| Ripple Effect — January 9, 2026
Household debt continues to rise, not just in total dollars, but as a percentage of gross disposable income: Households continue to increase their total debt (Source: Goldman Sachs) Interest rates are coming down, emboldening consumers to take on more debt.
The latest data highlights a central feature of the real economy. Americans no longer manage savings and income but credit cards, HELOCs, and mortgages in an effort to keep up appearances.
Day-to-day expenses, health insurance, housing, car payments and tuition will continue to plague Americans throughout the year ahead of going to the polls in November.
~ Addison |  After he left the Trump admin, Elon Musk all but disappeared. The New Yorker called it a “vanishing act.” So where did Elon go? He buried himself in a little-known AI project that: - Promises to be 100X bigger than ChatGPT…
- Breaks free of the internet and into the real world…
- And could make Elon the world’s first trillionaire.
That’s why Ian King has tested out Elon’s revolutionary new AI live, on camera. You gotta see it to believe it. (It’s not BORING like ChatGPT.) Look for yourself so you don’t get left behind. Live test run of Elon's AI | P.S. We just wrapped our first Grey Swan Live! of the year, with Matt Smith, publisher at Casey Research. Matt and co-author Doug Casey have just released a new book titledThe Preparation. Quick hit: Since 2021, Matt has been operating a “regenerative” cattle ranch in Uruguay.
The Preparation: How to Become Competent, Confident and Dangerous lays out a 16-cycle skills-based alternative to traditional 4-year college degrees.
Maxim Smith, Matt’s 20-year-old son, is on his way to Thailand for an intense training course in martial arts. That’s part of cycle number 4 in the program.
Last year, he crewed a sailing vessel on a journey across the Atlantic from the Falkland Islands to the southern tip of Africa.
Our conversation with Matt was on a different plane than our usual Live! themes. It’ll be well worth your time to listen to the replay, which will be posted to the Grey Swan Live archive in the members’ section later today.
We also recommend members buy a copy of The Preparation for a young man in their lives. If you have requests for new guests you’d like to see join us for Grey Swan Live!, or have any questions for our guests, send them here. How did we get here? Find out in these riveting reads: Demise of the Dollar, Financial Reckoning Day, and Empire of Debt — all three books are now available in their third post-pandemic editions. You might enjoy one or all three.  (Or… simply pre-order Empire of Debt: We Came, We Saw, We Borrowed, now available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble or if you prefer one of these sites: Bookshop.org, Books-A-Million or Target.)
Please send your comments, reactions, opprobrium, vitriol and praise to: feedback@greyswanfraternity.com |
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