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40 'Frightening' Facts On The Fall Of The US Economy

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,

40 Statistics About The Fall Of The U.S. Economy That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe

If you know someone that actually believes that the U.S. economy is in good shape, just show them the statistics in this article.  When you step back and look at the long-term trends, it is undeniable what is happening to us.  We are in the midst of a horrifying economic decline that is the result of decades of very bad decisions.  30 years ago, the U.S. national debt was about one trillion dollars.  Today, it is almost 17 trillion dollars.  40 years ago, the total amount of debt in the United States was about 2 trillion dollars.  Today, it is more than 56 trillion dollars.  At the same time that we have been running up all of this debt, our economic infrastructure and our ability to produce wealth has been absolutely gutted.  Since 2001, the United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities and millions of good jobs have been shipped overseas.  Our share of global GDP declined from 31.8 percent in 2001 to 21.6 percent in 2011.  The percentage of Americans that are self-employed is at a record low, and the percentage of Americans that are dependent on the government is at a record high.  The U.S. economy is a complete and total mess, and it is time that we faced the truth.

The following are 40 statistics about the fall of the U.S. economy that are almost too crazy to believe...

#1 Back in 1980, the U.S. national debt was less than one trillion dollars.  Today, it is rapidly approaching 17 trillion dollars...

National Debt

#2 During Obama's first term, the federal government accumulated more debt than it did under the first 42 U.S presidents combined.

#3 The U.S. national debt is now more than 23 times larger than it was when Jimmy Carter became president.

#4 If you started paying off just the new debt that the U.S. has accumulated during the Obama administration at the rate of one dollar per second, it would take more than 184,000 years to pay it off.

#5 The federal government is stealing more than 100 million dollars from our children and our grandchildren every single hour of every single day.

#6 Back in 1970, the total amount of debt in the United States (government debt + business debt + consumer debt, etc.) was less than 2 trillion dollars.  Today it is over 56 trillion dollars...

Total Debt

#7 According to the World Bank, U.S. GDP accounted for 31.8 percent of all global economic activity in 2001.  That number dropped to 21.6 percent in 2011.

#8 The United States has fallen in the global economic competitiveness rankings compiled by the World Economic Forum for four years in a row.

#9 According to The Economist, the United States was the best place in the world to be born into back in 1988.  Today, the United States is only tied for 16th place.

#10 Incredibly, more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities in the United States have been permanently shut down since 2001.

#11 There are less Americans working in manufacturing today than there was in 1950 even though the population of the country has more than doubled since then.

#12 According to the New York Times, there are now approximately 70,000 abandoned buildings in Detroit.

#13 When NAFTA was pushed through Congress in 1993, the United States had a trade surplus with Mexico of 1.6 billion dollars.  By 2010, we had a trade deficit with Mexico of 61.6 billion dollars.

#14 Back in 1985, our trade deficit with China was approximately 6 million dollars (million with a little "m") for the entire year.  In 2012, our trade deficit with China was 315 billion dollars.  That was the largest trade deficit that one nation has had with another nation in the history of the world.

#15 Overall, the United States has run a trade deficit of more than 8 trillion dollars with the rest of the world since 1975.

#16 According to the Economic Policy Institute, the United States is losing half a million jobs to China every single year.

#17 Back in 1950, more than 80 percent of all men in the United States had jobs.  Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States have jobs.

#18 At this point, an astounding 53 percent of all American workers make less than $30,000 a year.

#19 Small business is rapidly dying in America.  At this point, only about 7 percent of all non-farm workers in the United States are self-employed.  That is an all-time record low.

#20 Back in 1983, the bottom 95 percent of all income earners in the United States had 62 cents of debt for every dollar that they earned.  By 2007, that figure had soared to $1.48.

#21 In the United States today, the wealthiest one percent of all Americans have a greater net worth than the bottom 90 percent combined.

#22 According to Forbes, the 400 wealthiest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million Americans combined.

#23 The six heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton have as much wealth as the bottom one-third of all Americans combined.

#24 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 146 million Americans are either "poor" or "low income".

#25 According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that receives direct monetary benefits from the federal government.  Back in 1983, less than a third of all Americans lived in a home that received direct monetary benefits from the federal government.

#26 Overall, the federal government runs nearly 80 different "means-tested welfare programs", and at this point more than 100 million Americans are enrolled in at least one of them.

#27 Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid.  Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid, and things are about to get a whole lot worse.  It is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.

#28 As I wrote recently, it is being projected that the number of Americans on Medicare will grow from 50.7 million in 2012 to 73.2 million in 2025.

#29 At this point, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars over the next 75 years.  That comes to approximately $328,404 for every single household in the United States.

#30 Right now, there are approximately 56 million Americans collecting Social Security benefits.  By 2035, that number is projected to soar to an astounding 91 million.

