It’s an amazing time when the optimists among us are expecting only a severe recession. But that’s the case right now. Most observers know what is coming. It’s a Depression (capital “D” intended) that’s coming, called by some another Great Depression, and by others the Greater Depression. I think that’s accurate.
Why? We have built our house on the shifting sands of credit, not financially stable savings. We made the mistake of assuming paper profits that were so inflated they weren’t even taxed (how insubstantial must a type of profit be for even the U.S. Government not to recognize it?). Sure, Capital Gains on Real Estate used to be taxed when the property was sold, but no longer. That, as much as anything should have tipped us off that they weren’t real.
Over the next two years, Americans will learn some hard lessons. Among them:
- Real Estate prices cannot and do not go up forever.
- Houses and ATMs are two very different things.
- Our leaders don’t know nearly as much about the economy as they pretend to.
- Spending more than you make doesn’t work for individuals, businesses or governments.
So, Americans are left watching the spectacle devoted to what the government is going to do to fix this. Soon, maybe in the next 3 weeks, maybe in the next 3 months, we as a society will come to the conclusion that the government hasn’t the first clue about how to fix the problem. At that point, Americans’ attention will shift to what they can do individually to protect themselves. My suggestion is that you make that shift now.
Toward that end, I’m putting together a report titled “A New Great Depression: What you can do to prepare your family and yourself for economic disaster.” It’s going to be a free report, downloadable from this site when it’s finished, hopefully by the end of the week.
In it, I’ll lay out where we are right now as an economy, and some of the things I believe we’ll be facing as Americans over the next 10 years. The report will have a set of steps to prepare for the aftermath of the collapse we’re seeing unfold right now.
As soon as I have it finished, I’ll post the link to download the report.
Posted in
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Housing Bubble,
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Depression,
Dow,
Economy,
Greater Depression,
Market Crash,
Recession
In a word, that event is here. So, there’s no longer any need for the warning banner.
Whether or not what we’re seeing in the Dow and credit markets meltdown is what the web bots predicted for October 7th, the past week has seen a dramatic economic “event” unfold. As of this writing, it is still unfolding as TRILLIONS of dollars are being lost and entire financial worlds wiped out. I believe that in the years that come, we will look back on the week of October 6th, 2008 as when world slowly, groggily started waking up to the reality of the Greater Depression.
Jim Sinclair on today:
Gold is about to VAULT UP.
I am reliably informed that the paper versus bullion gold war is lost by paper gold at a $930 close.
Gold will vault to slightly under $1000 then get pushed back, but not much at all. Directly after that we are off to $1200.
A Bank Holiday is moving from possible to PROBABLE.
- Have you fully protected yourself?
- Have you distanced yourself as much as possible away from financial agents holding your assets?
- Have you gotten paper certificates for your shares or became a direct registration book entry at the transfer agent?
- Have you protected your retirement accounts the same way as your shares above but in the name of the retirement account and the trust holding them?
- Have you closed your Money Market fund accounts regardless of what assurances your bankers offer?
- Have you withdrawn from your Credit Union?
- Have you exited your corporate retirement fund?
- Do you have significant gold and related shares investments?
It is getting UGLY out there as each day an attempt to postpone a bank holiday fails. Almost every other day lately financial leaders of the world have announced new plans that were “the final answer” to the super-glued credit market. All these plans have had no effect. The Dow fell like a rock off a cliff.
This says all efforts have failed.
Once again, Sinclair is short and direct. His counsel is sound.
Next post. Nuts and bolts about what you can do.
Posted in
Economy,
Society
—WCN Warning: Economic/Terrorist event possible—
A post from Financial Armageddon saying what I’ve been thinking recently, when I hear the mainstream media say things like “a recession in the U.S. is possible.”
Possible?
Holy cow, if it’s not clearly upon us, I’m not sure I want to see what they’re talking about. We’re in danger of a major depression setting in over the next couple weeks, and hearing about the chances of recession here is just…Well, unbelievably naive.
By the way, if you haven’t yet read Financial Armageddon, the book, by Michael Panzer, you need to do that…Right away.
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—WCN Warning: Economic/Terrorist event possible—
Here’s my bet.
Yes.
I think the outpouring of angry comment from the constituents of the 435 House members, all of whom are up for reelection in November, will convince a big enough number of them that if they want to keep their jobs (for whatever that will be worth in the post-crash United States), they will vote against the bailout.
