Important New Book – Michael Panzer’s “When Giants Fall”

The author of Financial Armageddon: Protecting Your Future from Four Impending Catastrophes, Revised and Updated Edition has a new, must-read book  just hitting shelves.

Review coming, but considering the prescience and brilliance of Michael Panzer’s previous work, I believe it’s a must-read for anyone wanting to prepare for the economic and societal shifts bearing down on us right now.

The above mentioned book, Financial Armageddon, called with exceptional clarity, the problems we’re enmeshed in right now, even though our “leaders” and economic “experts” laughed such talk off. Well, they’re not laughing now, but sadly, still in their “leader” and “expert” roles, pretending to know the way out of the woods.

Most of these “architects of our demise” will attempt to marginalize the concepts in this newest Panzer work as well, but will be on the front lines telling us what we need to do to fix the problems when they show up.

The Fog Ahead

Jim Kunstler once again nails it, with the post “State of Cringe” in his “Clusterf**k Nation” section of Kunstler.com.

Discussing the two forks in the road ahead, deflation or inflation, Kunstler agrees with those who suggest (like myself) that it’s not an either/or proposition:

Some of us see both outcomes in sequence: the deflationary “work out” of bad debt currently underway — of loans that will will never be paid back, of acronymic paper securities revealed as frauds, of “non-performing” contracts entering the swamps of foreclosure, of banks pretending to still exist, of hallucinated “wealth” rushing into the cosmic worm-hole of oblivion — can only go for so long before everyone who can go broke will go broke. Then, just as we find ourselves a nation of empty pockets, the tsunami of shoveled-in “money” designed to “reboot the consumer” (created not from productive activity but just printed recklessly), will start churning through the “economy,” chasing products and commodities that became scarce during the deflationary phase — and the result is hyper-inflation, the eraser of debt, destroyer of fortunes, and suicide pill of feckless governments.

Make no mistake about it. We will see a one-two punch that will level this economy, leaving our new President and his administration holding the bag. Did you notice that the Dow yesterday rose while Gold not only held its ground or rose a little, but in fact broke through $900? Sure, most technical analysts were calling $880 an important level, but $900 is a symbolic number that can’t be ignored.

Prices will continue to fall. The faltering demand that is killing retail and wholesale business is bringing prices down. Energy, durables, even food is some cases. But that’s a short-term situation. The TARP’s failure is a sobering glimpse into just how serious the situation is, because it gives us some sense of just how big the “black hole” we’re pouring this newly printed money into is. Eventually, our government will dump enough in to see the result, and that result will be devastating and unstoppable. Our economy and currency is doomed. The hyperinflation caused by this idiocy in Washington will inflate the dollar out of existence.

Many are drawing comparisons in what’s going on right now to the First Great Depression, and that’s a valid exercise. Our civilization’s timeline unfolds in cycles, to be sure, and in terms of human lifespans, those cycles are long. If we leave sufficient records, a civilization looking back on us in a thousand years will probably see these two depressions as one event, the second a direct result of the first. Since we humans live a lifespan of 70 to 100 years, and the last depression began over 70 years (a “lifetime”) ago, we see them as distinct events. We and our future observers are in truth, both right and wrong about it.

The “fog” that keeps us from seeing exactly what’s going on, and what we should individually do about it, is made thicker by the fact that our future isn’t unfolding exactly as our past did. But there are patterns that are important to look for.

As Ambrose Evans-Pritchard writes in the UK’s Telegraph, there’s a case to be made that we’re following a path similar to the 1930s, but the worst, by far, is yet to come.

Obama supporters see the President they elected as a new FDR. Sadly, students of economic and political history agree. So far, the new President is following Roosevelt’s path, a course that those who only concern themselves with slogans and icons believe is the path to salvation. Those who read, study and understand know that FDR’s path led to a longer than necessary depression, ended only by World War and over 400,000 American dead.

Given the weapons of today, a repeat of that sad history will yield far more flag-draped coffins, and will certainly this time,  include a horrifying number of American civilian dead.

Preparation Steps

Many things are cheap right now, but that’s a very short-term situation. Use your dollars’ spending power today to stock up on the things you will need when there are disruptions that make buying them impossible. But don’t just go to Sam’s Club or Costco. Make a list. Start here.

If you’re serious (and you should be), send George Ure of Urban Survival $40 and read (and print) his September 28, 2008 issue of Peoplenomics entitled “A Lifetime of Camping.” It’s the best place to start.

