Wall Street Unplugged
Episode: 824November 24, 2021

America’s blue-collar crisis could crush the economy

Today we welcome back one of our most downloaded—and controversial—guests of all time…

Kristin Tate, author of The Liberal Invasion of Red State America, is back on the podcast to discuss public policy, culture, and cryptos. [1:35]

During the COVID lockdowns, as businesses shifted to remote work, we saw a huge migration of people out of big cities and into more suburban and rural parts of the country.

But Kristin says the shift had been taking place long before COVID forced the push forward. She explains why big cities will never return to the major corporate and cultural hubs they once were. [2:38]

For instance, New York City’s newly elected Mayor Eric Adams has a mission: convince former residents to return to the Big Apple. Kristin highlights why he’s unlikely to succeed. [6:00]

You’ve undoubtedly heard of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial… It’s just another example of how everything is politicized today—drawing a hard line between conservatives and liberals. We discuss how moderates are getting sick of the narrative… [12:15]

If you’re traveling for the holidays, Kristin lays out a few issues that could wreak havoc on your plans… [16:35]

And as we face labor shortages—especially in certain blue-collar industries—she reveals the cultural issues behind the problem. [21:00]

Next, Kristin gives her thoughts on who will win big during next November’s midterm elections… and how she expects politicians to double-down with their respective voter bases. [23:40]

Turning to crypto, Kristin shares her own holdings… and why she’s bullish on the asset class in the short term, but bearish over the much longer term… [26:30]

Finally, Kristin gives us a glimpse into her next book… and the role she’s playing in Texas’ upcoming political race. [32:10]

Inside this episode:
  • Kristin Tate, controversial author and columnist [1:35]
  • Why big cities will never be the same [2:38]
  • Why the NYC mayor’s mission is unlikely to succeed [6:00]
  • The political narrative of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial [12:15]
  • Issues that could wreak havoc on your travel plans [16:35]
  • Cultural problems behind the labor shortages [21:00]
  • Who Kristin thinks will win the next midterm elections [23:40]
  • Why Kristin is both bullish and bearish on crypto [26:30]
  • A glimpse into Kristin’s next book [32:10]
Transcript

Wall Street Unplugged | 824

America’s blue-collar crisis could crush the economy

Announcer: Wall Street Unplugged looks beyond the regular headlines, heard on mainstream financial media to bring you unscripted interviews and breaking commentary direct from Wall Street right to you on main street.

Frank Curzio: What’s going out there? It’s November 24th. I’m Frank Curzio, host of the Wall Street Unplugged podcast, where I break down the headlines and tell you what’s really moving these markets. I have a great interview set up for you right now, releasing this today instead of Thursday, which is tomorrow a normal schedule that we publish interviews because it is a pretty cool holiday. One of my favorites, Thanksgiving. Well, some of us would rather listen to a podcast than listen to some of our family members that we’re forced to spend time with on Thanksgiving. Come on, I mean, we could all identify with that, right? We’re like man, you’re not inviting that guy. Oh, you’re not inviting him. You’re not inviting him. Come on. We’re all like that. There’s one family member that you’re not looking forward to, and it might be better to listen to a podcast.

Frank Curzio: Anyway, I’m hoping that’s not the case. And you’re going to have a wonderful Thanksgiving, which is why I’m releasing the interview today. And that interview happens to be with Kristin Tate. So, Kristin’s a writer for The Hill, talks freely about politics, taxation, federal spending, bold personality, which lands her on so many popular sites, including Fox News. She’s also author of several books. Last being, “The Liberal Invasion of Red State America.” I last had Kristin on in January, and it was one of our most listened to podcasts of the year. So, enough of the intro, let’s get to the interview. Kristin Tate, thanks so much for being on Wall Street Unplugged again. How’s it going?

Kristin Tate: Frank, thank you so much for having me back. It’s been too long.

Frank Curzio: Well, I’d tell you the last time, it has been long. Because the last time I had you on was in January, and you predicted something that I think a few people were like, yes, this could happen. But at the extent it happened, even surprised me. I don’t know if it surprised you, but we’re talking about the great migration, right? Where policies in New York, California, Chicago, San Francisco resulted a lot of people, people moving, picking up and moving to Florida and Texas. I wanted to get an update on that because you actually wrote a book about it, “The Liberal Invasion of Red State America,” but I wanted to get you up, did you think it would happen that quickly?

Frank Curzio: And it’s not just about taxes. You had a deeper meaning to this with these policies, the people who voted for the policies, whether the walk policies, the fund police, critical race theory, these are the same people that are seeing violence within those cities, you’re seeing people are now moving to red states, which I found was very interesting. Could you talk about that a little bit? And did this trend develop much faster than you actually thought, or is it right on cue, since you were really, really right, considering that call in January?

Kristin Tate: Thanks. Yeah. I mean, it’s definitely happening faster than I thought it would happen, but COVID really sped everything up. And I wrote my book before COVID, so particularly over the last six months though, with all of the changes we’ve seen happen in the housing market, this trend has really accelerated. So, last year the trends were occurring at a quick rate, but I think a lot of people were scared to move because of COVID. And then at the beginning of this year, you saw almost a year’s worth of pent up demand, really be released. So, you have the folks who would’ve moved anyway than the white collar workers who can move because they are now working remote all on the market, looking for houses in predominantly red states and conservative-leaning places, mostly people looking to leave very expensive cities and urban areas and blue states, where a huge percentage of their incomes being eaten up by state and local taxes.

