This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
12 Things That Just Happened That Show The Next Wave Of The Economic Collapse Is Almost Here
Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,
Are we running out of time? For the last several years, we have been living in a false bubble of hope that has been fueled by massive amounts of debt and bailout money. This illusion of economic stability has convinced most people that the great economic crisis of 2008 was just an "aberration" and that now things are back to normal. Unfortunately, that is not the case at all. The truth is that the financial crash of 2008 was just the first wave of our economic troubles. We have not even come close to recovering from that wave, and the next wave of the economic collapse is rapidly approaching. Our economy is like a giant sand castle that has been built on a foundation of debt and toilet paper currency. As each wave of the crisis hits us, the solutions that our leaders will present to us will involve even more debt and even more money printing. And each time, those "solutions" will only make our problems even worse. Right now, events are unfolding in Europe and in the United States that are pushing us toward the next major crisis moment. I sincerely hope that we have some more time before the next crisis overwhelms us, but as you will see, time is rapidly running out.
The following are 12 things that just happened that show the next wave of the economic collapse is almost here...
#1 According to TrimTab's CEO Charles Biderman, corporate insider purchases of stock have hit an all-time low, and the ratio of corporate insider selling to corporate insider buying has now reached an astounding 50 to 1....
While retail is being told to buy-buy-buy, Biderman exclaims that "insiders at U.S. companies have bought the least amount of shares in any one month," and that the ratio of insider selling to buying is now 50-to-1 - a monthly record.
#2 On Friday we learned that personal income in the United States experienced its largest one month decline in 20 years...
Personal income decreased by $505.5 billion in January, or 3.6%, compared to December (on a seasonally adjusted and annualized basis). That's the most dramatic decline since January 1993, according to the Commerce Department.
#3 In a stunning move, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder says that he will appoint an emergency financial manager to take care of Detroit's financial affairs...
Snyder, 54, took a step he avoided a year ago, empowering an emergency financial manager who can sweep aside union contracts, sell municipal assets, restructure services and reorder finances. He announced the move yesterday at a public meeting in Detroit.
If this does not work, Detroit will almost certainly have to declare bankruptcy. If that happens, it will be the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
#4 On Friday it was announced that the unemployment rate in Italy had risen to 11.7 percent. That was a huge jump from 11.3 percent the previous month, and Italy now has the highest unemployment rate that it has experienced in 21 years.
#5 The youth unemployment rate in Italy has risen to a new all-time record high of 38.7 percent.
#6 On Friday it was announced that the unemployment rate in the eurozone as a whole had just hit a brand new record high of 11.9 percent.
#7 On Friday it was announced that the unemployment rate in Greece has now reached 27 percent, and it is being projected that it will reach 30 percent by the end of the year.
#8 The youth unemployment rate in Greece is now an almost unbelievable 59.4 percent.
#9 On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of protesters filled the streets of Lisbon and other Portuguese cities to protest the austerity measures that are being imposed upon them. It was reportedly the largest protest in the history of Portugal.
#10 According to Goldman Sachs, bank deposits declined all over Europe during the month of January.
#11 Over the weekend, the deputy governor of China's central bank declared that China is prepared for a "currency war"...
A top Chinese banker said Beijing is "fully prepared" for a currency war as he urged the world to abide by a consensus reached by the G20 to avert confrontation, state media reported on Saturday.
Yi Gang, deputy governor of China's central bank, issued the call after G20 finance ministers last month moved to calm fears of a looming war on the currency markets at a meeting in Moscow.
Those fears have largely been fuelled by the recent steep decline in the Japanese yen, which critics have accused Tokyo of manipulating to give its manufacturers a competitive edge in key export markets over Asian rivals.
#12 Italy is an economic basket case at this point, and the political gridlock in Italy is certainly not helping matters. Former comedian Beppe Grillo's party could potentially tip the balance of power one way or the other in Italy, and over the weekend he made some comments that are really shaking things up over in Europe. For one thing, he is suggesting that Italy should hold a referendum on the euro...
"I am a strong advocate of Europe. I am in favor of an online referendum on the euro," Beppe Grillo told Bild am Sonntag.
Such a vote would not be legally binding in Italy, where referendums can only be used to repeal laws or parts of laws, but would carry political weight. Grillo has said in the past that membership of the euro should be up to the Italian people.
In addition, Grillo is also suggesting that Italy's debt has gotten so large that renegotiation is the only option...
In an interview with a German magazine published on Saturday, Mr Grillo said that “if conditions do not change” Italy “will want” to leave the euro and return to its former national currency.
The 64-year-old comic-turned-political activist also said Italy needs to renegotiate its €2 trillion debt.
At 127 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), it is the highest in the euro zone after Greece.
