Special Guest: Robert Wenzel is editor & publisher of EconomicPolicyJournal.com and of Target Liberty. He also hosts the weekly podcast The Robert Wenzel Show. His guests on the show have included, Jesse Ventura, Roger Stone, James Altucher, David Stockman, Guy Kawasaki, Oliver Stone, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Steve Forbes, Peter Schiff and Gary Johnson.

He is author of The Fed Flunks: My Speech at the New York Federal Reserve Bank and the soon to be published, Always Fighting for Freedom: The Early Wenzel.

39 Minutes

Long time Austrian School Economist and Libertarian with a professional background in Wall Street Finance, Robert Wenzel warned of the 2007-2008 Financial Crisis in his book: The Fed Flunks: My Speech at the New York Federal Reserve Bank and was subsequently asked to Washington and the Federal Reserve to detail how he knew where "I really gave it to them!!"

Financial Repression

He sees the central banks of the world and the Federal Reserve as manipulating the economy through interest rates and flows of funds which makes it very difficult for the individual to make money consistently which represses everyone but gives a major advantage to Wall Street. Much of this is done through restrictive regulations where the "devil is in the details". Very few really understand the significance of the "details".

Active in Silicon Valley, Robert Wenzel has seen closeup how the 'regulatory details' offer major advantage which give staggering advantage and financial gain to the few, but disadvantage or competitively impede many in their business enterprise. Though Robert Wenzel does not use the term he describes the workings of Crony Capitalism which Macro Analytics has chronicled in many previous videos.

"It is a rigged system where they simply write regulations when things go off the rails for them!"

What this means is it is now making it almost impossible for the average person and small business entrepreneur to survive and prosper.

The Worse Get to The Top

When asked how informed politicians are of what is going on, Wenzel is reminded of Nobel Laureate Economist, Fredrich von Hayeks writings in the "Road to Serfdom" that:

"The worse get to the top"

They are willing to say and do anything to get to the top. These are the ones that know what is going on. A lot of elected politicians simply don't know what is going on and are marginalized. As in the world of finance, "bad money forces out good money".

Inflation and Interest Rate Surprises Ahead

Wenzel believes the Fed's stated inflation target of 2% is in actuality 3%. Until this level is achieved the Fed is not going to let up. Unfortunately because of the economic lags and distortions in the signals, Wenzel sees it getting out of control resulting in inflation levels not seen since the late 1970's. Having presented at the Federal Reserve, Wenzel says:

"The Fed is surprisingly unaware of anything outside of money printing! ... It is stunning how off the page they are and how they have no clue, as evident in the Fed minutes where they don't even mention the money supply!"