This optimism and belief in the ability of the government to deal with economic problems come right after experiencing a severe inflationary crisis over the last three years, starting in late 2020. The turbulent inflationary experience faced by the average American was largely due to the expansionary monetary and fiscal policies pursued by both the Fed and the US government as countercyclical policy measures to deal with the covid shock and the emanating effects of the work stoppages, which was accomplished via strictly enforced lockdowns that regulated economic lives to hitherto unforeseen levels.

The combination of a decline in the rate of price inflation with unemployment remaining under 4 percent has bolstered a sense of elation and euphoria widespread amongst these economists, journalists, and the broader audience. They believe that the Fed has effectively employed the tools to control inflation and growth, so we should count it as another win for the central banking era where industrial policy overcomes the errors of capitalism.

However, before we applaud institutions and policies whose track records for over a century haven’t always aligned with their stated goals, it’s essential to dig deeper. The reasons behind seemingly stable unemployment figures merit a closer examination, with the “immaculate disinflation” narrative—which is gaining ground amongst the wider audience—needing to be demystified.

The Myth of “Immaculate Disinflation”

For more than six months, headlines have declared that inflation has dropped sharply to 3 percent, achieving the lowest point it’s been in more than two years. The purported claim intends to signal to the public that the fight against the inflation menace has been won and that economic stability is being achieved. Notwithstanding such claims, the actual users—the consumers of the US dollar—have been on the receiving end of policies under which the purchasing power of their nominal dollars has continued to fall due to inflation, and the personal savings rate has been steadily falling as well, from a prepandemic 9.1 percent to the current 3.9 percent.

The gradual eroding away of people’s purchasing power has led to a situation where the goods that people use to maintain their living standards are more expensive. This is the experience of average consumers despite their having received stimulus checks, having moratoriums placed on their debt payments, and experiencing nominal wage increases from the monetary expansion in the economy.

The persistence of the painful experience of consumers becomes a siren call. In light of changing economic conditions when prices are still increasing from one month to the next, previous debt moratoriums are being lifted, and unemployment in the labor market that earlier seemed to be stable is now ticking up. The unemployment rate rose to 3.8 percent in August, the highest it’s been in over a year, which otherwise had been falling from 14 percent at the beginning of the pandemic before stabilizing around 3.4–3.6 percent.

These events, however, are only manifestations of a deeper problem involving investment and the intertemporal coordination of economic activities, which are in a much graver situation. Prices in a market economy act as a coordinating communication language that allows market participants to adjust their own plans with those of others. The money market rate of interest or the loanable funds rate, as understood by Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek, facilitates the coordination of intertemporal economic activities or activities where coordination amongst different individuals’ production and consumption plans needs to be established.

If the market rate of interest is allowed to emerge without intervention, it will reflect the current needs of money holders and the demand for loanable funds by borrowers for investment opportunities. High demand for money is reflected through saving periods by consumers whereby by forgoing consumption, these consumers make crucial intermediate goods available to be used in long-term investments rather than final-stage consumer goods.

However, if consumers do not hold money as savings and interest rates are artificially lowered below market levels, it sends false signals to producers regarding the production of capital versus consumer goods. This situation, in turn, gives rise to inflationary pressures, capable of spreading throughout the economy, while simultaneously creating false expectations about future demand for capital goods based on an artificially created scenario.

The tightening cycle of the Fed started in March 2022 with price inflation running at 8.5 percent, marking the official end of the low-interest policy that started in early February 2020. As the Fed’s rates have gone from nearly 0 percent to 5.5 percent in only over a year, price inflation has declined from 9 percent to 4 percent. However, it has remained above 3 percent for the past four months and is beginning to show signs of further upward increases in the inflation cycle as producers’ costs increase. While inflation has refused to budge in the past few months, the unemployment rate has steadily climbed uphill, edging toward 4 percent.

The year 2023 marked significant financial turbulence in the US, as high costs of borrowing have met overexpanded businesses. More than 230 companies have declared bankruptcy due to macroeconomic stressors like decelerated growth, rapid interest rate hikes, and persistent inflation. High-profile bankruptcies included Vice Media, impacted by operational and financial challenges; Bed Bath & Beyond, struggling with debt and market shifts; and retailers like Party City and David’s Bridal. The Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate increases have led to a “credit crunch” that is affecting overexpanded and vulnerable companies.

This paradoxical economic landscape includes escalating bankruptcies and bank failures coexisting with a seemingly stable unemployment rate. The resilience in employment figures—in the face of financial disarray—can largely be attributed to the government’s audacious adventures into industrial policy experiments, where trillions of dollars have been funneled into specific sectors through incentives such as tax breaks for investment.

The rise in unemployment in the private and the general sectors of the economy—including manufacturing, construction, information, financial, and technological sectors—has been met by ever-increasing levels of government employment. Government employment increased by seventy-three thousand in September, representing about a quarter of the total jobs added that month, coming in above the average monthly gain of forty-seven thousand jobs over the prior twelve months. Employment and spending in the public sector of the economy have overshadowed the private sector in recent times, creating a bloated public sector with heavy fiscal burdens.