Kristin Tate: But then, they’re also a host of cultural reasons why this is happening. And I think those cultural reasons are just as important as the economic ones. I mean, you look at the cities today, whether it’s New York or San Francisco or Chicago, these are not places where people want to raise families. And I mean, even forget about kids for a second. If you’re just a single person, it’s not safe to be out at night in many of these places. I used to live in New York city on the upper east side, and in the train station or the subway station, I would take every single day, a young girl who was in her ’20s, my age, just got brutally assaulted just for absolutely no reason a few months ago. I mean, this is happening commonly now. These random attacks in formally very safe areas.

Kristin Tate: And then, you have the education system. Maybe these urban public schools are just an absolute failure. So, when you add all of that together, it’s just the perfect storm. People are realizing, hey, you know what? I don’t need to be in New York. I don’t need to be in Chicago. I can go have a much better life in Katy, Texas, or in Scottsdale, Arizona, or in Florida. So, they’re picking up, they’re moving, they’re saving a ton of money, and they’re realizing life can be better. So, it’s a cultural reason as well. And I think what we’re really seeing, Frank, the big picture here is, we’re seeing a shift in mindset among people in this country, because we used to have this idea like, oh, I’ve got to be in New York. I’ve got to be in LA. And not just individuals, but industries had that mindset, too.

Kristin Tate: And you’re seeing big banking institutions, even places like Goldman Sachs really downsizing their footprints in these former urban meccas and expanding in second tier cities where it’s just a better lifestyle. It’s more pleasant for the people who work at these companies to live in these second tier cities, or even in suburban or rural areas in more red states. And this is a trend we’re going to continue to see happen. Now, the political ramifications of that, that’s a whole different story. But if you just want to talk about the causes, I think that’s really, it. It’s the economics, the cultural causes. And then, just the new ability to move because COVID has really changed so much about how we work.

Frank Curzio: Now, politics aside, do you see this reversing anytime soon? Because you brought up the word cultural, right? And cultural is very, very hard to change. It’s almost like what a culture goes bad at a company. It’s almost impossible to reverse at least for a very long period. And the reason why I asked that is because I’m from New York. I lived there close to 40 years, 38 years, which is highlighting my age, which I don’t know if that’s a great thing. But you look at Eric Adams, right? Democrat comes in, and he’s now the mayor of New York City. And he’s specifically saying his number one thing on his agenda. The number one thing in his agenda is to get everyone who left New York back and to put more cops on the street, then you have the BLM anger protesting against him saying, are you crazy?

Frank Curzio: Why would you put more… I mean, we’re seeing the violence, we’re seeing the crime rates, but is there any way we could reverse this? Because this is a Democrat coming from this. This isn’t some crazy right person. This is a Democrat saying, hey, we need to get more people back. We need to get the city going again. And it seems like he’s getting pushback. And he’s from the Democratic Party. For me, I don’t get that, but is there a shot that this could reverse? Because it’s coming from a Democrat that wants to make the city more safe. And for me, he’s getting pushback and getting death threats now because he wants to put more police on the streets just like there was back in the day.

Kristin Tate: Yeah. No, I mean, it’s definitely possible, and look, I hope New York comes back. I love New York. I love what New York used to be. I’m not sure I love what it’s becoming, but I think there’s definitely a chance it will come back. But when you look at New York’s previous declines and how it came back in the past, there are some really big differences between then and now. So, look at when Giuliani saved New York City after it’s really dark era back in the ’70s, you had industries at that point that had to be in New York City because technology hadn’t advanced to where it is today. So, those primarily banking institutions, right? They had to be in New York. So, they were offering their white collar workforce, a lot of money to move back into the city. People wanted to be there for the jobs and the money.

Kristin Tate: And then, of course, you have the whole crime issue that Giuliani was able to clean up. But today, part of the issue and part of what New York and these other cities are going to, to really struggle with is, industry does not have to be in these places anymore. So, if people don’t want to live there, the companies will respond by increasingly downsizing their footprint in places like New York while they expand in other places, like they’re doing. We see that happening in Dallas, West Palm Beach, Phoenix, all of these second tier cities are booming right now because the big companies know, people don’t want to live in New York. They don’t want to live in San Francisco. So, they’re expanding in these other cities. So, if industry doesn’t have to be in New York, whether or not people live there, will be fully dependent on how enjoyable it is to live there.

Kristin Tate: And that will come down to the schools. It will come down to the crime and other quality of life issues, which right now still are on the decline. And it’s a lot of this left wing movement to blame. The defund, the police nonsense that you just talked about, but also, if you’re a family in New York City, it’s really a big financial undertaking to send your child to private school, for example, if you don’t want to stick them in the public schools, where like 90% of the classes in these public schools have a majority fail rate on the math and English exams. So, it’s pathetic results that they’re achieving in the public schools. But if you want to send your kids to private schools, you’re looking at 50 grand a year per kid.

