 And welcome to Talk Story with John Wahee. I know I tell you this every time we have a show, and that is that we got another exciting guest for you today. But in reality, folks, we got our very special, special guest today. We have with us joining today Mr. Toshio Matsuda, and Mr. Matsuda is known and worldwide as the samurai lecturer. What he is is that he is an author and an economist, and he did a number of different things. Some of his personal background is even as interesting as the things he talks about. So we are going to have a very interesting time this afternoon talking about geopolitics and geo-economics, meaning the impact of international politics and international economics. So welcome, Matsuda-san, I am delighted to have you. But before we get into the substance of this, I wanted to say that you and Mrs. Matsuda Mariko, she is in fact your partner, and she is with you in all these businesses. Yes, she is my lovely wife, not only wife, but also she is my boss. So she is your boss, she does. The reason why I mentioned it, folks, is because Mariko and Matsuda-san are now the cover page. They are on the cover page of Luxury Magazine International, and the reason for doing that, what a wonderful dress she has, and I hope my wife doesn't see that, she wants something like that. But anyway, the reason why they are on the cover page is because Matsuda-san, you are giving a number of lectures in Europe and Tokyo, just tell us. Yes. Okay, this Luxury Magazine is published in Europe, especially Monaco and Paris and London, especially Namasko in Russia. So the magazine itself is in English, Russian, and French? Oh, English and Russian. English and Russian. And this happens because I did a summary lecture that was May 16th in Monaco at a famous yacht club, and lots of people came, and my lecture was so successful, and then London people invited me to come to make a lecture in London, and the Moscow people called me and said, Mr. Masuda, please come over to Moscow and make your summary lecture, oh, and Dubai. Oh, Dubai. Yeah, Dubai people also invited me to come to Dubai to make a lecture, so the magazine company focused on me. Well, we are so lucky to have you here today. I wanted to say, though, that you actually very early on, and people know this, that back in 2001, I think it was sometime at the end of the summer, I'm not exactly clear with the date, but I wanted to, and a bunch of people from Hawaii, ask you to give a lecture at Wai'a Lai Club to the business community in Hawaii, and at that time, what I remember most is that at that time, somebody asked you a question. You kept telling me this, by the way, privately, and I said, don't talk about this, and don't talk, and what we're going to talk about from folks is that Mr. Masuda was saying that within, by, before the 12th or the following month or something, before September. Yeah, you said that the United States would be in some kind of conflict. The world would turn over. You weren't sure what it was, but in the audience, this is what I remember. In the audience, somebody asked you, they said, Mr. Masuda, what kind of stock should I buy? And I remember you saying, I'm going to give you advice what not to buy, and in fact, what you should sell, and you said, sell airline stock, and then you predicted that the world would be, the United States would be in turmoil, and that was, and one month later, 9-11 occurred. That's right. Because I knew the code date was September 12, where they were supposed to guess for nine suspects who were suspected to have born, burned or bombed U.S. embassy in Kenya and Tanzania. Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. 9 suspects. They had a code date September 12, and I knew they were innocent, so you cannot have that code date, so something must be happened before September 12. And that's why you predicted. That's right. But you see, but Mr. Masuda, you were already famous, and the reason why we even brought what you got invited to, to wildlife, to give that lecture, which by the way, there are still people thanking you for your tip to sell the airline stock. Long time ago. Before they did it, but because, actually you were well known in Japan for being able to give a sense or give a prediction as to when the yen was going to be devalued with the dollar. In fact, you had written a number of books about the economy of Japan and the world, if I remember correctly. As a matter of fact, I wrote over 30 books, that's about economy and politics, and most of them were best sellers, but the most important thing is I have been advising to almost 700 people in Japan, they are all investors, since 1997. And also I have a broadcasting, radio broadcasting. Yeah, that's right. You do a radio show every day. Every day. Every day on the. Monday to Friday. Yes. And no matter where in the world you are. That's right. Since 1997, up to today, so my radio program in Japan is the longest history in Japan history. Okay. And that's why you're known as the samurai lecturer, right? You can see this. Yeah. My lecture is called Samurai, I am a descendant of 47 samurai or Ronins. Yeah, it's a very famous story in Japan, and what it is, it's a story about Japanese culture and Japanese sense of loyalty and all the things that make a samurai. Yeah. And you are actually a descendant of one of the 47. Yeah, 47 Ronins or samurai. And that story, if I talk about that story, it's going to take a long time, so I'm going to miss. But the thing is 47 Ronins made some kind of revenge against the corrupted high-rank officers. Right. Worked in the Edo central government. And the idea, again, is that is a story that the young people thought about in Japan, about what constitutes, I guess you would say the culture, but also the samurai spirit. Yeah. So, okay, we got a chance for people to get to know you a little bit better. I'm going to ask, I'm going to throw you a curve right now. I'm going to ask you a tough question. And that is because you're an economist and because you know something about the international impact of different government