Economic Collapse Report

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, the nation's economy stands as a testament to the unmatched power of freedom, innovation, and individual enterprise. While critics at home and abroad endlessly predict American decline, the facts tell a different story—one of persistent leadership and dynamism rooted in the principles of 1776.

Joseph P. Quinlan of Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank has outlined compelling reasons for long-term optimism, highlighting strengths that no other nation can replicate. Far from a fleeting boom, America's economic edge reflects the divine providence and constitutional order that have sustained the republic th...

The way things are headed in America, it's easy to assume that it's not horrible. Yes, we have inflation but things seem to be stabilizing. But if we look to Europe, we're seeing a far greater challenge than just inflation. They're imploding economically, politically, and culturally.

We often think of government-allowed fraud and government-mandated DEI as two very separate things. One deals with direct theft of money while the other deals with theft of status. But in reality they both deal with theft based on government programs that take from the haves and give to the other haves. That's not good.

Now that the war in Iran appears to be over, it's time for President Trump and the Republicans to do everything they can to make America more affordable. Meanwhile, CNN doesn't want Elon Musk to be a billionaire. They really need to just leave him alone.

When the bond market opens each morning in lower Manhattan, no one ringing the bell is thinking about the seventh-century Arabian peninsula. Yet a small army of clerics, lobbyists, and shariah advisory boards has spent the better part of two decades quietly bending portions of America’s financial machinery to conform to Islamic religious law — and they are succeeding with the active cooperation of the largest names on Wall Street and the federal agencies that regulate them.

A new investigation by veteran reporter Paul Sperry at RealClearInvestigations lays out the architecture of what critics have long described as a pa...

A fresh survey reveals a staggering imbalance in the housing market: 630,000 more sellers than buyers, the widest gap in American history. At the same time, the average age of a first-time homebuyer has climbed toward 40.Read More: https://economiccollapse.report/astounding-home-ownership-facts-show-marriage-is-more-than-a-lifestyle-choice/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Zohran Mamdani’s face told the story before his words did. Standing beside City Council Speaker Julie Menin in the City Hall rotunda on Tuesday, New York City’s democratic socialist mayor announced what amounts to a confession dressed up as a policy proposal. The city he was elected to run is in a “budget crisis of historic magnitude,” he said, and the only acceptable solution involves someone else writing the check.Read More: https://economiccollapse.report/the-bailout-was-always-part-of-zohran-mamdanis-plan/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There is something deeply revealing about the way the left has chosen to use artificial intelligence. It has embraced the technology with great enthusiasm for surveilling political dissidents, flagging "misinformation" that contradicts official narratives, scoring social compliance, and automating ideological enforcement across digital platforms. What it has treated with considerably more skepticism — and often outright bureaucratic resistance — are the applications of AI that could actually save lives, end suffering, feed the hungry, and unlock the kind of human flourishing that no government program has ever managed to produce.This is not a coincidence. A philosophy that requires dependency cannot afford solu...

A new fault line is running through American life, and it has nothing to do with the usual categories of race, class, or political affiliation — though it is beginning to absorb all of them. It is the divide between those who believe artificial intelligence is the most transformative tool since the printing press and those who think the whole enterprise is somewhere between overblown and genuinely dangerous.Axios recently put a name to what many have been sensing: AI is sorting the country into three distinct camps — power users, doubters, and resistors. What the headline missed is the deeper story. This...

BlackRock upgraded U.S. equities to "overweight" on April 13th, citing strong corporate earnings and what it considers limited lasting damage to global economic growth from the Iran conflict.The U.S.-Israel war against Iran began February 28th with airstrikes that killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran retaliated by closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world's oil and natural gas normally flows.A Pakistan-brokered ceasefire was announced on April 8th and almost immediately came under strain. Weekend peace talks in Islamabad collapsed on April 12th when Iran refused to commit to ending uranium enrichment...

