Tax Refund? Whey amz mah monee?

The big question many taxpayers are asking now is: “Where’s my refund?”

Tax refund illustration isolated on white background

Taxpayers waiting for refunds find little help from IRS’s ‘Where’s My Refund’ tool

You’ve got a shot at getting straightforward answer via IRS.gov. But then again, maybe not. Many taxpayers — who can’t get through the jammed phone lines at the Internal Revenue Service — are complaining that the “Where’s My Refund?” tool isn’t helping them, either, according to critics.

“If they use the ‘Where’s My Refund?‘ or ‘Where’s My Amended Return?‘ tools, they get in essence, technologically, what would be a shrugged shoulder,” U.S. Rep. Jody Hice said during a House Oversight and Reform subcommittee hearing April 21.

The Georgia Republican said his office has heard from taxpayers who are “absolutely at their wit’s end.” Continue reading

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Souls in the Shell

“Thus we see how the neo-liberal utopia tends to embody itself in the reality of a kind of infernal machine, whose necessity imposes itself even upon the rulers. Like the Marxism of an earlier time, with which, in this regard, it has much in common, this utopia evokes powerful belief – the free trade faith – not only among those who live off it, such as financiers, the owners and managers of large corporations, etc., but also among those, such as high-level government officials and politicians, who derive their justification for existing from it.

For they sanctify the power of markets in the name of economic efficiency, which requires the elimination of administrative or political barriers capable of inconveniencing the owners of capital in their individual quest for the maximisation of individual profit, which has been turned into a model of rationality.

They want independent central banks. And they preach the subordination of nation-states to the requirements of economic freedom for the masters of the economy, with the suppression of any regulation of any market, beginning with the labour market, the prohibition of deficits and inflation, the general privatisation of public services, and the reduction of public and social expenses.”

Pierre Bourdieu, L’essence du néolibéralisme

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A massive destruction of wealth is coming, this is what the Fed is ‘engineering

Attempting to slow down the economy and subdue inflation, the Federal Reserve has already raised interest rates by 25 basis points and is expected to raise rates by 50 basis points at each of its next two meetings in May and June.

“Right now, the wealth effect still dominates the way we engineer economic growth to make sure the balance sheets of consumers become stronger. As asset prices keep going up, consumers’ liabilities, debt and leverage get cheaper,” explained Alfonso Peccatiello, Author of The Macro Compass. “If equity or housing prices drop by 50%, it will be a destruction of wealth generated by two generations, because of this loss of wealth effect. Nobody wants to see this happen.” Continue reading

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Gold is an ‘ideal‘ asset right now but why isn’t the price higher?

Even though gold seems like an “ideal” asset to own right now, why hasn’t its price made “a big splash” yet? Here’s what Fidelity International has to say about gold’s latent reaction.

Gold failed to deliver a big rally of sustained trading above $2,000 an ounce this year. But all the precious metal might need is time, according to Fidelity International — the arm of Fidelity Investments. Continue reading

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Why Gold Will Benefit from the Inevitable Reshaping of the International Monetary System

However the world monetary system will change, gold will be among the…

In the attached report, Matterhorn Asset Management advisor and Incrementum AG founder, Ronni Stoeferle, offers a compelling perspective on the rapid changes in the global monetary system and the massive implications behind Western sanctions unleashed on February 27th against Russia.

As Ronni indicates, these measures have staggering and far-reaching consequences for global markets, currencies and the gold price. ~ Matthew Piepenburg
Continue reading

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Capitalism for the Rich and Socialism for the Poor

The standard leftist refrain about “advanced capitalism” is that it amounts to “socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor.” Like most leftist notions, this idea represents almost the exact opposite of the truth. The system they refer to is anything but socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. Capitalists do not want socialism for themselves and capitalism for the rest. Capitalists seek profit, which can only come under a capitalist system. Continue reading

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America’s Fatal Dependency

America’s increasing reliance on foreigners to lend us money could crater the dollar…

The United States has borrowed $18 trillion from foreigners since the Great Financial Crisis of 2008, a staggering sum that is nearly equal to America’s annual Gross Domestic Product. The notion that the dollar’s dominance in world finance might come to an end was a fringe view only five years ago, when America’s net foreign investment position was a mere negative $8 trillion. Notably, the net international investment position fell by $6 trillion between 2019 and 2022, roughly the amount of federal stimulus spent in response to the COVID-19 pandemic… Continue reading

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How to prepare your finances for another recession…

‘We think a hard landing will ultimately be unavoidable’

There’s a 35% chance of a downturn in the next 24 months, Goldman Sachs forecasts

Two years after the short, sharp pandemic-related recession, Wall Street is once again warning of a new recession on the horizon.

That’s not a lot to go on, but financial-planning experts say it ought to be enough to prompt people to come up with their own contingency plans. That’s especially so, considering the personal-finance scares that came earlier in the pandemic. Continue reading

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The Fed’s ‘Ponzi Scheme’ is crushing the middle class, this may be the only way out…

NOTE: The following is a matter of personal opinion – one which we do NOT share – for reasons that one MUST pay attention to. ~ Ed.

“I see Bitcoin as the life raft where you don’t have to worry about the Fed’s Ponzi scheme impacting traditional markets or if the economy crashes. You can opt into this parallel system that’s based on the rules that are set,” explained Natalie Brunell, Host of Coin Stories podcast. “When people finally understand Bitcoin, as our financial system unwinds and collapses, hyperbitcoinization will ensue because the dollar is no longer a safe haven.” Continue reading

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The End of the Dollar Schweetheart!

So what was the world’s best performing currency last month?

You guessed it: the Russian ruble. After plunging to 139 rubles to the dollar on March 7, the ruble staged a dramatic comeback to around 80 rubles to the dollar. That’s only slightly weaker than where it was for almost all of last year. The recovery is equally impressive when compared with the euro. At the end of February, it took 89 rubles to buy a euro. In early March, that climbed to around 145 rubles. Now it is down to 87.32. Continue reading

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