Kristin Tate: So, that’s also just not possible for a lot of people. So, yeah, it’s possible New York can come back. You’re going to need a real hard liner in the mayor’s office like Giuliani. I’m not sure Eric Adams really is the guy to do it. You’re going to need to see some real leadership change in the governor’s mansion. It doesn’t look like that’s happening anytime soon. You have these radicals like Letitia James. I mean, we all thought Cuomo was bad. Look at the people lining up to replace him. They are way more left wing than he was. So, I just don’t think it’s going to happen that New York will come back in the near future. It might really need to hit rock bottom and become what Detroit was before they restart to rebuild that city to its former glory. But I have to say, Frank, I just think New York in the short-term has some very, very dark days ahead of it.

Frank Curzio: Yeah. And that’s a forecast that we both want you to be wrong on, right? I mean, we’re both friends of-

Kristin Tate: Well, I hope so. I love New York. I think it’s a very special city, and I don’t want this to happen. And by the way, this is not just New York. This is happening in all the major cities right now, especially the coastal cities. It’s really sad. Look at San Francisco. I mean, you walk around San Francisco, it’s shocking what’s going on there. You have the very wealthy living in these walled-off compounds, but in the streets, it’s just complete chaos going on. I mean, it’s like being in the Wild West with no rule of law at all. People are just shooting up drugs in broad daylight. You are walking with your kids and you see needle scattered around, and human feces. It’s awful. It’s totally unsafe. We keep reading news stories about stores just being looted in broad daylight and no one is doing anything to stop it.

Kristin Tate: So, it’s not just New York, it’s all of these big urban areas that need to get themselves under control. Because if industry doesn’t need to be there, it won’t be there. If people don’t want to live there… And another thing I’ll say is, these people who keep voting in these left wingers, like these Silicon valley workers keep voting for Democrats. Well, they’re leaving Silicon valley, the workers who keep voting for Democrats, they’re ruining their home cities and then moving to places like Austin, Texas, and leaving the poor people behind who can’t afford to move, to deal with the policies that they just voted in favor of. So, it’s really sad, but yeah, I think some of these cities are really going to have to bottom out before they can realize what went wrong and start to rebuild.

Frank Curzio: No, I hear you. I hear you. So, I want to talk about something that’s recently in the news, the hot topic, everybody has opinion on it, which is Rittenhouse, right? So, he got acquitted. And for me, when I look at this, I don’t know why it’s about conservatives and liberals. This is about, and I’ll be honest with you. I didn’t follow the case too much for a year. I followed at the beginning and then the last couple of weeks. But I think anyone coming to a conclusion when someone’s chasing you and beating you up, and it’s self-defense and the white supremacy argument is awesome since these are all white people, right? There’s three white people, they get shot, and there’s Rittenhouse, but just the stories that come out within the media. And we saw this even with the Russia hoax, right?

Frank Curzio: We know that’s totally false now, right? That was three years, three years of pushing that agenda. Do you see people finally catching on to the point that they’ve been fed lies, or is it to the point where people… I’m not talking about the wall, they’re still pushing the agenda right now, even though everybody sees the video, they’re still pushing the agenda, right? It’s like white supremacists, all this stuff. But I feel like a lot of my friends who are Democrats, and I know you probably have friends who are Democrats as well, we have our differences, but we always get along. We’ll go out for a couple drinks. I just feel like a lot of them are starting to say, wow, you know what? I don’t like the way this is heading right now. Are you seeing that on your end? Because I mean, it’s not just Rittenhouse, but seems like everything that’s coming out now, we’re hearing more about COVID and all the statistics and certain things that we’re like, wait a second, certain medicines were good for you.

Frank Curzio: Why did you suppress this stuff? I mean, we’re just hearing more and more of how there’s been such a political agenda out there. Are you seeing this shift at all? Or, are you seeing it getting worse? Because to me, no one’s being held accountable. I mean, we’ve seen the people who are lying. We’re seeing who’s funding these campaigns of lies, but we’re in a world where even in the media, they could actually lie. I mean, people were reporting that Jacob Blake is dead. He’s alive. Right? And it was news outlets just from our reporting all over the world saying that Rittenhouse shot to black people and injured another one. And they got that from all reporting. I mean, do you see this changing? Do you see people getting fed up? Do you see people doing their own research? Or, is this going to continue down line? Because even when we get the facts and people go watch a freaking video, they still push the agenda it seems like. Which the ultimate goal feels like is to divide. Right? Divide means more ratings means more-

Kristin Tate: Right. Yeah, of course. That’s the ultimate goal. I mean, I think the people in the middle are having their minds changed. They see the facts, the reasonable moderates, but that’s increasingly a very small percentage of the American population. I think the majority of Democrats and Republicans today have their minds set up on a narrative, and they will not change their mind regardless of what the facts are. I mean, you look at these woke skulls on Twitter, they don’t care what the video shows. They don’t care what the facts are. They’re going to run with the narrative. They love the lies that CNN spoon feeds them because it reaffirms their own belief systems. They have no interest in truth or justice. These people are angry, and they’re out for blood and they will push any lie and take any media narrative, spin, whatever misinformation, if it reaffirms what they already believe.

Kristin Tate: So, yeah, I mean, you might have five to 10% of the US population that are good meaning people who were seeing misreporting on Kyle Rittenhouse in the beginning, and now they see the video and see the facts and realize, oh, I was being fed lies and those people are changing their minds. Sure. But that’s I think a relatively small percentage of the American population. And I think the majority already have their minds set up because they are more interested in politics than the truth. And that’s a very dangerous place to be in. But that is where our country is today. We are extremely polarized and tribalized, and that’s when you really start to have decay in a country’s political system.

