The US and specifically the CIA began to train and support the Afghan Mujahideen already in the late 1970s and, as US support grew, it actually was largely responsible for creating the Taliban that would later turn against the United States. As we know, government interventions lead to unintended political, social and economic consequences.
Pepe Escobar, writing for Asia Times on August 23, 2021 noted:
"After 20 years and a staggering US$2.23 trillion spent in a 'forever war' persistently spun as promoting democracy and benefiting the 'Afghan people,' it’s legitimate to ask what the Empire of Chaos has to show for it. The numbers are dire. Afghanistan remains the world’s 7th poorest nation: 47% of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the Asian Development Bank.”
The question is how on earth could the US spend around $100 billion annually in a country that has a GDP of only $20 billion? Answer: Only politicians could do that.
Most of the money which the US spent on the war was actually spent outside Afghanistan and it benefited mostly US companies supplying goods and services for the armed forces. It is likely that about 10% of the $100 billion annually went to Washington D.C. and its endless corruption industry and politicians that are all based around the capital of the US.
Now, let us also assume that the chaotic and disorganized US military withdrawal from Afghanistan is the template of how dysfunctional the US government works. In this case we should be prepared to see this dysfunctionality to show up also in economic policies, the economy and asset markets. And if that were the case, we should assume that foreign investors into US assets will respond negatively. One of the first casualties of foreign investors' loss of confidence would be the US dollar.
I have thoroughly analyzed various variable that will impact monetary policies: I doubt that the Fed will ever tighten monetary policies again. Under these conditions price increases for goods and services will likely accelerate and squeeze personal incomes and corporate profits.
Also, don’t forget: the Fed will always lie, the same way US generals misrepresented the hapless conditions in Afghanistan to the world in order to keep the war-profiteering machine going.
Finally, I want my readers to remember the words from Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy
"In all history there is no war which was not hatched by the governments, the governments alone, independent of the interests of the people, to whom war is always pernicious even when successful."
With kind regards and sincere wishes for your good health
Yours
Marc Faber
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