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Economy
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April 05, 2013 |
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If the economy is getting better, then why does poverty in America continue to grow so rapidly? Yes, the stock market has been hitting all-time highs recently, but also the number of Americans living in poverty has now reached a level not seen since the 1960s. Yes, corporate profits are at levels never seen before, but so is the number of Americans on food stamps. Yes, housing prices have started to rebound a little bit (especially in wealthy areas), but there are also more than a million public school students in America that are homeless. That is the first time that has ever happened in U.S. history. So should we measure our economic progress by the false stock market bubble that has been inflated by Ben Bernanke’s reckless money printing, or should we measure our economic progress by how the poor and the middle class are doing? Because if we look at how average Americans are doing these days, then there is not much to be excited about. In fact, poverty continues to experience explosive growth in the United States and the middle class continues to shrink. Sadly, the truth is that things are not getting better for most Americans. With each passing year the level of economic suffering in this country continues to go up, and we haven’t even reached the next major wave of the economic collapse yet. When that strikes, the level of economic pain in this nation is going to be off the charts. [ECB] |
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Economy
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April 01, 2013 |
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A judge accepted the California city of Stockton's bankruptcy application on Monday, making it the most populous city in the nation to enter bankruptcy. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Klein said the bankruptcy declaration was needed to allow the city to continue to provide basic services. "It's apparent to me the city would not be able to perform its obligations to its citizens on fundamental public safety as well as other basic government services without the ability to have the muscle of the contract-impairing power of federal bankruptcy law," Klein said. |
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Economy
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March 24, 2013 |
By all accounts, the mainstream media and corporate leaders would have us believe that the world is in a new bull market. They’ll point us to the stock market as evidence of their claims that the economy is growing and life for the average citizen is returning to normal. Few will discuss the fundamental issues facing financial markets, the least of which is continued unemployment and less consumer spending. Even fewer are willing to, or even capable of, explaining the monetary machinations that have pumped up stock markets and left trillion dollar deficits in their wake.
There are, however, analysts like Doug Casey and Marin Katusa of Casey Research who understand what’s really going on behind the scenes, where it will eventually lead, and how to thrive in a world of uncertainty where the only things of value when the illusion is exposed for what it really is, are hard assets. [SHTFPLAN] |
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Economy
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March 18, 2013 |
The surprise decision by euro zone leaders to part-fund a bailout of Cyprus by taxing bank deposits sent shockwaves through financial markets on Monday, with shares and the bonds of struggling euro zone governments tumbling.
The bloc struck a deal on Saturday to hand Cyprus rescue loans worth 10 billion euros ($13 billion), but defied warnings - including from the European Central Bank - and imposed a levy that would see those with cash in the island's banks lose between 6.75 and 9.9 percent of their money. Parliament in Cyprus put off a vote on the measure - which has shaken depositors' confidence in banks across the continent - until Tuesday, however, and with public anger at the deal widespread the government said it was already looking to ease the pain for small savers. |
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Economy
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March 18, 2013 |
- British Government will reimburse military victims of EU's Cyprus cash grab
- But 60,000 other Britons still face losing money after bail out
- Chaos as banks empty cashpoints and ban online transfers
- Bank tax could have repercussions across Eurozone and beyond
UK taxpayers will have to compensate thousands of Britons hit by a shock raid on bank accounts in Cyprus. The debt-stricken island, which is home to around 3,000 British military personnel and civil servants, is being given an £8.7billion EU rescue package. But – in a move condemned as ‘robbery’ – Germany says it will not fund the emergency deal unless every saver with a deposit account contributes via a bank tax. Account holders will lose 9.9 per cent of all deposits over 100,000 euros (£85,000), with a 6.75 per cent levy on smaller amounts. |
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Economy
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February 18, 2013 |
