This Recession Is Manufactured and Therefore Must Be Handled Very Differently

We are in a recession. Officially, the White House will find ways to pretend like we’re not, but the accepted signal of recession before the Biden-Harris regime tried to redefine it is two consecutive quarters of GDP decline. That will be announced this week. In the meantime, their spin-doctors are doing everything in their power through corporate media proxies to declare we’re not in a recession. We are, and they know it.

Normally, a recession is what it is and can be handled with sound fiscal policy and efforts to increase consumer confidence. There is a lot of psychology behind a recession. Consumers and producers must have confidence that things are getting better before they actually do, and that really isn’t that hard. But this one is different. It’s manufactured, and not just by the weak actions of the Biden-Harris regime.

On today’s episode of The JD Rucker Show (Brighteon, Apple Podcasts, Rumble), I discussed why this recession is unlike anything we’ve faced in the past, what it means ahead of the midterm elections, and most importantly how Americans should be responding to what is almost certainly going to be a crippled economy for the next year or more.

The Liberal World Order wants to keep us spooked, and it’s working. I use MyPillow sales (promo code “JDR”) as my general barometer for the state of consumer sentiment. Sales seem to go up when people are confident and they go down when people are concerned. Judging by sales recently, I would say the people are tightening their belts more than I’ve ever seen.

Here are some headlines from Tuesday alone that reveal the problem is real and getting worse despite claims by the Biden-Harris regime and corporate media that everything is fine and we should just go about business as usual.

Chris Jacobs at The Federalist writes, “Biden’s Economic Delusions And Deceptions Snub Struggling Families

The White House blog post tried to rebut the notion that two-quarters of negative growth constitutes a recession, calling that metric “neither the official definition nor the way economists evaluate the state of the business cycle.” The administration instead claimed that assessments of the economy should take “a holistic look at the data,” and that, due to “one of the strongest labor markets on record and an elevated stock of household savings,” the economy likely continues to grow.

White House economists can discuss “the state of the business cycle” all they want, but how do families evaluate such claims? Most families would logically rate the economy based on the state of their own personal finances. And on that front, American households have spent the past year getting kicked in the teeth.

Brad Polumbo at Based Politics writes, “New Report Exposes One Overlooked Way Biden Has Worsened Inflation”

In addition to pushing massive, wasteful, ineffective spending bills that drove up inflation, the president has also suffocated the economy with unprecedented amounts of regulatory red tape.

The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) highlights this overlooked reality in a new report by Jonathan Ingram, Alli Fick, and Haley Holik that was exclusively provided to BASEDPolitics in advance of its release. It calls attention to the fact that “President Biden is issuing more costly regulations than any other president in modern American history.”

“The [federal government] published more than 72,000 pages of new regulations, executive orders, and agency notices in President Biden’s first year—a record high,” the analysis reports.

“Those new regulations were also far more likely to carry a hefty price tag,” it further notes. “In 2021, the Biden administration finalized 69 economically significant regulations—regulations that carry a $100 million annual price tag or have a substantial effect on the economy—more than triple the number finalized in President Trump’s first year.”

Jennifer Sor at MSN reports, “Nouriel Roubini Says Predictions for a Mild Recession Are ‘Delusional’ as Severe Financial Crisis Looms”

Roubini, also known as “Dr. Doom,” said debt ratios are historically high at 420% for advanced economies and climbing, while bailouts during the pandemic have resulted in “zombie corporations” that put the economy at risk.

In contrast, the stagflation seen during the 1970s was accompanied by low debt ratios, and the debt crisis during the 2008 financial crash saw falling inflation.

“This idea that it’s going to be short and shallow, it’s totally delusional,” Roubini said. His warning goes against other predictions on Wall Street for a mild recession, including those from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, Pimco, Nomura, and BlackRock’s Larry Fink.

Why This is Different

Past recessions have been caused by a combination of bad policies, bad circumstances, and low confidence from consumers and businesses. This recession is no different from a cause-and-effect perspective, but the real differences between what we’re experiencing today and what we’ve experienced in the past are twofold.