decisions. What do you think, well, the Fed in the United States recently lured the interest rate. Right. They gave a rate cut. Yeah. I think it was in July, right? The end of July. Yeah. So, what do you think of that? I mean, what impact will that have for the rest of us and for the world? That was the most important things in the world economy. Lots of almost 100% of the analysts predicted for the rate cuts in coming July FOMC sessions. Right. And as everybody's every analyst predicted, the Fed decided to cut the rates. Now, the president was insisting that they cut the rate. Was he just tagging along with the rest of the other experts? Mr. President, Mr. Trump repeatedly asked the chairman of the Fed, Mr. Power. To cut the rates instead of raising the interest rate, but Mr. Power ignored the request of the Mr. President and raised the interest rate four times in 2018. So, Mr. Trump was so frustrated and he was trying to fire him out from the Fed. But that's why he explored how to fire Mr. Power. Which would have been a very difficult thing. So anyway, Mr. Power lowered the rate. And then Mr. Power said at the end of last year, 2018, I'm going to raise the rate maybe two, three times for our coming year, which means this year. So Trump was completely got mad, fire him out, fire him out. And then FOMC decision making committee was open, January, no raising the rates and March, no raising rates. And now July. He cut the rate. Cut the rate. Now what? But the real question is, why did the Dow crash after the rate cut? Okay, normally, normally, when the Fed cuts the rates, stock market should go up. Right. See, that's a common sense because using money and using policy which is good for the stock market. So, as everybody, every analyst predicts, the Fed cuts the rates and only one day, maybe 30, 40 minutes, the stock market goes up, went up, and then stop. And next day, next day, August 2nd, Mr. Trump, President of the United States, announced the additional tariffs against the rest of the imports from China, which is worth about 300 billion US dollars. And he said he's going to start imports on the imports, starting from September 1st. So market was so shocked. So in other words, you got what was supposed to have been a boost to the market, and then the next day you got a... Yeah. Trump, because of Trump's announcement of the tariffs against the imports from China, the stock market crashed down. But there is the truth behind this Trump's actions and Mr. Power's actions. Number one, Mr. Power should not cut the rate if he follows or if he respects the fundamentals of the United States. Economic fundamentals is so good. For example, most important thing for the GDP, growth of the economy in the United States is the spending. And the consumer, public spending. Well, I tell you what, we're going to take a short break right now. But when we come back, I want you to continue that thought and conversation and also tell us a little bit about what you think the world economy will look like as a result of these actions and others. If you know the truth of the Fed, you'll understand what's going to happen. Let's come back. We're going to be back shortly in a minute and we're going to talk about, as Mr. Masuda, the summer eye lecturer, tells us about the truth of the Federal Reserve system. Aloha. I'm Mellie James, host of Let's Manna Up, Tuesdays every other Tuesday from 11 to 11.30. This show is meant to dive into stories of local product entrepreneurs and how they're growing their companies from right here in Hawaii. I'm so thrilled to have our show kicked off. And so please join us on Tuesdays at 11 o'clock as we talk to local entrepreneurs and hear their stories. Aloha. I'm Keisha King, host of At the Crossroads, where we have conversations that are real and relevant. We have spoken with community leaders from right here locally in Hawaii and all around the world. Won't you join us on thinktechhawaii.com or on YouTube on the Think Tech Hawaii channel. Our conversations are real, relevant, and lots of fun. I'll see you at the Crossroads. Aloha. Welcome back to Talk Story with John Waihei and our guest, the samurai lecturer, Mr. Toshio Masuda from Japan. And by the way, folks, if you got a question and you want to join this conversation, please call us at 808-374-2014. We are always available to answer your questions. So, Mr. Masuda, you were just about ready to tell us why the set of circumstances that occurred recently with the Federal Reserve actually resulted in a drop in the market instead of an expansion. And that had to do with which was what you were pointing out just before the break. That had to do with the Federal Reserve Chairman, I guess, in ignoring American economic fundamentals. That's right. The American fundamental, economic fundamentals is still now or the time of the FOMC. Fundamental was so good. For example, most important fundamental is the spending, the public spending. The beginning of the year was not so good, 1.1 percent. But coming near to the FOMC, in other words, decision-making committee, it's getting better and better and better. And it went up to 1.1 to 4.3 percent. Wow. 4.3. So, the spending is consumer spending went up so high. And another thing, an important thing is the hourly earnings wages. That also jumped up to 3.2 percent. So, when that happens, the logical thing is to let the economy adjust itself. Yeah. It was very good. And another important thing is, as you know, the employment. And the employment rate is 3.7, the lowest in U.S. histories. So, all the fundamentals are very, very good. So, when fundamentals, economic fundamentals are so good, it should raise the rates. So, the Chairman should have done what he was saying he would do, not what the President was telling him to do. Right. So, if the Fed follows the fundamentals, the economic fundamentals, it should have raised the interest rate. But the fact is they decided to lower the interest rate, cut the rates. And then right after that, the President? So, when such kind of a thing, unreasonable things happen, there will be always