Michael Krieger

My name is Michael Krieger, and I am the creator and editor of Liberty Blitzkrieg. I'm originally from New York City.

As far as my academic and professional background, I attended college at Duke University where I earned a double major in Economics and Spanish. After completing my studies in 2000, I took a job at Lehman Brothers where I worked with the Oil analyst in the Equity Research Department.  In 2005, I joined Sanford C. Bernstein where I served as the Commodities Analyst on the trading floor. About halfway through my time there, I started to branch out and write opinions on bigger picture "macro" topics that no one else at the firm was covering. These opinion pieces were extremely popular throughout the global investment community, and I traveled around providing advice to some of the largest mutual funds, pension funds and hedge funds in the world.

I loved my job, but as time passed I started to educate myself about how the monetary and financial system functions and what I discovered disgusted me. I no longer felt satisfied working within the industry, and I resigned in January 2010.  At that point, I started a family investment office and continued to write macro pieces on economic, social and geopolitical topics. That summer, I drove cross country for six weeks and ultimately decided to leave the crowded streets of Manhattan for the open spaces of Boulder, Colorado, where I currently reside.

In the years that followed, I gradually recognized that my true passion centers upon writing on issues of significant societal importance given the extremely challenging times we live in. This realization culminated with me losing interest in financial markets and eventually launching this website in early 2012.

If you are interested in a more detailed description, replete with colorful anecdotes, of how I ended up making this bizarre professional transition, take the time to watch the video below.

https//www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/DcqMN-FXCIE?rel=0

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

Liberty Links 3/4/16

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Below are links to some of the more interesting and important reads I came across today, but will not be publishing on in detail. Hillary Clinton Turned $1,000 Into $99,540, White House Says (1994 article…some things never change, New York Times) The Growing Risk of Civil War in Turkey (This country is a total basket case, Washington Post) Donald … Read more

Democratic Presidential Candidate Jim Webb Says He Won’t Vote for Clinton, Might Vote Trump

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By nominating Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party is handing over the presidency to Donald Trump.

This is a sentiment I’ve been repeating consistently over the past several weeks, and one that has yet to be truly appreciated by most people. There continues to be extreme denial amongst those who want “anyone but Trump” in recognizing that Trump is exactly what you’ll get by nominating a corrupt, Wall Street puppet under FBI investigation with more baggage than American Airlines. It’s obvious to those of us who have a sense of the national mood why this is the case, but remains beyond the grasp of those who are either a part of the status quo or depend on it for their financial survival.

Up to this point, I’ve been going on personal interactions with friends as well as interviews with voters to conclude that a significant number of Sanders supporters will simply not “fall in line” and vote for Hillary in November. While this is interesting in its own right, what has really surprised me is the number of people who have maintained they might vote for Trump if Sanders doesn’t get the nomination. Conventional wisdom would say this is impossible, but what many voters seem to want more than anything else in 2016 is to burn the status quo to the ground.

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Liberty Links 3/3/16

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Several days worth of links. Enjoy! Home ‘Flipping’ Exceeds Peaks in Some Hot U.S. Housing Markets (Reuters) Bill Gross Says Finance Is ‘Burning Out’ Faster Than the Sun (The Street) Revised Snooper’s Charter Ignores Key Criticisms, Widens Police Powers Further (Ars Technica) AT&T Buying Missouri State Law Ensuring Broadband There Continues To Suck (Pure cronyism, … Read more

“Bernie or Bust” – Over 50,000 Sanders Supporters Pledge to Never Vote for Hillary

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Hillary is the candidate of the corrupt establishment. The status quo wants Hillary in the White House so the parasitic gravy train can roll on. DNC head and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is one of these people. She isn’t interested in reform, because reform wouldn’t advance her personal interests. She wants things to stay the way they are, because it’s working great for her.

Genuine liberals are finally starting to see these people for the frauds they are, which is why the Democratic Party is currently splitting in two. On one side there are those who understand United States policy doesn’t need a tweak here or there — it needs to be hauled off to the emergency room immediately. The so-called  “elites” in the Democratic Party are just as disconnected and clueless as their Republican counterparts. Instead of accepting that paradigm level reform is required, they merely double down on their support of cronyism and rent-seeking.

