#1. The End of the Long-term Dept Cycle
During the years that former President Obama was in office, I heard a constant string of warnings about the pending financial doom we were facing. The combination of soaring national debt, overregulation of business and industry and the heavier tax burden being placed on the public was surely driving the nation to the brink of financial disaster… or so the narrative went.
But what has changed since then? Granted, President Trump has a much better understanding of business than Obama ever did, but many of the same factors which existed during Obama’s years in office, still exist today. The national debt is still growing, with a 5% budget deficit. Trump’s efforts to reduce the budget have been blocked at every turn. Rather than the federal government shrinking during his tenure in office, it seems to still be growing.
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Leading economic indicators are amazing, with record low unemployment and record highs on the stock market. While that looks wonderful, one has to wonder what’s underpinning those numbers. Has the GNP really gone up that much or is something else going on?
One of the things which few people see is that quantitative easing is still going on. What started out as a temporary patch to our economic system after the 2008 stock market crash has become a permanent fixture in our national economy, as well as throughout Europe.
With quantitative easing, the Federal Reserve Bank issues a set amount of new money every day, releasing it into the economy. It’s a bit more complicated than that; but for our purposes, we don’t need to know the details about how they actually do that. The point is they are. So every day, there are more dollars in existence, than there were the day before.
This extra cash is a large part of why the stock market is doing so good. The dollar is “weak”, making stocks a more attractive investment. But the dollar is also being devalued, which naturally drives up the relative value of stocks. Since those stocks are valued in dollars, values on the stock market continue to rise.
What’s surprising is that the quantitative easing isn’t causing a corresponding rise in inflation. Even with it still in place, the current inflation rate is extremely low, hovering around zero. There have even been months in which the inflation rate has been a negative number, showing deflation, rather than inflation.
Yet it is doubtful that this can continue. Even more scary than that, is that some well-known economists are comparing our current economic conditions to those of the 1930s, saying that we’re heading towards the second great depression. We’re not talking fly by the seat of the pants conspiracy theory here, but some of the great economists of our time.
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How can this be happening? How can we be flying high with record low unemployment and job creation, while still having record highs on the stock market? There are three major economic forces, which are pushing us that way:
As a country, we’ve become accustomed to using economic stimuli to bail us out, whenever there is a pending financial downturn. But here at the end of the long-term dept cycle, there are no more stimuli to use. It’s hard to drop the prime lending rate, when the interest rate is already at zero.
The wealth gap, something that always exists, is changing. We’re seeing the middle class disappear. The good news is that most of those who are leaving the middle class are doing so because they are joining the upper class. But there’s bad news too; that is, people aren’t moving up from the lower class to join the middle class.
China is working hard to attain superpower status, putting them in direct conflict with the existing world power, the USA. This is happening on a number of levels, including financially. China’s historic disregard for things like patents and other proprietary rights has enabled them to produce products cheaply; but it has also caused huge amounts of resentment.
The conflict with China has only resulted in Trump imposing import tariffs, so far. But that could change at any time. While it is clear that Trump is only doing that as a negotiating tool, to get Chinese markets to open up to US goods, the reaction of the Chinese is hard to gauge. That strategy could blow up in our faces.
One concern is that President Trump is not familiar enough with monetary policy from the government’s side of the equation. He’s looking at things like the businessman he is. That weakness is something that others could capitalize on and he has plenty of enemies looking to capitalize on it.
Some of these people control the strings behind the world’s biggest banks, as well as the world’s federal reserve banks. These people have the ability to make anything happen, financially speaking, that they want to. That “anything” includes causing a major financial crash, if they see that it would be to their benefit to do so.
These same people are either some of or associated with the driving forces behind a one world government, something that Trump’s populist nationalism is fighting against. That alone could be enough to drive them to allow the economy to crash, as a move to drive voters to whichever Democrat candidate is finally selected to run against Trump in the presidential elections. If there is anything that could unseat the sitting president, this is it.
Should a major hiccup happen in our economy, the President and the Federal Reserve Bank will find their hands somewhat tied in dealing with it. Normal monetary policies won’t work, as they have been used to their limit:
Monetary policy #1 – lowering interest rates – they can’t be lowered when they are already at rock bottom
Monetary policy #2 – printing money – which we’re already doing
Monetary policy #3 – large budget deficits – which are already a problem, as our national debt continues to rise
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The one solution that still exists is to lower federal governmental spending. But Trump’s hands have been tied, every time he’s tried this. The Democrats have no wish to make the government smaller and the Republicans don’t seem to want to either.
Part of the problem is that every time you remove something from the government, you eliminate a real benefit to citizens somewhere. Those citizens tend to scream loudly when that happens, especially if they are on the political left. That screaming is not good, especially in an election year. But even without an election year, politicians of all stripes try to avoid the negative optics it creates, so that it doesn’t affect their chance of reelection.
This leaves us in a situation where any negative hit on the economy can’t be effectively dealt with by the normal means. Unless the President can come up with a another means of stimulating the economy, his hands will be tied when that hit comes. Without the ability to stimulate the economy effectively, we could very well face an economic downturn that takes years to recover from.
You and I need to be ready for this to happen. While we don’t know when and how it might; we do know that the potential is there. We can also see that it will be much more than a momentary blip in the economic indicators. It will move in and stay a while. That sounds like the kind of disaster we must be ready for.
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The federal debt is a complete joke, defying all common thought about fiscal matters, and has been for decades. Ronald Reagan came into office with a 900 billion dollar debt and after his 8 years, it was 2.7 trillion……the only President under which it tripled.
Today, it’s 23.162 trillion. We’ve been taking in around 3.4 trillion/yr and spending 4.5 trillion/yr.
If you earned $34,000/yr personally, and spent $45,000/yr, and did it for a few years (assuming you had no savings to draw on), you’d be bankrupt in a few short years.
But not the Feds….they can simply print up bonds, either sell them to the public, or the Federal Reserve (more and more) will “buy” them and stick them in a box in the basement to be shredded at some point. TOTAL fake money created to do so.
This has gone on for decades, (why we’ve gone from under a trillion in 1980 to 23 trillion today), with more and more the FED buying the “debt” with money they simply create with keystrokes. The ONLY way I see this joke ending is if some other countries stop accepting the US buck as payment, But why would they, since they are doing the exact same thing ?? It’s a game of who can out-print who. We’re ALL Zimbawae in slow motion !
So while calls for a depression have been out there for 15-20 years, it hasn’t happened….nor will it, I suspect, as long as the FED is allowed to step into any financial disruption, like the 2008 ‘collapse’, or the recent Repo market issues…..and paper over ANY AND ALL problems with more fake money……AND PEOPLE CONTINUE TO ACCEPT IT (really, what choice do we have ?), the game can continue to infinity.
