Here's our summary of key economic events overnight with news the economic bite by Omicron might be much worse that feared, even as recently as yesterday.
Yesterday's warning on what this weekend's US non-farm payrolls report may have been a timely one. Today, the precursor ADP employment report said US payrolls fell in their system by -300,000 in January on the Omicron impact. (A gain of +200,000 was expected.) The main cutbacks (half) were in the hospitality and leisure industries. Most other industries cut back too, although not all. But half the rest were declines in the logistics sector, vulnerable to the pandemic because they seems reluctant to accept the mask mandate. They are paying the price. The estimated +150,000 January gain in non-farm payrolls now looks far, far too optimistic.
This news caused risk aversion in the bond market. But the equity markets are still more focused on very good earnings reports coming through.
Going the other way, there was a surge in mortgage applications last week in the US. That is despite US mortgage interest rates rising to two year highs.
Meanwhile, their total gross level of public debt hit US$30 tln as at the end of January, although $6.5 tln of that is owed to other Federal agencies, so the amount owed to the public is $23.5 tln, about 100% of current US annual GDP. Of that, less than $6 tln (a quarter) is owned to people or institutions outside the US.
Canadian building permits fell in December and by more than expected. A -1.2% decline was expected by analysts, but in the end a -1.9% was reported. But at least it does come off a very strong November.
Although China is on holiday, the latest IMF review of their economy notes it is unbalanced and needs for fiscal support. It especially wants to see more social services spending. Meanwhile, the Chinese property market is off to a terrible start in January. Sales from the top 100 developers fell -40% year-on-year, and are set to get worse in February.
The EU's 5.0% December inflation rate was expected to ease back to 4.4% in January. But in fact it rose marginally to 5.1%, a record high and well above the ECB's target of 2%. However, their core inflation rate - without food or energy - did retreat, to 2.3% although not quite to the level expected (1.9%). So there is real pressure on the ECB to act on inflation now.
India's finance minister has said the country will launch a digital version of the rupee as early as this year. They follow China which already has a trial under way. India also plans a 30% tax on income from digital assets.
In Australia, the boss of the RBA was out explaining their current policy positions overnight. In informal remarks later he conceded that rate hikes there are 'plausible' this year if wages growth rises.
In NSW, there were 11,807 new community cases reported yesterday, similar the prior day, now with 119,265 active locally-acquired cases, and 27 daily deaths. There are now 2,623 in hospital there, off their high. In Victoria they reported 14,553 more new infections yesterday. There are now 73,886 active cases in that state - and there were 25 more deaths there. Queensland is reporting 9,630 new cases and 16 more deaths. In South Australia, new cases have slipped to 1266 yesterday. The ACT has 549 new cases, and Tasmania 699 new cases. There have been 1033 cases in the Northern Territory, a big jump. Overall in Australia, about 38,000 new daily cases have been reported.
The UST 10yr yield opens today at 1.75% and down -4 bps. The UST 2-10 rate curve starts today a little flatter at +60 bps. Their 1-5 curve is little-changed at +85 bps, while their 3m-10 year curve is flatter at +172 bps. The Australian Govt ten year benchmark rate is down -3 bps at 1.87%. The China Govt ten year bond is unchanged at 2.72%. The New Zealand Govt ten year is -2 bps lower at 2.58%.
On Wall Street, the S&P500 is up +0.5% to start their Wednesday trading. Overnight, European markets were all up a similar amount, this time led by London. Yesterday, Tokyo had another good day, up +1.7%. Hong Kong and Shanghai are closed for their week-long holiday. Yesterday the ASX200 rose +1.2% while the NZX50 rose another +1.9%.
The price of gold starts today at US$1809 and up another +US$6 from this time yesterday.
And oil prices start today little-changed from yesterday at just on US$87/bbl in the US, while the international Brent price is now just over US$88.50/bbl.
The Kiwi dollar will open today little-changed at 66.3 USc. Against the Australian dollar we are also little-changed at our lower level at 93 AUc. Against the euro we are softer at 58.6 euro cents. That means our TWI-5 starts today at 70.8 and a small net slip.
The bitcoin price is down -4.4% since this time yesterday and now at US$37,299. Volatility over the past 24 hours has been moderate at +/- 2.8%.
The easiest place to stay up with event risk today is by following our Economic Calendar here ».
108 Comments
Just wait, employment here will get whacked soon too.
In the US it’s Vax mandates, not omicron. Omicron is the excuse for the most incompetent administration ever.
