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By and large, fireworks are cheaper now than a year ago, but they’re still vastly more expensive if you go back a few years farther, to pre-covid.

While the cost of fireworks is down compared to last year, prices of just about everything else are way up. That means individuals are still buying fireworks to light off themselves, but the size and scope of municipal fireworks shows are being downgraded in many towns and cities across the country — and in some areas, have been canceled entirely. 

By and large, fireworks are cheaper now than a year ago, but they’re still vastly more expensive if you go back a few years farther, to pre-covid. And a reduction in demand since then hasn’t fully stifled the cost increase, especially as fireworks produced in China still need to be shipped across the ocean to American buyers.

For towns and cities used to putting on extravagant displays, the costs are many. There’s a need for practical additions like portable bathrooms, shuttle buses, and trained pyrotechnicians. Some towns hire DJs to play music. But one of the largest costs is insurance, which every official fireworks display is required to have, and which has skyrocketed in cost.

Insurers know that if something goes awry and a claim is filed, the cost of dealing with it will be much higher than during previous years: fixing or replacing damage, handling medical emergencies, and planning for other externalities take much more fiat money than it did just a few years ago, and nothing is expected to change for the better. As Peter Schiff said earlier this year:

“The Fed printed an absurd quantity of money during the pandemic, and government deficits went through the roof. What has fundamentally changed since then?”

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That’s even truer when you need specialized insurance coverage which has to cover a wide variety of things, as is the case for municipal fireworks shows. Towns don’t just need personal and property liability insurance to protect technicians and the public, but also insurance for transporting the fireworks, protection in case of event cancellation or inclement weather, and other aspects.

That’s why premiums for home, health, and car insurance have also gone way up, along with liability insurance and other types. Insurers know it’s going to cost way more to fix what breaks, whether it’s your home, your car, or a glitchy municipal fireworks demonstration going haywire and blowing up a public park.

Home Insurance Premiums, 2019-2024

Source

The problem will only get worse, so expect to see even more downscaling next year, especially if Trump wins the election and imposes tariffs on Chinese imports, and further pushes up the cost of fireworks themselves.

Municipalities are going to have to deal with those higher costs and adjust their shows — and the expectations of residents — accordingly. On the bright side, your dogs and cats may get a break from all the noise. But on the downside, goods and services for Americans will be less affordable than ever before as Americans try to spend their devalued dollars.

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MUST WATCH: Dr. David Martin Interview — U.S. Gov. Is Coordinating A Depopulation Program Against The World

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Government has set universities and colleges up for failure.

Many small colleges are shutting their doors, and it is largely the fault of overexpansion, government protectionism, and bureaucratic infiltration.

If you are following any news in higher education, you are probably aware of the continued closures of many small colleges and universities. This has picked up as of late—almost to one small college a week—and comes as covid-19 relief money dries up, along with rising costs that are no longer covered by federal money, declining enrollment rates, and overall pessimism with higher education. However, all these problems can be traced back to one core issue: bureaucracy.

What is called “administrative bloat” by corporate media is a staggering trend that has continued since the 1970s. A study by independent researchers for the Review of Social Economy found that “between 1976 and 2018, the number of full-time faculty employed at colleges and universities in the US increased by 92 percent, during which time total student enrollment increased by 78 percent. During this same period, however, full-time administrators and other professionals employed by those institutions increased by 164 percent and 452 percent, respectively” (emphasis added).

Some administration is to be expected for universities, who of course need to handle tuition, records, and the like. However, the rate at which administrative employment is growing far outpaces the growth of the student body. Some growth might be attributed to the expansion of campuses, as larger facilities require more administration, but that can’t possibly account for such staggering growth. The origin is, as stated before, bureaucracy. Bureaucracies are like cockroaches: they spread quickly once they get in.

Ludwig von Mises identifies a “bureaucracy” as “the method applied in the conduct of administrative affairs the result of which has no cash value on the market.” Bureaucracy is the conduct of affairs with scarce resources that does not seek profit (even nonprofits seeks profit; they simply donate their excesses or use them for a charitable cause). By pursuing those ends of which cannot be engaged in economic calculation, bureaucracies have no means for gauging efficiency. They become wasteful and inefficient rather quickly.

However, the most interesting aspect of Mises’s analysis is that of the “bureaucratization” of private industry. What Mises may call the “German style” of socialism, bureaucracy can enter those businesses through mass regulation and legislation that affects businesses. Businesses make use of resources (land, labor, and capital) in anticipation of making a profit at some point in the future, and the value of the resources they employ are determined by their value in the service of creating consumer (or higher-ordered) goods.

When legislative edicts are forced upon businesses, whether that is social edicts being forced upon businesses or a limitation of profits, they deviate into bureaucratic management. Human resources may serve some function for profit management, but many of their job responsibilities only exist because of government edict. There is no gauge within profit management of its adherence to arbitrary government edict. This causes a deviation from profit management that ensures efficiency.

Once this deviation occurs, it becomes easier and easier to justify deviations from profit management. It is especially easier when you have a guaranteed funding stream from governments in the form of research grants, student loans, and covid-19 relief money. This leads to mass inefficiency.

The government’s entrance into universities has condemned them to death. Many predict that economic troubles from the 2008 recession will lead to a 15 percent decline in enrollment over the next five years. This is not accounting for conservative America largely abandoning higher education. Progressive orthodoxy has seeped into universities and created a toxic culture that nobody right-of-center wants to associate with. Conservative parents no longer want to send their children to universities if there is a chance that they become Marxists with “gender studies” degrees.