At some point collecting taxes won’t even be necessary….if one can print 1/4-1/3 of what is spent, surely one can print the rest ! Tax collection is merely window dressing to make the system appear legitimate, and give a whole accounting/collecting industry a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
Profits are apparently equally unnecessary, “money” can simply be printed up to pay folks to turn out the required goods and services to keep us going, or simply handed out more and more to the folks unable or unwilling to participate in that silly process.
We rant and rail about socialists…..but guess what ? As long as no one ever calls the bluff (and what incentive is there to do so ?), they may just be on to something ! British Prime Minister once said “Socialism is great until you run out of other people’s money”
Looks like the financial guru’s have solved that problem.
Print more, hand it out. Inflation goes up ? No problem, print more, hand it out.
Future looks great to me ! Vote for Bernie, unless you can find someone more left of him.
The Repo Market issues you mention really got my attention. I’m not smart enough to follow through with the ramifications, I only know it was a situation that was, as you say, literally papered over with hundreds of millions of dollars. All the while, the media said, we don’t really know what’s going on, lol.
Okay, so step by step, what do you do to prepare for the possible, depression-like economic downturn?
So the debt didn’t triple under Obama? Describe how printing money has made Venezuela the vast socialist success it is. They’re eating their pets and animals from the zoo.
Obama term of office: 20 Jan 2009 to 20 Jan 2017.
US Debt 20 Jan 2009: 10.626 trillion
US Debt 20 Jan 2017: 19.947 trillion
Just shy of double.
Source: Treasury website “Debt to the Penny
Venezuela (and other 3rd rate countries) don’t enjoy having the world reserve currency status. Many countries, including Venezuela, use the US Buck as their de-facto currency, even though their govt prints and tries it’s best to force on it’s people the use of local printed fiat (like the Bolivar in their case). Problem is the common folks are simply poor, having not much way to get US dollars, and having to accept Bolivars as payment for working.
Actually most of the debt was a carryover from Bush’s 2 failed wars… Maybe U should how the debt came on instead of just pointing a finger at who is in office
Thats why our Social security payments to the govt. go into the general fund and not a seperate Social security fund so they can raid it without any accountability to the American people.
social security is a scam and worthless
Well Raven Tactical, you may be correct depending on how long you will live from now. If you are 55 or older, which I think you are (no I never saw you naked), then you’re nearly 100% likely of getting your social security. Then again and if not, then you may get something in your mailbox that’ll make you feel like I did when I got a draft notice to go to Nam. Amongst several occupations, I spent nearly 6 years with the Social Security Administration and I believe what I have said above is accurate. What is killing the Social Security fund is the illegals coming into this country and getting benefits: including food, education, healthcare, medical, housing, utilities, and even completely stocked homes with dishes, linens and furniture. I have personally witnessed this. Then after that is the derelicts, most not illegals, here who just don’t want to get off the couch, eat Doritos and come in saying “Oh my back!” and then get disability from Social Security. I have actually and personally seen people come into the Social Security office, piss and/or shit in their pants such that it flows out onto and over the chair, to say they are disabled. I have seen people come into the office in wheelchairs or walkers and GROANING. They apply for disability and then they just walk out on their own, pushing the wheelchair or carrying the walker up and off the ground. We then had a Fugitive Warrant alert on our system there at the office in Oregon. We, the employees of Social Security were supposed to work the Fugitive Warrant list to try and find this scum. But no-one even tried to find these felons. You see, most if not all are overweight females in our office.. But, I’m a kinda fit male and an ex-cop. I’ve done a lot of things. So I loved working the Fugitive Warrant gig. I found this dude who slammed a baby against a hallway wall and killed the baby. Bad guy from California. But he was pissed. He wanted his monthly disability check and we cannot pay felons in prison. But he was out and wanted his money. That’s how we catch these people. They always show up to get money, even if they’re wanted. I immediately saw he was a fugitive when he sat down in front of me. Those fat ladies I was working with started yelling at me to stop and I simply explained that I was enforcing the law and instructions given to us by the Administration. At that point, the perp was starting to get nervous, so I told him I had to go retrieve his file in the back, so just “sit tight, I’ll be back soon” Then, I called Beaverton Police, dispatch and wham, our office was surrounded with seven cars and they were locked and loaded. The puke went to jail again, which costs the taxpayers around $38,000+ per year again. And he’s from California. He killed the baby in California, as I recall. That said, ship him back to that godawful place. We should not be paying one cent for this puke.
The Social Security Administration does indeed manage the SSI system. But the money comes from an entirely different source.
Your comment about “illegals coming into this country is what’s killing social security”, is not only false but stokes the flame of lies, deceptions, and racism at the heart of this Administration.
When I came across that statement of yours I stopped because you’re just another one of them. You should stop doing that.
https://www.fool.com/retirement/2019/02/07/undocumented-immigrants-and-social-security-separa.aspx
Rob, I used to work for Social Security, over 5 years. Your Soc Sec taxes that you are paying are being deposited into the Soc Trust Fund as directed by FDR in the mid thirties (like 1932+). The money was to be invested in very safe things like US Treasuries into a Trust Account only for Social Security. But, very soon of course, the government came up with a way to rob this massive balance of cash by giving us, WE the people that composed this government, IOU’s for the money. No terms, interest rates or balloon payments. I think it was one of those “Poof” things. I am a retired financial advisor with 4+ decades of experience and I can tell all of you, that we really got ripped off. Now, it looks even worse.
I tell you what: If you will determine 2 things, I’ll put some paints in your paint box. How much have you paid into Social Security over your entire lifetime? I know this would be a tough question so try calling them at 1-800-772-1213, First of week is bad. Ask them for this information and tell them you need it for “estate planning purposes”, if asked and which you do. Then ask them or determine yourself, how long have you paid out this sum of money beginning about when and ending about when.. Then ask them what would your social security would be at age 62 and what it would be at your full retirement age of 66, 67 etc. If you are already receiving checks, I still need the same information. If you are receiving Soc Sec Disability, I can still figure this out for you provided you simply give me the above information. My Email is:folksinger@frontier.com. Your info is safe with me. I do not share, sprinkle, pound or whatever the thieves do. I’m just passionate about being a trustworthy professional, ex-cop, ex-rancher. ex-mechanic and finally an ex financial advisor/stockbroker – over 38 years experience but now RETIRED.
Regards,
Tom
Okay, so step by step, what do you do to prepare for the possible, depression-like economic downturn?