In this grand charade of economic stability, we find ourselves spectators to a precarious illusion, a spectacle that vaunts the triumph of “immaculate disinflation” while blatantly disregarding the eroding purchasing power of the average American. This is not stability; it’s a meticulously crafted mirage, obscuring a landscape littered with the casualties of fiscal and monetary recklessness—savings plummeting, consumer baskets shrinking, and a private sector gasping for breath under the weight of bloated government.

The narrative of victory over inflation and unemployment is a dangerous diversion, pulling the wool over our eyes as market signals are distorted and economic principles sacrificed at the altar of political expediency. The surge in government employment—far from a sign of health—signifies a troubling imbalance, a steroid boost offering a temporary high while the body politic weakens.

About the Author

An economics and a libertarian scholar with research interests in capital theory, monetary theory, and business cycles, I write about events in the economy from a legal and economic standpoint with a proliberty outlook and believe that safeguarding the liberty and rights of each individual is the most important act toward peace, prosperity and growth. My other works can be found at the Austrian Economics Center, the Libertarian Institute, and beinglibetarian.com. I can be reached at Vibhu3333@gmail.com and on Twitter (@vibhu3333).

As Director of Prophecy Watchers’ own “Psalm 19 Project” observatory, I am awed by the images coming from the Webb telescope. The stunning magnitude of the greatness of God and the revealing of His glory (Psalm 19:1) makes humanity seem very small when we observe the grandeur of God’s creation. And even more so — when we understand that even this newest technology captures only a glimpse of His magnificence.

One of the Webb’s recent images reveals over 45,000 extremely distant galaxies in a small portion of the sky! The size and scale of the universe that God created on the Fourth Day is beyond comprehension. Have you ever noticed how casually Genesis 1:16 references the creation of all the stars? It reads, “So God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and also the stars.” It is now estimated that there are 1-2 trillion galaxies with an average of 100-200 billion stars within each galaxy. God basically says, “Look what I did on a Wednesday.” These are the works of the power of His hands (Psalm 19:1-2), revealing the unfathomable heights of God’s compassion (Psalm 103:11) and wisdom (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Sadly, like the audacious builders who envisioned a great tower that would touch the heavens, those in command of the Webb telescope have, so far, failed to give God the glory He deserves.

Eyes to See, But Hearts that are Darkened

Technology is advancing at a staggering pace. But it merely parallels advances in other arenas the coming Antichrist will leverage to fulfill his evil plans to enslave humanity during the Tribulation.

The coming Beast system will require political, economic, social, governmental, religious, and technological advances that will enable the Antichrist to accomplish all of his desires.

We must also remember that the Antichrist needs help to accomplish his goals. Even though he is empowered by the Dragon himself (Rev 13:2, 4), the Antichrist manipulates a coalition of ten kings to implement his worldwide Beast system. He will then subdue or remove three of them at a future time. Let’s consider how the Scriptures describe these ten “kings.”

• Daniel 7:19-20 KJV – “Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.”
• Daniel 7:24 KJV – “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.”
• Revelation 17:12-13 KJV – “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”

From the above passages, we learn three characteristics of these ten “kings”:

1. The Greek word for king (basileus) in Revelation 17:12 offers a broader nuance than merely what we understand regarding the word “king.” One of the best Greek lexicons (BDAG) has the following as its second entry: One who possesses unusual or transcendent power.

This meaning seems consistent with Revelation 17:12, where we are told that these ten figures do not have a kingdom yet but will receive authority to rule as kings for the final “hour” of the Antichrist’s (Beast’s) reign in the seven-year Tribulation period. We will call them the “Ten Influencers” because they do have “unusual power” or some valuable level of authority that the Antichrist will seek to leverage (Rev 17:13).

2. They are not required to be in governmental or ruling positions at the time of their arrangement with the Antichrist.

3. When the time comes, they will give their significant influence or power to the Beast and in return, given the ability to rule with him for a short period in his final kingdom (Rev 17:13).

There are a variety of interpretations of who the ten kings are. Some see them as leaders over geographical regions. This could be true, but as I mentioned above, they do not need to be actual governmental officials or literal kings. Instead, they could be what we know as oligarchs or technocrats, who will one day give their authority (technology/wealth/influence) to the Antichrist in exchange for being allowed to rule in his Beast system.

Financial Oligarchs (Tycoons)

When addressing technology, it is relevant to note that technological research and development is expensive. We are witnessing in our day the super-rich not often sticking to the one industry which made them wealthy, but instead spreading their wealth into sometimes completely disparate technologies or fields of research. For example, Elon Musk is involved in Twitter, Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, OpenAi, and the Boring company.

It’s not rocket science to recognize that technology tycoons, with staggering amounts of money, are capable of influencing society on a worldwide scale. This influence can include shaping the political landscape through outright bribes or the political lobby system. This massive level of impact doesn’t require them to be in actual power or governmental positions. Instead, they wield their influence through proxies who purchase access to greedy politicians seeking to magnify their power.