something, politics involved. I mean, Mr. Otsuda, you know, it's a sovereign elector, because you're not afraid to touch controversial subjects, you know, from time to time. But there are people that have suggested that this whole relationship with China and the President Trump is actually, there's more to it than the people might see. What do you think all of this is leading? Yeah. So, before talking about China, as you told me, right after the Fed cut, the cut rate, you know, the share supposed to go up, but it fell down. Because Mr. Trump announced the more tariff, additional tariff against the imports from China, as I said, you know, 300 billion worth of the imports, that is the reason why market crashed. But there is another fact of this reason, because the Fed chairman, Mr. Powell, Mr. Powell, cut the rate, you know, he was not supposed to cut the rate, because look at the fundamentals, there is, you know, economic environment is very good, and the U.S. economy is going so good, so Fed was not supposed to cut the rate, but he did. And then right after Fed decided to cut the rates in analysts, including me, analysts, wanted to argue if Fed decision was right or wrong. So, there was a discussion, arguments happened, and then Trump, all of a sudden Trump announced, put the tariff against the Chinese import, so all of a sudden stock market goes down, and then because of the announcement, because of the tariff against the Chinese imports, we are talking about recessions, future recessions, and Powell said, even though U.S. economy is so good, fundamental so good, but there is the fear of recession in future, that was his reason why he cuts the rate, but at that moment there was no single sign of a recession at all, zero. So, it had to do with the tariff cut? So, Trump covered it up, see, this is a real political reason, and what's happened is, because of the rate cuts, the share price was supposed to go up, but there was a lot of argument, maybe Fed did wrong things, because look. Well, you know, one thing about China is China, if we're, you know, switching to that subject, China holds a lot of U.S. bond, and what is the, what is your feeling about the relationship between Chinese, the value of Chinese U.N. and the dollar, I mean, isn't that part of all this scenario as well? Recently, as you know, Mr. Trump, I know it by the way, and I don't know if the audience knows, and maybe I'm just spilling something I shouldn't, but I know that you actually advised the Chinese government from time to time. Yeah, I met chairman of the currency committee of Bank of China, February 17th, and I gave them one very, several advice, but one of the most important advice I gave to him, and cover up what Mr. Trump was challenged against you, in other words, China, against China. So he understood, but I don't know if he followed me or I don't know, but if he followed me, if he had followed me, Mr. Trump could not have announced that China is currency manipulators. Recently, in our recognition, you know, Trump declared that China is currency manipulators, but I suggested them to keep it one to seven, in other words, one US dollar to seven U.N., all right? Didn't China just recently do something like that? Yeah, they came back and they now keep one to seven, but it's too late. I told them, keep one to seven all the way, you know, no matter what market, you know, moved, you buy or sell, buy or sell, you keep one to seven. We are going to get it close, but I wanted to ask you one, so what is your predictions for the economy, the world economy? OK, world economy, I don't have enough time, but I'm going to give you a conclusion. OK, yeah, that's what I mean. World economy is going to be bubbled up, bubbled up. OK. Everybody talking about recession and lots of negative things, there is no negative matters. The stock market anyway from now on goes up, and developing nations, countries, economies grew up because Fed started to cut the rate. That is a very, very good news to developing nations, because they had to raise the interest rate, because Fed raised the interest rate, and all the money is called capital flight, all the money goes out from developing countries, and so they had to protect their currency. They had to raise the interest rate, that's bad for the economy, but now opposite, so they started to cut the rate and release more money, so the developing countries' economies goes up, and the United States, the United States' economies, as I told you, fundamental, too good, and while you are too good, you are, you know, cutting the rates, so good is going to be too good. OK, you know, we've got a couple more minutes, and I know you never shy away from controversy, so let me ask you a question. I remember back in 2016, at one point in time, you said the United States doesn't need an election. This was before the election, you don't need the election, Trump is going to get elected anyway. I didn't think so. I obviously was on the opposite side, but why did you think so? Oh, it's very easy. In order to win any election, not only presidency or congressman, whatever, in order to win election, you have to have three things. One, money, second, brain, third, stock price, share price, all right? Money, Sheridan Anderson, the richest guy in the world, supported Trump, brain, Kissinger supported Trump, and stock market goes up, so he won. Well, you know, that makes a lot of sense, and as I said, you know, you and I didn't agree on that election, but I want to thank you for being here today and for being willing to answer these questions, and folks, by the way, Mr. Masuda's lectures are on, well, they're in Japanese mostly, but you speak, you do it in English as well. Yeah, I'm very bad English, but you understand what I mean. Well, we want to thank everyone for joining us today, and we definitely want to thank you, Mr. Masuda, the samurai lecturer, for being willing to spend time with us and letting us know a little bit about what's going to happen with the world economy, and according to him, things may be getting better in the future economically.