While I dont know if there is a step by step article, there are a lot of articles here to help you prep. This is my opinion 1. Pay off all debts while money is still good. 2. Stockpile food(start with 3 days, then 2 weeks, then a month, then 3 months, until you are rotating through 2 years) 3. You know what issues you would have to deal with most. Where I live I have a lot of snowstorms and icy days/roads. So I should have an alternate source of heat for my family. Maybe you live in an apartment in NYC(I dont know) so you would have to hide or fight to keep what you have. Think about your life and where you are. Do thought experiments with situations and think aboutwjat you would need. When you think you have everything-test it out(ie, turn of power/water,etc and see how you do.) then fill any gaps that you had. A day or a weekend is usually long enough to figure it out. For long-term situations you’re going to need different things.
Thank you for your suggestions. I am new at this and want my family to be safe. Preparation has become a priority due to the rise of economic and social instability. Paying attention to global warning signs, and listening to the feeling that something is about to happen, but I am not sure what “it” is. Thank you.
Kristine:
Not having any clue as to your position in life, it’s hard to give a “step-by-step”
But general points would apply to anyone:
Best prep is to have no debt, since given the last depression, many lost their homes/possessions by not being able to make payments having lost their source of income. Many today have put themselves in peril by virtue of a huge mortgage with no way to pay it off should they lose their income. Were I in that boat, I’d consider selling while the market is fairly hot with other fools, and moving to a small, rural property I could grow food on and possibly pay cash for or at least minimize the mortgage…..even if that meant relocation.
Then, have a skill nearly always in demand. The job market for paper pushers/sales/management/etc in a depression is slim. People will always have to eat, heat their homes (most places), and so on….and there is where the work will be. Have a skill that is at least barter-able.
Then food, defense items, fuel, tools of your trade, etc are all great things to have put up.
Thank you. Good approach to begin to look at the possible reality of what is to come. I will develop a stronger community as one of my 2020 goals. Thank you.
Start buying extra food and water, a means of security and learn to use it and buy gold…if you can afford it, even 1/10 of an oz (currently at about $175) at a time and/or silver…(currently about $18.00 an oz). if you are in the stock market..AKA…the world’s biggest Ponzie scheme get out of it…cash out and buy the above. The money you have in your wallet is only green paper and your bank account is only numbers on a screen. At ANY time it can all go away or made to be nothing. Do some homework and that means research about what is going on in the economy. 2019 saw almost 10,000 stores shut their doors forever…over 1100 trucking companies went bankrupt and laid off thousands of workers, etc. How many stores are closed in your malls? How many car lots are crammed full of unsold cars…no one can afford them, but some car dealers are putting people in cars without credit checks…the repo stats on vehicles are about 7 in ten across the nation! The Fed is pumping $80 Billion to $150 billion into the banks EVERY NIGHT to keep them afloat! Start looking at financial news and channels, as I did, even if you don’t understand at first…there is a crash coming…a big crash and it may happen this year. All the financial gurus have looked at the data, looked at the trends and almost all agree when it comes it will make 1929 look like a burp! All major banks are buying gold by the ton as is China, and European banks are looking bad…Deutsche Bank in Germany is on the rocks and most all other Germany banks are connected. If they go under, so do the rest and the tsunami will rage across the Atlantic! information is at your finger tips…check it out yourself. Don’t believe me, but anyone who says all is well and it will never happen…is clueless, stupid and too lazy to research it!
You are 100% correct Andy. Why doesn’t everybody ask them selves how continuous borrowing keeps the government going (yea right), but not you or me. What do you think would happen folks if you or I went to our bank and told them we needed to burrow some more money so that we could pay our mortgage that month? To give you that 100% rating I have to assume that last sentence about voting for burnie is meant to be sarcastic.
Your wrong,you cant print money indefinitley once the interest overtakes the principle its over and were close to that now
Re: Long-term Dept Cycle, etc. It’s not dept, it’s debt. Dept is short for department.
I only hope that the next election in the U.S. will see the worst President in history GONE!!! Trump is not only dangerous to the United States, but to the whole world.
How that man managed to fool enough people to vote for him is beyond my comprehension!!
Just like the last 20 years, it was a choice between two horrible choices…
As a non-American it’s obvious that the total dysfunction in your education system, coupled with the same xenophobic religious hysteria that you all criticise other people for, has created generations of low-intellect redneck morons who are nothing more than witless mob fodder. It is these fools who voted that equally incompetent moron into office as your so-called president. They voted him in, but you are all responsible for creating the millions of dullards that allowed it to happen.
Thank you for commenting on U.S. politics, nona. Perhaps you didn’t reveal your nationality because like the U.S., most countries have parasitic dolts for politicians who, of course, are “democratically” elected. Yours, among them.
Nona,
You need to return to that shit hole you came from. You come here to drink the honey, likely for free, but then criticize everything about us. You are not welcome in my country. Go back to your disgusting people.
“As a non American..” I think you meant: “As a non-intellect..” Where this Country has it’s share of problems, it is still in it’s own class above ALL other countries in SOOOO many ways..so sit down and STFU.
Dead, Drunk and Diseased. Please get back on your medicines and call the doctor for an immediate appointment. Please let the adults have a real conversation.
You mean dead drunk democrat
Good point…I guess all democrats are diseased. What else could explain their brain dysfunction??
Results matter.
Lowest unemployment for women.
Lowest unemployment for blacks.
Lowest unemployment for hispanics.
Best stock market gains in history.
Most promises kept. Perhaps if you hate living in the USA you could expatriate to your favorite socialist country like Venezuela. They’re eating their pets and zoo animals. Vaya con dios.
Uhm, we just SAW the worst president in US history gone at the last election! DUH!!! And I even VOTED for him the FIRST time, because he was so much better than the worst president we had ever had, right before him! And so it keeps going. Ron Paul should have gotten in there. But it was really hard, the way the media just shut him out of everything. WHAT? He WON the poll in the debate? Well, we will just erase him name from it. And we’ll erase his name from ballots and make people think he’s not running! Unfortunately that worked for them.
It’s quite evident you are a freeloading, what have you Given ME for Free lately, cremepuff!!!!
LOL!! What does DDD stand for? I’m thinking Damn Dum Democrat!!! You are one of those who are just to blind or just plain stupid to see the truth? I’m sure you think Hillary would have been better? She has been selling out the country from the start? Hell sold uranium that ended up with the Russians!! That’s a fact!! Should be tried for treason, on that alone?!!! Not to mention, Benghazi, ripping off hurricane relief money, you name it?? The list goes on and on!!! So if you think Trump is doing so bad a job? Move to a communist country that your buddy Bernie wants to turn this country into? Go ahead and man up, get the jump on the rest of us? See how that works for you? LOL!!!! IDIOTS like you are the problem!!! Love this country or move to one you do love? You are not productive and give nothing to this country, just another taker, with a loud mouth!! I’m tired of keeping you and your communist comrades up!!!!!
