2020: A Year of Deepening Economic, Fiscal and Financial-Market Turmoil,
Despite a Headline Booming Economy and Stock Market

The Fed Continues to Prop the Banks and the Financial Markets,
But Not the Consumer, Who Ultimately Drives Sustainable Economic Activity

Expected January FOMC: Continued Boosts to Banking-System Liquidity, but
No Rate Cut for Liquidity-Strapped Consumers, Who Were
Hit by the Overly Aggressive Fed Rate Hikes in 2017-2018

Fourth-Quarter 2019 Numbers Showed Quarterly Contractions in
Real Earnings and Real Retail Sales, Including Full-Year Declines in
Real New Orders for Durable Goods, Manufacturing and Freight Activity

There Is a Fair Shot at Weaker Than Expected Fourth-Quarter GDP,
Despite FOMC Claims of Sustainable Moderate Economic Growth in Place

The U.S. Economy, Federal Government and the Federal Reserve System
Still Have Not Recovered from the 2007-2008 Banking Collapse and Bailout

Harsh Reality Remains That the Fed Stunted U.S. Economic and Fiscal Potential,
With Its Handling of the Banking System Collapse and Bailout of 2007-2008

Extremes of Fiscal and FOMC Imbalances Threaten Massive Systemic Instabilities,
Ranging from the Economic and Financial-Market Plunges, to Surging Domestic Inflation

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) Does Not Work: Headline Inflation Can Be Masked,
But the Price of Gold Remains the Canary in the Coal Mine