“Right now we are being crushed, not by the euro, but by our debt. When the interest payments reach €100 billion a year, we’re dead. There’s no alternative,” he told Focus, a weekly news magazine.
He said Italy was in such dire economic straits that “in six months, we will no longer be able to pay pensions and the wages of public employees.”
And of course government debt has taken center stage in the United States as well.
The sequester cuts have now gone into effect, and they will definitely have an effect on the U.S. economy. Of course that effect will not be nearly as dramatic as many Democrats are suggesting, but without a doubt those cuts will cause the U.S. economy to slow down a bit.
And of course the U.S. economy has already been showing plenty of signs of slowing down lately. If you doubt this, please see my previous article entitled "Consumer Spending Drought: 16 Signs That The Middle Class Is Running Out Of Money".
So what comes next?
Well, everyone should keep watching Europe very closely, and it will also be important to keep an eye on Wall Street. There are a whole bunch of indications that the stock market is at or near a peak. For example, just check out what one prominent stock market analyst recently had to say...
"Every reliable technical tool is warning of major peaking action," said Walter Zimmerman, the senior technical analyst at United-ICAP. "This includes sentiment, momentum, classical chart patterns, and Elliott wave analysis.
"Most of the rally in the stock market since 2009 can be chalked up to the Federal Reserve’s attempt to create a ‘wealth effect’ through higher stock market prices. This only exacerbates the downside risk. Why? The stock market no is longer a lead indicator for the economy. It is instead reflecting Fed manipulation. Pushing the stock market higher while the real economy languishes has resulted in another bubble.
"The next leg down will not be a partial correction of the advance since the 2009 lows. It will be another major financial crisis. The worst is yet to come."
Sadly, most people will continue to deny that anything is wrong until it is far too late.
Many areas of Europe are already experiencing economic depression, and it is only a matter of time before the U.S. follows suit.
Time is running out, and I hope that you are getting ready.
So what do you think?
How much time do you believe that we have left before the next wave of the economic collapse strikes?
Please feel free to post a comment with your thoughts below...
- See more at: http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/12-things-that-just-happened...
- 101649 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -



The collapse has been going on since the early 1970's and was slowed down by arranging the Petrodollar.
"#3 In a stunning move, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder says that he will appoint an emergency financial manager to take care of Detroit's financial affairs..."
Just happened? Detroit's been broke for 10 years. The last governor didn't do anything because she was a Democrat. If Snyder had any balls, he's let Detroit sink on it's own.
Funny Video about media manipulation
The reason they all sounded the same was because they all picked up the same exact story off of AP
Musst See:
http://homment.com/FApy8h8tMT
Ever feel like you have a teleprompter looming over your shoulder? I just did.
After four something years of reading articles of the identical template as this one, the eyes glaze, no matter how long the list, or screaming the headline...what's the point, unless you have a blog about 'economic collapse' to get filled!?!?
And it's not like there isn't something really worth talking about, amongst the myriad 'talking points' of the daily economic news...
like the price of gold! Long term bears suddenly turning bullish, stalwarts of the gold world of recent years gone bearish big time! Something's afoot...and one senses that the status quo of the last two years is about to get shattered. Up or down?
Sinclair has committed himself to a time frame(March 27), and Armstrong has removed all doubt that he's gone uberbear in the short term. The master manipulators behind the scenes have a plan that doesn't get affected by these endless stories about 'collapse' and 'decay.' Deciphering their next move is the order of the day!
one can agree or disagree with Martin's Picks, but he's one of the very few who calls the shiny for what is really is:
This is NOT about how high will gold soar in price – that assumes the dollar survives even as a measurement tool. This is about a store of wealth for the transition to the new currency that will inevitably be forced upon the world.
For ZH readers who are new to MARTIN ARMSTRONG
here's his very worth of reading, the UNOFFICIAL SITE with lots of Economic Essays (in free pdf), Currency Trading, Global Economic Analysis, Princeton Economics, Kondratieff Wave, Kwaves, Prison, Business Cycles, Currency Trading, Gold and Silver Investing
http://www.martinarmstrong.org/
And Jim Sinclair's Mineset at http://www.jsmineset.com/
which now hosts his gold commentary and is intended as a free service to the gold communityFor your freedom :
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/03/obama-dhs-purchases-2700-light-a...
Obama DHS Purchases 2,700 Light-Armored Tanks to Go With Their 1.6 Billion Bullet StockpileThey are preparing to liberate the U.S.....I look forward to our new found freedoms.
I figured they'd only need 1,300 to round up Jamie... such is gov't waste for ya.
So the 10 largest or most troublesome cities in a period of civil unrest can have 270 light armored tanks each. Please not the 1.6 billion hollowpoint 45's are only one of their callibers, and indicate closer in tactical hand weapons. Tanks are more likely to use non handgun rounds I would think.