If you are so bent on downing Trump, why do you not look at the facts and realize that Trump is saving our hide far beyond what any of the Democrats are doing. I was a democrat for 30 years until I saw the light and began to read about the REAL facts that the news media is promoting. All this mess has been years in the making and the problem is NOT Trump. I
Another item not mentioned – and possibly the most critical of all-is the derivatives market, in which an underlying asset(real estate, pork bellies, etc) supports an intricate structure of bonds, mutual funds, investment trusts, equity swaps, and various other exotic debt instruments bought and sold in an unregulated market. The initial concept was to hedge risk by sharing it between otherwise unrelated entities. This happened since the 80’s when Greenspan made it so. The ensuing run on trading such instruments mushroomed until in 2008 the notional value exceeded the entire gnp of the world by a factor of 5-in short, a casino economy. The subprime scandal was just the catalyst needed to collapse the whole structure- a possibility that terrified the Bush treasury people. It was left up to Obama to pick up the pieces, which he did by giving his treasury people carte blanche to throw money at the problem-hence the bailout of the big banks with more money than was spent on world wars, marshall plans and the space race combined.
The Bank of International Settlements tracks derivative markets and its current estimate of the total notional value is in the quadrillion range. This is probably the prime driver of our current economy, as it creates currency at an astounding rate. More money means more investment, hence more jobs, etc. Good so far, but what happens when another catalyst like subprime comes along? The counterparty risk will drag the entire structure under, causing a potential collapse of the currency. If that happens the fan will be submerged, not just hit. Oh, and Trump is NOT a good businessman. His credit was so bad none of the NY banks would lend to him, and it took Russian money laundering to bail him out. He is at best a showman and accomplished liar whose skill at pushing the hot buttons of survivalists is undeniable but totally bogus.
I do agree with some of your points.
“Granted, President Trump has a much better understanding of business than Obama ever did. . .” which is why he’s had, what, seven bankruptcies, a university that cheated it’s students and failed, a casino that failed, and charities that he’s used as his own personal piggy bank. I’m sorry, but even as a business man Trump has failed.
“Leading economic indicators are amazing, with record low unemployment and record highs on the stock market.”
Look at who is actually reporting those numbers for unemployment, they are so skewed it isn’t even funny.
First, lets look at the population, that is “fit” to work, of age, not on true disability. Then look at who actually has jobs compared to that. The “reporting” agencies don’t count the ones that have timed out of unemployment benefits, even if they still haven’t found a job. They don’t count the one’s that are playing the system either. Now compare that, to the great depression numbers and we are real close.
Unemployment is at the highest it has ever been. Don’t be fooled by the fake numbers.
Let’s leave criticism of any particular president out of the discussion. With very few exceptions, no president in the 20th and so far in the 21st century has been stellar. Almost all have contributed to the ever growing size of the federal government.
Our founding fathers were fearful of a large federal government. From my viewpoint, they were prescient. I think they would be horrified at what a monster the federal government has become.
That said, for me the outlook for a smaller federal govt. is sort of like a firefly in Mammoth Cave. Hardly visible. Not a single politician nor bureaucrat in Washington is remotely interested in eliminating any department in the fed/govt. Every department has its political chairman, vice-chairman, etc., etc. for both houses. For example, the transportation dept. has the senate committee for transportation and the house committee for transportation. Each of those political committee heads have a transportation chairman’s office and concomitant staff. Then there are the vice-chairman from each house, and deputy vice chairs etc., etc. They all have their staffs, offices, etc. etc. That all generates a sense of power. Do you really think any of the senators who are committee chairs are going to vote to eliminate that department? Do you think the House transportation committee chair is going to introduce a bill to do away with that department? If you do, I have some gold mine stock I want to talk to you about.
Short of hitting a national re-set button, I honestly don’t see any way out of the mess the voters of this country have allowed to happen.
We are only marginally better off than all the other countries in the world because of our dominance after WWII. Every major country that I am aware of is awash in debt. If they are not, it is only because they haven’t yet devised all the ways to spend money that the U.S. has.
How it will come crashing down, I can’t foretell. I probably won’t be around to see it, but in my view, there is no way it can be sustained.
Even governments can’t keep spending $45,000 a year when they are bringing in $35,000 a year and I don’t think it matters that they can print fiat money. Sooner or later, the printing presses will grind to a halt.
My 2¢ worth, anyway.
“Sooner or later, the printing presses will grind to a halt.”
Why ?
I mean I’ve had the same thought for a long time, but given the actions since 1971 (when the dollar was last tied to gold), there seems to be no evidence that the printing will stop….and I can’t foresee what would stop the printing….so what am I missing ??
LCC, your reasons above (AND keeping us out of war) was why it was so necessary for Ron Paul to get in there. But that cannot be allowed. The economy numbers started being shear and total lies under Obama. I thought when Trump got in there he would tear away all the lies on the unemployment numbers, the inflation rate, yada yada yada. He sure saw it when he was running! But now that he’s in there, he seems to be using the same data as was previously used. Of course, he has had so much going on that he has not been able to accomplish things like he wanted to either. Ron Paul would have been the best thing that happened to this country in a very long time. I like Rand ok, but unfortunately he is NOT his father. Trump was actually able to get in there without being one of them (as all the other candidates always are, again with the exception of RP).
LCC, I think we’ll all be around to see it. I didn’t think it would all go on this long. They want something. Probably to get all the silver that’s out there. (People aren’t going to do anything about it! Shoot! They sat still for bail ins places. I’m surprised there weren’t a bunch of heads on pikes over THAT kind of thing! I wonder if ANYONE in Cypress uses a bank anymore! Even after what they did to those poor (literally) people, I’ll bet they have come back making plenty of good promises for them. I actually don’t know what happened, I haven’t heard hardly anythign about Cypress since all the stuff with the bailins. Jim Willie talked once about a client of his (I think it was a client, but it was 2-3 years ago, so I’m not sure exactly. But dude lived in Italy, and went to his bank one day to take some money out of his savings account. I can’t remember, I think it was like 1 or 2 thousand. They told him he couldn’t, as he didn’t have that much money in the account. He said he certainly DID, he had over $10 thousand in it. They told him he did not. Turned out, they had taken all of his money out of his account (the bank, not a hacker, the banks are THE WORST HACKERS). There are problems all over the world. There is negative interest rates. There are repos. There are derivatives. All things to enrich bankers while deriching (just made up that word) the rest of us! I remember in 2008 I was ignorant about most of this stuff. But what I DID wonder was why These bailins were given to banks that had failed, BUT! The CEOs of these banks were being given multimillion dollar bonuses. EXCUSE ME????? Is THAT how it works in the corporate world? If you make a company go bankrupt, you get a multimillion dollar bonus? From the American taxpayers? After you took all their savings from them? REALLY? But you KNOW if they catch someone committing crimes, or racketeering or whatever, they will get like a 500 thousand dollar fine, after they made 500 billion while doing it. If it was you or me, they would imprison us for life and throw away the key!