The core argument: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's 2025 shareholder letter isn't just a business update — it's a meditation on institutional courage, specifically the courage to tear down something that works rather than patch new technology onto old systems.The AI bet: Amazon is committing ~$200 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, primarily for AI infrastructure. Free cash flow dropped from $38B to $11B as a result, spooking Wall Street — but Jassy argues the demand is real, backed by a $100B+ OpenAI commitment and AWS AI revenue already running at $15B annually.Self-disruption: Jassy wants to rebuild the retail shopping experience from a blank page...

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani stood before cameras at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn on Monday and unveiled what his administration calls the city's first-ever "Preliminary Citywide Racial Equity Plan" — a sweeping, 45-agency framework built on the explicit premise that city government must view every policy decision, every spending allocation, and every programmatic goal through the lens of race. The Department of Justice, reviewing the plan the same day it dropped, is prepared to call it something else: discriminatory and potentially illegal.Both assessments are correct. The fact that anyone needs an explanation of why it's discriminatory and illegal sh...

Democrat politicians, especially in far-left cities like Seattle, view people as members of three different groups. There are the ATMs, the combination of mega-donors and wealthy residents who can supply Democrat politicians with campaign funds, tax dollars for leftist policies, or both. Then, there are the enemies, middle class voters who lean right, who are being increasingly targeted for removal from public discourse. Last but not least, there are the useful idiots who vote for Democrats and therefore vote for their own suffering.That’s why the “millionaire’s tax” in Washington is pure perfection from a leftist perspective. It addresse...

For generations, the conventional wisdom went something like this: serious money lives in New York. The serious decisions about who gets capital, who gets to list on an exchange, who gets to participate in the grand machinery of American finance — all of it emanated from a few square miles of lower Manhattan, governed by institutions so entrenched they seemed geological. Wall Street wasn’t just an address. It was a statement about where power lived and who held it.Read More: https://economiccollapse.report/the-south-didnt-just-rise-again-it-took-wall-street-with-it/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com...

David Sacks has officially ended his 130-day tenure as President Trump's AI and crypto czar, a limit imposed by federal law on special government employees, and is transitioning to co-chair the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).The White House confirmed it will not appoint a replacement AI czar, and Sacks will continue advising President Trump on artificial intelligence and technology policy from his new PCAST role.PCAST's inaugural 13-member lineup reads like a Silicon Valley power summit, including NVIDIA's Jensen Huang, Meta's Mark Zuckerberg, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Oracle's Larry Ellison, AMD's Lisa Su, Marc Andreessen...

Most Gold IRA companies operate on a model built around massive markups on numismatic coins, delivering enormous profits to dealers while leaving customers with overpriced assets that rarely hold or grow in real value.Tucker Carlson’s recent exposé, “The Great Gold Scam,” pulled back the curtain on an industry that has preyed on trusting Americans for decades.Carlson himself launched a precious-metals firm, yet every core claim in his video aligns with documented industry practices.Bullion coins and bars—priced close to the spot market—offer straightforward exposure to gold and silver without the hidden premiums that define most IRA sales p...

An explosion and large plumes of smoke at the Valero refinery in Port Arthur prompted officials to order west-side residents to shelter in place according to 12 News Now. A fire broke out at a diesel hydrotreater, with the unit suffering severe damage, according to people familiar with the incident. The fire was near the plant’s fluid catalytic cracker, and part of the refinery has been shut down, according to the people, who said a decision hasn’t yet been made whether to shut the entire plant.Read More: https://economiccollapse.report/coincidence-oil-jumps-after-explosion-and-massive-fire-at-one-of-the-largest-us-oil-refineries/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/priva...

New York Governor Kathy Hochul delivered a stark admission this week: the state's tax base is eroding as high-net-worth residents continue to depart for lower-tax destinations, leaving behind a funding gap for the expansive social programs that define the Empire State's approach to governance. Speaking at Politico's New York Agenda: Albany Summit, Hochul openly pleaded for wealthy individuals—many now residing in places like Florida and Texas—to return or persuade their peers to do so, acknowledging that these taxpayers are essential to sustaining the generous welfare framework New York has built.The governor's remarks came amid mounting pressure from prog...