Frank Curzio: Yeah. And the reason why I’m bringing all of this up is because we’re heading into one of my favorite holidays, Thanksgiving, right? Family hanging out, eating, drinking, football, doesn’t get better than that, right? And yet, you have a story out, which you write for The Hill, and it’s called “Thanksgiving Disaster on the Horizon,” which you’re worried about in terms of traveling restrictions and everything. But I’ll give you a chance to explain, and I’ll bring it up right here. But you just recently wrote this and bring up a lot of good points about Thanksgiving, where prices are higher, but do you really think Thanksgiving is going to be a disaster? And I’m hoping that, again, another forecast I hope is wrong because Thanksgiving should be a time for family and people having fun.

Kristin Tate: Yeah. I think this could be a Thanksgiving from hell, unfortunately, for various reasons, kind of a perfect storm of negative indicators here. So, you’re flying to see family, there is a very good chance that your flight will either be canceled or delayed primarily for two reasons. The first is that the federal government’s vaccine mandate for federal workers kicks in on November 22nd. So, you’re going to see a bunch of TSA workers and air traffic controllers who are either not at work, or do a walkout, or just not vaccinated. And at the time that I wrote that piece, which was about two weeks ago now, only 60% of TSA workers have gotten the vaccine. So, we’re potentially looking at serious staffing issues at these airports. And then, also, you have normal staffing issues right now, going on with the airlines as well.

Kristin Tate: So, the airlines were already struggling to get flights from point A to point B before Thanksgiving. Well, now you have this record number of people trying to travel for the holiday after being unable to travel for so long. So many people are trying to see family for Thanksgiving, and we could see some serious staffing shortages with the airline. So, if you’re flying, could be a disaster. If you’re driving, you’re going to pay a lot more for it. Obviously, gas prices are through the roof. This is just historic in terms of the gas prices. We were a producer when Trump was in office, we were actually exporting oil. And of course, everything’s different now under Joe Biden, our production has come to pathetic lows. We killed the Keystone Pipeline. We’re basically on our knees begging OPEC to produce more, even though they’re actually currently producing more than they were pre-COVID. It’s the US that’s lagging in production.

Kristin Tate: But yeah, the gas prices that are high are going to be a serious financial hardship it for some families this year. And then, if you want to just talk about food costs too, that was the other part of my piece. Your Thanksgiving meal is going to be more expensive than it ever was. This is going to be the most expensive Thanksgiving on record just when you’re looking at food, every food item is up in cost. In fact, a turkey is double the price of what it was as two years ago. And this is all because of these supply chain issues. The issues that employers are having keeping people working, the trucker shortage. So, people can keep screaming COVID, and COVID might make a little difference in this. But at this point, this is because of poor federal policy.

Kristin Tate: This is all pretty much avoidable. We have a vaccine at this point, people should be back to work. The economy needs to be back up and running, but all of this is happening because of poor federal policy that has kept people out of the workplace. And then, also, inflation. I mean, we have a federal reserve that’s printing trillions of dollars right now and blowing it into the system, devaluing our currency. So, you have a lot of money out there chasing a limited supply of goods. And of course, the price of everything goes up. So, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. And I think people will. I think family is the most important thing. I think we can all spend time together, but it’s going to cost you a lot more.

Frank Curzio: And I’m bringing this up because you wrote another article, which actually goes into this one, right? And this was a couple weeks ago where America’s blue-collar crisis threatens our way of life. And that was also on The Hill over here, which I thought was fascinating. Right? I mean, you talk about supply chain issues, but you’re also talking about in terms of the blue-collar worker, where it’s a crisis and they need this workforce to succeed in order for our nation to thrive. Explain what you mean by that, because I know that the policy’s in place, we’re seeing a labor shortage, just go to your favorite restaurant, go anywhere you want.

Frank Curzio: There’s a massive labor shortage. Jobs every place, and pretty good jobs right now. You can make a $100,000 in a lot of different areas if you just learn a little bit; you don’t have to go crazy. And even in trucking and stuff like that. But talk a little bit more in now because it does interact with your Thanksgiving story, where the labor shortages are really hitting home now. It’s resulting in even much more higher prices and stores closing, but this is something that you don’t see going away either, right?

Kristin Tate: No. Yeah. That’s exactly right. I mean, think about who keeps this country running, right? It’s the truckers. It’s the people working in stores. It’s the people driving ambulances. It’s the people who are coming to fix your toilet and your shower, and electricians. It’s the blue-collar workers, and they have been under attack, and it’s a few different factors, a few different ways that they’re under attack. The first is just federal policy that has incentivized people not to work. Okay. That’s the first thing. But then in my piece, I also about these cultural issues. We have for a few decades now: Why do they look down our noses at people who are doing very important work? And in doing so, we have de-incentivized young people to getting into this kind of work. We’ve pushed average performing students, and even low performing students, into these expensive liberal arts programs, where they’ve gone and gotten their degrees from tier three and tier four schools in English or music studies or whatever social studies.

Kristin Tate: And we are not preparing them for the workforce, and they have no marketable skills. And the market has not as many blue-collar workers as it needs to really function and make sure that the grocery stores have food on the shelves and that you have lights in your house that work and that we can get goods from shipping containers to your house. So, this is a real problem. And I think, obviously, the short-term solution is we need to get people back to work. But more longer term and cultural, we need to really shift our attitude and the way we look at blue-collar workers, and we need to start celebrating this kind of work and pushing more young people into these fields.