Our founding fathers were fearful of a large federal government. From my viewpoint, they were prescient. I think they would be horrified at what a monster the federal government has become.
Everyone seems to be ignoring the fact that WE CREATED that monster and allowed to grow unchecked. If you think about it, you will realize that our government is no longer OURS. Instead of being a government ” OF the people, BY the people, FOR the people ” . WE the people, have ( through our own do nothing attitude ) have allowed the monster to become what it is today. Which is, A GOVERNMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT, BY THE GOVERNMENT, FOR THE GOVERNMENT !!!!! The people are doing what we have been PROGRAMED ( over the past 30 years ) to do. We just open our pockets close our minds and say OK .
Just my opinion. But it is what and how I’ve seen this evolve into.
oldtroll
I really look forward to reading your comments Left Coast Chuck. I agree with you so much. And sadly, I don’t think we can dig out of the hole now either. I would love to have coffee with you and have a real discussion but…thats probably not feasible.
And a “national reset button” would probably take out a lot of innocent people while the fat cats sit in a bunker waiting to take over again.
“The good news is that most of those who are leaving the middle class are doing so because they are joining the upper class”
That is not the case at all… I’m middle class, but just barely. People are losing traction and sliding into the poor class.
I have 3 jobs. 1 full time, I’m a landlord with 1 Apt. and I have another part time job. I don’t gross 50k/yr. I’m just keeping my head above water, just. Definitely not moving to upper class and I don’t think I’m alone.
EVERY BIT of the research I have seen shows 2 classes now, the upper crust, and the down unders. And NONE of the mids I have heard of have moved up. There have been many more used to be upper that have moved down, than middles that have moved up! Of course, there was the lower, middle and upper ”middle class.” Pretty much all 3 of those have moved down to poor class now. I don’t know how the lower ”upper” class are doing. They may be clamoring to be a new middle class. But it is NOT the same as it was, and it hasn’t been for a while now!
Thanks for the article. Many good points as always.
I wanted to add that 20 trillion dollars vanished without a trace in the DOD and Hud in just a decade or so. This amount would explain a lot of the current US debt. There is no much outcry about this and people / politicians don’t seem to be too interested in checking into it.
Further, big companies are still allowed to avoid paying any taxes, and politicians of all colors let them get away with it. All the while, a normal person or company gets audited easily when there’s a slight discrepancy and asked to the tax bucket yearly and reliably.
I am not sure I agree with the official employment figures (after all people who gave up looking for a job are still not counted as unemployed, right?) and the statement that the middle class is shrinking because more people are moving into the upper class.
The last point is probably based on a difference of understanding about where the limits between the economic ‘classes’ are drawn. And perhaps the area where you live. The point on increased new job numbers may (may) be based on the fact that many people are working contract jobs now.
What I observe is that since 2008 many people have ‘gigs’ (temp jobs, contract work) instead of what pre-2008 was considered a conventional employment/job. I see people work for multiple companies to get by, while many are completely out of the work loop and just ‘hanging in the air.’
I have recently heard that the petrodollar will be taken off line soon (as gas and oil get less profitable, apparently you used to get 15 barrels with the energy contained in one barrel; fracking industry seems to run out of gas to pump).
I also read that economists (and not politicians) in Devos have decided that cash in general should be abolished and they are apparently slowly but steadily moving in this direction in favor of credit card payments. This means, we will be more under control (every purchase can then be tracked).
Further, there seemed to have been the rule that any war expense needed to be backed by gold — this has been stopped during the Vietnam war (or in this time frame). Since wars now don’t ‘hurt’ the general population directly any more financially, the banks incl. the Feds can print as much money for the war department (incl. military industrial complex, contractors etc) as they want.
” big companies are still allowed to avoid paying any taxes, and politicians of all colors let them get away with it”
Yeah….you (and many) fall for that line about “companies avoiding taxes” on a regular basis.
Companies don’t pay taxes…..Real people pay taxes.
f you tax a company, it’s merely a shell game that shifts the tax from one portion of the population to another. If you tax a company, then they merely add that tax to the cost of doing business, and that tax is passed along to whoever buys the product/service in the form of higher price…..OR it’s paid by reduced income distribution to shareholders (who, by the way, then get to pay ANOTHER round of tax on those reduced earnings ! )
IN BOTH CASES, REAL PEOPLE PAY THOSE TAXES although indirectly, but pay them they do.
So when a politician screams “we got to tax all those Apple/Exxon/Whoever profits, they are simply trying to hide the fact taxes would have been paid on them anyway down the pipe…..and in the meantime, “taxing” a company merely reduces it’s competitive advantage over a similar company not taxed as highly in some other country.
THIS is one reason companies move offshore…adding taxes adds to the cost of doing business which must be passed on in the form of higher price of their product (to the real people that actually pay all taxes).
Smart politicians (an oxymoron) would drop ALL corporate taxes and stand aside while the flood of new business rushed in, until the rest of the world’s politicians decided to get honest. The flood of new employment/product sales/etc would vastly increase tax revenue paid, again, by real people earning and spending more.
What is amazing is how many people don’t see that.
Really? You think the country has less debt when there are more employees? So with more, the debt will be much less than 23 trillion right? They don’t give a FRICK how many people are paying how much. They’re going to keep spending money they don’t have, via the printing press, that does nothing but steal the value of the money we work for and earn. Almost all of us DO pay taxes. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t figure into what they do and the debt they make!
I was talking about big companies like Google, Apple, etc.
Actually the USA has maybe the highest corporate taxes in the developed world. That’s why big companies like Google, Apple etc funnel most of their earnings through offshore headquarters in Ireland. The US government’s problem isn’t that it lets anyone off with taxes; it’s that it spends too damn much.
On top of that, did you know that we’re the only country in the world that taxes our citizens on their income no matter where they earn it? If you’ve lived in London for 20 years working for a British company, Uncle Sam still expects you to pay US taxes on it. No other country thinks that’s reasonable. Instead of looking for ways to screw even more taxes out of people our government needs to rein in its spending.