Progressive orthodoxy is also the fault of the government. This subject is worthy of its own future article but can be summarized here. Universities serve customers—their students. However, is it their customer base whom the universities are catering to? Not at all. If that were the case, those conservative students would not face the level of discrimination they have. Discrimination of any kind against potential customers is costly to the bottom line. However, universities are not funded only by those they provide services to. They also cater to governments that fund a significant portion of their budgets.

A plurality or even a majority of federal and state bureaucrats and employees in the United States are Democrats, even if their explicit political activity is restricted. Bureaucrats are the ones who issue research grants and control access to funds. Universities must cater to their own pocketbook, which ends up being those progressive bureaucrats. Even if they are not ideological progressives, they are incentivized to push for policies and research that justify their own existence. Universities want to cater to their funding sources, and thus the research and governance of universities must become aligned with those who fund them. Again, this is just a summary and is worthy of its own article, but it hits the core of this side of the issue.

Government has set universities and colleges up for failure. By mandating unprofitable missions for universities and allowing progressive federal employees to dictate the conduct of campuses, universities have become inefficient and have scared away their real customer base. The support given to many of these universities—propping them up from failure—has run out, and the bottom is falling out from under them. Perhaps one should celebrate the demise of these ideological boot camps for our youth. However, either way, your tax dollars go to fund it. Higher education deserves better than government.

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MUST WATCH: Dr. David Martin Interview — U.S. Gov. Is Coordinating A Depopulation Program Against The World

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Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano has been found guilty of “schism” by the Vatican and excommunicated from the Catholic church by order of Pope Francis. “His public statements manifesting his refusal to recognize and submit to […]

The post Pope Francis Excommunicates Archbishop Vigano For Challenging Klaus Schwab’s Agenda appeared first on The People’s Voice.

A new study has identified a potential “off switch” to stop ongoing spike protein production in the bodies of the Covid-19 mRNA vaccinated cohort, following concerns about the wider-than-expected distribution of mRNA within the human […]

The post New Study Finds Potential ‘Off Switch’ For Spike Protein Overdrive Caused by mRNA Vaccines appeared first on The People’s Voice.

Suspects still on loose nearly a month after brutal execution

Authorities are searching for four men suspected of participating in the brutal robbery and murder of an employee at a smoke shop in Florida.

The shocking homicide unfolded in North Miami Beach on June 11, but police just released surveillance footage this week in hopes of obtaining helpful information from the public.

At around 8:30 p.m. on that Tuesday evening, four black males walked into Miami Cloudz Smoke Shop and began inspecting merchandise, video shows.

Suddenly, one of the men pulled a pistol and pointed it at the clerk.

“Don’t move,” the gunman said repeatedly.

The worked could be seen running into a back room, at which point the armed suspect fired one round, apparently striking the victim.

The suspects fled the scene and remained on the loose as of Wednesday.

“At approximately 9:42 p.m, officers responded to reports of an injured male at Miami Cloudz Smoke Shop Upon arrival, they discovered Salem Albakri, 35, suffering from a gunshot wound. Despite the efforts of emergency medical personnel, Mr. Albakri tragically succumbed to his injuries at the scene,” North Miami Beach Police Department explained in a statement.

Anonymous tipsters are asked to contact Crime Stoppers.

InfoWars has been documenting the surge of crime across the United States, including carjackings, ‘street takeovers,’ smash-and-grab loot mobs, home invasions, and physical attacks on innocent victims.

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Jack Posobiec joins Alex Jones live in-studio to give his expert analysis of the state of the union.

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Video issued by the military showed a mobile launcher traveling along forest roads and getting into position before being covered with camouflage to conceal the location.

Russia’s Defense Ministry (MoD) announced Friday that its forces are in the midst of nuclear drills utilizing Yars mobile nuclear launchers, coming a mere weeks after holding tactical nuclear weapons deployment exercises in southern regions near Ukraine, and in coordination with ally Belarus.

As cited in Interfax and then Reuters, the ministry said that “Yars missile launcher crews in at least two different regions were set to move over 100 kilometres (62 miles) and practice camouflage and deployment.”

“Similar exercises will be held by other missile units in the near future,” the defence ministry added.

Video issued by the military showed a mobile launcher traveling along forest roads and getting into position before being covered with camouflage to conceal the location.

During the earlier tactical nuke drills held in late May, the MoD had specified that they were necessary in “response to provocative statements and threats by certain Western officials.”

Some US and UK officials have lately been pressing for more Ukrainian attacks directly on Russian soil, with Washington officials openly saying they have greenlighted pro-Kiev forces to utilize US-supplied missiles to attack inside Russian territory.

Another among the ‘threats’ emanating from the West is the possibility of deploying NATO troops in Ukraine. The idea has gained steam ever since Frances Emmanuel Macron first proposed early this year at a security conference in Paris.

These newest drills with mobile nuclear launchers also constitute a bit of fresh nuclear saber-rattling ahead of next week’s major annual NATO summit to be held in Washington D.C. (July 9-11).

A central topic of discussion among NATO heads of state will likely be the very issue which marks a red line issue for Moscow – the entry of Ukraine into NATO.

While it’s not actually expected to happen anytime soon, the US has vowed to create a “bridge” or clear path to eventual full membership.

However, dozens of foreign policy experts have newly warned of the obvious in a letter published by Politico. “The closer NATO comes to promising that Ukraine will join the alliance once the war ends, the greater the incentive for Russia to keep fighting the war,” reads the letter. “The challenges Russia poses can be managed without bringing Ukraine into NATO.”

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MUST WATCH: Dr. David Martin Interview — U.S. Gov. Is Coordinating A Depopulation Program Against The World

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