Technological Oligarchs (Technocrats)

These technocrats partner with governments, NGOs, and financial institutions. One organization with extensive official and unofficial agreements with technocrats is the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The WEF is dedicated to seeing a complete “reset” of the way life on Planet Earth functions. They are brazenly presenting their vision and pursuing technology to accomplish their goals by the year 2030 (known as Agenda 2030 and the Great Reset).

In his book, The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Klaus Schwab highlighted 21 different up-and-coming technologies that he claimed will “break into the public domain to a significant degree,” and cause great shifts “to individuals, organizations, government and society.” The following is Klaus’ list of game-changing technologies:

In addition, some ancillary technologies include: nanotechnology, quantum computing, biotechnology, the Internet of Things, decentralized consensus, fifth-generation (5G) wireless technologies, and satellite Internet technology for worldwide distribution.

It is mind-boggling to think of the influence these technologies will have on world society — and how they will serve the purpose of the Antichrist:

Satellite Internet Connectivity

• Amazon seeks to put up 3,236 satellites by the end of the decade. Called the Kuiper system (or Project Kuiper). They have two launches planned for 2023 and service expected to arrive to customers in late 2024.
• OneWeb sought an initial 650 satellites. As of February 2023 they had 542 active satellites in low earth orbit.
• Starlink (Elon Musk). Over 4,500 satellites were working in orbit by May, 2023, with plans for over 42,000 within five years. Currently over 1.5 million active subscribers in 50+ countries with global mobile phone service to be implemented in 2023.
• China is planning to deploy 40,000 of is own satellites to pursue its agenda, claiming to desire additional Internet coverage across its expansive geography. Critics note that such technology can also be used for surveillance and control.
• Iridium started in 1998 and now has 82 active satellites and a partnership with Qualcomm for Android users.
• Globalstar Communications became functional in 1998 with 75 current satellites and functionality with the Apple iPhone 14.

Surveillance

• Facial recognition, camera technology, data acquisition through social media and Internet.

Artificial Intelligence

Most of the top 10 financial and technological oligarchs are involved in the research and advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI). In his 2018 book, A.I. Superpowers — China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order, Kai-Fu Lee predicted, “Instead of dispersion of industry profits across different companies and regions, we will begin to see greater and greater concentration of these astronomical sums in the hands of a few.” This certainly sounds like financial oligarchs who wield incredible power and influence.

AI needs three things to work effectively: big data, computing power, and algorithm engineers. Government policies supporting AI are also helpful. To help accomplish the computing power requirement, many of these same technological oligarchs are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in quantum computers, which are billions of times faster than modern supercomputers! It comes as no surprise that Google, Microsoft, and IBM are some of this field’s leaders.

Biotechnology

Elon Musk is heavily involved in connecting the human brain to technology. His “Neuralink” was given FDA approval for human trials in May 2023.

Multi-billionaire software developer Bill Gates is pursuing implantable contraception, nano vaccine technology, and sub-cutaneous microchip implanting. Backed by his Foundation, MIT researchers are developing a method of recording a patient’s vaccination history through invisible dye injected under the skin.

Genetically-Modified Farming

Bill Gates has also spread his oligarchical influence further than any other. He has now become the largest private landowner of farmland in the United States. Presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, Jr. observed, “Gates has been [expanding] his power over global populations by buying devalued assets at fire-sale prices and maneuvering for monopoly control over public health…”

Combined with his investments in global communications, digital currencies, high tech surveillance, data harvesting systems, and artificial intelligence, Bill Gates is the quintessential technocrat.

Censorship

Many financial and technological oligarchs are using their social media platforms and data acquisition to surveil, censor, cancel, deplatform, and shame those not deemed “woke enough” or willing to follow their own idiosyncratic rules and politically correct narratives. Many U.S. lawmakers and officials actually co-conspire with big tech oligarchs, encouraging them to police (censor) content more aggressively.

Innovation Zones

Nevada governor Steve Sisolak recently proposed giving corporations who own significant portions of land in Nevada a status equivalent to counties. They would be able to impose taxes, form school districts, courts of law, and provide other government services.

What Lies Ahead

As we look at end-time prophetic events coming to pass, it is becoming increasingly apparent that some of the most influential entities in both global policy and societal changes are not found in governments at all. Instead, multi-national financial and technological oligarchs are eager to conform the world to their own technocratic purposes.

Could these figures be the Ten Kings (influencers) who give their “authority and power to the Beast (Antichrist)” and in return “receive authority to rule as kings with the Beast for one hour” (Rev 17:12-13)?

Time will tell, but a compelling case can certainly be made that the technology these Ten Figures control will help the Antichrist consolidate and enforce his tyrannical rule over the entire earth.

The spirit of the Antichrist is here now — and the Antichrist is coming. Thankfully, greater is He who is in us (and is coming again soon) than he who is in the world! (1 John 4:1-4)!

About the Author

Mondo Gonzales is an author, former pastor, co-host of the Prophecy Watchers television program, and a guest contributor with Christ In Prophecy.