The American people are angry. They have a right to be. They’ve been manipulated, lied to, drugged with cheap credit, cheap mass media “entertainment” rich with endless hours of inane reality TV, ridiculously expensive popular culture retail fluff and the American Panto of loundmouthed talking head news/debate shows. They’re waking up from the American Dream, which is starting to look like a night’s restless sleep brought on by a huge malt liquor bender, their head hurts and they’re pissed.
Con Artists like Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd and the like are still trying to shove this pork-infested rescue of their rich patrons, getting progressively more strident in their swearing the bailout is necessary to keep the U.S. from plunging into a depression.
I, for one, am already depressed! I’m depressed that those who profess to lead our nation don’t feel they’ve stolen enough, that they have to take what’s left before fleeing town themselves. Then again, I think it’s possible that the thieves who have put us (with our distracted and at times unconscious help) in this precarious position may well have thought their gravy train would continue indefinitely. Is it possible their panic is more caused by their sudden realization that the income derived from their stealing may be at an end, too? Could it be they’ve overreached, and are about to kill their own golden goose?
That would sure panic me!
In any event, as painful as it will be, our economy and political system needs an overhaul, a cleaning that will sweep away those we’ve foolishly allowed to lead us. Americans need to really read the Constitution and once again embrace this document. it’s still relevent and will save us.
If we let it.
***Update***
Clearly, I was wrong about the bill failing. I keep this post up because I don’t want to hide the fact that I was wrong in my optimism that the Executive and Legislative branches of our Government would listen to the will of their constituents. They did not. There reportedly hasn’t been a greater outpouring of opposition to legislation they were pushing in the history of our Republic.
They failed us. And should pay for this dereliction of duty with massive electoral change in the November elections. No member of the House, Republican, Democrat or Independent (all of whom are up for reelection, of course) who voted for this atrocious bill should be summarily release from service by being voted out of office. The same for any Senator up for re-election, though I would guess you will find a lower percentage of those, since only a third of the Senate is begging for their continued employment in November. Though I haven’t looked at the numbers, the water for this abomination was probably born by those who had another 2 or 4 years left in their term.
Cowards, crooks, thieves and liars. I am ashamed. It is time for change.
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US Tags:
Bailout,
Congress,
Constitution,
Depression,
Economy,
Politics
Once again, as elements in our nation lobby for war, a story from NewsMax discusses the intelligence that suggests Iran is preparing an EMP attack on the U.S. Is this a credible threat?
Possibly.
More likely though, is that this story helps beat the war drum to hit Iran with this same type of attack. Much like an enormous amount of intelligence surfaced immediately after 9/11 about who attacked us and why, if there were a semi-successful attack on territory and resources not closely tied to the survival of the United States, I have a feeling we’d be served up hard evidence that Iran was behind it, and that they are, in fact, ahead of where we thought they were in their quest for nuclear weapons. That would justify the end of Iran’s participation in the 21st century (and 20th century as well). I don’t believe we would “turn their major cities to glass” as many call for, I just think we would detonate 4 or 5 EMP weapons ourselves, turning a very modern nation with a very backward religious-based authoritarian government into a 19th century society.
If that happens, there will be those in the government who will actually suggest we did them a favor by ending their conflict between the old world and the new. There will be those who say “be careful what you wish for.” Want the kind of male-dominated medieval society the Shiites seem to advocate? Here you go.
Personally, I don’t believe that Iran could pull this off. I think their President likes to talk a big game, but I don’t think the country collectively has the desire to end the modern era. But what’s most important, is what the people who run the United States believe and want, and what the Iranian government gives our leaders the excuse to do.
Posted in
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War Tags:
EMP,
Iran,
Nuclear War
Welcome to a brand spankin’ new week!
Money on our minds this Monday, as the White House predicts a $490 Billion budget deficit next year. Given our government’s fondness for spin and general economic incompetence, I’d say the truth is probably somewhere north of that figure, between $490 and $1 Trillion. Add in bank and FDIC bailouts that will be necessary in the next 18 months, and the larger of those two numbers is probably a lowball.
Too many people today read that news, shrug and say “Well, that’s the government. They can handle it.” What will be an even bigger story in ’09 however, is starting to sneak up on us and seep into the mainstream media. Listen to this segment of the Diane Rehm show (launches a Windows Media file) and you’ll see that dozens of states are under water budget-wise for 2009. This will mean problems with education, health care, police/fire protection, highway and infrastructure maintenance and much more. The resources we need on a daily basis will be strained.
