Free Republic

(The Economic Collapse Blog)—What is the Fed not telling us? The numbers clearly indicate that big trouble is brewing in the banking system. I wish that I could specifically tell you which banks are in the most trouble, but at this stage we simply aren’t being told anything. They probably figure that the best approach is to try to keep everyone as calm as possible. But they won’t be able to keep a lid on what is going on indefinitely, and when word finally gets out people could start to panic. In recent weeks, bank reserves have fallen to alarmingly...

Obviously both are important and require a massive shift away from the status-quo, but if you had to pick one, which is more critical for the well-being of America?I'd personally think immigration reform is slightly more important, but understand if that's not as critical to some others.

A financial expert sensationally cut short an interview with entitled illegal immigrants who revealed they were $420,000 in debt but said they still 'deserved' a new Toyota Tacoma and a house with a pool. Caleb Hammer had a couple from Phoenix, Arizona on his YouTube show 'Financial Audit,' in which he conducts an audit of his guest's finances to help them get out of debt. The couple told the host in the episode, entitled 'These Illegal Immigrants are F***ed,' that they are Dreamers who came to the United States as children aged nine and five. Dreamers are undocumented immigrants who...

The Federal Budget Balance, a key indicator of the health of the U.S. economy, has reported a significant swing into surplus territory. The actual figure for the month came in at $198.0 billion, a stark contrast to the previous month’s deficit of $345.0 billion. This substantial change in the budget balance has exceeded all expectations. Analysts had been forecasting a continued deficit, making this surplus a welcome surprise. The shift from a hefty deficit to a surplus indicates a robust increase in the federal government’s income relative to its expenditure for the reported month. The surplus of $198.0 billion not...

Regional bank stocks tumbled on Thursday after Zions Bancorp said it would write off fraudulent loans made to two borrowers, adding to investors’ fears about lending standards and stress in credit markets. Zions Bancorp (ZION) on Thursday said it had recently identified “what it believes to be apparent misrepresentations and contractual defaults” by two borrowers. As a result, it plans to write off $50 million of the $60 million outstanding on the affected loans. Shares of Zions dropped 13% on Thursday, leading regional banks lower. The KBW Regional Banking Index fell 6%. The recent bankruptcies of two companies in the...

A guy I know just had his truck repossessed. He claims he was current on his payments and because I used to be in the auto remarketing many years ago, he called (texted) me for assistance. He bought the truck and financed it with Tricolor. Here's the AI info...

Many Americans love the feeling of driving a new car, but the price of that thrill is pushing household budgets to the edge. Auto loan delinquencies are spiraling, the nation now owes a staggering $1.66 trillion in auto loans, and some figures show scary similarities to the period right before the 2008 financial crash. That’s according to a new report titled “Driven to Default: The Economy-Wide Risks of Rising Auto Loan Delinquencies” from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). It describes auto finance in the US as being “at breaking point,” and criticizes Congress and the country’s federal watchdogs for...

People are turning to AI chatbots for anything from writing emails to planning holidays. But can they be trusted with our finances? A few months ago, a fellow journalist asked me: “Do you invest? Do you think you will be able to retire with a million dollars?” Thinking back on the mild heart-stopping fluctuations I'd seen in my portfolio amid tariff uncertainties, I replied that I wasn’t sure. He suggested I get some feedback from ChatGPT. Unfazed by the skeptical look I gave, he persisted. “Try feeding (it) your portfolio and see what it says.” I was intrigued, and later...

It’s time to call a spade a spadeThe notion that the Fed is some kind of sterling institution needs to be put to bed. This is particularly true of the Powell Fed which has experienced multiple scandals involving criminal activity. The fact that no one went to jail because “laws are for little people” doesn’t absolve the Fed.Let’s wind back the clocks.During the pandemic, when millions of people were losing their jobs, despairing of their futures, and terrified of dying, senior Fed officials were making MILLIONS of dollars trading on insider information based on Fed policy decisions.Specifically, three Fed Presidents,...

Good for Mayor Eric Adams for suing the Campaign Finance Board over its outrageous, undemocratic bid to rig the mayoral race against him. Even if he doesn’t receive timely justice, he’s at least helping expose a system that needs drastic reform or even complete elimination. Hizzoner wants the board to fork over $5 million in matching funds he argues it has unfairly denied him. The board’s “conduct is unconstitutional and the height of arbitrary and capricious governmental action,” Adams’ filing states. “The agency must be held to account for its pernicious conduct.” Damn straight. The board first began withholding funds...

