Spend It Your Way

In case you haven't been paying attention there's a big split going on globally between the elites, the so-called experts, and the rest of us. Brexit is just one branch of that growing tree that's getting bigger by the day. There are plenty more examples. The Trump-Clinton tussle is another, though many will try to deny it.

The meme is a simple one, the rabble should just trust the experts. There are some real problems with that: For one, there are no real experts. Politicians, bureaucrats and economists are all examples of the popular classic case. An expert can be be someone who knows a little more than you, however infinitesimal that little is. Another issue, knows more of what? At some point useful has to enter into the picture.

Text books are written by those so-called experts. When it comes to cutting interest rates, as noted in the WSJ today, it's suppose to lower currency values. But don't tell that to central bankers in Japan and Australia, to name a couple. There are many more, Russia, Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan and Hungary.

 Asking why is a fair question, but it's not relevant at this point. As T.S. Eliot said in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock:  "Don't ask why, let us go and make a visit." The yen is nearly 16% higher after the BOJ implemented negative interest rates earlier this year. Australia cut rates last week, it's second this year, and it's currency rallied promptly to its highest level  in three months.

In our Overnight blurb this week we noted New Zealand's currency, the kiwi, suffered a similar fate after bankers there lopped off 25 basis points Thursday, cutting its rate to 2%, a move that sent the kiwi to its highest levels in a month.Conventional wisdom is not always wrong. And that's problem. It's right just enough to give it a patina of credibility.

But this push back against the so-called experts and elites is the healthiest thing we've witnessed in years. The PC pendulum has swung too far for too long. Questioning authority is a salubrious exercise highly recommended. Those who worship even at the shrine of science forget just how often science has been wrong throughout its history. In fact, it's only when we often discover it errant precepts promoted by its errant zealots that we finally label those former beliefs nostrums.

Climate change fears will turn out to be one of these cases, as will the current gluten nonsense. As for believing what we read today in MSM, it requires not a grain but slug of salt, Monsanto just canceled  a GMO deal in Argentina. You have enormous power as a consumer. Shop local. Economic boycotting is a peaceful way to express your opinion. The current Olympics are a well-worn example. These monster corporations use their huge economic clout to make political statements, supporting metal winners who represent politically acceptable sports. All else notwithstanding your achievements, need not apply.

These giant corporations are the Siamese twins of big centralized government, intrusive, monopolistic, pushy and overbearing. Use whatever legitimate power you have to express your opinion. And the most powerful one you have, until they attempt to take it away, is not the ballot box, but the power of purchase. In this weekend's edition of Barron's, the business magazine owned by the Wall Street Journal that is but a shadow of what it once was, noted: "Consumer spending is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy, which made last Friday's weak retail-sales report all the more disappointing....So despite the weak data don't give up on consumer spending just yet."

That should give you a hint as to how much power you have as a consumer. Exercise it. Don't be afraid. The coward dies many deaths, the brave person only one. Use your clout to support local vendors, small business owners; these are the people who deserve your loyalty and these are the people who create most of the jobs. Don't be afraid to name names, Coca Cola, Proctor & Gamble, JP  Morgan. These and many others have used their political and economic clout to push you around for a long time.

Push back time starts with your purse. You earned it. Don't let them tell you how you have to spend it.