– From the post: The Democratic Party’s Civil War Escalates – DNC Chair Attacks Elizabeth Warren’s Reform Efforts

*Note: As of June 9th, 2016 the total number of pledges has more than doubled to 112,500. The pledge now reads:

Bernie or Bust:  A pledge to write-in Bernie Sanders or vote for the Green Partycandidate 112,000+ people have taken so far. Why? Keep reading.

Original post below:

I think Donald Trump is one of the most underrated presidential candidates in U.S. history, while Hillary Clinton is likely the most overrated. Democrats across America will very shortly experience extreme buyers remorse as Hillary melts into a puddle of Goldman Sachs checks in the face of the political hurricane that is Donald Trump.

Over the past severals weeks, I’ve been hammering home the obvious fact that Hillary Clinton is a far weaker candidate than Sanders against Donald Trump in the general election. I’ve been taken aback by the massive traffic generated by the recent post, Why Hillary Clinton Cannot Beat Donald Trump, and I think it speaks volumes about how passionately people feel about the topic. It’s by far the most popular piece I’ve published this year, with over 23,000 reads on Liberty Blitzkrieg alone.

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Want to Hold Physical Gold and Silver in Your IRA? Here’s How…

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Longtime Liberty Blitzkrieg readers will be aware that I’ve generally shied away from talking about financial markets over the past several years due to a recognition that I wasn’t getting the trends right. More recently, I’ve started writing about gold again since I believe a new and powerful bull market will be birthed in 2016.

Of course, I’m not the only one who can see the writing on the wall. Friends of mine in the precious metals business tell me they haven’t seen this much interest in accumulating physical in years. As such, I think it’s the perfect time to highlight a retirement product offered by my friends over at Perpetual Assets.

Their marque product is the self-directed IRA, which gives individuals increased flexibility and control when it comes to their retirement accounts. This is something people will increasingly put a premium on in a world in which “bail-ins,” cash bans and negative interest rates move from mere Orwellian fiction to stark reality.

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How the U.S. Government and HSBC Have Teamed Up to Hide the Truth From a Pennsylvania Couple

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The reason both the Democratic and Republican establishments are in full on panic mode about the rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders is a deep seated fear that the plebs have finally woken up.

Democrats rail against big corporations, while Republicans rail against big government. This charade has been used to divide and conquer the public for decades while big government and big business successfully schemed to divert all wealth and power to an ever smaller segment of the population — themselves.

It took awhile, but the people are finally starting to get it and they are royally pissed off. One of the primary mechanisms for this historic elite theft has been the creation of a two-tiered justice system in which the rich, powerful and connected are never prosecuted for their criminality. Instead, the government actively protects them by pretending corporate entities commit crimes as opposed to individuals. Of course, this is impossible, but yet it’s how the government handles white collar crime. The Orwellian named “Justice Department” casually utilizes deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs), in which companies pay a little fine and the criminals themselves walk away with not just their freedom, but ill gotten monetary gains as well.

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The Democratic Party’s Civil War Escalates – DNC Chair Attacks Elizabeth Warren’s Reform Efforts

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Yesterday, I composed a lengthy piece which is generating a lot of traffic titled, It’s Not Just the GOP – The Democratic Party is Also Imploding. Here’s one of several observations:

While it might sound strange, a coronation of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary will mark the end of the party as we know it. There’s been a lot written about the “Sanders surge,” with much of it revolving around Hillary Clinton’s extreme personal weakness as a candidate. While this is indisputable, it’s also a convenient way for the status quo to exempt itself from fault and discount genuine grassroots anger. I’m of the view that Sanders’ support is more about people liking him than them disliking Hillary, particularly when it comes to registered Democrats. He’s not merely seen as the “least bad choice.” People really do like him.