If needed, the US army got 20 000 MRAPs.
i must say i am totally shocked that despite the futures being down 60 plus pts as late as last night, and even down modestly this morning on bad news from asia, sure enough, before noon we have recovered all losses.
what the fuck will it take to have all these criminals like bernanke, bullard, dimon, blankfien, etc arrested for this major ponzi scheme? why is this fucking allowed, im sick of tired of this shit, its like so predictable.
i cant even trade anymore, im just watching now waiting for the collapse so i can laugh at these assholes when they lose there money in the blink of an eye.
Every day.
Repeat:
Even 16 year old actresses with no experience are making 30% a month why are you having so much difficulty?
About time Tyler. I have about 500 cans of food that's expiring this year. Now I have to eat this shit wheather it happens or not. Yuck!
That is a common belief most people have, but it's not correct. It might not taste as good as when it was first canned, but the food doesn't automatically go bad after the expiration date. Canned foods can last for many years afterward the expiration date, especially if kept in a cool place.
GOS, you should have been continuously rotating your stock, by adding newer purchases while simultaneously consuming the older canned goods. Waiting until EVERYTHING is three or four or five years old, THEN wondering what to do with it all at once, is, to be kind, rather short-sighted, and indicative of bad planning.
1. First in first out. Organise it as a circular store.
2. As someone else pointed out, preserves can last indefinitely.
it'll last until opened. There are cases of 100 year old canned food still being edible.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_long_does_can_food_last
Donate it and claim the write off....
Turn CNBS on . This shit will make you puke! Walt Zimmerman is on with the regular asshat team! Damn I wish he would have called those assholes out on insider selling.
Insiders are selling and pension funds are buying. Now I'm fairly certain that pension funds aren't the "smart money" in that equation. Stupid is as stupid does. [/mama sed]
Nothing is like other people's money than a pension fund. : (
Grillo is a realist, he knows there is no way Italy can pay back its debt. Best to leave the euro, default on its debt and let the banksters whistle for their money and get it all over with.
12 things that just wasted 5 minutes of life...
Like the old saying. Follow the money watch what the richest in the world do and do the same thing. You will win or go down with everyone else.
I don't get what is not bullish about that?
No. 13
Currencies start trading in billionths of a cent.
This cheered me up no end on a Monday morning with another batch of cold and snow on the way this afternoon!
The Financial services industry used it's political power to engineer a massive bailout for itself and the real economy was allowed to suffer the recession. Now the financial serivces and the markets are feeding off of unlimited cheap or free money, BUT the real economy is not benefiting much from the oceans of liquidity.
The drop in personal income, the rise in gas prices and the rebound in SS withholding rates have dealt a blow to Joe Blow and hos wife. My kids are feeling ht epinch badly, me too, but I am older and a long time saver. I have a back up, they do not.
The crisis was NEVER solved. Obama will soon be fighting for his life as this sucker goes down, in the imortal words of Gerorge Bush. "This Sucker Is Going Down!"
You are right. The System is Wrong. The Wrong People run The System.
The Fed has not been anywhere as aggressive as the Bank of England. Americans are still have a relatively easy time because they have not experienced Dollar Collapse. Britain is as big a basket case as Italy. The squeeze of living standards is the tightest since the 1920s. The falling Pound will drive Food, Energy and Fuel Prices through the roof. Americans have no conception of living in such an open economy with a huge FIRE Sector piling up liabilities and driving up costs......the Bonuses in The City of London add 0.5% to NATIONAL Average Earnings Statistics. Does Wall Street add 0.5% to the Average Earnings of ALL Americans ?
So far they have slashed Military Spending so the British Army is the smallest since 1900 and the Royal Navy is smaller than Japan. They have a 1% pay freeze on the Military. They want to cut more. In 1931 they imposed pay cuts and got The Invergordon Mutiny which led to Britain going off the Gold Standard.........
http://www.seayourhistory.org.uk/content/view/147/234/
US Media ignores protests in Portugal, Bulgaria, Hungary - Americans have a limited grasp of what is going on. When it explodes they won't have a clue and Obama will call for calm and Kerry will fly hither and thither. The only credible leader in Europe currently is Putin. Merkel is a bit of an Apparatchik and is making a real mess in Italy. She wats Italians to do what Germany cannot. She has NEVER controlled Government Spending in Germany and lives on EXPORTS but piles costs on the domestic economy which is riddled with food scandals long before horsemeat - and now afflatoxin in animal feed. She is power-obsessed like some Communist leader but has done far less for Germany that Schroeder did.