Second most incompetent, surely?!
History already shows that in Trumpies administration, fewer US soldiers got killed overseas than in any other president's reign for many years. He was also the only US president to go down in net worth during his reign. Unlike Obama, Clinton,et al. Apart from his general ridiculousness, lifein the US while he was in office was not as bad as his foaming at the mouth enemies would like us to think.
You missed out this little bit
https://www.propublica.org/article/national-debt-trump
"One of President Donald Trump’s lesser known but profoundly damaging legacies will be the explosive rise in the national debt that occurred on his watch. The financial burden that he’s inflicted on our government will wreak havoc for decades, saddling our kids and grandkids with debt.
The national debt has risen by almost $7.8 trillion during Trump’s time in office."
The growth in the annual deficit under Trump ranks as the third-biggest increase, relative to the size of the economy, of any U.S. presidential administration, according to a calculation by a leading Washington budget maven, Eugene Steuerle, co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. And unlike George W. Bush and Abraham Lincoln, who oversaw the larger relative increases in deficits, Trump did not launch two foreign conflicts or have to pay for a civil war.
Trump promised to pay the debt off in 8 years.
https://www.thebalance.com/us-debt-by-president-by-dollar-and-percent-3…
Joe Biden
On October 1, 2021, at the end of fiscal year 2021, the national debt was $28.4 trillion. Between the end of fiscal year 2020 and the end of fiscal year 2021, the national debt grew $1.5 trillion, a 5.6% increase year over year.1 For fiscal year 2022, President Biden's budget includes a deficit of $1.84 trillion, and by the end of January 2022 the national debt had already grown to exceed $30.0 trillion.
Donald Trump
At the end of fiscal year 2020, the debt was $26.9 trillion. Trump added $6.7 trillion to the debt between fiscal year 2017 and fiscal year 2020, a 33.1% increase, largely due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic and 2020 recession.
In his FY 2021 budget, Trump's budget included a $966 billion deficit. However, the national debt actually grew by $1.5 trillion between October 1, 2020, and October 1, 2021.
Barack Obama
Under President Obama, the national debt grew the most in dollar terms ($8.6 trillion) and was fifth by percentage at 74%. Obama fought the Great Recession with an $831 billion economic stimulus package and added $858 billion through tax cuts. Even though fiscal year 2009 budget was set by President Bush, Obama added to it with the Economic Stimulus Act in 2009.
I wonder if it had something to do with the fact Obama and Clinton were modestly wealthy and Trump, by his own admission uber wealthy? He could lose both Obamas and Clintons total wealth and still have $3bill in the bank?
Wait. Trump's gone? Surely you're not suggesting this administration is more incompetent than the last one...
Better not to forget other data too.
This news caused risk aversion in the bond market. But the equity markets are still more focused on very good earnings reports coming through.
Going the other way, there was a surge in mortgage applications last week in the US. That is despite US mortgage interest rates rising to two year highs.
If Omicron cases get to thousands, yes it will affect job market as most work places won't function as normal. But inflation won't disappear, it will just turn into stagflation.
India plans a 30% tax on income from digital assets. Now there’s a thought. Whilst on a roll, does our finance minister have a hot line to New Delhi? First question how would you make it so it’s not a new tax.
Call it a levy
Income tax is not new
(removed - I misread the initial post and thought it was a tax on digital companies not assets)
Already taxed here (at 33% or even 39%)
(removed - I misread the initial post and thought it was a tax on digital companies not assets)
Housing : It is proved that in long run DTI will be good for housing market in NZ, maybe FHB and some investor may struggle initially.
If worried that DTI of 6 times not feasable in NZ ( though it is a shame and highlight the ponzi) , let it be 6.5 time or 7 time but should have DTI and it will be benefecial in long run but politicians and RBNZ are incapable of thinking long term for their vested biased thinking.
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/ideasroom/a-greedy-actor-behind-our-housing-…
5th para nails it. Elderly friends, husband & wife in 80s, re - invested their TDs into a two bedroom ownership flatty thingy, where they are now still happily living, and rented out the 4 bedroom family home. Never before owned anything other than their own home. Overall both properties have gone up in value considerably. The government & RB thus handed them a golden egg on that plus their income is higher than before. There it is, QED.
Foxglove - their 'income' is parasitic on their tenant's income, or part of a ponzi/bubble.
There is NO other source.
And that is sustainable?
Their tenants can forgo their smashed avocado, save every penny, and buy their own unit.