First, the regime doesn’t appear to be doing anything about it. They’re making excuses and trying to redefine terms, but that only affects the consumer/producer sentiment aspect of recession, and it’s not working. Nobody’s buying it. If the White House wanted to fight this, they would make bold moves rather than feeble excuses. Unfortunately for them AND us, we’re in an election year. The bold moves they could make to bring a swift end to the recession would require capitulating to conservative fiscal ideologies and denouncing the woke, green policies the regime is currently embracing.

Second, there are far more outside factors at play with this recession than any in the past. It seems the Liberal World Order is determined to prolong this recession indefinitely. They need a sustained economic downturn and the collapsing of the U.S. Dollar in order to put The Great Reset in full motion.

What We Can Do About It

There are certain best practices in any recession that still apply even in this manufactured one. But there are a few emergency actions we should also be taking just in case I and many others are right that this is going to be prolonged and devastating. We might bounce back quickly. We might continue to plummet until the end of this nation. It’s best to acknowledge both possibilities and act accordingly.

I went into much more detail about each on the show, but here’s an overview.

Do Not Become a Slave to Money

The most important advice that applies in both a regular or manufactured recession regardless of your financial situation is to not become a slave to money. It’s commonplace in America when the economy is good, but when it’s bad it becomes even more prevalent for people to make all of their decisions around their finances.

This obviously sounds like it runs contrary to the notion that we need to tighten our belts and live frugally, but it’s not. We do need to be more financially conscious, but this can descend into full-blown obsession. Money is the root of all evils, and therefore becoming a slave to it means we are most vulnerable. The idea is not relegated to just the wealthy. Money can be the root of evils for those who are not financially secure as well. Live a Biblical life. That means money is secondary no matter how bad things get.

Turn Your Free Time Into Something Productive

In all of the articles I read and videos I watched about recession, nobody talked about this. On the other hand, prepper articles and videos mentioned it often.

It behooves us during this recession (and beyond) to minimize the time we waste and maximize our time for productivity. That can mean learning new skills that can be useful if finances become too tight to pay others to do something for us. It can mean making money on the side. I know a lady who makes about $200 per month uploading videos of her pets to Rumble. She loves it and it helps pay the bills.

Protect Your Wealth and Retirement

I’m not a financial advisor. I’m supposed to say that before mentioning two of our sponsors sell precious metals. In recession markets, the last thing you want is for your wealth or retirement to be locked into fading investments. Gold and silver have traditionally been hedges against such things. Our Gold Guy specializes in bullion and Goldco specializes in IRAs.

Diversify Your Investments

If you have wealth to protect, it behooves you to diversify through a recession. One of our sponsors, Mass Tort Financing, offers accredited investors an investment opportunity that does not correlate with the stock market. Whether you check them out or any other alternative investment strategy, it makes sense to do so now.

Eliminate as Much Debt as Possible

This is a no-brainer, but it’s challenging when we’re often forced to use credit just to pay our bills due to inflation, job loss, or other financially debilitating circumstances. If you can, assess your debt situation and do what you can to improve on it immediately.

Money paid in interest is money wasted.

Tighten Your Belt as Much as Possible Without Causing Too Much Pain

It’s easy to say, “tighten your belt.” It’s tougher to tell people that our mindset and psyche are often even more important than our finances. Some will take frugality to the extreme and make themselves and their families far too unhappy to be worth the extra cash saved.

Be frugal. Don’t be a tyrant. Lord willing, we’ll make it through this. No need to force depression because money is tight.

Build Your Emergency Fund

It’s hard for many Americans to build a savings when there are so many financial challenges facing us, but there’s a chance things can get even worse. This is why having an emergency fund in the form of cash or items of value is important. Besides, we never know when the crap will hit the fan. Having backup cash ready is always a best practice.

Stock Up on Items You Know You’ll Use

When the 2020 toilet paper rush began, I lambasted people for hording two-year supplies of toilet paper. Today, I have a two-year supply of toilet paper. It makes sense to buy certain items that are definitely going to be used eventually while their prices are still relatively low. Chances are strong that they’re not going to get cheaper in the near future.

Be Ready for Collapse

Will we make it through this recession? Probably. We always have in the past. But this recession is, as noted above, very different from past recessions. It makes sense to plan for the possibility of collapse. If it doesn’t happen, praise God! If it does, we need to be ready.