Thoughts from the first week of the Obama Presidency

That the left in America isn’t nearly as gracious as the right. The shoe throwing party just before inauguration day was shameful. I think that’s because essentially, Americans are conservatives who punish the Republicans for letting us down, and liberals have to be excessive in their opposition because that’s the foundation of their existence.

Traditionally, we respect the Constitution, but when frustrated, overcompensate in our disappointment and elect liberals. We were so satisfied and successful with Ronald Reagan, we let our guard down and let his VP, George H. W. Bush move up a notch. Bad decision. Our disappointment in the elder Bush resulted in Bill Clinton’s election. The Junior Bush’s two-time failure has resulted in the most wicked political swing ever.

As politicians go, Obama is probably as honest as any of them. Certainly, he’s a better man than the likes of Christopher Dodd or Barney Frank, or the horrifying Tom Daschle. I think he’ll find that if he plays honestly, he’ll find much more stalwart friends in Republicans like Richard Lugar than the morally and politically corrupt hacks like those mentioned above. Keep them close, Mr. President, because ultimately, they are your (and the American people’s) enemy.

I had hoped that Obama would shock us all and call Ron Paul to the White House and ask for help with the economy. But no, his political machine is intoxicated with painting him as a modern day FDR, not because Roosevelt saved us from economic ruin, but because many people today think he did. The truth of the matter is, FDR’s programs deepened and extended the Great Depression, and then goaded the Japanese into attacking us and drawing us into World War II. FDR killed many times the number of people George W. Bush did. WWII ended the Great Depression, at the cost of over 400,000 American lives.

As Obama follows the path of FDR, massive government spending for infrastructure, then war, what will the total be? Last time, the biggest weapon that could be used against us was a 1,000 pound dumb bomb dropped from an airplane. This time? Nuclear or  biological agents capable of killing hundreds of thousands could be deployed by single combatants.

What this means.

The route we’re taking shows no sign of changing. Over a Trillion dollars have been pumped into the black hole of this economic meltdown, to no effect. Every single dollar printed and injected into the system will eventually show up in the form of inflation. The $825 Billion stimulus package the new President is pushing will pump another huge glob of currency into that black hole. Notice, that I said “currency” instead of “money.” The paper our Government is printing isn’t money, it’s claim against that wealth, making each note or credit in a bank account, worth less.

WCN.net isn’t investment advice, and you shouldn’t use it as such, but I’m happy to share my plans and strategies with my readers. I’m continuing to invest in metals (Gold, Silver), and stock up on food and water.

Things are not getting better. They will continue to get worse. Protect yourself and your family.

Back From A Break

It’s been quite a long gap in posting, but for good reason, I think. My family, for the first time in many years, took a long holiday break from work and school. Though I had every intention of “working” on WCN.net while away (it’s more a labor of love and concern than true “work”) I decided a couple days into the vacation to consider it work and stay away from it. That, in my opinion, was a good decision, as it allowed me to soak in some life, recharge, and watch the world more as a participant than as an observer. I believe the insight I gained from this helped me better understand what’s going on, and it gave me some ideas to share with you in the coming weeks.

Once I got back to the “business” of WCN, I saw some things that need to change with the site. You’ll start to see some of those changes gradually over the next month. The big change is of perspective. It occured to me that this site has been mostly about the possible branches on the path that our economy and resulting society could travel. WCN.net is going to start being more about the path we’re on and what you can do to survive, thrive and be successful in our new world. Make no mistake, we are in a world that’s much different than the one we were living in 2 years ago.

We are living through a societal paradigm shift that is changing almost everything about the way we live in the U.S. Part of that paradigm shift is that sites like WCN.net, Kunstler.com, Financial Armageddon, When Giants Fall, WorldNetDaily, Urban Survival and others are “suddenly” seem less directed at the “paranoid fringe” and more for everyone. Those sites mentioned haven’t changed their direction, many people are simply seeing the light. Events have played out in ways the writers and editors of those sites (and many more, by the way) predicted. Those who previously scoffed are now getting it, and in many cases, preaching the gospel of dramatic change.

The tenor of WCN.net won’t change. The changes I’ve been writing about for a couple years now are happening, and instead of engaging in the tempting “I told you so” that would be easy to write, I’m going to transition to writing more about what preparations and activities could help ensure survival and success in these difficult times.