As I write this, the DOW has tumbled already, and even Reuters is reporting that the Gold Futures market suggests that the metal will trade at $1,200/ounce by the end of the year. So, it’s no longer just Jim Sinclair making this claim!
Meanwhile, Jim Kunstler has a terrifically dark piece about a drive through New York State (where he lives), with some pointed, vivid and very compelling observations about the state of our society:
Hopelessness infects this landscape like a miasma. Whatever young adults remain in these places are not thinking about a plausible future, only looking to complete their full array of tattoos and lose themselves in raptures of sex, methedrine, and video aggression.
And that’s the lighter bit 
Seriously though. Kunstler’s views ring so true, even though regularly reading him, you start to get the idea he really, really dislikes tattoos. I believe though, that Jim will one day be seen as one of many visionaries whose dark futures often hit closer to the eventual truth than most. God help us.
Finally, in the “can’t wait for the future” hit parade, George Ure at UrbanSurvival.com unhappily predicts an “October Surprise” that involves a hidden hand, false flag and an attempt to disguise (if not avoid) the Greater Depression bearing down on us right now. I remember similar predictions (not from George) about the last of the Clinton days, where an event causes the White House to declare Martial Law and cancel the elections. Looking at history though, I have to admit it would be more in character for this administration than the last to attempt something like this.
Time will tell. Have a great week. Be watchful.
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Economy,
Gold,
Investments,
Martial Law,
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Terrorism,
War
I have been watching the media cover “preparedness” for quite some time. Sure, I come from breakdown-prepared stock (my family had cases of freeze-dried survival rations in the 70s), so I’ve always been more in tune with the topic, but never before have I seen the mainstream media start to treat the subject with anything but scorn.
With regard to the unraveling, that is changing. The media seems to be waking up.
From the New York Times: Duck and Cover: It’s the New Survivalism – A non-judgemental (unless the fops at the Times are keeping their tongues firmly in their cheeks on this one. If so, it was lost on me.
The UK’s Telegraph: RBS issues global stock and credit crash alert This is the Royal Bank of Scotland saying this, by the way:
“A very nasty period is soon to be upon us – be prepared,” said Bob Janjuah, the bank’s credit strategist.
And finally, from the Wall Street Journal: Peak Oil: IEA inches toward the Pessimists’ camp.>
The word is getting out and hitting the mainstream, or more accurately, the non-salacious mainstream. The Telegraph? The Journal? The NYT? To be real, these outlets aren’t reporting the whole story, nor are they reporting it with the alarm that’s due, but it is showing up on their radar, which I find at once, both interesting and very troubling. I’m starting to thing our problems are bearing down on us much faster than we thought.
Be prepared.
Posted in
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Global Warming,
Housing Bubble,
Peak Oil,
Society Tags:
Depression,
Economy
Article from Reuters. That this would be a surprise to anyone defies all common sense.
Entering the 20th century, the vast majority of Americans were employed in food production. Our resources were vast, and required a lot of hands to make the food we eat. Industry came, and with it, both higher paying jobs making cars (and other things). Fortunately, that same technological advance brought automation to the farm, freeing up a lot of those previously food-producing hands to go look for work in the factories in the big cities.
When foreign competition killed our steel and automotive industries, we started using the computers the industrial revolution made possible to create and sell “information.” The ridiculously cheap oil supplies we enjoyed (thanks to our “friendship” with oil sheiks in the ME) allowed us to create huge constellations of suburbs with their accompanying fast food franchises and big box stores, and sell things to each other, soaking up the enormous tidal waves of cash created by an army of manipulators of the economy.
America now has an economy that can be reduced in metaphor to a village of people who pay each other to do each others laundry. As long as some outside entity keeps sending checks to the villagers, it all works. But the many trouble-chickens coming home to roost in the U.S. right now are drying up the resources of that outside entity and the money is stopping.
What you are seeing right now in America, as we celebrate the birthday of this glorious Republic, is that we’re starting to do our own laundry. And so are our former customers, our neighbors.
And that’s a problem.
Posted in
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Housing Bubble,
Peak Oil,
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Society,
US Tags:
Depression,
Economy,
Housing Bubble,
Peak Oil