Activist Post
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.
The following are 21 signs that the global economic crisis is about to go to a whole new level....
#1 Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer says that the global economy is "awfully close" to recession.
#2 It was announced last week that the unemployment rate in Greece has reached an all-time high of 25.1 percent. Unemployment among those 24 years old or younger is now more than 54 percent. Back in April 2010, the unemployment rate in Greece was only sitting at 11.8 percent.
#3 The IMF is warning that Greek debt may have to be "restructured" yet again.
#4 Swedish Finance Minister Anders Borg says that it is "probable" that Greece will leave the euro, and that it might happen within the next six months.
#5 A crowd of approximately 40,000 angry Greeks recently descended on Athens to protest a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel...
From high-school students to pensioners, tens of thousands of Greek demonstrators swarmed into Athens yesterday to show the visiting German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, their indignation at their country's continued austerity measures.
Flouting the government's ban on protests, an estimated 40,000 people – many carrying posters depicting Ms Merkel as a Nazi – descended on Syntagma Square near the parliament building. Masked youths pelted riot police with rocks as the officers responded with tear gas.
The authorities had deployed 7,000 police, water cannon and a helicopter. Snipers were placed on rooftops to ensure the German leader's safety.
#6 The debt crisis is Argentina is becoming increasingly troublesome.#7 The government debt to GDP ratio in Italy is expected to hit 126 percent this year. In Greece, it is expected to hit 198 percent. In Japan, it is expected to hit a whopping 237 percent.
#8 Standard & Poor’s has slashed the credit rating on Spanish government debt to BBB-, which is just one level above junk status.
#9 Back in the year 2000, the ratio of total debt to GDP in Spain was 192 percent. By 2011, it had reached 363 percent.
#10 Record amounts of money are being pulled out of Spanish banks, and many large Spanish banks are rapidly heading toward insolvency.
#11 Manufacturing activity in Spain has contracted for 17 months in a row.
#12 It is being projected that home prices in Spain will fall by another 15 percent by the end of 2013.
#13 The unemployment rate in France is now above 10 percent, and it has risen for 16 months in a row.
#14 There are signs that Switzerland may be preparing for "major civil unrest" throughout Europe.
#15 The former top economist at the European Central Bank says that the ECB has fallen into a state of "panic" as it desperately tries to solve the European debt crisis.
#16 According to a recent IMF report, European banks may need to sell off 4.5 trillion dollars in assets over the next 14 months in order to meet strict new capital requirements.
#17 In August, U.S. exports dropped to the lowest level that we have seen since last February.
#18 Economics Professor Barry Eichengreen is very concerned about what is coming next for stocks in the United States...
I’m worried that stock markets in the United States in particular have gotten ahead of economic growth#19 During the week ending October 3rd, investors pulled more than 10 billion dollars out of U.S. mutual funds. Overall, a total of more than 100 billion dollars has been pulled out of U.S. mutual funds so far this year.
#20 As I wrote about the other day, the IMF is warning that there is an "alarmingly high" risk of a deeper global economic slowdown.
#21 When shipping companies start laying off workers, that is one of the best signs that economic activity is slowing down. That is why it was so troubling when it was announced that FedEx is planning to get rid of "several thousand" workers over the coming months. According to AFP, "its business is being hit by the global economic slowdown".For even more signs that the global economy is rapidly crumbling, please see my previous article entitled "The Largest Economy In The World Is Imploding Right In Front Of Our Eyes".
So is anyone doing well right now?
Yes, it turns out that QE3 is padding the profits of the big banks in the United States and making the wealthy even wealthier just like I warned that it would.
According to the Washington Post, QE3 is helping the big banks much more than it is helping consumers. Is this what the Fed intended all along?...
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo, the nation’s largest mortgage lenders, said Friday they won’t make home loans much cheaper for consumers, even as they reported booming profits from that business.
Those bottom lines have been padded by federal initiatives to stimulate the economy. The Federal Reserve is spending $40 billion a month to reduce mortgage rates to encourage Americans to buy homes. Instead, its policies may be generating more benefits for banks than borrowers.So exactly how much has QE3 helped out the big banks? Just check out these numbers...
Revenue from mortgages was up 57 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period last year at JPMorgan and more than 50 percent up at Wells Fargo.But should we expect anything else from the Federal Reserve?
The American people are trusting the Fed to protect our economy, and yet they cannot even protect their own shipments of money. In fact, the Fed recently lost a large shipment of new $100 bills.
Or perhaps could letting people steal money from their own trucks be another way that the Fed is trying to "stimulate the economy"?
Stranger things have happened.
In any event, the truth is that the U.S. economy and the U.S. financial system are unsustainable from any angle that you want to look at things.
We are drowning in government debt, we are drowning in consumer debt, Wall Street has been transformed into a high risk casino where our largest financial institutions are putting it all on the line on a daily basis, we are consuming far more than we are producing, there are more than 100 million Americans on welfare and we are stealing more than 100 million dollars an hour from future generations to pay for it all.
Anyone that believes that we are in "good shape" does not know the first thing about economics.
Sadly, the U.S. is not alone. Nations all over the globe are experiencing similar problems.
The global economic crisis is just beginning and it is going to get much, much worse.
I hope that you ready.
This article first appeared here at the Economic Collapse. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.
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9 comments:
The private central banking system is collapsing the world economy, 50% of which is owned by the Rothschilds. The Rothschilds are proxy owners for the Vatican. All of their assets can be rightfully confiscated and public central banks put in place. Anything less means a new Dark Age and massive depopulation.