#31 Overall, the Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years.

#32 Today, the number of Americans on Social Security Disability now exceeds the entire population of Greece, and the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the entire population of Spain.

#33 According to a report recently issued by the Pew Research Center, on average Americans over the age of 65 have 47 times as much wealth as Americans under the age of 35.

#34 U.S. families that have a head of household that is under the age of 30 have a poverty rate of 37 percent.

#35 As I mentioned recently, the homeownership rate in America is now at its lowest level in nearly 18 years.

#36 There are now 20.2 million Americans that spend more than half of their incomes on housing.  That represents a 46 percent increase from 2001.

#37 45 percent of all children are living in poverty in Miami, more than 50 percent of all children are living in poverty in Cleveland, and about 60 percent of all children are living in poverty in Detroit.

#38 Today, more than a million public school students in the United States are homeless.  This is the first time that has ever happened in our history.

#39 When Barack Obama first entered the White House, about 32 million Americans were on food stamps.  Now, more than 47 million Americans are on food stamps.

#40 According to one calculation, the number of Americans on food stamps now exceeds the combined populations of "Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming."

 

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Mon, 05/27/2013 - 18:18 | 3602030 ponzisaurus
ponzisaurus's picture

If i get in a fight with a 300lb mongolian weightlifter the probability is very very high that im going to lose but im going to try my best to make him feel an ache or pain in his old age that im responsible for.  Work toward solutions regardless of your assesment.  Your going to die anyway thats a certainty.  Style is important.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 17:48 | 3601954 Rustysilver
Rustysilver's picture

Wow, another article that America is doom. Next year, 2 years, 10 years. Good thing I don't have to buy a newsletter. The guy's blog is Economic collapse.  It is so easy to sell fear and the unknown with the internet "tubes".

As for war, talk to some people that went through WW2 (they still are around) then you will understand when war is war.

Seeing some Russian destroyer leave port doesn't constitute preparation for war.

Does Vegas give odds for war: I would like to make a wager.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 17:54 | 3601984 sethstorm
sethstorm's picture

#19 Small business is rapidly dying in America. At this point, only about 7 percent of all non-farm workers in the United States are self-employed. That is an all-time record low.

Not everyone wants to be a part of the most unstable and unreliable part of the private sector.  It's as stable as a tsunami-damaged nuclear reactor and about as many people(proportionally) want to approach that unprotected as people would go for self-employment.

Perhaps (the other part of) the private sector would do well to stop considering US citizens as a problem before extreme measures end up on the table.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 18:44 | 3602075 roadhazard
roadhazard's picture

You can't start a business when you can't get a loan.

And if you Have a small business you'll be lucky to get a loan to keep the business moving forward.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:46 | 3602463 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

I say bullshit! I say you can't have a sustainable economy if every business from lawnmowing to high tech is based on borrowed money. True enough, you probably can't go from three employees to three hundred in a year without borrowing, but this crap that evey business has to borrow money to be able to stay afloat drives me nuts. Yes I have a crappy small business of thirty years and am back to the same sales I had fifteen years ago, but I don't owe money. And I don't need a line of credit to make payroll. Business in debt is no different than an individual in debt. Debt is slavery. You sell your soul. The world is not in the shape it is in because of bankers but because people borrowed money from these guys. Let marketing convince us that we can't get ahead without borrowing money and this is how we end. And of course anyone would be a fool to save to buy a new car when your neighbor, who you know makes less than you, just drove home a new Lexus. Too bad our competitive nature that motivates us to do so many productive things also can drive us to cheat and then call it something else...like leveraging.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 19:18 | 3602141 forwardho
forwardho's picture

Perhaps (the other part of) the private sector would do well to stop considering US citizens as a problem before extreme measures end up on the table.

Your words tread upon the very edge Sir.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 17:55 | 3601985 shutdown
shutdown's picture

A point of clarification:  

The article incorrectly lumps all public assistance recipients together as "Americans."

This may have been the case back in the '60s, but today around 30% of welfare and food stamp recipients in the USA are foreigners and their children.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 23:24 | 3602671 Not Particular
Not Particular's picture

Two points. Mexicans consider themselves "Americans." Actually, they are North Americans.

Second, if a children of an American is born in the u.S., he/she is a U.S. citizen.

So, there's more Americans in that boat than you may think.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 11:39 | 3603668 Weisshaupt
Weisshaupt's picture

All depends what you mean the term "American" to mean.  If you are merely indicating a geographic position, then sure. Lots of Americans.  If you mean someone who partipates in and contributes to the tradtional American ethos of hard work and self-sufficency and supports the principles of the rule of law, limited government and inalieanble individual rights,  then you are looking at a much smaller crowd. 

