Wolf Richter of Wolfstreet.com actually ran the numbers of how much governments steal per year through financial repression from savers and retirees in the US alone. So now we have this situation where short-term Treasury yields are low, and long-dated Treasury yields are even lower. How much money are we talking about here? Let’s see. There are $22 trillion in Treasury securities. They’re held by individuals and institutions, including insurance companies, pension funds, and the Social Security Trust Fund. Then there is high-grade corporate debt. The category of triple-A to single-A-rated debt is about $3.3 trillion. These yields have been pushed down too. Then there are $3.8 trillion in municipal bonds outstanding. Many of them trade below US Treasury yields. For example, the GO bonds of California, which is not exactly a paragon of fiscal rectitude. During trading last Thursday, the California 10-year yield was 1.76%. This was about one-third of a percentage point below the US Treasury 10-year yield of 2.08% on the same day. Then there are $9.4 trillion in savings products, mostly savings accounts and CDs at banks. There are also about $3 trillion in checking accounts, payroll accounts, etc., but they’re not included here. These are just savings products. So let’s add these categories up: They amount to $39 trillion. A 1% reduction in interest spread across the board of just these four categories amounts to nearly $400 billion a year, that the holders of these products are being deprived of. A 2% difference in yields across the board takes nearly $800 billion a year in income from savers, current and future retirees, and fixed income investors, and hands this money to borrowers. The Giant Sucking Sound Of Financial Repression https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-08-01/giant-sucking-sound-financial-repression Articles Mentioned In This Show: 1) European bank chiefs tell ECB: low interest rates won’t fix Europe https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/02/european-bank-chiefs-tell-ecb-low-interest-rates-wont-fix-europe.html 2) UBS To Start Charging Rich Clients With Negative 0.75% Interest Rate https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-07-31/ubs-start-charging-rich-clients-negative-075-interest-rate 3) How negative interest rates helped turn Deutsche Bank into a disaster https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/29/business/deutsche-bank-ecb-negative-rates 4) Negative Yields Could Be the Death of Bond Markets https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-07-29/negative-yields-could-be-the-death-of-bond-markets 5) The Limbo Rock! How Low Will UBS Go With Negative Interest Rates On Bank Deposits? https://confoundedinterest.net/2019/07/31/the-limbo-rock-how-low-will-ubs-go-with-negative-interest-rates-on-bank-deposits/ Please visit the Wall St for Main St website here: http://www.wallstformainst.com/ Follow Jason Burack on Twitter @JasonEBurack Follow Wall St for Main St on Twitter @WallStforMainSt Commit to tipping us monthly for our hard work creating high level, thought proving content about investing and the economy https://www.patreon.com/wallstformainst Also, please take 5 minutes to leave us a good iTunes review here! We only have about 51 5 star iTunes reviews and we need to get to our goal of 100 5 star iTunes reviews asap! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wall-street-for-main-street/id506204437 If you feel like donating fiat via Paypal, Bitcoin, Gold Money, or mailing us some physical gold or silver, Wall St for Main St accepts one time donations on our main website. Wall St for Main St is also available for personalized investor education and consulting! Please email us to learn more about it! If you want to reach us, please email us at: [email protected] **DISCLAIMER- ANYTHING MENTIONED DURING THIS AUDIO OR SHORT VIDEO RECORDING IS FOR INFORMATION & EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSTITUTE INVESTMENT ADVICE. JASON BURACK AND HIS GUESTS ARE MERELY STATING THEIR OPINIONS ON DIFFERENT TOPICS RELATED TO INVESTING, THE ECONOMY, MARKETS OR COMPANIES. PLEASE TALK TO YOUR INVESTMENT ADVISOR AND DO ADDITIONAL RESEARCH AND DUE DILIGENCE ON YOUR OWN BEFORE INVESTING AND MAKING IMPORTANT INVESTMENT DECISIONS.- DISCLAIMER**