Biggest Lie Ever Believed" and is not your run-of-the-mill author of finance and economics. The former real estate broker, developer, private real estate fund manager, auctioneer, Alaskan bush pilot, (more...)
 
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