There are some childish comments on ZH at times, but Americans will be stunned when Europe explodes
Agree totally on the state of the United Kingdom. The state of the UK is as bad or worse than any in Europe. This story is way under reported. The UK survives now only on mass and grand scale money printing!
Now the Bulgarians and Rumanians are preparing a mass migration to a bankrupt UK with a failing National Health System. It ain't going to be pretty when hundreds of thousands of sick and broke Eastern Europeans show up in the UK to collect benefits and go to the nearest NHS hospital for treatment.!
UK is a ticking time bomb.
By the way, Great post Sanddmann! I am American but visit the UK often and read the UK papers online every morning. Big events are coming to the UK and all of Europe.
Also, look at the Arab Spring, Egypt is burning, Syria is burning and Libya has a near Al-Qaeda government. And the US Israel lobby organization meeting in the US has demanded that Israel remain immune form any US cuts in aid caused by the budget crisis, AND they want a blank check that the US will attack Iran the minute Israel does.
The world is a ticking time bomb. It is all over the world now!
@ Jack, what are the best UK online papers to watch with regard to this observation? Daily Telegraph? The Guardian? Daily Mail? thx for some tip-offs.
Europeans are definitely approaching the end game. The propped up stock market does not fool the people who are suffering... it does not create jobs for the millions out of work. And those millions are getting restless - something IS going to give in Europe.
Is food and fuel still being delivered to most places? Bread and circuses still going? Is fraud still the status quo? Looks to me like the answer is "yes" on all accounts. Hence possession is now the law and nothing changes until the supply line break. Hedge accordingly.
Possession, and the physical and mental fitness to defend what you possess. Same as it ever was.
Fear mongering at its best. Detroit is a city of 700k. State government take over is a positive, given the alternative.
I assume you mean that Chaos is the alternative. Guess what, Oakland residents are starting to police their own neighborhoods.
And the masses have stopped buying overpriced air beds.
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=SCSS
Plunge.
Most folks don't even know their own IQ, yet we're supposed to get hyped up about our sleep number? Seriously?
Are we running out of time? No. Did you forget who is running the show? Bernake and his minions! Do you really think that Bernake would allow the US economy to collapse so soon? Com'on. This thing has several more years to play out. If the Euro plays along, gravity can be defied for awhile longer
The sequester required Obama to talk about the economy. My gosh...what a novel thought. He has spent the past two months diverting attention toward immigration reform, gay rights, Iran, etc. The economy is his achilles heel and he knows it. Tackling the economy must be avoided at all costs. All politicans want to spend money so they can get re-elected. Doing the right thing is out of the question. Hence, the facade will continue.
Lastly, the Euro. This is the wild card. Greece and Italy can flop. Spain ...not so sure. But...the big trouble maker is France and believe me France is in big big trouble. If they go...hang on to your Vichy Water. It's over for France, for the Euro, and for the US. Euro countries buy 20% of US exports. Stay tuned.
we few, we happpy few, we band of silver holders . . .
I don't understand why people keep writing, "The crash is almost here!"
It's already happening and it's ongoing. This is the crash. And it will continue in this fashion, a slow grinding decline for the next 9 years (I see the end of the 'crash' coming around 2022, though coming out will be slow also).
This idea that one day we all will wake to be informed that the crash has happened is media BS. There will be headlines, there will be bad stock times, etc.
But it's a continuum, bitchez. Hunker down but quit waiting. It's happening, deal with it as it comes.
There is nothing to wait for.
Act now.
Frankly, I think all those who naively believe that "The Crash" is going to be some sudden, overnight calamity are, knowingly or not, infected with the simplistic, millenialistic, and apocalyptic visions of the Rapture of the Christian Fundamentalists. While inflection points in any social, economic and monetary collapse can and do occur, it cannot be emphasized enough that such collapses (including the one that we are living through today, and will likely continue to experience for years to come) are always processes, NOT instantaneous, all-at-once events.
I want to think you're right... But Lehman bankrupt in a day.
That was just another part of the much larger collapse-in-process.
For all those waiting for some catastrophic, apocalyptic, overnight event, your wait is probably going to a long (and profitless) one --- you are ALREADY in the middle of the collapse!
There will be a 'crash' - a major country is going to default.
Will it be apocalyptic? No.
There will be martial law and things will be bad - but it will not be end of days.
old news for new idiots http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDDBZuheQxs
Detroit has been bust for decades now. I don't consider that a very strong signal... although it's deterioration has been symptomatic of the failure of political economic interventions. For years now pols have been trying to fix Michigan and anyone who lives in the US Rustbelt has heard all kinds of schemes to 'reinvent' the region. : (
Detroit is truly a prime example of what happens under the NWO/Elitist rubric of "Free Trade". Nobody can be productive enough to offset foreign labor costs 30 to 40 times smaller than indigenous costs, even foreign prison/slave/child labor competition.