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If the economy is improving, then why are many of the largest retail chains in America closing hundreds of stores? When I was growing up, Sears, J.C. Penney, Best Buy and RadioShack were all considered to be unstoppable retail powerhouses. But now it is being projected that all of them will close hundreds of stores before the end of 2013. Even Wal-Mart is running into problems. A recent internal Wal-Mart memo that was leaked to Bloombergdescribed February sales as a “total disaster”. So why is this happening? Why are major retail chains all over America collapsing? Is the “retail apocalypse” upon us? Well, the truth is that this is just another sign that the U.S. economy is falling apart right in front of our eyes. Incomes are declining, taxes are going up, government dependence is at an all-time high, and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics the percentage of the U.S. labor force that is employed has been steadily falling since 2006. The top 10% of all income earners in the U.S. are still doing very well, but most U.S. consumers are either flat broke or are drowning in debt. The large disposable incomes that the big retail chains have depended upon in the past simply are not there anymore. So retail chains all over the United States are now closing up unprofitable stores. This is especially true in low income areas. [ECB] |
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Economy
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December 22, 2012 |
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What a year 2012 has been! The mainstream media continues to tell us what a “great job” the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve are doing of managing the economy, but meanwhile things just continue to get even worse for the poor and the middle class. It is imperative that we educate the American people about the true condition of our economy and about why all of this is happening. If nothing is done, our debt problems will continue to get worse, millions of jobs will continue to leave the country, small businesses will continue to be suffocated, the middle class will continue to collapse, and poverty in the United States will continue to explode. Just “tweaking” things slightly is not going to fix our economy. We need a fundamental change in direction. Right now we are living in a bubble of debt-fueled false prosperity that allows us to continue to consume far more wealth than we produce, but when that bubble bursts we are going to experience the most painful economic “adjustment” that America has ever gone through. We need to be able to explain to our fellow Americans what is coming, why it is coming and what needs to be done. Hopefully the crazy economic numbers that I have included in this article will be shocking enough to wake some people up. [SHTFPLAN] |
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Economy
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December 04, 2012 |
Amid a worsening fiscal crisis, a crumbling economy, and the destruction of over 40% of America’s wealth in just the last few years, it should be quite clear that this is no ordinary recession. In fact, with progressively dwindling job opportunities, a long-term downward trend in real estate prices, and the near doubling of participation in emergency benefits programs like food stamps and disability, one could make the argument that the United States is smack-dab in the middle of the next Great Depression.
The notion that we are potentially facing a decades-long paradigm shift which threatens to alter the very fabric of American life is becoming a stark reality for many, especially America’s younger generations who, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, are experiencing the highest jobless rates since at least World War II: [SHTFPLAN] |
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Economy
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November 30, 2012 |
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Forget about that dead parrot of a question – should we join the eurozone? The eurozone has officially joined us in a newly emerging international organisation: we are all now members of the Permanent No-growth Club. And the United States has just re-elected a president who seems determined to sign up too. No government in what used to be called “the free world” seems prepared to take the steps that can stop this inexorable decline. They are all busily telling their electorates that austerity is for other people (France), or that the piddling attempts they have made at it will solve the problem (Britain), or that taxing “the rich” will make it unnecessary for government to cut back its own spending (America). [tele] |
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Economy
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November 07, 2012 |
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On a day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average has plummeted by over 200 points, gun stocks have bucked the trend and are surging as fears over an Obama lame duck second term eviscerating second amendment rights take hold. Both Smith & Wesson and Ruger saw their stock price shoot up this morning when virtually everyone else was in the red. [INFOWARS] |
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Economy
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November 07, 2012 |
As of early Wednesday morning, roughly 676,000 were still without power in the Northeast. This is a remarkable drop from the peak of roughly 8.6 million one week ago. Sadly, 112 have been confirmed dead from Sandy in the U.S., including Puerto Rico.
Now, Winter Storm Athena, a nor'easter, is poised to bring yet more high winds, rain, coastal flooding, even snow to parts of the Northeast. Mandatory evacuations have been issued for sections of Brick Township in New Jersey - residents living low lying waterfront areas are asked to take shelter by 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 6. |
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Economy
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November 07, 2012 |
Now that the election is over, the propaganda media can back off the burying of those critical stories that they couldn’t be bothered to report in the lead up to the re-election of President Obama.
What are we talking about?