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 17:58 | 3601991 wonderatitall
wonderatitall's picture

but , but ,but, obama is black and will be our gentle slave master....racists

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 18:19 | 3602029 q99x2
q99x2's picture

This is only until we shut down Washington, (Wall Street is shutting itself down) kick the globalists out of the country re-distribute their stolen wealth break up thier monopolies and close the borders.

There is a hell of a lot of prosperity right around the corner.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 18:49 | 3602084 ponzisaurus
ponzisaurus's picture

No.  But we can do our best for the children.  Any resemblance to statist propaganda is coincidental.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 19:17 | 3602137 MeelionDollerBogus
MeelionDollerBogus's picture

wall street is shutting itself down?

really?

OK, where do I get a prescription of the same?

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:48 | 3602464 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

The meek shall inherit the earth, or whats left of it at least.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 18:24 | 3602040 Heroic Couplet
Heroic Couplet's picture

The United States tax payers bailed out the banks in 2008. We're not going to listen to ANY problems today. If there's money sitting in offshore accounts, there is no problem. The United States itself is a tax haven, so there is no problem.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 18:47 | 3602079 Two Theives and...
Two Theives and a Liar's picture

 Just remember:

"Soylent Green is made of people.."

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 23:53 | 3602704 Bear
Bear's picture

Green is Good

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 02:00 | 3602839 ponzisaurus
ponzisaurus's picture

This must be the new green economy Ive heard about.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 18:49 | 3602082 Cabreado
Cabreado's picture

I did an "F3" thru the comments, and "Congress" came up nowhere...

This thing called Congress still has Control, and will have control right up to the point where, due to neglect, our form of government changes.

Bitching about the economy and the state of affairs, without so much as a peep about the still-real point of Control, may in itself make a statement -- one that is fodder for the situation in which we find ourselves.

The focal point is glaringly obvious, time is running out, and we are behaving as ignorant, selfish little children -- and ain't it not-so-funny that ignorant, selfish little children in Congress is exactly what is controlling you -- and this dying economy too.

 

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 18:55 | 3602098 ponzisaurus
ponzisaurus's picture

"still-real" delusional the rest spot on.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 19:09 | 3602124 Cabreado
Cabreado's picture

No, not delusional.

By design and by law, control is still where it always has been.
Corruption and misuse of that control doesn't negate that fact.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 19:34 | 3602180 ponzisaurus
ponzisaurus's picture

If you see solutions through that route go for it!  I continue to vote in spite of my best judgment.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 11:54 | 3603731 Weisshaupt
Weisshaupt's picture

Congress? Those folks who take bills out of some back room and rubber stamp them without reading them? 

The "power" is in the executive office now.  Anything they can't get Congress to rubber stamp they do by using regulatory agencies, EOs, and force (IRS audits etc) 

There were never be another fair election in the United States ( if there ever were any) Need proof?  some places voted 105% for Obama in the last one. Anyone been arrested? Convicted?  Expect more 105% results in the next election. 

 

 

 

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 19:08 | 3602116 knicks3005
knicks3005's picture

Ugh, another one of these Numbered Statistics.

I want this global shitty economy to collapse as much as most of you on here but when i keep seeing these kind of articles on ZH, i just get so annoyed. It gives me....i don't know, false hope i guess?

I just want it to collapse so bad, even if it means costing my life as long as the road will be paved much better than the one we are currently on so a better future for my son and whatever family he has later on. 

This rat infested planet needs a reset ASAP.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 19:07 | 3602119 cbxer55
cbxer55's picture

I paid off my last debt on Friday, my truck payment. I now have zero debt. Rent and utilities only. ;-)

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 19:38 | 3602194 ponzisaurus
ponzisaurus's picture

Perfect- just dont make the mistake of owning real estate, and keep stackin!  keep the rubber side down coyote

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 19:44 | 3602213 cbxer55
cbxer55's picture

I rent an apartment. A really nice place with a 24/7 gym on site, noce pool hottub, etc. My wife ahs the real estate. She can keep it.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 20:11 | 3602267 ponzisaurus
ponzisaurus's picture

The good thing about current events is that women are waking up along with the men and are realizing that prosperity is living a good life not being a debt slave to keep up the Jones via a mortgage and associated taxes.  Misdirection of womens nesting instinct used in the past to create debt slavery is being overcome as their eyes open. You are indeed blessed, dont fuck up.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 23:41 | 3602335 cbxer55
cbxer55's picture

btw: I ain't no woman. ;-)

 

Guess I got the three down votes for stating the obvious. ;-)

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 19:40 | 3602200 bunnyswanson
bunnyswanson's picture

Great!  All you need now is a new country to call home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GBW9rdGeEI

Robert Welch 1974 speech

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 19:52 | 3602230 orangegeek
orangegeek's picture

make sure you have enough ammo

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 19:19 | 3602144 NihilistZero
NihilistZero's picture

Once the FED owns all the treasury paper in 201X it won't matter.  The .gov debt jubille will be in full effect.  I suspect the commodity backed currency will be introduced within months of the Feds "All your treasuries are belong to us" moment.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 19:57 | 3602246 objectivist
objectivist's picture

You're absolutely right.  This system is too sick to survive and even too sick to fix.  We should support things that work to bring it down, such as more socialism.