Kristin Tate: I have a very good friend, who’s a construction foreman. And he says he goes to a gas station to get a cup of coffee on his break. And if he has like dirt on his hands, people will just treat him terribly. They scoff at him, and that’s just not the way we can incentivize more people to get into these very important fields. So, I’d like to see a cultural shift because it’s not the people theorizing about gender studies in classrooms who are keeping the country moving. It’s the blue-collar workers, and we need more of them.

Frank Curzio: No. Well said, well said. Let me get your thoughts on the midterm elections, because there are a lot of seats available. I think there’s over 30 in the Senate, right? So, it should be interesting even with the house tons of seats, we saw a shift based on recent voting trends. And a lot of people think that the GOP is definitely in the driver’s seat, but where do you see midterm elections? Because I think, we said it, right? The left and the right, you’re never going to change their minds no matter what, far left to far right, right? You’re never going to change those whatever, that’s 10%, 10%. You’re never change those minds. But there is a pretty nice percentage in the middle that’s seeing a lot that’s going on.

Frank Curzio: And yeah, the witness in a campaign look, we’re seeing crime rates go through the roof, we’re seeing inflation at a 30 year high, went from a legal immigration being a 40 year low one year ago, two years ago, with Trump, where it’s at a 60-year high right now. Money printing like crazy, 1.2 trillion, which is going to throw, it’s like gasoline all over the inflation with the supply chain, I don’t know how you’re going to get raw materials shipped, or you can’t get anything shipped right now. So, it’s difficult. Right? Try buying a car, nine to 12 months, you’ll get it. So, what do you see happening is people say, well, it’s a guarantee that GOP is definitely going to take back sense in the house, but again, we’re still a little bit away, but what are your thoughts on it? Because it seems like there is a shift going on right now.

Kristin Tate: Yeah. I do think the GOP is going to do very well. So, I disagree with what you said a little bit. I think that there isn’t a very big middle, I think that elections are increasingly all about getting out the base because the so-called moderate voting pool has been shrinking now for years. So, I think what we’re going to see is both sides double down to get out their base voters. So, what that means is that the left is going to double down on this progressive squad stuff, screaming racism about everything. And that seems to be their tactic now. And then, you’re going to see the right doubling down on, I think increasingly cultural issues, like CRT in the classrooms and crime getting out of control in our communities and that sort of thing. And I think it’ll be less bickering about marginal tax rates and that sort of thing, like the Republicanism from the ’90s, who are increasingly becoming a cultural movement on the right.

Kristin Tate: So, I think that’s what the run up to the election is going to look like… It’s going to be very cultural, a lot of talk about probably critical race theory and crime. But I do think Republicans will do very well. And even just putting aside what’s going on right now with the Joe Biden administration, which has been a disaster, Republicans tend to do better in midterm elections anyways, especially during years when they have a Democratic president, because it’s easier to mobilize the base. But yeah, I think the Republicans will do phenomenally well next year. I think it’ll be blowout year for Republicans.

Frank Curzio: Okay. So, we talked about a lot of topics today and I feel like everything… New York’s now coming back, and I feel like, Thanksgiving disaster, let’s cheer everybody out because last time you were on in January, you actually said that you like cryptocurrencies. You said that, and I believe it’s around mid-January, and I looked it up, and Bitcoin was around 30,000, right? Almost 6,000% gain. But you also said you like Ethereum, which was around 1,300, and it’s 4,200 today. It’s, whatever, 225% gains, maybe I’ll hire you since we have crypto products. I mean, I don’t know if you want to change your job. That was pretty good. That was really good prediction. But what are your thoughts on cryptocurrencies now, especially that you’re seeing how many countries, not just the US, right? I mean, we focus on the US because we’re here, but the evaluation of currencies across the world is really insane. We’re just printing money every place, what are your thoughts on cryptos? And are you still involved in them? Are you buying them? Do you have any ideas? I’m curious.

Kristin Tate: So yeah, I’m still involved. I haven’t sold any since we last spoke. I bought a little more. I’ve bought into Litecoin now just for fun, really. I don’t know much about Litecoin, so I don’t want any of your listeners to think I’m endorsing it. It’s just another option that I threw some money into. And I got banned on Ethereum Classic, which is just this other Ethereum cryptocurrency that’s not doing well right now. But overall, I still like crypto. I always say, and I’ve been saying that short-term, I’m very bullish on it. Long-term, I’m very bearish. I think that it’s going to continue to do phenomenally well as our currency to values, but eventually, the Federal government’s going to put a stop to it because as people keep leaving the US dollar and looking for other means of doing business in different currencies, they see their power being threatened.

Kristin Tate: The Federal Reserve hates that. We’ve already seen language, heard language from Janet Yellen enter ilk about different ways. They could try to kill cryptocurrencies because they see that as a threat to their power. And once it gets big enough, it’s not big enough yet, but once it gets big enough, they will try to kill it. They will make it extremely expensive or impossible to actually use it. And I think that day is coming. I’m not saying it’s going to be next year. I’m not saying it’s going to be in five years from now. It could be 10 years from now. It could be 15 years from now. I don’t know when it’s going to be, but they’re not going to let it go on forever. So, I think it’s just going to keep going up and up and up and up in the short-term. But at some point it’s going to crash I think, when the Federal government decides to act and squash it, when they see their power being threatened.