For starters, the Federal Reserve’s recent report, which received nary a comment from the political and financial pundits on television. While the economy was on the minds of most voters last night, what they didn’t know may have very well swung the election to one candidate over another. [SHTFPLAN] |
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Economy
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November 07, 2012 |
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U.S. employers posted fewer job openings in September after advertising more in August than first estimated. The report suggests hiring will likely remain modest in the coming months. |
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Economy
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October 24, 2012 |
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Have you ever laid in bed awake at night with a knot in your stomach because you didn’t know how your family was possibly going to make it through the next month financially? Have you ever felt the desperation of not being able to provide the basic necessities for your family even though you tried as hard as you could? All over America tonight, there are millions of desperate families that are being ripped apart by this economy. |
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Economy
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October 24, 2012 |
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Only those in total denial would claim that the world economies could grow their way out of the debt bubble. Mathematically, the rules of compound interest always destroy the purchasing value of fiat currencies. The era of zero interest rates will end. When the cost to finance debts reverts to normal levels, the bleeding will become a gusher. The world reserve currency status of Federal Reserve Notes will come under enormous pressure. As the central banks consolidate their control over international commerce and the economies of individual countries, the coin of the new realm will shift to a replacement for the U.S. Dollar. [link] |
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Economy
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October 24, 2012 |
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What if there was a financial system that would eliminate the need for the federal government to go into debt, that would eliminate the need for the Federal Reserve, that would end the practice of fractional reserve banking and that would dethrone the big banks? Would you be in favor of such a system? A surprising new IMF research paper entitled "The Chicago Plan Revisited" by Jaromir Benes and Michael Kumhof is making waves in economic circles all over the globe. The paper suggests that the world would be much better off if we adopted a system where the banks did not create our money. So instead of a system where more money is only created when more debt is created, we would have a system of debt-free money that is created directly by national governments. There have been others that have suggested such a system before, but to have an IMF research paper actually recommend that such a system be adopted is a very big deal. At the moment, the world is experiencing the biggest debt crisis in human history, and this proposal is being described as a "radical solution" that could potentially remedy some of our largest financial problems. Unfortunately, apologists for the current system are already viciously attacking this new IMF paper, and of course the big banks would throw a major fit if such a system was ever to be seriously contemplated. That is why it is imperative that we educate people about how money really works. Our current system is in the process of collapsing and we desperately need to transition to a new one. [ECB] |
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Economy
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October 17, 2012 |
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Today we are fortunate enough to be provided with an economic analysis from an unlikely source. She may not be a trained economist or nutritionist, but given that she knows what our children should be eating for school lunches you better bet she knows what a healthy economy looks like too! The First Lady joined WPGC ‘s Pablo and Free in Washington D.C. for a radio interview this week and discussed her view that the US economy is well into recovery territory and only getting stronger. After inheriting one of the worst recessions in history, Mrs. Obama makes it a point to tout her husband’s hand in bringing America back from the brink. [shtfplan] |
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Economy
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October 15, 2012 |
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The global debt crisis has reached a dangerous new phase. Unfortunately, most Americans are not taking notice of it yet because most of the action is taking place overseas, and because U.S. financial markets are riding high. But just because the global economic crisis is unfolding at the pace of a "slow-motion train wreck" right now does not mean that it isn't incredibly dangerous. As I have written about previously, the economic collapse is not going to be a single event. Yes, there will be days when the Dow drops by more than 500 points. Yes, there will be days when the reporters on CNBC appear to be hyperventilating. But mostly there will be days of quiet despair as the global economic system slides even further toward oblivion. And right now things are clearly getting worse. Things in Greece are much worse than they were six months ago. Things in Spain are much worse than they were six months ago. The same thing could be said for Italy, France, Japan, Argentina and a whole bunch of other nations. The entire global economy is slowing down, and we are entering a time period that is going to be incredibly painful for everyone. At the moment, the U.S. is still experiencing a "sugar high" from unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus, but when that "sugar high" wears off the hangover will be excruciating. Reckless borrowing, spending and money printing has bought us a brief period of "economic stability", but our foolish financial decisions will also make our eventual collapse far worse than it might have been. So don't think for a second that the U.S. will somehow escape the coming global economic crisis. The truth is that before this is all over we will be seen as one of the primary causes of the crisis. |