I was born and raised in Battle Creek, MI. I remember going to baseball and football games in Detroit in the 1950s. Detroit, and most of southern Michigan, was absolutely booming. It was the industrial capital of the world. Those were the halcyon days of the UAW, AFL, CIO, and Teamsters unions.
I moved my construction business to Oakland County, just north of Detroit in 1974, just about the time the growling and belching of "Free Trade" began to be excreted from the bowels of the Republican Party. My business prospered until The Abomination of Devastation known as Jimmy Carter ascended to power, the weak, incompetent, precurser of the Ovomit regime.
By the time Carter had been ignominiously defrocked, my business and me were both bankrupt, along with most of the auto and construction business. Auto Interest rates had skyrocketed to nearly 20%. Home mortgages had ballooned to the 12% to 14% range.
After the 2 year mess of shutting down my affairs, On a morning when the chill factor was -44 degrees F., I escaped the area and headed as far south as I could go. I slept and lived in my pickup truck in and around South Florida for over 6 months until I could find enough work to restart my own business.
By the time Volker and Reagan had restarted the economy, the clarion call of "Free Trade" was ringing loudly throughout the land. Tricky Dicky Nixon and his NWO handler, the evil Khazarian Henry Kissinger, in 1973-74 had opened the door to China, or rather had opened the door for China to begin its planned pillage, rape, and theft of American businesses and technology.
Japan had already peaked and was buying and/or shutting down American Manufacturing, serving as the forerunner for the real takedown of American economic strength by the NWO. The pieces of the WTO, GATT, NAFTA, WHO, ASEAN, and the North American Union of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, were just beginning to be put into place and are now entering their final phase, the crashing of the U.S. Dollar and the institution of a new international monetary system.
There are too many details involved in this NWO/Elitist scheme to deal with them all here. But suffice it to say that none of this has happened by accident. The destruction of the powerful West has been planned for centuries. What has happed to Detroit and other areas of our manufacturing and industrial power is only a harbinger of what is planned for our future, our near future.
The closer we get to the end, the more the decline will accelerate. The landing will be hard and destructive.
Bedlam. Chaos. Anarchy. Civil War. Revolution. Starvation. FEMA Concentration Camps. Ethnic Warfare. Governmental Tyranny.
How can we possibly prepare? There is nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.
The Republican Party? President Clinton signed the legislation giving China most favored nation trading status; which amounts to selling the citizens down the river.
The absurd thing about it is that it's so easy to fix. One of the legitimate powers that Congress actually has under the Constitution is to levy tariffs; to create "un-free trade"; we could cut off the ships from China tomorrow. The result would be jobs for everybody; we used to manufacture our own jeans, shoes, underwear, etc. not to mention; our own steel. This was all deliberate and it is the actual heart of the plan of the ruling class; this is how you take back the gains the workers made in getting a reasonable part of the pelf from the capitalists through the union movement; "globalization" is a code word for send all the money to China and become "poverty nation". It benefits large corporations only; no one else. Well, it benefited Mr. and Mrs. Clinton, who got paid off, of course, and it's benefiting Obama, whose getting paid off. I often think it would be a good idea to hire a top notch private investigation firm and find out where his pay-off money is stashed and publish it; see if the sheeple can swallow that one.The actual, or real history, of prosperity in the US is entirely based on un-free trade; or tariffs. As one example, when it was time to build the world record breaking hydroelectic plant at Niagra Falls; it was felt that it might be best to buy the huge generators and turbines from a company in Switzerland that had wonderful engineering expertise and experience in this field; but the tariffs were so high; that Westinghouse and General Electric got the contracts instead; this had consiquences and reverberations that went on for more than a generation. At one blow; we left Europe behind in installed electric capacity; and we showed that we could do it ourselves. The electrical products industry was the growth industry of the first half of the twentieth century. If you look at the Korean economic miracle you'll find the same thing; all the brand names we take for granted grew and were developed by "necessity", which has often been observed, is a "mother"; due to their protective tariffs. You've been systematically lied to all your life about these things. The "Big Lie"; which Hitler reccomended be repeated so often it would seem to be accepted wisdom, and was so often repeated, is the "Free Trade benefits everyone". This is obviously nonsense. The British enforced "Free Trade", ( only what was to their advantage), with their Navy; and we did the same thing. "Trading" with China is just a slow motion form of suicide.
Upvoted for "pelf." SAT 800, indeed.
You sound like a loser - you slept in your truck???
Just one big deuce in one little toilet.
Just one big deuce in one little toilet.
You forget the sequester... That 13 in a day... So, it's a lucky day : the market will fly next week :-).
Is Greece going to default?
No. Italy is.