Your drama PDK, not theirs. They are just an ordinary elderly couple doing the best they can to remain independent & reacting as necessary to sustain that. Hardly think you have any right to transgress other people’s lives, ordinary law abiding folk, and lambast them for living an ordinary life. Turn your solar shower to cool and stand under it a while FHS.
You missed the bit where the tenant pays the mortgage and full costs of ownership but never gets title.
That's the inequality of the NZ ppty mess.
This is not capitalism, but policy biased theft from the have nots.
Are you saying given the amount I have spent on milk and cheese I am entitled to a cow?
I didn't realise you rented your milk and cheese? How does that work?
Businesses effectively rent their employees. Are you suggesting they should own them?
Chuckle - the problem comes when the tenant is parasitic (on the energy-entropy stream) too. Since our extreme use of surplus energy, most of us are parasitic that way. We mis-call work, thinking we do it.
These particular people had never had a prior notion of owning any property other than their home. But if you read Tkk’s post you can see why that changed. Don’t blame them. Blame those that created the circumstances that were introduced to them, and those that introduced them.
And also missed the bit where the tenant gets a home to live in without having to stump up for the deposit and mortgage, or the risk associated with that debt. They also don't have to spend money on maintenance or improvements, or now give up effective control of their asset because the government said so.
The interest cost of providing this home for them is also now not considered a deductible expense against the rental paid, so they also don't have to forgo their savings to pay tax on income without deducting costs.
Yes there are also benefits, but lets not miss the counterbalancing facts eh?
I agree. What on earth did Mr Orr think term depositors would do when rates got to 1%? He created the bubble and then when inflation was obvious, he said it was only temporary and kept the tap flowing too long.
Market capitalization isn’t “wealth.” It’s the latest price, times shares outstanding. Blotches of ink on paper. Flashing pixels on a screen. If a dentist in Poughkeepsie buys a single share of Apple at a price that’s 10 cents higher than the previous trade, $1.6 billion in market capitalization emerges from thin air. If a single share trades 10 cents lower, $1.6 billion evaporates just as quickly. Whatever happens, every security in existence has to be held by someone until it is retired. Ultimately, the wealth inherent in a security is the future stream of cash flows it will deliver to its holder(s) over time. Price fluctuations don’t change those underlying cash flows. They just provide opportunities for the transfer of savings between investors. High valuations favor the sellers. Low valuations favor the buyers. Investors have never paid higher prices for those future cash flows, or accepted prospective returns so low.
Put simply, the bubble hasn’t changed the wealth, and a collapse won’t change the wealth. What will change is the market cap. I suspect that the erasure of market cap in the coming years, and possibly the coming quarters, may be brutal. Still, no forecasts are required, and our own attention will remain on observable valuations, market internals, and other factors. Meanwhile, even if an investor sells at these extremes, the only thing that will change is who holds the bag. Link
Rehm also wrote here: https://www.interest.co.nz/public-policy/114201/if-banks%E2%80%99-lendi…
Covid-19 NZ: Border reopening to begin from late February, to proceed in five stages - now cue the howls of discontent as too slow, too fast,..too easy!
"cue"
Thank you Charlotte.
Updated..
In this usage would "queue" also work?
only in the category of the far queue.
The real question is will it be done in stages, steps, phases, levels or traffic lights this time?
I am sure you will object, complain, have a better option, disagree, beseech, or just fall over.
Kews?
All of the above.
It is an active evolving situation, and they will definitely announce the announcement to confirm the announcement in due time.
it should be easy, most of us are Dble jabbed and in a few weeks triple. The doomsdayers are looking more and more out of touch with predictions of infection rates (daily cases have'nt dble yet). So lets just get on with life.
Believe UK has finally done some investigation & concluded 73% of hospitalisations at present with covid are there, not to be treated for covid, but primarily for other conditions & treatment. Perhaps a good omen?
Is there a source for this?
Admit heard it on the radio, hence beginning post with disclaimer as in believe.
Was that from the Hosk?
The Hosk wouldn't use a statistic, he relies on his own amazing ability to just know everything (and "common sense" of course)
My favourite time in Mikes life is when they sold their house and him and Kate wrote articles about the horrors of renting - apparently nobody cared about them as people.
Strange though, they never followed up on those experiences after being rehoused.
I found this.
This is from December, so it's a bit old, but still relevant...
"The percentage of hospital beds being taken up by Covid patients has also fallen to 13.2%" - surely that can't overwhelm any heath system by that much can it?