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Economy
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September 27, 2012 |
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Every big financial crisis has its own defining characteristics, but both in origin and consequence, such implosions tend to be remarkably similar. In virtually every case, you first see a long period of excess in financial risk-taking, where credit spirals out of control. This ultimately proves unsustainable, and in the resulting bust the process of credit expansion goes violently into reverse, causing often catastrophic economic damage, from which it will typically take many years to recover. There is no quick bounce back from recessions caused by financial crises. [tele] |
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Economy
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September 18, 2012 |
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If you think the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing will only affect the US dollar, think again. Now that the United States has officially begun it’s third round of money printing to the tune of at least $40 billion monthly, central banks around the world will also act to ‘defend’ their currencies in kind. Moreover, because everyone is joining the fray, all of that extra money will make its way into key resource stocks and commodities, adding further upside price pressure to essential goods like food and fuel. It’s a race to the bottom, and the losers are the 99.9% of us who aren’t being kept in the loop. |
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Economy
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September 17, 2012 |
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It is clear to me that Preppers have the correct mentality of hoping for the best, while preparing for the worst and in this day and age, I could not agree with this philosophy more. Too often people forget what happened in the latter part of 2008. Everything was just fine with all markets and then, suddenly, the bottom fell out and everything wasn’t alright. In a matter of days, people’s IRA’s, 401K’s, college savings accounts and personal savings were decimated, and in spite of recent gains in the market, most have still not fully recovered. But people who had diversified some of their investments with precious metals, such as gold and silver, were better protected financially. This is precisely what the Prepper movement is all about being prepared. |
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Economy
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September 15, 2012 |
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Ready or not, QE3 is here, and the long-term effects of this reckless money printing by the Federal Reserve are going to be absolutely nightmarish. The Federal Reserve is hoping that buying $40 billion worth of mortgage-backed securities per month will spur more lending and more economic activity. But that didn’t happen with either QE1 or QE2. Both times the banks just sat on most of the extra money. As I pointed out the other day, U.S. banks are already sitting on $1.6 trillion in excess reserves. So will pumping them up with more cash suddenly make them decide to start lending? Of course not. In addition, QE3 is not likely to produce many additional jobs. |
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Economy
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September 06, 2012 |
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Most people just assume that since things have always been a certain way that they will always be that way in the future. Most people just have blind faith that the people running our government and our financial system know exactly what they are doing and that they are doing their best to take care of us. In fact, once upon a time I was fully convinced of that. When I was a kid I quickly realized that my elementary school teachers really didn’t have the answers, but I had total faith that those running society at the highest levels were “experts” that were looking out for our best interests. As time went on I kept progressing in my education, and by the time I was finished with law school I came to understand that none of our “experts” really know what they are doing, and they are definitely not looking out for our best interests. The blind are leading the blind and we all need to finally admit that the emperor is not wearing any clothes. Unfortunately, most Americans will repeat the mantra of “if that was true I would have heard about it on the news” until it is way too late. Most people are waiting for the “authorities” to tell them what to do instead of thinking for themselves. Sadly, time is rapidly running out and a lot of people are going to end up getting totally blindsided by what is coming. [ECB] |
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Economy
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September 05, 2012 |
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“Whether they are known as home, mixed, backyard, kitchen, farmyard, compound or homestead gardens, family food production systems are found in most regions of most countries worldwide. They may be the oldest production system known and their very persistence is proof of their intrinsic economic and nutritional merit” As we all know, the financial world is approaching a crisis point, as are the world’s roads and bridges, sewage systems, transport systems and the rest because no money has been spent on them. |
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Economy
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September 04, 2012 |
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The United States Treasury reports that the total public outstanding debt is: $16,015,769,788,215.80. This is the first time in American history debt has eclipsed the $16 trillion mark. The debt has increased approximately $5.4 trillion since President Obama took office on January 20, 2009. Here's a chart, from the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee detailing the increase in national debt over the last dozen years (click to enlarge) : |
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Economy 