Homebuyers are gaining power in much of the country. Just not in the wealthy, pricey East Coast.Consensus is growing among economists that home prices will flatline or even fall on a national level in 2025 as the housing market spends a third year stuck in a deep slump. But those national trends mask a housing market that looks increasingly fractured, with prices rising in many cities in the Northeast and Midwest, and falling in parts of the Southeast and Mountain West.In the stretch of cities between Richmond, Va., and Portland, Maine, homes are still selling at almost as frenetic a...

In this episode of The Real Eisman Playbook, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Gretchen Morgenson discusses her career in investigative journalism, focusing on the dark side of Wall Street, the AIG scandal, and the financial crisis. She highlights the role of private equity in modern finance and its impact on various industries, including healthcare. Morgenson emphasizes the importance of exposing corporate fraud and the need for accountability in the financial sector.

What Happened: According to an iShares MSCI World ETF (NYSE:URTH) chart, tracking the MSCI World Index shared by Barchart, global stocks have formed a “Golden Cross” for the first time since January 2023.

WHAT HAPPENED: Mexico’s government is defending three financial institutions accused by the U.S. Treasury Department of laundering cartel money and facilitating payments for fentanyl precursors to China. 👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Mexico’s Secretariat of Treasury and Public Credit (SHCP), the U.S. Department of the Treasury, CIBanco SA, Intercam SA, and Vector Casa De Bolsa. 📍WHEN & WHERE: Mexico’s SHCP issued a statement this week. 💬KEY QUOTE: “Financial facilitators like CIBanco, Intercam, and Vector are enabling the poisoning of countless Americans by moving money on behalf of cartels, making them vital cogs in the fentanyl supply chain.” — Secretary of the Treasury...

On May 29, 2025, a bipartisan group of members in the House of Representatives from the Financial Services and Agriculture Committees introduced the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act. The bill seeks to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets in the United States, with regulatory jurisdiction primarily split between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The U.S. Congress is in the thick of its crypto efforts this week, with the Senate starting on final votes to approve its first-ever crypto bill. The U.S. Senate has easily passed its first significant vote 68-30 toward final approval of the GENIUS Act to regulate U.S. stablecoin issuers. The vote makes final passage of the bill a near certainty, marking the first major crypto bill to pass in the U.S. Senate, which had been the bottleneck for crypto efforts in past years. The House of Representatives has also made significant strides in advancing a crypto market structure bill, with...

In the olden days, the world was run on a feudal system. There were a handful of mostly inter-related nobles who lived in palaces, wore fancy clothes, and ate sumptuous food. They were served by a large class of serfs who did the unpleasant things like digging latrines, plowing fields, slaughtering animals, tanning leather, and all of the other work needed for the nobles to live in luxury. In return, the nobles kept the serfs from starving but generally oppressed them and sometimes did so gratuitously for their own amusement. Serfs had no rights and very little money and were...

Canada’s national debt has reached a point where the entire Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue is now being used to cover interest payments. Every dollar collected from GST is funneled directly to bondholders, leaving nothing for essential government services. The numbers are staggering. In the last fiscal year, $55 billion was collected in GST, and $55 billion was paid out in interest on government debt. The Bank of Canada holds 20 percent of these bonds, meaning it is effectively paying itself interest on the debt it owns. This raises serious concerns about the sustainability of Canada’s fiscal policy. When...

It's absolutely amazing where the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) finds taxpayer money and how it gets there. The Daily Wire has been investigating a small USAID-linked organization that described itself to Congress as "a low-overhead charity sending its money to Africans." But the African Development Foundation was actually a grifter's paradise, siphoning taxpayer money in the name of charity and sending it to friends and cronies in Africa and the U.S. Mathieu Zahui, Foundation's chief financial officer, became something of a left-wing hero when Elon Musk and DOGE showed up for an audit. Bravely, Mr. Zahui stood up and...

Eric Trump talks to World Liberty Financial’s Zach Witkoff and Tron creator Justin Sun about how the institutional banks will be left ‘in the dust’ if they fail to embrace crypto. On May 1 during Token2049’s fireside chat session, Eric Trump opened up about how he and his family were “canceled” by the modern financial system, which led him to discover the world of cryptocurrency. “Modern finance is absolutely broken. And so when the banks came after our family, I’ll never forget it, we became the most canceled people in the world all because we’re associated with politics in the...