Another day, another article about the impending collapse. Wash and repeat. The only things I care about right now that continue to collapse are gold and silver prices. I don't get it, everything these doom and gloom articles have been preaching for years is to get gold and silver and be prepared for the collapse. I'm starting to worry that when the eventual collapse comes, gold and silver prices will collapse right along with it, and I'll be in worse shape than if I had just kept all that fiat.
companies on the Standard & Poor's 500 have seen earnings growth of 129 percent since the March 2009 trough. The index measuring stock market performance since then has been nearly identical—up 128 percent.
PM are commodities and as such will collapse when the economy goes into depression. There will be massive deflation - NOT hyperinflation
Anyone expecting PM to save their asses is dreaming
and the Dow's up another 100 points......sigh
Stupid shit. 4,5,6,7, are 8 are duplicate crap. Like the youth employment rate in some shit-and-piss country actually indicates the end is near...
The Economic Collapse Blog depends on doom and gloom scare stories and went downhill when Michael got rid of the sinking ship header image.
Yes, this will probably drag out for years on it's current trajectory, but I think it's more likely we will be broadsided along the way by a serious environmental disatster. Fukushima could get much worse, but we might be missing other potential problems.
Now (and I don't understand this because I'm not American) most US folk I hear talking about 'climate change' or 'global warming' vehmently deny this is happening. As if it's an affront to their human rights. I think I understand the sensitivity over the government 'land grab' under the guise of environmentalism, sure. But if you can go out and observe significant changes, just with simple scientific instruments, then is there not a good reason to have a discussion?
2012 was the hottest year on record, and we've seen some bad droughts. The Sandy superstorm was a bizzare creature, and the US has been hammered by some violent stuff recently. In the UK we've had our own 'Global Weirding' since 2009, and between 2013 - 2015, we'll probably see Arctic sea ice totally thaw in summer. It does look like something is up and we'll probably continue to see issues in agriculture.
I'm not saying this is man-made, there is evidence that suggests that the region of space (NASA's electromagnetic 'fluffiness') we are now in is having an effect on the Heliosphere, and our own atmosphere. Unfortunately this seems to be coinciding with a very weak period in the Sun's electromagnetic field strength.
We're all very proud of ourselves for not being 'sheeple' here on ZH, but are we really as informed and worldly-wise as we like to think? Yes, chasing bits of paper will get harder, and governments will buy MOAR DRONEZ, but are there worse monsters out there that we are all ignoring?
It's as disturbing to me that environmental issues are not in the public consciousness as it is that economic meltdown is not in the public consciousness. It might not happen, the facts and figures could be wrong, but the potential outcome is so catastrophic that to blithely ignore the threat of the destruction of our own habitat is stupidity in the extreme.
Take AMEG for example - there are arguments on both sides, but who is even discussing it? This is pretty worrying stuff.
http://www.ameg.me
(and no, I'm not a 'libtard', I just don't happen to have a fucking spaceship to leave on)
Artic sea ice did totally thaw in the winter of 1940-41; which of course is a historical fact that you can easily reference; but we were having a world war, instead of a UN campaign to increase their budget and influence, so no-one paid any attention and, of course, the ice all came back again. There is also a photograph from 1929 taken from an ultra-high altitude research balloon that shows, for all practical purposes, no summer ice; but once again, nobody cared, quite rightly; and it all came back again. Congratulations on absorbing your standard dose of propaganda instead of finding out what the facts are. It's just so helpful.
Thanks for your reply, I do appreciate it. I'm not saying this from a viewpoint of posting propaganda, trust me, I'm more than happy to be proved wrong on this. I do find it fascinating that the knee jerk reaction to discussing our impact on the environment is a cultural facet of right-leaning American ideology though. You don't really see this outside of the US, it's not a subject so tied to political allignment elsewhere.
The examples you give were at lower atmospheric Co2 than today, so I hope that you are right:
http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence
The assumption by so many that the economy is OK now is incredible to me!
Only today a son of one of my friends was advised to invest his bonus money in buying a house in Spain by his financial adviser - surely a sign that the implosion is imminent??
Spanish property hasn't dropped all that much... Yet.
Some nice houses in small towns in the mountains are 40-50% below their previous prices. And sometimes when you test the market, with cash, they sell below that. The current world chess champion lives in a nice little house in a nice little town in the mountains in Spain; and he ain't no dummy.
No stock market! That's a bad stock market! You can't go down!
Of course they have no fucking idea how they're going to get it to go up anymore. So let's just have it trade between 13,900 and 14,200 for the next 10 years surely that won't be seen as manipulation. LMFAO. Burnt fucking toast.
1. ceo's are horrible speculators
2. income decrease from bonus reduction coupled with payroll tax. they could and probably will change that soon.