...Why not just reopen everything now? Almost every country has Omicron, including New Zealand, travellers will be tested so far safer than the average person on the street.
I agree, MIQ no longer has a purpose, and it hasn't really since they stopped focusing on elimination and we got vaccinated. Its very hard to justify the expense let alone all the other issues it causes. They should just open the border completely without isolation.
"The Herald understands the Government will let vaccinated New Zealanders coming from Australia return and self-isolate, rather than stay in MIQ, after Sunday, February 27." https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-february-27-reo…
Wow that is lame if true. Why not vaccinated anyone from anywhere can return and not self isolate from today? We know we are going to have thousands of new cases of Omicron in the community each day, what difference will a few hundred extra imported cases make?
The government want to be seen to be "doing something" about Omicron, even if that something is useless. They have to milk the opportunities they have available for political reasons.
Pretty much this.
If they "let it rip" for everybody wanting to come back in the country, then the true believers might get angry that the government has abandoned them to the wolves.
I suggest you take a look a bit closer at NSW to see how well "let it rip" is going. It won't just be a few hundred cases either - even with our super restrictive conditions there are dozens of border cases every day. Letting the rest of the world get through their peaks and have ours build to a point a few extra hundred border cases a day doesn't matter seems the right strategy to me.
The political benefit is almost always greater trying whilst failing with unworkable existing policies, as opposed to admitting the policies are in any way flawed.
Agreed. As for the unvaccinated coming to NZ, I hope NZ is not paying for their quarantine stay.
"However, their core inflation rate - without food or energy"
Eh?
Core as in Apple core, the part that is unconsumable and irrelevant.
Its definition has been around since the 70s, PDK. It shouldn't be new to you.
Idea is that it excludes a volatile series of prices, cutting out the noise from the true inflation signal over the long run.
It's bullshit.
Without energy, nothing happens. It follows that energy 'pricing' (actually ultimate scarcity) must impact everything.
A lot of stuff has been around since the 1970's - I wouldn't necessarily call them all ideas. That one is a straight-out misconception.
It's going to be an interesting year; you cannot control ultimate scarcity with interest-rate rises, indeed all that can do is bring forward the collapse-point. No wonder so many have left the RB; the disrobed state of the Emperor has revealed that 'tools' and 'toolboxes' were descriptions as misused by economists, as 'engines' was/is by scribal believers. No wonder the sabre-rattling (WMD Mk2) is escalating; energy is in contention and energy - amazingly - is non-fungible. Not even replaceable by money.
You should try to understand why core inflation is useful before you try to critique it.
useful to who? Govts and those in debt?
It is also important to understand the limitations of 'core inflation' if food and energy prices are rising from fundamental issues.
KeithW
:)
The limitations of inflation measurement are well understood, Keith. That's why we are having this debate about core vs headline inflation measurement.
If they were better understood then some aspects of the debate would be different.
KeithW
Fair. It was a new term to PDK this morning.
Plus I sincerely doubt you are much of an expert on economic measurement theory, either.
That moisture map is looking increasingly concerning. How are the farmers of animals and crops managing? Are we heading into another significant drought on top of the other stressors at present. Auckland water dams ok after big top up rains in Oct.
The Waikato is browning out, some rain forecast for Monday/Tuesday but agree with your concern.
We got 40mm two weeks ago but no follow up which is essential. Bit unusual, we've had northerlies which usually assure rain. We have 10 percent of the farm in chicory crop, it's the best established and weed free we've had but even that's on go slow.
Production wise it was the worst January in last five years but unlike most we were still ahead year to date.
Meanwhile input prices rise at or above the milkprice rise rather than in relation to production.
Are you able to grow Oats in your region?
https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-drink/127572795/massive-success…
In a word. No. In fact don't have anything like the scale of suitable land for cropping.
Happily no one grows kiwifruit here either, the chemicals are involved in it's production are ridiculous, let alone the use of tonnes of plastic covering it.
As with most of the country, pasture based production is still the most likely to rule even with the dry periods.
I think in years to come the North Island will dry out alot quicker and sooner and it may become harder to farm or farmers to make a living and shift down south although they also have some hard summers aswell.
Our problem is an influx of rabbits, closely followed by stoats and the odd ferret. Just happened this last two years (coastal Otago). I've become quite familiar with DoC 150 and 200 traps; had to build a stoat-proof chook-house. Anyone else had the same influx?
Central Otago. Rabbits quite able to be controlled in semi populated areas. (lifestyle blocks etc). But you have to do it.