For decades, the world's most consequential waterway has sat beneath the shadow of a hostile regime. The Strait of Hormuz — a sliver of water just 21 nautical miles wide at its narrowest point — serves as the jugular vein of the global economy. Approximately a fifth of the world's oil passes through it, carried by roughly 3,000 ships each month. And for decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has held that jugular in its hands. The current war has finally shown the world what happens when that grip tightens.President Trump is right. He was right to call on allies to act, and he w...

The executive order directs the Secretary of Energy to facilitate resumption at Sable Offshore's facilities, potentially unlocking up to 50,000 barrels of daily production.It addresses vulnerabilities where California and U.S. military forces rely heavily on foreign oil due to local restrictions.The action follows a Justice Department opinion affirming presidential power to preempt state laws impeding critical energy resources.California officials, including the attorney general, have already filed lawsuits challenging federal overreach on pipelines and production permits.Environmental groups and coastal communities view the order as highly controversial, reviving memories of past spills that devastated marine ecosystems.Read More...

Rising oil prices linked to Middle East tensions are increasing the cost of fuel, fertilizer, and transportation for American farmers.Fertilizer prices remain volatile because natural gas is a key input, tying agriculture directly to energy markets.Farm debt has climbed to record levels, putting many producers in a vulnerable financial position if commodity prices fall.Small and mid-size farms are under the greatest pressure as consolidation continues across the agriculture sector.Supply chain instability from global conflicts could raise costs for farm equipment and imported agricultural inputs.Food inflation may accelerate if farmers reduce planting or livestock production due...

With all that's happening in America and across the globe today, there remains one overarching economic perspective that prevails. Interest rates impact everything and interest rates are impacted by everything, at least to some extent. Ira Bershatsky from https://advisorbullion.com joined us again today to discuss what's happening, warning of stagflation, and pointing to caution in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit economiccollapse.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy...

What Gold Numbers Are Telling Us That the Fed Won’t - https://economiccollapse.report/what-gold-numbers-are-telling-us-that-the-fed-wont/

Iran Closes the Strait of Hormuz — and the World’s Energy Markets Are Holding Their Breath - https://economiccollapse.report/iran-closes-the-strait-of-hormuz-and-the-worlds-energy-markets-are-holding-their-breath/

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit economiccollapse.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Warner Bros. Discovery's board declared Paramount Skydance's revised $31-per-share all-cash bid a "superior proposal" over Netflix's existing merger agreement, triggering a match window that Netflix ultimately declined.
Netflix co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters stated the deal was "no longer financially attractive" at the price required to match Paramount Skydance's offer, effectively ending a months-long bidding war.
Paramount Skydance, led by David Ellison — son of Trump ally and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison — sweetened its offer multiple times, ultimately raising its bid 63% from its original September proposal to secure the deal.
A combined Paramount-WBD entity would merge HBO Max...

Financial expert Ira Bershatsky from AdvisonBullion.com joined JD to talk about the tariff ruling from the Supreme Court as well as other factors that are going to impact the economy going forward.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit economiccollapse.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Japan has started its $550 billion investment promise by launching energy and minerals projects in the United States. Defense contractor Palantir is moving from Colorado to Florida in a move that makes them the biggest traded company in Southern Florida.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit economiccollapse.substack.comSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

(The Economic Collapse Blog)—For a long time, it has been clear that the middle class is being systematically destroyed.  The cost of living has been rising faster than paychecks have for years, and this has pushed millions of Americans into poverty.  As for those that were already impoverished, many of them have been pushed out into the streets.  According to the Wall Street Journal, homelessness in the United States is increasing at the fastest rate ever recorded in 2023.  Anyone that thinks that we do not have a major problem on our hands simply has not been paying attention.  At one time...

(The Economic Collapse Blog)—For decades we were warned that someday our politicians would push things too far.  We were warned that someday our national debt would spiral out of control, servicing that debt would become extremely oppressive due to soaring interest rates, existing bonds would crash thanks to the shift in interest rates, and foreign sources would start stepping back from buying any new debt that we would be issuing.  Unfortunately, that time has arrived.  The government debt crisis that we have been warned about is here, and it is going to be incredibly painful.At this moment, our natio...