I love learning about prepping and minimalism but these political articles have got to go. I am so sick of all of the Trump lies! I studied all the greats regarding real estate investing for over 25 years, Trump was one I read. He was an idiot then and he still is now. Why so many fools are willing to perpetuate the lies without looking into facts makes them even bigger fools than he is. Check this guy’s article trying to blame Obama (after improving the economy after the 2008 crisis) but then they put in Trump, who is a terrible business man!! The truly wealthy are disgusted by his trashy behavior, they won’t have anything to do with him. They laugh at him for always pretending to be richer than he is. Trump’s efforts to reduce the budget?!? He charges us tax payers huge sums of money to take family, secret service and staff to his hotels to play golf and conduct his rallies and personal agenda. The debt always goes up after a Republican is in office. They like their wars. Record low unemployment? Well, yes, when the public has to work 2 and 3 jobs to make ends meet, unemployment goes down. Record highs in the stock market? That’s the wealthy capitalizing on Trump’s lack of knowledge on foreign affairs but does nothing for the rest of us middle class Americans. And the biggest lie of all that the middle class has more people becoming wealthy, LMAO!!!
OH MY GOSH! Did you not even ever LOOK at the number of vacations and expenses the OBAMAs had on all their many and numerous vacations? Maybe you should look THAT up! If you didn’t know about it, you may just have really embarrassed yourself there! I used to get irate about that all the time; like it did any good. The media never said one word about it! And the middle class started their huge downward slide under the last administration. THAT is one of the reasons Trump got in there, because of the horrible mess Obama made of the economy. Well, he might not have made the mess but it happened under his watch, and he didn’t do anything to fix it. All he did was tell lies about the unemployment numbers and the inflation rate. CONSTANT lies, over and over and over. Skew the numbers and the idiots will believe you, no sweat! And now Trump has KEPT skewing the numbers for some frickin reason. But he did NOT invent the skewing, he just has perpetuated it!
Many good points, Christine. But Pres Obama also didn’t save the economy, he also poured borrowed money into the stock market like all politicians do. Since this ‘recovery’ most companies and even universities found out that they can make more profits if they employ contract and not full (benefit) employees.
The 2008 crisis was caused intentionally in my view; and or the greed and or incompetence of clowns like Greenspan who didn’t see the ‘housing bubble’ coming? How blind must he be, if even I saw it coming.
Why would anybody cause a financial crisis (for the lower income ‘classes’)? To make more money for the super rich and for getting more and easier control over the population.
They succeeded. Most people today are struggling in jobs/gigs just to make ends meet. They don’t have time or the funds to inform themselves or demand actions. Many are stuck in hoping for a coming savior.
Wars: Both parties love them. The military industrial complex means more cash for everybody rich and powerful (incl. most politicians, at least re election), and also ‘keeps the economy humming’ along (again benefiting mostly the rich and powerful).
I still can’t believe so few talk about the ‘shadow government’ about which some have warned us (e.g., JFK). If everybody was/would have been more aware about this, we’d be less oppressed today.
After “President Trump has a much better understanding of business than Obama ever did”, and “Trump’s efforts to reduce the budget have been blocked at every turn”, I quit reading.
The man said he is THE ONLY ONE who can save the, I don’t know, the planet I suppose.
So how is it now Congress’ fault he hasn’t reduced the budget? Which, I might add, was controlled by Republicans for his first year.
The best that can be said for his bungling ways is that he’s continued the constant recovery President Obama started after GW wrecked the World’s strongest economy.
So I’ll have to pass on advice from someone obviously skewed in their thinking, thanks anyway.
Yeah, but the only other choice was worse. I didn’t vote for the best candidate, I voted for the least worst candidate. Just as I have voted for the least worst candidate in every presidential election since Ike’s second term. Even then I couldn’t stand Nixon but didn’t have any other way to cast the vote. If you liked Ike you had to accept Nixon. I can’t believe anyone following this site believes that the other major candidate would have been better than the doofus that is in there now.
I hate having to hold my nose when I cast my ballot but that is the way it turns out. The last senatorial race in the PDRK was so bad I didn’t vote for either candidate.
Now, can we please stop talking about whose dog is running the pack and get back to how do we survive the economic crisis that everyone seems to agree may be upon us?
By the way, Heidi’s comment about the unemployment rate is dead on. One way the unemployment rate was doctored was to lessen the requirements to qualify for SSI (that’s federal disability for those who don’t recognize the initials, Supplemental Social Insurance). That’s why we have all the homeless in the PDRK. They are “disabled” and collect $880 dollars a month, qualify for a whole raft of benefits, food benefits, MediCal – you wish you could get 100%, no co-pay medical insurance – free cell phone service; if they happen to have a home they get get free internet connection so they can surf the web and contribute to websites like this, reduced utility service, qualify for rent assistance. That’s why the unemployment rate is so low. It is a phony figure, meaning nothing. It started under a prior administration and the present administration is happy to continue the lie. They are not unemployed, they are too “disabled” to work, so of necessity are not employable. It’s a lawyer lie, that is, a lie that isn’t prosecutable under perjury laws because there is just enough truth in it to skate by a perjury conviction.
How can people get by on only $880 a month? It’s easy. You work under the table for cash. You are getting so many other bennies you don’t need much more, especially if you would be living much the same if you were working at a job that didn’t pay $75,000 a year.
So many governmental bodies want to raise the minimum wage because it means that the fools who are working for a living will not be eligible for the assistance they are getting now. No child tax credit; no cash back for holding a job paying less than $30,000 a year if you have two kids, a whole list of rebates and credits fall by the wayside with the increased minimum wage. The poor saps who get the raise will wonder why they are deeper in the hole each month. I had an employee who got a pretty good percentage increase in his hourly wage. Suddenly his net paycheck was less than he was getting prior to the raise. Welcome to the real world. You now have to pay income taxes whereas before you were under the minimum and didn’t have to pay any. The net result is your increase in pay, which by the way, is costing me more than I am paying you, has put you into the class called taxpayers.
911 got in there and wrecked everything, just as it was supposed to do. Nobody has done anything to really try to help. They keep taking our rights away, little by little. And the taking away of the firearms is starting out the same way; little by little. And people won’t do anything about it, and pretty soon they won’t be able to. That’s how it is all rigged to work out for them. And I haven’t seen anyone mention the total rigging of the metals market and the stockmarket. It may be on here and I’ve missed it, but everything is just a total set up anymore. Take from the poor and give to the rich is what we have in spades! And it does NOT change, from Republicans to Democrats! Try fascist neocon warmongers, who dominate BOTH parties (as well as the mainstream media)..
A lot of Trump derangement syndrome here so far. Poor misguided fools. You’ve been watching CNN, I can tell.
Didn’t know we had so many haters on this site.
Someone says the political articles have to go & then rants their political agenda??
44’s 8 yrs gave us a 1,5% economy & claimed this was the new normal. Jobs weren’t coming back. You can keep your dr. & healthcare plan & save $2500,00 per yr.
We can compare lies if that’s what helps you sleep at night. But it’s all for naught.