Moeraki: disaster. Dozens of rabbits on your lawn, which appears to be mostly rabbit droppings. They did not organise as a community. https://www.newsroom.co.nz/moeraki-rabbits-rabbits-take-over-a-town
Pisa Moorings: Was a disaster. Local committee got it together in a joint community effort. Cleared them out and keeping them out. https://www.thenews.co.nz/news/rabbits-almost-gone/
The dry weather has caused a rabbit population explosion all over the country.
These smart traps are excellent for stoats and ferrets (unfortunately at the moment they're stuck on a container somewhere so there's a bit of a wait to get one).
NIWA climate change predictions are that most of North Island is to become generally wetter, but with more of a wet winter/dry summer split.
Creates a real challenge for Watercare if the central governments' plan remains to funnel ever larger populations in to prop up nominal economic measures.
The last three summers have been very dry, but on the other hand winters have been better - warmer so more grass grows, and less mud so pasture utilisation is better.
It's possible to adapt to conditions, if this was a consistent pattern going forward, although at this stage it's not out of the ordinary, I remember a similar run of dry years around 2008.
Well the Govt did put the whole country into red, and most of it is obeying... :p
Mostly crusty grazing paddocks here in Hawkes Bay. We're feeding out twice a day and the stock are finding what greenery they can in between. Also trimming some trees for them to eat the leaves (feijoa, luquidambar, pittosporum). Just thankful our water supply is from an aquifer, not (directly) from the sky. Can't stomp a tread-in post into the ground for love nor money. We only have our house stock onsite at the moment though, who don't test wires.
Our crops are squash, which require little water, so they're ok but the top layer of soil itself is cracked open.
Farming is our "side business" though - if this was our main source of income I'd be seriously worrying right now.
In Australia, the boss of the RBA was out explaining their current policy positions overnight. In informal remarks later he conceded that rate hikes there are 'plausible' this year if wages growth rises. The official comment :
Wages growth has picked up but, at the aggregate level, has only returned to the relatively low rates prevailing before the pandemic. A further pick-up in wages growth is expected as the labour market tightens. This pick-up is still expected to be only gradual, although there is uncertainty about the behaviour of wages at historically low levels of unemployment. Link
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/a-greedy-actor-behind-our-housing-market
Have a look at this ......about time someone had the guts to come out and say it, without fear it may affect "their cashflow, revenue etc" !
Congrats to the author who penned this, Dr Michael Rehm
The banks play by the 'rules of the game' that are set by the Government and the Reserve Bank. It is those 'rules of the game' that have led to the current situation. Don't blame the banks for playing by the rules.
KeithW
"Rules of the game" Does that include stealing some of the profit from the sale of a rental property to pay down a mortgage on the one a couple live in without consulting them? (https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/127650304/couple-stunned-as-bank-takes…)
Basically KW the banks manipulate the rules to their own favour. I suggest that there are some very clever people running banks, but they turn their smarts into making huge profits and thus their own bonus's at the cost of society. The RBNZ is trying to play catch-up but most if not all of the staff there are bankers who have come from the banks and expect to go back there. so they are definitely not setting up a rules regime that would constrain their personal profitability sometime in the future!
The rules are not particularly complex - inflation settings, LVRs, DTIs, QE policies. Where we are now is no surprise. The challenge is how we now get out of the current situation. I am more than a little despondent as I look at the years ahead. For a range of reasons I see potential for significant decline in living standards within NZ, particularly for some groups within NZ, but also at an overarching level.
KeithW
The problem is Keith, that the RBNZ and government have abrogated much of their responsibilities to the private, profit making banks, with predictable results.
The whole point is is that they failed to put sufficient rules in place when they allowed banks to take on some of those responsibilities, and the power of the banks is such that most cannot afford to challenge them, and that includes the Government.
Don't hate the player hate the game kinda rings hollow though considering the amounts the banks and other players spend lobbying the ones who set the rules.
The Royal Commission in Australia, and some of the findings in NZ would suggest the only ones playing by the rules were the poor consumers.
@keithwoodford .....good on interest.co.nz for publishing this article - restores my faith in "fair and balanced" journalism. While I actually read it at around 8 this morning, unbeknown to me, you had the article uploaded at 9.28am
Totally understand that the banks have to play by the rules set by the Government and the Reserve Bank, but do they not have an internal "moral compass" for their customers and community as a whole ?
A classic example could be the amount out of take home a young family has to fork out on rent or a mortgage (not helped by the Bank of Mum & Dad) ....probably one of the highest ratios in the western world.