Kristin Tate: Again, I don’t know when that is. I could be wrong. I mean, I hope it just keeps going up and it becomes the new currency. I don’t know. We’ll see. Although, I will say if people aren’t really using it as a currency, and I’m not sure they will. I think it’s a store of value. So, we’ll see if it’s practical uses start being utilized. I don’t see that happening really because it just keeps going up so people won’t want to spend it. People want to offload their dollars, spend their dollars and hold their crypto. So, I’m not sure we’re ever going to see it become a new currency per se. But I do think it will keep going up like crazy and more people will want to buy in, especially as it becomes easier to buy for people who aren’t really like savvy with crypto wallets and stuff. But I do fear that at some point in the future, and I think this is probably five plus years down the road, the Federal government is going to say no more and they’re going to try to stop it.

Frank Curzio: Yeah. We do now is because we do this on YouTube, and it’s on iTunes as well. And definitely check out YouTube, guys, so that you see us. But we take out little tidbits and we’ve been putting on TikTok and getting a lot of traction on TikTok. So, I know if I took out that little part that you said crypto is going to crash long-term, you’d probably get like two, three million views. And I would say out of those 90% would be hate mail. I’m not going to do that to you.

Kristin Tate: I don’t want it to crash eventually. I mean, look, I think the ride up is going to be steep. I think everyone should get in now. I just don’t know when to sell. I don’t know when that is, but I mean look, if $1 trillion market cap or even $2 trillion market cap, that’s small potatoes compared to the Federal. The Federal government is not going to squash it at that, it’s got to get really big and powerful for them to decide they want to put an end to it. And I don’t even know how they would squash it. I mean, I don’t know if that looks like a really heavy crypto tax or what that looks like, but I know these people at the Federal government, they hate seeing their power threatened. And I’m telling you, if crypto gets to that point, they will try to stop it.

Kristin Tate: I don’t know. Maybe it’ll be so powerful by them that they can’t. That’s what I hope. But you better believe they’re going to try, because these people want full control over the monetary system. They want to be able to redistribute in the snap of a finger. They love the ability to print. They will not give away their control. So, we’ll see what happens. I don’t think we’re anywhere near that yet though. Crypto’s not big enough, but like once little old ladies and all kinds of people start buying in and it becomes like everyone in the country has it. I think something’s going to happen and the feds are going to make a move.

Frank Curzio: Love it, love it. So what’s next? I was going to say what’s next for Kristin Tate, that you’re writing books, and before I even go there, I want to show this picture. You have all these books behind you. Did you actually read all those books? That’s pretty… Did you read all of those?

Kristin Tate: No, not all of them. A lot of are actually encyclopedias. So I still, I do research for my books using books. I try to, I don’t always like using the internet sometimes. I like to use real encyclopedias. But what is next for me? At some point, I’m working actually on another book, which I’m not sure when I will release it. It started as a fellowship project. I just completed the fellowship, but it’s on this size and scope of the federal workforce, which sounds boring, but it’s actually fascinating and terrifying. So, I want to turn that into a book. You just wouldn’t believe some of the waste and abuse that’s going on, on the federal door, in our federal government. It’s just crazy. So, I think I’ll turn that into a book at some point in the future, I have to update the statistics.

Kristin Tate: So, I’m working on that. I’m still writing at The Hill, and I’m actually working right now on a gubernatorial campaign here in Texas. I’m running communications for Don Huffines, he’s running for governor. We are challenging Greg Abbott. Greg Abbot, this might come as a surprise to a lot of your listeners. He’s a huge rhino. He is not very conservative. He goes on Fox News and says all the right talking points, but he is kind of a squish. I mean, he’s left the border open. He has refused to act on a lot of the most critical issues. And Texas is really changing under his watch.

Kristin Tate: And he’s not doing much to stop it, especially as we have all these liberal Californians moving to Texas, you’d think we’d have a governor in place who wants to make sure conservative values are kept in intact. And he’s really been a disappointment. So, Don Huffines is challenging him, and I’m helping Don on his communications team. So, I have a lot going on, but your listeners can find me on my Twitter, @KristinBtate, where I’m pretty active. And then at The Hill, where I write every week.

Frank Curzio: And also really quick for your book, “The Liberal Invasion of Red State America,” I know the last time we had you on January, right around when you wrote this book, you got a lot of great feedback. A lot of people are buying the book. It’s on Amazon right now, but I’m sure you’re still getting a lot of hits for it, especially with what’s going on. But why don’t you… Again, you can buy that on Amazon. We talked about it briefly before, but I’m sure that book is doing very, very well now, if you want to give a quick update on it, right?

Frank Curzio: I mean, you’re updating statistics on the book, but I’m just curious to hear the updated statistics on this. Because I don’t know, even when I talked to you, I didn’t imagine it would be this crazy, this many people because I live in Florida. How many people are here? It’s insane. It’s absolutely insane. And a lot of these people are coming from New York and coming from just liberal places. But I would love to see the updated statistics on that for this book because it is fantastic. I love that I read it.