We’d be better served to share ways of getting by when the pol’s or something else crashes our world.
rk: I agree.
i live in france, what about the economy in france and what it’s future might be like
My earliest political memories are Kennedy/Nixon, that race was as divisive and mean spirited as it is today. My little school buddies in Dallas learned to chant “Nixon Nixon is our man, Kennedy belongs in the garbage can!” That was back when the KKK also targeted white Catholics. Even before then we had all been advised by Emily Post not to discuss politics or religion at the dinner table.
They say the Titanic was too big, and its rudder too small, for it to have changed course fast enough to miss the iceberg. That’s how I feel about America.
My Fiduciary told me just Monday she expects a downturn later this year but that the tax cuts and incredible amount of money the Fed is printing hve left financial institutions stuffed with cash so a crash is not likely. Good Prepping means servicing your debt and building savings before buying any toys because layoffs aren’t too far down the road.
If i made a list of the worst Presidents it would be just about all of them. Worst in my lifetime? All of them. That’s why power is supposed to be split between 3 branches of government.
HAH! You must be older than me! I remember ”Johnson Johnson he’s our man. Whoever (forget who it was, was it Humphrey?) belongs in the garbage can. Couldn’t have been Humphrey was democrat. Probably his running mate. I can’t remember who ran against Johnson. Goldwater maybe? And I think Ronald Reagan must have been in ever presidential election for 20 years up until he won!
A good ol’ fashioned revolution would pick things up!
It’s coming anyway, so let’s use it to its fullest advantage!
Oh don’t even get me STARTED on people who don’t do anything for their money! I know SO many people who are on disability. And granted, they may have something wrong with them. But it is NOT things that would preclude them from holding a job. Many of them are much more able bodied than I am, and I doubt I could even get disability. They can walk farther than I can with out their back seizing up on them. But I worked for 33.5 years and raised my kids on my paltry salary. My pa thought my sister and I were terrible because we were ”bureaucrats!” But! He had not even seen people going around getting paid for doing nothing. Now I am not saying ALL people on disability are like that. But I also know some people with disabilities that were pretty bad, but THEY went out and found jobs and worked! Unlike the others I know who are fully capable of performing many jobs, but prefer not to, as they can get free bucks and food stamps for NOT doing anything! When I was growing up, I knew ONE person with a disability who did not work. And her mother took care of her as long as she lived. And it never entered their MINDS to try to get any money from the state, until they knew the mother was going to pass and she needed to make arrangements for what would happen to her daughter then. The daughter went to the home after her Ma died, and she lived in the home 2 or 3 years before she died too. Back when people were not looking for HANDOUTS all the time! Not to mention when they didn’t think people who worked at McDonald’s should make $15 an hour!
Just talked to one of those people who is living on disability. He said the government was supporting him and they should be. I asked him WHY! WHY should the government owe you support? He thinks about it a minute, then says because his parents and his grandfather fought in wars. I said your mother? What was she in? I didn’t know she was in the service. So he thinks about it and says, oh, she wasn’t. But my grandfather was. And my aunt was! So here from the horse’s mouth (a horse’s mouth) is the reason that all of us working people in the country (MANY of whom have served in wars) owe other people a living, and them not having to work for it. I know four people on disability. All four of them could be working jobs. And it may not be doing what they were originally doing, but ALL are fully capable of learning and doing something different. How many people do you know who have changed professions? I know tons of people who have. BUT! These people should not have to do that. They are special, and all the taxpayers owe them their living. I just kind of wanted to feel out his attitude on being supported by government, so there it is from one person.
Sounds to me like he took the President’s own words to heart.
When asked about his numerous bankruptcies and why he did them, he responded:
“What I’ve done is I’ve used, brilliantly, the laws of the country. And if you look at people like myself that are at the highest levels of business, they use — many of them have done it, many times,” Trump told “ABC World News Tonight” host David Muir.
Your disabled buddy brilliantly used the laws of the country, that’s all there is to it.
It’s not something I’d do personally, but who am I to tell him not to do it?
I retired from the Air Force with 21 years service. Should i turn down the monthly check I get, even though I’m not technically still working for it?
I agreed to the deal put in front of me, and now it’s their turn to honor the contract.
My wife showed to me one night on pintrest, of all places, how to milk the gov. It was all laid out how to do it. The sad thing is that there are people who do it and make more money than I do with 3 jobs.
Well Elaine,
this will be a lot of work and a ton of time to correct this, but we will as a society, have to do this. This group approximates 53% of our population who will vote Democratic not counting the illegals and dead people that the Dems love to register. We are fighting a group of people who are so totally ingrained with disability and our having to pay for it, when no disability exists, maybe this is when the civil war begins. I’m ready to fight first, chop off all of the questionable cash, healthcare, food, housing, education, food stamps and then go from there. NOT the opposite of that as the libs would like to go. Comments welcome please. Even you Elaine!
Regards to all.
UNDTKR
Oregon
I remember when Margaret Thatcher cut back. There was a lot of protesting. We are so far beyond that in lawlessness, we have to do this gradually. Already there are things in place like having to register for work and take jobs or do community service to get food stamps. Strengthen that and slowly cut back on other things. We can do this, but only if we take back the schools and teach personal responsibility instead of entitlement and victimhood.
Elaine:
If you understood the US dollar, a debt based system of currency, (and 99.9% don’t understand it), you would understand WHY the govt has to continue to borrow, and pass it out in whatever program (disability or defense or whatever) they can…..because the system would collapse without more debt.
I know that sounds nuts, but it really is the way the system is set up.
I would appreciate knowing Rich M.’s background. I think the truth is somewhere in between the two extremes I’m reading on this one. Yes, govt is too big and the national debt needs to be addressed this decade. No, the middle class has not vanished. I am a very political animal, but that static drowns out this important topic as it does all useful discourse.
I think that the ONE thing we can agree on here is that large segments of the population are not prepared mentally or physically for any sort of economic downturn should one occur in the near future. But this is something we need to talk about.
I’ve been watching the global economy because like it or not it effects everyone. The US is not as isolated as we think. One big factor that you are not hearing a lot about is the effects of the extremely bad harvests that occurred globally this past year.
The Ice Age Farmer, Adapt 2030 and Electroverse are three websites that explain the phenomenon and the repercussions of this issue. Understanding is the first step in surviving.
Preps to deal with a financial reversal include but are not limited to:
Keeping a cash reserve on hand should your bank account be inaccessible for whatever reason.
Having a game plan should your home be lost to you . If you have kids especially, this is a conversation you need to have with your entire family, perhaps selecting one central location as the family fall back position.
Building reserves of necessary supplies now whilst you still have access.