The beauty is that Obama actually believes that his socialist policies help.  We should give him enough rope to hang himself, so that we can start again with a more capitalist economy.

 

Next time we should add an 11th amendment to the Bill of Rights:  redistribution of wealth schemes are expressly forbidden. 

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:32 | 3602392 Floodmaster
Floodmaster's picture

Obama is a bankster puppet, democracy an illusion and your fear of socialism just the result of a successful brainwash from your masters.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 06:28 | 3602970 RKDS
RKDS's picture

After one that confirms the non-person status of corporations, maybe.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 20:30 | 3602306 steveo77
steveo77's picture

UPDATE Matt from BPT sent me a link to the full version of the Newsletter with the Audio Overlay, so this is the complete product, for free, enjoy.  
 
48 Professional Charts. Did I mention FREE? 
 
http://oahutrading.blogspot.com/2013/05/breakpoint-trades- newsletter.html

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 20:35 | 3602316 thismarketisrigged
thismarketisrigged's picture

these facts just keep getting scarier and scarier for the future.

 

i have a question for you guys. 

 

so i respect the majority of the people on this sight and deff learn a lot from most if not all of you. that being said, i just wanted to know your guys honest opinion.

 

do you guys think we are heading towards a great depression in the near future, or do you think its just going to be similar to the 08-09 market crash?

 

i mean with all the data we continue to see, its almost certain we have some economic recession, but do you think it will be similar to something like the 1930s great depression, which im assuming no one on this site was alive for, or you think it just is a real bad crash but our lives continue as normal?

 

i have loaded up on gold, silver, and ammo, but i am wondering if i am over reacting a bit?

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:13 | 3602406 Cabreado
Cabreado's picture

Fundamentals

Intent

Humility

Self-Absorption

Expectations

Corruption

Ignorance

Control

> i am wondering if i am over reacting a bit?

I'll admit, it reads like poetry, sorta.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:48 | 3602465 Herd Redirectio...
Herd Redirection Committee's picture

its impossible to put a $ value to anything, more than a few years from now, with any sort of precision.

We could have DJ 20,000, but 1 gallon of milk will be $8.

So the thing to watch is 'relative value'.  Bond market vs stock market.  Real estate vs the stock market.  The stock market vs gold.  Gold vs real estate.  Commodities vs Gold.  Gold vs silver.

And frankly, I can't tell you the $ value going forward, but I like gold/silver/lead vs real estate, stock market, bond market.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:24 | 3602428 NOTfromSanFrancisco
NOTfromSanFrancisco's picture

 

 

 

Nothing works in the markets anymore like it used to work... The government and those who do the real string pulling (but then I contradict myself) are the wildcards.

They change the rules because they pretty much own the game... If it is a crash they want, it will be a crash they get...

If it is a recession they want, it is a recession they will get...

All us wee little folk can do is prepare as best we can... Hope is not a strategy for success or survival... Keep doing what you are doing and try to educate those around you who have ears to hear...

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:37 | 3602451 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Hard to say.

The society has built a huge house of cards:  financially, physically, sociologically.

A house of cards Ponzi scheme always depends upon another card, another Ponzi victim to buy into the scheme.

This is why both parties are so desperate to let in illegal aliens and to keep funding the debt.  Reality must not be faced.  The debt must be expanded.  More cheap labor, more debt, more spending, sweep the rule-of-law under the carpet for expediency.

Realize this:  there are 2-3 days worth of food in most major metropolitan areas.  If the water treatment plants and/or electricity go down the same is true for water.

The media will be used to allay fears, however, when reality intervenes the SHTF.

The DHS is stocking up on hollow point bullets and urban assault vehicles.

Combat units have been assigned to domestic duties.

The populace has bought firearms and ammo up.

When it comes it will be worse than 1932-1933.

Big Brother will play all cards to prevent.

Who knows when?

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 22:36 | 3602549 Almost Solvent
Almost Solvent's picture

I had the misfortune of having to pick up some foodstuff this past Friday of the holiday weekend at a Wegmans.

 

WHAT A SHITSHOW. People running over each other with carts and scooters, the aisles clogged, no one wanted to move over, kids running all up and down the aisles. Every cashier lane was open, but still people trying to get their 25 items in the express lane.