3. a bankruptcy of detroit will not be allowed to happen
4.-10 only means dollar will get relative strength
11. China has been involved in a currency war for 10 years nothing new
12. euro zone weakness only means strength for US
no collapse. tons more wealth transfers and mal-investment before that. maybe a deflation scare but nothing more, there will be around a 5-7 year continual run up with more of "everything is/might be fixed" before the pump is primed for a massive exit from anything paper into anything real. then major problems ensue because there will be very liittle productive capacity to get real stuff due to the aforementioned mal investment and wealth transfers.
Surfs up.....
We are in the midst of an economic depression that is about to "get real" again like in 2008. That time, it was papered over.
This time, it won't be. In other words, expect cascading defaults throughout the system and an inability of bailouts or creating digital money to have much of an effect.
However, this is not endgame for the system, the system is very resilient. Endgame starts around 2020 or so.
Here's what to do:
1) If you are retired or a welfare dependent...well, congrats, you've already won the lottery, but try to become more resilient anyway (your welfare won't be taken away, but it may be reduced).
2) If you are working, try to keep your job, even though you will be worked and taxed more, and you can lose it at any time.
3) If you don't have a job, keep looking and keep trying to consider alternatives, like bartering or going on welfare.
For everybody, I recommend staying in physical cash, a basic bank account, and physical gold and silver held outside of the banking system. Continue preparations. Try to reduce debt if possible, but in the end it may not matter much when the system finally implodes. Do not loan money, and never buy bonds, because you won't be paid back. If you have lots and lots of money that you can afford to lose, you can consider some stocks, but even then seemingly solid companies can do poorly in a depression. If you don't have lots and lots of money, avoid stocks altogether.
And remember to enjoy life!
Cheery! I'll have the cyanide vinaigrette!
Update reading glasses (spare pair or two) and get teeth fixed if it's been awhile also. Cost may rise to levels making it impossible to do this later. Medications also need to be considered. Make plans.
Gee, what a sorry situation we are in. Every politician alive on earth today should be put onto a ship that sails to Fukashima and stays, turning into a foundering vessel which clearly is what we are in here on earth.
Maybe we'll get something resembling a correction when Bernanke turns off CNBC, at least that's a start.
We better have a collapse soon or ZH is going to go out of business.
I can't imagine what security must be like at Ben's condo.
Chinese father say....he who repeatedly twitches during testimony may sleep between kevlar pillows.
Rally since 2009? pffft. The entire stock market rally from 1922 to 1929 was due to the Fed and the crazy bankers loaning money to everyone with a blood pressure. This could continue for quite awhile. When we look back at history through the wrong end of a telescope, everything seems compressed; as in; "then Rome Collapsed"; but this phrase almost always refers to a period of between 90 and 110 years. The first rule is, it always takes longer than you think, or than you can even believe.
And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually
Market is on closely watching for a potential Italian downgrade shorly.As if we didn't know that was going to happen soon.
We cant deny there are alot of Blackswans out there. One day when we least expect it. BAM.....There will be another Lehman. But no one knows when.
Till then.........STACK THE GOLD/SILVER right
People used to laugh at Survivalists, write them off as Wacko's, Tin foil hatters, Nutters etc. etc. pre 2008 they were a source of riducule.
I admit I was sceptial but open to the concept of at least having a plan and supplies to protect yourself and your family incase the worse happened. After reading Bruce Kastings live running commentary on this site when New York was hit last year, I finally took the whole concept seriously and drew up my plans and starting hoarding supplies.
When the shit hits the fan, people won't be laughing at the survivalists anymore, they will be begging them for food and medicine.
Forewarned is forearmed and it doesn't matter if it happens today or ten years from now, at least some of us will be ready and survive the worse.
I would like to thank zerohedge and the survivalist movement for helping some of us survive if the worse actually occurs by warning us and giving us forewarning of what is coming and information to help map our own future and survival in a post ponzi market world.
If you are still sceptial or in doubt start googling ''Survivalism'' and ''Survivalism Basics'', I was a sceptic for a long time as well I know how you feel, but do you really want to be up shit creek with the other zombies when the shit hits the fan, it can't hurt to know the basics and at least have a plan.
Edit: Apologies for the poor grammar and spelling, rushing and shorthand, but I hope the general gist can be understood.
Nice post. While there won't be zombies, I do see a very real chance of gangs of hungry people looting homes looking for food and money. Worse than zombies in many ways, they will be quicker and smarter.
Nah - there will be martial law - NOT mad max
With the survivalist movement I see too much emphasis on wilderness survival techniques. With seven billion people on the planet, and most living in cities, then urban survival is much more important for most people than rural survival. Most people do not have the money to move into a farm in the country.