Kristin Tate: Oh, thank you. Yes. It’s a very vindicating trend because it shows that conservative policies work. But the book is very important because there’s a practical aspect to this, which is, well, how do we keep the red states red? As we’re absorbing all these people and as they’re moving here, what do we do about that? And how do we ensure that these new people don’t just keep voting in favor of the nonsense that destroyed the places they’re leaving? So, the book has a very practical aspect, and it gives people kind of a roadmap for how to make sure red states in America, stay red, continue to thrive, and remain these economic lighthouses for the country. So, that practical aspect of the book, I think has been very helpful for a lot of people.

Kristin Tate: Also, I want to make it clear, the book isn’t just all oh, all hope is lost, this is happening. And as people move, they’re destroying the places they’re moving to. No, the book is actually a very positive outlook on the situation and giving people the tools to reach out to their new neighbors, show people how and why these red states are flourishing so we can keep it that way. And like I said, giving people a roadmap to ensuring a bright future for these states that are just absorbing such a crazy number of new migrants and some of these domestic migrants, they’re just moving for jobs and economic opportunity. They’re not really thinking about politics. So, a lot of people just automatically keep voting in favor of Democrats if that’s what they did back home. But we’ve got to reach out to these people and make sure they understand why the new places they’re moving to have done so well.

Frank Curzio: No, it definitely makes sense. Well, Kristin, thank you so much for coming on. I want to have you on a lot sooner this time, it’s been way too long. I know you’re busy, and I really appreciate you coming on. Hopefully, join us again soon.

Kristin Tate: Always a pleasure, would love to come back soon. Thank you so much, Frank.

Frank Curzio: Great stuff from Kristin. I love her take on things because she’s never on the fence, which I know results in lots and lots of emails, probably negative emails. I also love her take on crypto. And if you’re a crypto expert or you’ve been in this industry for a long time, look, it’s important to identify what the status quo is or what the average person really thinks out there on crypto. She’s the first admit that she’s not an expert, but she did like crypto. She brings up a good point because she knows politics. And in politics, these people, as we’re seeing across our country will do anything to maintain their power. And you’re are taking a lot of power away from the government when Bitcoin becomes bigger and bigger and bigger. And that is a significant risk. I don’t know if that would happen.

Frank Curzio: I think that they could regulate in a certain way. They could tax it in a certain way. So I agree. But listen, if you’re an expert on crypto, you could be like, well, she might know this or that. But remember, it’s 2% of the market. And you have another 98% of the world that can get into crypto. Okay? And when you have that small percentage it’s how do you convince… It’s like my company at Curzio Research, the people who are in, are stable or they know that we do the homework they see on videos. They see us bust our ass. Yes. I’m not going to get everything right. I wish I did. First, we have made our mistakes, but they understand we are the real deal, right? As soon as they come in, however, if we want to grow this company, we have to go outside just like crypto, you have to go outside of that area where people don’t know us.

Frank Curzio: So, what are they going to do? They’re going to say, well, crypto’s bullshit. They’re going to say, well, look at all this hype around DeFi, how much money has been lost. So many of these things have gone to zero. So much money has been stolen from people and there’s no regulations. So, the authorities can’t even get the money back for you. Same with us. They’ll compare us. Right? A new person that doesn’t know us is going to compare us to the rest of the industry, which is a lot of shady practices and bullshit and FTC’s cracking down and stuff like that. So for me, even when it comes to CNBC, I like to watch CNBC. I also like to watch news sources from both sides, this way I get a feeling of I say the status quo of what people are thinking out there. Because if you could identify something, especially in stocks or in crypto or whatever, that here’s a narrative, here’s what everyone’s talking about.

Frank Curzio: And if I see it differently, I know that I can make money somehow off of that. So, I always want to know that, I always want to know what the average person is thinking because that’s makes up this much of the market, where most of the people especially in disruptive things that are just becoming disrupted, that industry is as big. And you need it to be this big. How do you convince these people? For me, convincing someone that the government won’t get involved. I think it is big… Trillion dollar market, two trillion, the whole thing, and Bitcoin alone over a trillion dollar market cap. But now, it’s being integrated so many systems. I don’t know if they’re going to be able to take this and disallow it, the government, but it is interesting. I like her points. I also like a lot of those points.

Frank Curzio: I don’t agree with everything, again, with the whole Rittenhouse house thing. I hate the fact that this kid’s on Fox News and they’re pitting him, like, conservative against just the far left and the woke crowd and stuff like that. Look, that insights even more anger, which again, it’s hard, right? We talk about politics here, and they want to divide us as much as they can. And it’s frustrating as hell. But at the end of the day, I want to keep a balance. I’d like to get people on, I’ve invited people on, who are Democrats, people from the other side. It’s amazing how most of them always say that they don’t want to talk. I’m always interested in having a conversation.

Frank Curzio: I’ve always open up to the idea that I could be wrong on something because I’m an analyst and being stubborn. There’s no room for it, especially in stocks, especially in anything, right? So, I always want to be fair and balanced. So, if you know anyone that wants to come on from that. I’ve invited Peter Schiff on. I invited… Not so much from a Democratic point of view, but from a gold Bitcoin perspective. But if you see anyone that does want to come on, that’s great. I’ve emailed a lot of different people to come on just to talk about critical race theory. Why do you believe this? None of them at all, do media appearances, all these people. They do… I shouldn’t say media appearances but I’m on TV. They only go to the places that they’re loved and certain colleges and stuff like that, right? They don’t want to be challenged at all, which is frustrating because I have legitimate questions on that.