 

AND THE SHELVES WERE FULLY STOCKED! I can't imagine what kind of krazy shit that would look like if there was a SHORTAGE OF FOOD?

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 03:01 | 3602881 IridiumRebel
IridiumRebel's picture

Having been thru Sandy and Irene and seeing barren aisles before and the rotten stench of spoiling food after from the parking lot....it pretty scary. You'll see.....

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:57 | 3602479 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Regardless, if you are prepared and act accordingly and are proven to be right, you will universally be despised. We only seem to like winners when they look like they never really trying. If you work, struggle and take chances, you are evil.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 22:01 | 3602490 cognus
cognus's picture

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

"Collapse" is not in the interest of the CB cartel. Though my friend who is a lifelong Professor of Economics has this reversed, I contend that the USA is following, not leading, Japan.

Has Japan collapsed?  How many Zeroids have predicted Japanese imminent doom for the past 15 years as the "lost decade" became the "20 Year Sag" etc etc ad nauseum.  People can be convinced of utterly anything/everything with enough marketeering Propaganda.

Recall the imminent "Italian Debacle" or the "Massive PIIGS Default" ?  Did the Grecian Contagion send the world into their bunkers?  Is Gold/Gun the salvation of Cyprus, Ireland, or Iceland?

gimme a break.  This is a massive Frog Boil, and the kings will eat well, but they will enjoy the meal very, very, very, very slowly over a long period of time.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 02:17 | 3602853 MrNude
MrNude's picture

As the Chinese have shown, you will always have a buyer for Gold and Silver no matter what the US does so I wouldn't worry.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 14:15 | 3604385 Totin
Totin's picture

As long as all countries willfully (maybe begrudgingly) participate in this Ponzi scheme then we'll eventually see our way to $100 Trillion in debt and beyond.  We all wring our hands thinking that the fuse has just about run out but in reality it's just been lit. The governments can keep this up indefinitely. 

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:03 | 3602387 RottenAlpha
RottenAlpha's picture
Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:06 | 3602396 HulkHogan
HulkHogan's picture

"#39 When Barack Obama first entered the White House, about 32 million Americans were on food stamps.  Now, more than 47 million Americans are on food stamps."

Well, 4 million jobs are needed a year to keep up with new people entering the job market. Obama's been in office for 4 1/2 years. 4 million x 4 1/2 years = 18 million jobs. We have had an increase of 15 million on foods stamps, so it looks like (using .gov numbers) Obama saved 3 million jobs in 4 1/2 years. Good job, big guy!

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:12 | 3602404 22winmag
22winmag's picture

The snake is eating it's tail and soon it will run out of snake. Maybe that's why you havn't seen any newly issued $100 bills in years.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:16 | 3602412 NOTfromSanFrancisco
NOTfromSanFrancisco's picture

 

 

 

The good news is... I'm still workin'...

The bad news is... Who's gonna watch my home while I'm at work?

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 23:58 | 3602686 James
James's picture

Use keyed both sides deadbolts on all doors. Make it hard if they get in to get anything out quick including them. Use/make a steel strip that catches deadbolt about a foot long or more so door can't be easily kicked in. Use long screws to attach on door jam.

Use a recording of growling dog. http://www.thehomesecuritysuperstore.com/alarm-systems-homesafe-electron...

Security bars on windows.

Lights,TV, and radios on timers set for different times of day.

Get 12 volt motion detectors and power w/12 volt marine deep cycle battery in case they shut off power. Wire to car horns. Use several detectors and horns placed strategically thru-out home. Use them 3 horn "Rail Road" blasters. Place on-off switch where you can easily get to it outside when coming or going to disable system.

I recently paid five bucks @ a garage sale for one of them blue "ADT Security" signs. Post in yard visible from street. Or on garage door.

I have more ideas.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 01:29 | 3602819 Herd Redirectio...
Herd Redirection Committee's picture

The important thing to realize... If some crazy shit happens, the low-hanging fruit will be plucked.

So you don't have to have the best security set up, or the perfect set up, just better than most.   Same as any wild animal, no one wants to get into a fight they could kill 'em.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 00:51 | 3602781 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

webcam - you can watch and record several cameras from your computer or phone.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 14:02 | 3604341 Totin
Totin's picture

I'll watch it for ya.... what's your address? Mind if I help myself to the 'fridge?

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:39 | 3602436 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

New Title: 

"40 things you will never see on CNBC or the Nightly News with Brian Williams."

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:32 | 3602439 egoist
egoist's picture
Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:40 | 3602455 The Fonz...befo...
The Fonz...before shark jump's picture

Wait until it gets a lot worst..known fact that in times of recession, financial distress...healthcare costs soar due to stress related illnesses, etc etc really put a strain on obamacare/ medicare will collapse...

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 21:55 | 3602472 cognus
cognus's picture

What A Whiner.