Simple checklist:
Food,
Water,
Water Purifier,
Power (solar panels + usb / AAA recharger)
Lighting (candles + torches)
Heating (sleeping bags, meths camping stove, duvets, insulation, winter boots, good coat)
Money (silver, gold and platinum group metals)
Weapons
Entertainment - get a USB rechargeable MP3 player and a good collection of music files, and enough books to keep your mind active for several years. There may be no Internet in a collapse and you may not be able to charge that 19V DC laptop.
Bleach, soap, toilet rolls (enough to match your food supply)
First aid kit, medicine and pharmaceuticals.
If your food supply is freeze dried or tinned you will want enough multivitamin supplements.
A good bicycle.
A diesel generator may be too noisy and too resource hungry for practical use. Generators may have to be put in an insecure area (outside) to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning.
Nonsene - when this hits the troops will be on the streets enforcing martial law. It will NOT be mad max.
What do you mean by 'getting ready'
We don't need no stinking jobs.
"we don't need no stinking country" would be more appropriate. Jobs were sent away. Bargain with the devil and you'll find yourself in hell.
Here's a strong reinstatement for those weak hands among ZH frequent ;)... it's really of great amazement that human being tends to ignore the history!!! Mostly have too short the span of time
JIM WILLIE: GRITTY QUESTIONS ON THE HISTORIC COLLAPSE
MARCH 1, 2013
By Jim Willie, GoldenJackass.com
The typical articles over the last many years have featured a particular theme. In the last few months, the central theme in Jackass articles has been the isolation and demise of the USDollar, how it is happening, why it must happen, and its importance in the restoration of the global financial structure. But this week, a sudden urge has come to address an overwhelming list of critical gritty questions. They crop up with clients, colleagues, and friends.
More than a crisis, it is more accurately described as a collapse of a corrupt inequitable monetary system, and a desperate defense by the major Western bankers to preserve their power over nations and their governments, alongside a vile vicious violent attempt by the United States to maintain its privilege as owner of the vast USDollar counterfeit machinery, as controller of vast banking pillars of paper columns, and as commander of a vast military.
The current monetary system has a debt foundation, which is collapsing in lockstep with the rapid breakdown in the sovereign bond market. The last four years have seen a long drawn-out unstoppable process, where the collapse cannot be avoided and must happen. The pathogenesis is obvious to those in the Sound Money camp. The blossom of corruption and complete banker criminal immunity has only hastened the urgent need for the collapse. The cadaver in Intensive Care cannot be revived with more intravenous applications of contaminated money, the body dead since September 2008. Insolvent systems rush to the crash zone, where efforts can only delay the outcome.
The central banks are finally in crosshairs of focus, for not producing a solution, more recently for worsening the problem. They have confused their function from providing liquidity, in the belief that they are creating wealth. They have destroyed the system as costs rise relentlessly. Perversely, their efforts to dampen demand so as to reduce price inflation has added to the economic destruction. The outcome will be shocking in its power shift to the East, shocking in its evaporation of paper wealth, and shocking in the simplicity of the new financial structure that rises from the ashes based in barter and gold payments. However, the United States will be left behind, due to its basic ownership of the global reserve currency being scrapped. The extreme corruption cannot be reformed. The US financial system must be extinguished, and with it extreme damage to the USEconomy, which has been hopelessly dependent upon asset bubbles for two decades.
1) CAN WE BE CERTAIN A COLLAPSE WILL COME AND WHY ??
To be sure, a collapse is not only coming. It is happening before our eyes in what used to be ultra-slow motion. Each year the pace quickens. Two years ago, the MFGlobal client account theft episode was preceded by another red-line event a few months before, and followed by another a few months after. But nowadays, the crisis events occur every month or every week. With $1.2 trillion doled out by the USFed to European banks in January, the Germans demanding repatriation of their official gold account, the Italians electing a comedian to halt the property tax hikes that bail out banks, the British sponsoring a Chinese Yuan Swap Facility, the attack on Mali to wrest its gold for German repayment, the move to shut down the Mongolian copper & gold mine by Rio Tinto, the raids larger and bolder of the GLD inventory, the USFed preparing for QE5 (or rather QE187), the US facing a fiscal cliff, the Japanese ratcheting up the competitive currency devaluations, the Swiss managing their Euro-Franc peg, the Russians hosting a G-20 Meeting of finance ministers to coordinate the alternative to US$-based trade, the Iranian sanctions coming to a conclusion in US acquiescence, and a gathering of five aircraft carriers in the Chesapeake (against all rules, angering the Pentagon), to be sure, the pace of extreme events is quickening. All these have occurred just since the new year began less than two months ago. Extreme events have become the norm. A series of climax events is coming very soon. The changes will be rapid and breath-taking.
. . .