There are, of course, other things to do, but I can say political argument doesn’t accomplish a whole lot towards guaranteeing your survival.
I think that the ONE thing we can agree on here is that large segments of the population are not prepared mentally or physically for any sort of economic downturn should one occur in the near future.
The ” unpreparedness ” is DELIBERATE . It is all part of a pre-planed process. If you don’t believe me, just do a search for, ” Documentation on the dumbing down of America ” . Buckle your seat-belt and hang on. Cause like it or not, this is what we allowed to happen when we let the government take over raising our children. Teach a child that 2+2=5, and when they grow up.
It will. We are all on this ride together.
I do not who the author of this quote is, but it describes us to a tee. ” A person or persons will not change. Untill they see that the pain of change is less than, the pain of remaining the same “. I do not know for sure, but I think we have already passed the tipping or The Point of No Return. Time to rethink things people…….
I think it started with the Woodstock generation…think about it. Your grand parents probably survived the Depression, your parents probably were the first generation of your family to go to college “just because” and not be studying medicine, etc. (And by “you” I mean the generic reader, not you personally).
And what does this generation of college graduates have in common with today’s college grads? The EXPECTATION of a college education, of a nine to five white collar job, a house in the suburbs and all because “they DESERVE it “. Because “it’s their right”, simply because they’re breathing, apparently, and being selfish has been encouraged as “healthy self worth”.
And if life doesn’t work out the way they have pictured they need a scapegoat to blame, so politically and culturally they are manipulated to blame “others”… Other political parties. An “oppressive society’ that is dedicated to “keeping down” oppressed group “x”,”y” or “z”. Oppressive employers, spouses, friends, families, churches…on and on and on, when the fact is that there is either NOONE to blame or only yourself to blame.
This HAS to be by design. I don’t know who or why, but it can’t be a coincidence.
People call down doom on one harvest or the other every spring but have nothing to say when summer is done and the harvests are so big the producers can’t sell it all. Soybeans in Brazil and corn in the U.S. were outstanding performers this year. World wide grain production this year is at an all time high (I just Googled it). Most economic experts are expert at selling a story to us so they don’t have to work for a living.
A question I haven’t seen answered to my satisfaction is how Germany came out of total economic devastation in 1918 and became by 1935 the foremost economic and militarily power in the world while everybody else was still struggling through the Great Depression. There’s an economic secret there we’re not supposed to know.
I don’t know where you got your information from IvyMike, but I don’t see how it could be so wildy different from the information I have seen. My sources, primarily the YouTube channels cited in my previous comment, have documentation for all of the information that they present. Since there is too much for me to get into here, I refer you to them. It’s their job to analyze and present this information to the public, and they do a far better job of it than I can.
That being said, corn production in the US was adversely affected by the late, wet spring (flooding) and early onset of cold weather this fall. Production in some areas underperformed by as much as 30% compared to last year. Large portions (as much as half) of the sugar beet crop remains in the field, unharvested because the ground froze. US soy production did somewhat better, only off by about 15-20%, again due to the bad weather.
As far as Germany’s plan to get out of their economic disaster, I believe declaring war on just about everyone played a large part. War seems to be the fastest way to stimulate the economy, to many people.
Also, you can’t depend on Google to be 100% accurate about stuff like that. Get information from multiple sources and vet everything you can by cross checking.
I’m smart enough to know what I don’t know. That is, I’m not a financial guru. A relative of mine who is a financial guru, professor at a prestigious collage multiple doctorates, when I asked how long this financial situation will last before it implodes, I was told about 5 years. That was 8 years ago. NO ONE KNOWS WHEN OR IF IT WILL COLAPS.
My suggestion for taking cover in a possible financial collapse is to hedge your bet. Set aside some cash, gold, silver, heirloom seeds, Food, bullets, alcohol, and do your best to pay off your house. If and when there is a crash all of these will be valuable sometime during the process. Yes, the cash will lose value, gold and silver expensive, seeds don’t last forever (unless kept frozen), how much food, there are so many calibers, what do I choose, what type of alcohol should you get and I can’t pay off my house are the usual comments I see.
If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, the answers to those questions have been addressed. We’ve past the time for talk and it’s time you take action.
Yes, I’ve been taking advice from this blog over the years and have hedged my bet. I still have investments in different financials that are tied directly and indirectly to the stock market and fiat currency. However, I sleep good at night knowing I have my bases covered.
I think the rulers (via their technology arm) could learn a lot from reading this blog and associated mesages. They will learn what the mood is among the people and be glad they’ve planned so well and that they’ve more tricks up their sleeves (5G, climate engineering, weather modification, coziness with power plants, genetic engineers/Monsanto/Vaccinemonstergates, etc.).
This way, they can make everybody’s life dependent on their in/action (e.g., they can snow you in, flood you out, burn you out, dry you out, ruin your crops, ‘sprinkle’ you with disease aerosols from their ‘geoengineering’ planes, poison your land and water,… – not that they wouldn’t do this already but they can do it wherever needed)
Their goal is to have an easily manageable population and they have many tools to do so (they have a lot of practice in this and other countries).
They also can modify the messages ‘we’ (or our fellow humans) receive to match our voices for elections etc.
What we should do is keep putting our heads together to exchange ideas and learn and help each other at least this (learning) way. Because alone, not even the best prepared prepper can survive what still might/will come. And not even groups of preppers can bee prepared because if the rulers decide to wipe out an area of nuisance people (I forgot to mention that radiation from nuclear plants is very effective) we need as many people pulling on one side of the rope as possible.
So, thank you Claude and everybody for their interesting articles and contributions. Bless you all.
Before the ink was dry on the parchment paper that became the constitution, there were those folks plotting on how to destroy this nation and plunder its vast wealth.
Creating massive bureaucracys is only one such way.
Read this https://steemit.com/science/@corbettreport/the-2020s-a-peek-at-the-decade-ahead
There is lots of stuff to consider.
I know it is off topic, but am I the only one that thinks the economy has been stimulated by all the recent natural disasters… hurricanes, floods, etc. Rebuilding employs lots of people!
Yes, A.E. you are correct. Our economy is on fire. The S&P closed just short of 30% in 2019. If you were not invested in our broader market like the S&P, you could have done so by purchasing that entire market by buying SPX, an ETF that exactly (almost), tracks the S&P 500.
But, we are in a “Melt-Up” mania now. That’s good if you are “long” the market. So, I agree with you A.E. Stick it out there and go for it. But get ready for the Big Crash about 1 year from now. You or someone else who has the sheepskin, like me…but I’m retired, can understand technical analysis etc and say when to sell.
Regards,
Tom
This is about to come true – good call!
Excellent blog also..
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#1. The End of the Long-term Dept Cycle
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