Inflation Cripples Turkish Lira
If you pay attention to Turkey–and much of the world is not because the situation gets little mainstream media coverage–you can watch a currency and an economy crash in real time. Their Lira lost 20 percent of its value in October thanks to crushing inflation. Not 20 percent in a year, but 20 percent in a month.
The Wall Street Journal quotes Ayse Kaya, a 60-year-old resident of Istanbul, “We are living a catastrophe. Everything is so expensive. Our currency is crushed. Our money lost all value.” The situation is much the same in Libya, which has even worse inflation.
Like the U.S., the problem is exacerbated by low interest rates. Despite historical economic experience demonstrating it is impossible to spend their way out of inflation, this is what their government is doing. President Erdogan’s popularity is about even with President Biden, at 38.9 percent.
Inflation by Category
The charts and graphics in this Zero Hedge article do a great job of illustrating where inflation stands in the U.S. It also lists five ways people are planning to cut back on their spending.
Anti-democratic Forces are on the Rise
An interesting opinion piece by Garry Kasparov, chess champion and former resident of the Soviet Union. He’s seen communism first-hand and thinks “wokeness” looks familiar and is a real problem in the U.S.
As COVID Cases Rise in Europe, Lockdowns Worsen
Last winter, COVID-19 peaked in Europe from mid-November through February. It looks like history may be about to repeat itself, despite the number of vaccinated people. Of course, the unvaccinated are getting blamed, and both Austria and Germany are locking down unvaccinated people. Some interesting charts in this article from the Daily Mail.
Americans are apparently not the only ones resisting mandates. Protests in Europe are growing and some are becoming violent.
Here’s a video showing a huge protest in Rome.