An imbecile can understand that all of your ChickenLIttle points can be remedied with a couple of appended Zeroes.

Ben wins.

You lose.

Game Over.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 01:48 | 3602833 Bear
Bear's picture

If Ben wins ... the game is over

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 22:35 | 3602551 GRsilverking
GRsilverking's picture

I love ZH but this guest post is redundent & pathetic. I see the points but I am soooo sick of the grossly overweighted, ONE-sided negative articles that KEEP making the same points again & again since 2008. How about a very unexpected, POSITIVE surprise for a change no doomer have ever anticipated? Shish....

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 00:09 | 3602731 suicidalpsychologist
suicidalpsychologist's picture

please, feel free to report one.

Negged.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 22:35 | 3602552 tony bonn
tony bonn's picture

the rockefeller nazis and their bush crime syndicate are delighted to read these facts (and factoids). the purpose of the 2008 crash was to plunder america and subjugate its people. the success has been astounding and americans still support the policies and government which enslaves them. if there were ever a more despicable amalgamation of people, the americans of the last century are surely it - have squandered so much for so little, trading freedom for slavery.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 22:37 | 3602556 Son of Loki
Son of Loki's picture

How did I get pushed last? I was the second poster!

 

I'm an Angry Badger!

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 22:37 | 3602560 Brazen Heist
Brazen Heist's picture

I would argue that this entire clusterfuck was born after the day that rat bastard President Nixon ended Bretton Woods.

If you look at any charts, the volatility, debt, insanity of it all, exploded after 1971. The gold standard anchored debt, because you couldnt print so much magic bennies than gold. Nowadays, a million dollars is nothing. A billion does not even seem much, given that the Treasury stole $700b from the people to bail out its banker friends. How about good honest hard working people get a "bail out"? Nope, you have to be a criminal to qualify. The entire incentive structure is perverted. All the incentives for fraud and skullduggery are there. 

The whole "independence" thing about central banks and "monetization of debt is bad" mantra, right out the window. Everything that should not be done has been done. Globalization, deregulation, trade blocs, trade liberalization and all innocent sounding isms were promoted chiefly to benefit corporations and give them as much freedom and unaccountability as they wanted. Fuck giving back to the hand that fed you when you can employ cheap labour in Vietnam and pay $25m in taxes, the rest stashed away in the Cayman Islands, right? It was ALL for the corprations, and its political shareholders. Small nations, open up your borders and let us rape you. Let us loan you ridiculous amounts of money we know you will never pay back so that we can steal your resources!

 

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 00:47 | 3602779 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

Tricky dick gave us an economic veneral disease and we slept with the entire world. there are no living, only the dead and the dying.

the elites think they own the system, but the system is a farce. All they own is a sense of entitlement and that is intangible and ephemral.

bernanke is flying the plane into the ground. he calls it a soft landing,  he's using the middle class to break the fall.

have no faith in fiat. if it ain't tangible it ain't shit. Land,metal,tools,food,booze and fuck that 0 per cent interest rate savings acount. liquidate that bitch and buy something you can barter that doesn;t need to be kept in a bank.

 

the only way out is to stop using their money and playing their game. its rigged and its dying.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 07:44 | 3603035 moonstears
moonstears's picture

I can see Bretton Woods ending for what it was. Nixon didn't want to lose all the gold. When I believed it was "OURS", it occurred this was a good thing. Now that I know it belongs to the FED balance sheet, I still guess it was a "good" thing for the average Joe, at thae time, as the world still believes that the US has a "gold reserve". I do NOT want to see this current "Fed fiat note" scam return to a gold standard. Too many liabilities against a failing currency. Think of ALL the implications, and you'll agree. If they wanted to say the "new 100 notes" due later this year, were backed by 1/100 ozt gold, and exchangable at say $10,000 minimum, that MAY work, as a fact I'm wondering the implications, of these new notes.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 22:38 | 3602563 realtick
realtick's picture

that credit chart is good

but a chart that shows where the amount of credit is going is better

This Is How I Know The Stock Market Has Topped

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 23:16 | 3602651 lolmao500
lolmao500's picture

More frightening than all of this... The next FED head is going to be LARRY SUMMERS...

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 08:51 | 3603138 Widowmaker
Widowmaker's picture

Look on the bright side, someone has to be the first Fed-head murdered.

Fat fuck himself couldn't be more deserving.

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 23:31 | 3602679 El Gordo
El Gordo's picture

What, me worry?

Mon, 05/27/2013 - 23:39 | 3602690 lolmao500
lolmao500's picture

When NAFTA was pushed through Congress in 1993, the United States had a trade surplus with Mexico of 1.6 billion dollars.  By 2010, we had a trade deficit with Mexico of 61.6 billion dollars.

