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Appreciate hearing other’s opinions and perspective.
Kentucky, USA
Joined May 2021
Beyond the Headlines: How the PPP Was More Than Just a Fraud-Ridden Program A Deep Dive into the Federal Reserve, Inflation, and the Hidden Role of COVID Stimulus Elon Musk’s recent post about Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) fraud—highlighting that over $100 billion was stolen by professional fraud rings—makes for an eye-catching headline. And to be clear, fraud, waste, and abuse should absolutely be investigated and prevented. However, this kind of simplified framing can also mislead the public into missing the deeper, systemic role that programs like PPP played in the broader monetary policy landscape. PPP wasn’t just a flawed program that allowed criminals to exploit a chaotic system—it was also a critical tool in the Federal Reserve’s larger strategy to counteract deflationary collapse and maintain dollar solvency during one of the most severe economic shocks in modern history. To fully understand what happened, we need to go beyond the headlines and explore the economic forces at play: the risks of deflation, the necessity of liquidity injections, the impact of inflation, and whether programs like PPP were just relief efforts or part of a more deliberate monetary strategy. The Economic Crisis of 2020: Why Deflation Was the Real Enemy When COVID-19 shut down the global economy in early 2020, the U.S. faced a severe deflationary crisis. Entire industries—hospitality, travel, retail—came to a standstill, businesses shuttered, and unemployment spiked to 14.8%, the highest level since the Great Depression. The Threat of a Deflationary Spiral Deflation might sound like a good thing on the surface (lower prices for goods and services), but in reality, it’s one of the most dangerous economic conditions. Here’s why: 1.Debt Becomes More Expensive in Real Terms •When deflation occurs, wages and prices fall, but debts remain fixed. This means businesses and households have to pay back loans with money that is effectively more valuable, increasing the risk of defaults. 2.Consumers and Businesses Stop Spending •If people expect prices to drop further, they delay purchases, creating a cycle of lower demand, lower production, and more layoffs. 3.Banking System Instability •If businesses fail and loans go bad, banks reduce lending, restricting credit availability, which slows economic growth even further. At the same time, global investors fled to the U.S. dollar as a safe haven, strengthening its value but further draining liquidity from the global financial system. If the government did nothing, this could have triggered a full-scale economic collapse. How the Government Responded: Stimulus as a Monetary Policy Tool To prevent this deflationary crisis, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. government launched an unprecedented intervention, flooding the economy with liquidity through multiple channels: Stimulus Payments & Expanded Unemployment Benefits •Gave consumers immediate spending power to keep demand alive. 2.Near-Zero Interest Rates & Quantitative Easing (QE) •The Fed slashed interest rates and began purchasing Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities to pump money into financial markets. 3.Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans •Provided forgivable loans to businesses to keep employees on payroll, ensuring wages continued circulating in the economy. PPP: More Than Just a Business Rescue Plan While PPP was sold to the public as a way to help small businesses stay afloat, its real impact extended beyond that—it was a direct liquidity injection that functioned as a monetary tool in disguise.
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@TheCalvinReport @TheChiefNerd @elonmusk So what, back to pre-Trump/Biden? We’ve had decades of establishment Washington entrenchment build toward where we are today. They OWN our representatives. How do we expect them to self police now when they haven’t in the past?
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I bought a pair the day they released. Ordered my normal size and expected a roomy toe box. They weren’t (IMO). Sent back that day. But I ordered a couple different sizes this time to compare. Should have them in a few hours. So far the K-Swiss are working out. They’re not zero drop or as wide a toe box as Altra’s but they’re comfortable.
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@zerohedge I cannot wait until we can look back on this type of low IQ propaganda and shake our head in disbelief that it was actually effective.
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@ShawnOnTheRight I think a lot of people —who likely have their eyes closed to Trump/Musk derangement syndrome — may have their wake-up moment very soon. Let’s hope…
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Out of curiosity, how would this have compared to financing a purchase and trading after 3 years? Asking because our Model Y was totaled out recently and we’re debating the merits of a 2-3 year lease vs financing and trading after 2-3 years. We *assume* the math works better on a lease. Just wondering if this was part of your initial consideration when you decided to lease.
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The disingenuousness of posts like these is disheartening. The goal of DOGE, and what many Americans hoped to achieve by electing Trump, was to reduce unnecessary spending, streamline government operations, and tackle our $30+ trillion national debt. For decades, both conservatives and liberals have acknowledged one critical issue: government waste of taxpayer dollars. Why has this consensus changed now? Is it merely because the efforts are not being led by your preferred political team? I genuinely wish people would recognize how their internal biases might be undermining some core principles they claim to uphold.
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While I applaud your intentions: A. There’s not enough time (or attention from American tax payers) to go through each organization in enough detail to be an effective solution for creating the transparency you’re suggestion. B. Hearings are terribly partisan and they’re not designed to inform the public; they’re mainly a forum to create soundbites (which unfortunately has a high ROI) to gaslight and influence the electorate.
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Just returned home with these moments ago. This is the hyper Court express 2. They definitely are nowhere close to the tow box on my Altra solstice XT 3, but slightly more room than most court shoes I’ve tried. Have the Selkirk CourtStrike and CourtStrike Pro coming any day. If Altra made a court shoe, I would buy them by the dozen.
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