Also, why do lawyers make good bankers - they know how to "bend" these rules, but remain within the law, all in the name of return to shareholders.
The sad part is there are less and less winners, while the rich just accumulate more and more assets, as they already have the equity/knowledge to do so.
Speaking of knowledge, why has it been for ages (not sure about today) that financial literacy is not taught in schools ? ...because it benefits the banks not to have a financially literate population.
You say don't blame the banks for "playing by the rules", but you and I know these rules can also be "manipulated to suit" by the banks themselves, directly with the Government.
I highly doubt the banks are devoid of influence on policy and execution...
Yes. If a bank is willing to lend 80 cents with 20cents deposit, the house price will be $1. If the bank is willing to lend $1.80 with 40cents deposit, the house price will be $2. Anyone who thinks banks don't control house prices is living in cuckoo land. The more they lend, the more $200000 per staff member they can send back to Aussie.
Anyone else think Omicron is just a convenient scapegoat for what's actually bad management of the economy and bad policies?
Tech stocks are plummeting, is that the fault of Omicron?
Side effect of policies to manage COVID being started to be rolled back, but helped by prior policies.
It's a convenient scapegoat, for sure. Global energy peaked in 2018, supply issues and refugee streams (two sides of the same coin) are set to increase, and the West are clumsily assembling WMD Mk2 - to justify what must happen; resource (particularly energy) wars. Can't fake energy.
BERLIN -Germany may scrap a levy on electricity bills that is used to support renewable power from the second half of the year, to ease the strain of rising energy costs on households, Finance Minister Christian Lindner was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Germany’s three ruling parties had planned to abolish the EEG surcharge on electricity bills from Jan. 1, 2023, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz may have to act sooner given the surge in costs.
https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/01/30/germany-economy-renewables
From 1-News reporting the border reopening. ""Step2: March 13, 11.59pm. Critical workers skilled workers earning at least 1.5 times the median wage and highly skilled workers’ family members eligible to enter New Zealand.""
Is there a definition of the word 'skilled'? And what about 'highly skilled'?
Today's Herald, page 11 has "Skilled" (earn $27 per hour and above). What fraction of Interest readers are skilled?
""Step3: April 12, 11.59pm. critical workforces that do not meet the 1.5 times the median wage test considered."" What sane country would pay critical workers less than 1.5 the median wage? Is there a new definition of that word too?
Also Herald page 11 - that photo of visa applicants queuing all night for a medical. It is disgraceful and happening on Auckland's most central and significant street. Every foreigner in NZ should be treated as a guest; approval for work or residency should not be a trial by endurance. The experienced engineers will go to another more welcoming country but any riff-raff will suffer the obstacles.
US FUNDED debt hits $30T.
Now look at the bottom right box:
Social Security liability: 21.7T
Medicare: 33.7T
US Unfunded LIabilities: 164T
So over 200T of liabilities that they owe with no idea where it will come from. ANy ideas? why yes, money printer go BRRRRR.
The whole USD fiat system is a gian ponzi and will collapse. But this will be papered over with "The Great Reset" where the plebs and general populace will once again get fleeced.
Opt out, Buy Bitcoin.
Which relies on the grid.
Which is part coal-fired.
And wholly maintained by 'paid' folk.
Who won't be being paid.
What could possibly go wrong?
Energy will be priced in Bitcoin, as at its base Bitocin is a digital representation of the energy it cost to produce:
"The law of conservation of energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed - only converted from one form of energy to another"
...just when you thought btc logic couldn't get any sillier.
A bit of a fallacy though. So you burn (convert) energy as "proof of work" to generate bitcoin. Lets say I burn through 1 barrell's worth of fuel to generate 1 bitcoin, at the end of it I have 1 bitcoin (binary code) but no fuel.
"Proof of work" because some neckbeard has set up his computer to chew through electricity to create tokens, because he doesn't want to do actual work like dig ditches, weld pipes, build houses etc which the end result is actual proof of work.
Everyone adopts crypto and tax avoidance goes through the roof. Core essential services such as Hospitals, Roads and 3 waters become completely user pays.
All to escape currency manipulation from central banks. Meanwhile in crypto dystopia, you go down to the supermarket with your bozocoin to buy groceries, only to find in the time that it took you to pick a brand of cheese the value of your currency has gone down 10% because some geek made a twitter post, so you put the cheese back.
Wow, that's so amazing that omicron has mutated to the point where it can attack jobs!
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