Thank God for globalism! And Clinton! Greatest president evar!!

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 00:31 | 3602757 TheMerryPrankster
TheMerryPrankster's picture

Each country has its own ruling class. In capitalist countries, the rulers own the
means of production and employ workers.

oops, i meant employ robots..

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 01:00 | 3602794 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Who owns the means of production in socialist countries? And how is it working for them?

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 12:07 | 3603796 Weisshaupt
Weisshaupt's picture

There are Capitalist Countries?  Where? 

Any Country where govt power is used by businesses to prevent competiton, and business have to toe the political line of the politicans  is practicing fascism, not capitalism. 

 

 

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 01:33 | 3602823 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Listened to Chris Hedges over at Jesse's Cafe. Was appalled at his generalizations and black or white perceptions but maybe that is what it takes to file a lawsuit against the NDAA and win. He is a great for the good work he has done but has a jaded view of cause and effect.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 01:57 | 3602838 Judge Crater
Judge Crater's picture

You notice on the charts that all the debt numbers started spiraling up into fiscal Neverland after Ronald Reagan became President? Since Reagan, every U.S. President we have had has sold out this country to help out his friends, one way or another.  Reagan supported the Nicaragua Contras by letting them ship into cocaine to the USA.  His DEA got paid off to let drug shipments enter this country via planes landing on American aifr force bases.  Clinton as Arkansas governor did nothing about the drug shipments into Mena, AK.  The Afghan warlords the CIA funds now are the biggest opium dealers in the world.  That is some strategy, get the people hooked on drugs and then steal the country.  Jimmy Carter was no friend of druglords, so he had to go.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 05:38 | 3602951 smacker
smacker's picture

 

I understand that Mena was not used for drug shipments. It was merely a maintenance base for the aircraft. Here's an interview with the pilot:  http://files.aracari.warpmail.net/ACF/Billy-Bear-Bottoms-Interview.pdf

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 02:38 | 3602865 chasman
chasman's picture

so what....i have been on zh for years...anyone who stayed true to this site missed the  100 percent market increase.....some day zh will be correct just like a broken clock is right 2 times a day...... as for me.....i only read this for enertainment now

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 02:45 | 3602870 IridiumRebel
IridiumRebel's picture

Sure

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 03:15 | 3602889 CutOut
CutOut's picture

HEART, we are still waiting for an explanation...

ZH readers may like to ask HEART why he intentionally posts disinfo including Boston bombing fake injuries / fake blood / crisis actors garbage which is 100% DISINFORMATION.

(Have got screen caps so don't bother deleting your Boston posts)

......................................................

ZH is being targeted by FedGov spambots & human operatives saturating the comment sections with garbage and disinformation in addition to down voting certain posters.

They are not harmless trolls, they are professional operatives attempting to undermine and discredit ZH via multi nic sock puppets.

Attacking this post by constant down voting speaks for itself.
Case closed.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 03:56 | 3602906 Peter Pan
Peter Pan's picture

The list of 40 is only a start as it omits such things as the incredible jail rates, drug consumption, broken marriages and broekn families, the incredible degree to which people's bodies, lives and privacy are "frisked" by the "protectors", the incredible jump in Wall Street bonuses, the lack of jailing for well conected wrongdoers, the degree of market manipulation, the level of insider trading by members of congress, student debt, armed forces personnel deaths and maimings in the last decade being at an all time high etc etc etc.

The US to my regret is no longer a leader in anything of benefit to itself or humanity. Its negatives far outweigh its positives. The trust given to the USA with Bretton Woods has been squandered in the process of defrauding every citizen and non-citizen alike.

The Americans have outspent their wealth and possibly outlived their time as a superpower. The true measure of a superpower is not the size of its nuclear arsenal but the smallness of its government, the ability of a brilliant human being to be elecetd President without the support of the oligarchs and the degree to which their children are born into a better world.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 08:48 | 3603131 Aegelis
Aegelis's picture

Politics and common sense are like oil and water. 

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 04:03 | 3602912 Long Sticks and...
Long Sticks and Stones's picture

Well people it's been fun eh? We have reached an amazing pinnacle of human evolution. We have connected the planet, high speed transportation, contraptions to explore the outer limits of the solar systems in other universes and all manner of bacon products. We have doubled the population of the planet in 40 years. And that is our main problem. We're in a financial system that requires constant growth living on a planet that can't take anymore. We're in the algae bloom stage of the cycle. What is a central planner to do but crash the system.The brilliance of the plan is that it is done in plain sight with excuses and propaganda galore and we are powerless to stop them. They have trampled the constitution and barely a feather was ruffled. Who shall we go after? Elect a new congress? Refuse to buy certain products? I think not. Just enjoy the show. The system will crash and from the ashes will emerge a central planners wet fucking dream. The big problem is the pure hell mankind will endure to reach the otherside. And for how long, could it be generational or maybe a few years. I hope my beans bullets and bullion lasts a few years. Good luck everybody. Get to know your neighbors and don't shoot anyone unneccesarily.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 04:18 | 3602921 Peter Pan
Peter Pan's picture

I think the pinnacle in human evolution was reached quite a few centuries ago and possibly B.C.