Frank Curzio: Anyway, let me know what you thought about that interview, frank@curzioresearch.com. And again, we got a lot, a lot of feedback. It was one of the most listen to podcast. She has a very big following, love having Kristin on, she is absolutely awesome. A few things here. First thing is, time’s running out to get the one year free for Luke’s new newsletter, which is Big Money Trader. So, Luke Downey is taking The Big Money Report newsletter, which is a lower price newsletter, and basically putting on steroids, right? Finding all these option strategies on some of the world’s next major growth stocks. You might say, how does he find those? Well, his system allowed to investing alongside big money. And when I say big money, it’s institutions, hedge fund money. And investing alongside, not investing after, not taking options afterwards, which you see a lot of people do up alongside.

Frank Curzio: And this allowed him to get in early in some of the world’s biggest growth names, right? And you look at Netflix, Tesla, these are stocks in that portfolio, Nvidia. So, the discount is for one more week, and then we’re going to remove it. So, it’s a year for free, a special discount for you, Curzio Research listeners and subscribers. And we will go back to selling it at full price after that. So, if you’re interested, definitely subscribe. You have any questions? Feel free to email frank@curzioresearch.com. This is an awesome, awesome product, guys. I don’t just launch products to launch products. I launch products that I think are going to help you. I think if you look at a five, 10-year period, and even starting now, when you look at the market and it’s pulling back in almost, not almost every single pullback that we’ve seen has resulted in a buying opportunity for the last 10 years. We’re going to continue that as long as we have low interest rates, right?

Frank Curzio: We’re going to see swings that go a little too far. And we pulled back. The S&P 500 is up 12 days in a row, 10 days a row, whatever it was. Then, it gets stretched, and it pulls back, and it was like inflation. Tech companies are crashing… It is a crazy market right now, but you’re always going to see that volatility. But money is flowing. You see that money flowing into certain stocks, and man, these things could really take off when they get momentum. And this is what this newsletter is about. It’s about investing in companies that you otherwise wouldn’t invest in, because maybe you felt like you missed a move or you just… The PE is too high. And as we see, those stocks with that growth and tech tend to go higher and higher and higher and higher. So, we have the right guy in the product with Luke Downey. We are very excited to launch his product. Again, that’s ending in the week.

Frank Curzio: So, if you want to take advantage, take advantage right away. It’s at curzioresearch.com. You going to see Luke’s face in the corner; just click that. You can watch this video before you subscribe, but if you have any other questions about it, just feel free to email frank@curzioresearch.com. But if you going to hit subscribe, do it over the next few days, because we’re going to take that offer off. And we’re going to remove that free year. Last but not least, we will not have a podcast tomorrow. We’ll not have Frankly Speaking on Friday either. We’re in for the holidays. So, have a wonderful, wonderful Thanksgiving. Eat lots of turkey, lots of stuffing. Have some beers, relax with the family, watch football. Well, don’t watch all the football. I think a 12:30 game is the Bears against Detroit. So, don’t waste your time. That’s a horrible game, but the other two should be pretty good. But seriously, have a wonderful, wonderful time with your families.

Frank Curzio: I just feel like watching a media and watching different things, there’s so much anger out there. Everyone’s always pissed off and finding something to be pissed off. And yet, we have a lot to be thankful for. And I’m not being cheesy just saying that. So, you have your loved ones there. You never know how long, right? Well, what could happen in a year. So enjoy, have fun, relax, because everyone’s going to have to go back to work next week. Most of us, and yeah, this is a time of year that I love. And I feel like we thrive here at Curzio Research because while everybody takes off and just like, whatever, and relax. Me, I’m looking for new ideas heading into next year, heading to Consumer Electronic Conference. You going to have a huge, huge, huge biotech conferences, right?

Frank Curzio: JP Morgan, huge biotech conferences early in the year. And position yourself now, especially even in biotechs. A lot of these things have gotten hit with expected the report data early January. That’s really exciting stuff. And being prepared has allowed me to really outperform early in the year by doing the research now. Not you, you relax with your families. You do what you have to do. That’s my job. That’s what you paying me for, paying me for my newsletters. You listen to this podcast. A lot of those ideas are going to show up in our paid newsletters. So listen, have a great, great holiday. Again, you and your families, enjoy it. And I will see you guys next week. I promise, take care.

Announcer: Wall Street Unplugged is produced by Curzio Research, one of the most respected financial media companies in the industry. The information presented on Wall Street Unplugged is the opinion of its host and guests. You should not base your investment decision solely on this broadcast. Remember, it’s your money and your responsibility.

Frank Curzio
Frank Curzio, founder and CEO of Curzio Research, is one of America’s most respected stock experts. His research is regularly featured on media outlets like CNBC’s Kudlow Report, The Call, CNN Radio, ABC News, and Fox Business News. His Wall Street Unplugged podcast—ranked the No. 1 “most listened-to” financial podcast on iTunes—has been downloaded over 12 million times.

Editor’s note:

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Join The Dollar Stock Club today, and you’ll get immediate access to this crypto—along with a portfolio full of expert picks in gold, semiconductors, real estate, uranium, and more—for a ridiculous $4 a month.

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