@2020blogger > The Rothschilds are owned by the Vatican? Get a grip! The Vatican is not in control anymore. The world has ALWAYS had shifting power centers
The move to world government is undeniable. Whether the developing nations will follow along? Very deniable. There will be WW3, US, vs Russia and China. It will start with Turkey v Syria AND Israel v Iran simultaneously.
The EU (will try), India and Brazil will sit it out. The EU will get entangled eventually.
The winner will be Brazil. As technology expands across the globe, free societies will exponentially benefit much faster than stagnant authoritarian societies just like every single other time in human history.
China and India have been the largest countries for the entire length of human culture. Ask yourself, why aren't they the dominate force in culture and technology?
The dynastic banksters must be prosecuted and punished for all their capital crimes against humanity, including warmongering, genocide, and usury.
Except I'm not ready. :(
#5 leaves me in awe. I wish I could find 40,000 Americans who gave a damn to storm DC. THEN we'd see some real action!
#14 if the Swiss are feeling nervous and stocking up on gas masks and ammo then that means one thing and one thing only: they're afraid their almighty Banks might be robbed. The people aren't stupid. We know that the Swiss are major cash holders for all the powerful people who hold our leashes.
The large corporations, wall st. the banks the fed are all vampyric entities feeding off the middle and lower class. They keep taking and feeding becoming ever more greedy and no one wants to stop and say hey this aint right because they are all addicted to the mountains of blood money theyre making off us. Keep sucking the lifeblood out of hard working people though and they will rise up into an angry mob and shove a stake right in the heart of the monster and destroy it.
Well...when are the U.S. 99% going to stand up and say "Enough is enough"? When are they going to stop buying all the crap they don't need, stop running all over creation with their cars 10 times a day, stop buying food that is not labeled correctly (HINT: if a product is not labeled as a non-GMO product, DON'T BUY IT!)? The list is endless. As the most brilliant and courageous Sophie Scholl said to her Nazi accusers: "Somebody, after all, had to make a start... You know the war is lost. Why don't you have the courage to face it?" And given that U.S. Gov Reps have so precisely and underhandedly pulled us into a Nazified system now... "What are we waiting for? The time is late!" - Bonhoeffer
The arms of the beast is: 1-The Central Banks 2-the IMF. 3-The World Bank. The head of the beast is the United Nations. The U.S. is currently in a double dip, double digit inflationary recession that is progressing into a full blown depression. This financial and economic crisis was scientifically created by the banks. Their agenda is: 1-Systematically eliminate the middle class. 2-Concentrate the wealth in the hands of the few. 3-Control of human and natural resourses. 4-Population reduction. They have run the largest Ponzi Pyramid Scam in the history of the world with their Fractunal Reserve Deposit Expansion Banking System. They have abscounded with the National Treasuries and usurped the people's wealth with their fiat currency on decree and without precious metal backing. These Central Bank Notes are created from debt and are Bills of Credit. They have sheared the sheep.The Elite Globalist Banking CABAL of the NWO that are members of the Illuminati are the personification of evil. They wan't to enslave all of humanity as debt surf slaves and indentured servants under their usury system. Those who issue money and credit direct the policies of government and hold in their hands the destiny of the people. Who ever controls the volume of currency in any one country is absolute master of all industry and commerce. I sincerely believe that private banking instutions are more dangerous to our liberites than standing armies. When ever the American people allow private banking instituions to control the issuence of their currency, first by inflation, than by deflation, the banks and corporation that will grow-up areound them will deprive the people of all their property until they grow-up homeless in the land that their fathers conquered. The International Bankers rule from behind the scenes and are in collusion with the political hacks in congress. They wage a psycological and spiritual warfare with their control of the main stream news media. I have exposed the corruption. Now for the solutions. The implements of change: 1-Strikes 2-Boycots 3-Pickiting the government for regresses. 4-Flyers. 5-Town hall meetings. 6-Underground cash and barter economy. 7-Tax protest. All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. United we stand, divided we fall. Abolish the Federal Reserve, Nationalizing the Central Bank and restoring monetary authority to the U.S. Treasury to create and extinguish honest debt free money, based on a 3 legged stool and market basket of precious metals, Barter Exchange Contracts and Labor Treasury Certificates for goods produced, services rendered work performed. International Trade and balance of payments could be conducted with Barter Exchange Contracts. Thus no trade deficit, no debt.
Pass a revaluation bill limiting paper currency debts to 1% of their gold dollar value of $2,000 an ounce gold, reevaluating the currency and issuing new currency at a 100-1 exchange rate, pro-rating all prices, incomes, debts and charging a 10% exchange rate fee to pay down the legitimate debt. Adding a provision in the bill for debt forgiveness. All other debts can be assumed by the U.S. Treasury.
Private State Banks can be State and Federally chartered and come under the regulations of the U.S. Treasury Department.
Do you wan't to live under predatory and monopoly capitalism with no middle class, or do you wan't a more equitable distribution of wealth where the scales of economic justice are more evenly balanced? The choice is up to you. Freedom is not free. It may take acts of civil disobedience to reform the system.
Some steps in the right directin: 1-2 term limits on all congressman. End career politicians. 2-Pass a constituional amendment to abolish the electorial college enacting the popular vote for president.
When I check out at the counter of these corporate retail box stores that import all this crap from China, they have the aurdasity unmitigated gall to ask me if I wan't to open-up a credit account. They are already gouging me on the price, what more do they wan't. Wall Mart is the largest of imported junk from China. When you walk through the door, they are asking for donations for the food drive. The Wall Mart family is one of the 10th richest persons in the U.S. They couldn't spend all their money in several life times. Why don't they donate money to the food drive?
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