The Sanders appeal is twofold. He is seen as unusually honest and consistent for someone who’s held elected office for much of his life, plus he advocates a refreshingly anti-establishment view on core issues that matter to an increasing number of Americans. These include militarism, Wall Street bailouts, a two-tiered justice system, the prohibitive cost of college education, healthcare insecurity and a “rigged economy.” While Hillary is being forced to pay lip service to these issues, everybody knows she doesn’t mean a word of it. She means it less than Obama meant it in 2008, and Obama really didn’t mean it.

Hillary is the embodiment of a sick and detested status quo. She stands for nothing, is nothing, and a vote for her all but guarantees both murder abroad and oligarchy at home. I think a large number of Bernie Sanders supporters understand this and won’t be going off silently into that quiet voting booth to commit ethical self-sacrifice despite the terrifying prospects of a Trump presidency. I think they’ll stay home, but they won’t sit there passively. They’ll be seething inside, and many will renounce the Democratic party forever. Many rank and file Republicans already came to such a conclusion years ago, which is precisely why the nomination was wide open for a man like Trump to capture.

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It’s Not Just the GOP – The Democratic Party is Also Imploding

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Whichever side emerges victorious, both Republicans and Democrats should face up to a much bigger truth: Neither party as currently constituted has a real future. Fewer and fewer Americans identify as either Republican or Democratic according to Gallup, and both parties are at recent or all-time lows when it comes to approval ratings. Just 39 percent give Democrats a favorable rating and just 33 percent do the same for Republicans. Not coincidentally, each party has also recently had a clear shot at implementing its vision of the good society. If you want to drive down your adversary’s approval rating, just give him the reins of power for a few years.

– From the post: Thoughts on Election Day: Relax—Both Parties Are Going Extinct

Political pundits throughout the land are tripping over each other to compose the latest bland, uninsightful screed proclaiming the death of the Republican Party. This makes sense, because the primary purpose of a political pundit is to state the obvious years after it’s already become established fact to everyone actually paying attention.

Yes, of course, Trump winning the GOP nomination marks the end of the party as we know it. After all, some neocons are already publicly and actively throwing their support behind Hillary. While this undoubtably represents a major turning point in U.S. political history, many pundits have yet to appreciate that the exact same thing is happening within the Democratic Party. It’s just not completely obvious yet.

While it might sound strange, a coronation of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary will mark the end of the party as we know it. There’s been a lot written about the “Sanders surge,” with much of it revolving around Hillary Clinton’s extreme personal weakness as a candidate. While this is indisputable, it’s also a convenient way for the status quo to exempt itself from fault and discount genuine grassroots anger. I’m of the view that Sanders’ support is more about people liking him than them disliking Hillary, particularly when it comes to registered Democrats. He’s not merely seen as the “least bad choice.” People really do like him.

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Trump vs. Clinton – Two Tweets That Say It All

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So the Democrats in all their idiocy are about to nominate Hillary Clinton, which all but guarantees a Trump Presidency.

I came across two tweets today that summarize the mood perfectly. If you think Trump is going to destroy the GOP, Hillary is just as likely to destroy the Democratic Party by losing to Trump. Enjoy:

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London Bubble Trouble – Visas Issued to Wealthy Foreigners Plunge 84%

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It appears the music may have finally stopped for one of the world’s largest luxury real estate bubbles: London.

It’s well known that foreign oligarchs love London real estate as a means to launder funds, typically “earned” by soaking their host countries dry via corruption and fraud. This has caused absurd and irrational spikes in high-end residential real estate in the English capital, as well as a flood of new construction.

With emerging markets now completely collapsing, the seemingly endless flood of foreign money is drying up, and with it, London real estate.

So has the London real estate bubble popped? Probably.

– From the September 9, 2015 article: Luxury London Home Sales Plunge 26% – Has this Mega Real Estate Bubble Finally Burst?

London’s luxury property bubble seems to have popped sometime during the second half of last year, something I’ve written about repeatedly over the past several months.

One of the primary drivers behind the weakness in this “asset class” is a sharp reduction in the numbers of foreign criminals laundering money via London real estate. Just in case you still harbored any doubts about high-end London property being little more than bank accounts for shady foreign oligarchs, we learn the following from Bloomberg:

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