In terms of technological evolution we are still on the march although the ability of technology to drone you to death, listen to you, watch you and X-ray you is something our forefathers would not have considered progress.

You are probably right though in saying that the evil retards are simply stalling for time as they design a new central government to solve the problems of the world except for the people at the top that created the problem in the first place with wars, massive movements of capital and leverage like never before.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 04:36 | 3602930 waterdude
waterdude's picture

Wonder how the economic collapse blog guy's PA is doing?  

 

And what is he going to rename his blog when he finally gets it that economic collapse isn't going to happen?  Maybe "economic collapse except for real estate, stock market, fixed income assets and oh, employment, blog?" Or Maybe "Help me! I'm trapped in 2008 and get out! blog"

 

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 04:45 | 3602933 observer007
observer007's picture

Debt Slaves: Brake The Matrix!

Central Banks turn all of us into debt slaves:

http://homment.com/debt-slaves

 

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 06:26 | 3602950 GoldIsMoney
GoldIsMoney's picture

The joy of fiat-money systems. They do work "reasonable" for  a while till it shows that the politicians (I prefer deledefs (for democatic legalised defrauders)) do always consume more than they should. And at the end there is the death spiral of debt which anyway gets more worthless by the day. Then the stuff breaks down and the "normal life" is re-established and the parasites are "quite decimated", but they are there and they just wait and see till there are more host animals. Then they start stealing again big. 

They all do it in the name of social fairness, or fairness alone or if things start falling apart, fighting against poverty. You can see it coming over an over again and it is written down in Conquest of poverty from Hazlitt. Another books worth reading in this context is "This time is different".

Well as you may guess, it's not different this time....

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 05:44 | 3602952 avenriv
avenriv's picture

hi ! are the 1980 US$ equal to 2013 S$ ?

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 06:16 | 3602966 smacker
smacker's picture

 

Many of these 40 facts about the US economy are not unique to the US (same problems in the UK etc). They're mostly a direct consequence of the end of real economic growth that occurred about one generation ago in many Western economies.

Absent income from real growth, to get re-elected the political elites presented a false positive picture. They have borrowed & spent and deceived populations and encouraged them to borrow & spend like there's no tomorrow. Meaning that governments and populations have resorted to debt fueled spending. We are now suffering the consequences of it; the debt-fueled bubble has burst and there's a mad scramble to grab what's left.

There are government stats produced on GDP and there are folks like John Williams over on ShadowStats who produce stats on real GDP. Like official CPI inflation stats, official GDP stats are complete garbage and do not represent truth and reality. When you adjust official nominal GDP downwards by real CPI, you get a negative figure. That has been the case for more or less a generation. The political elites have dealt with this by producing phony CPI figures.

Enter: the era of central bank cheap money policies, phony property-price booms and all the rest of it, to bridge the gaping hole. None of which produces any real wealth, because that's all been outsourced to places like China.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 06:24 | 3602969 Wilcat Dafoe
Wilcat Dafoe's picture

HEY ZH:

 

www.voltairenet.org/article178638.html

Manwë failed to stop grievous harm after harm, because in his goodness, he did not - could not - understand Melkor.

 

 

Whatever happened to all those anti-war marches?

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 08:36 | 3603100 kralizec
kralizec's picture

The End Is Near!

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 08:43 | 3603110 Widowmaker
Widowmaker's picture

Bankrupt and homeless...

"No one saw Fascism coming," they will say!

The Federal government has destroyed the USA.

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 08:46 | 3603125 d edwards
d edwards's picture

Isn't it interesting the f-ing 0lahma seems to be administering the coup d' gras?

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 22:20 | 3606062 daedon
daedon's picture

TALK ABOUT A GLASS HALF FULL, BE OPTIMISTIC,

 

"30 years ago, the U.S. national debt was about one trillion dollars.  Today, it is almost 17 trillion dollars". But taking real inflation into account, that's more like 400 billion dollars.

 

"Since 2001, the United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities and millions of good jobs have been shipped overseas". (1) This is great news, Americans no longer need to work. (2) the manufacturing facilities weren't lost they're just empty, waiting for, ... who the f knows what.

 

"The percentage of Americans that are self-employed is at a record low", that means that more Americans have steady Mac-jobs then ever before.

 

Points 1 to whatever, when the rest of the world realizes what the US dollar is "really" worth, it'll be too late, the debt will be reduced to nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tue, 05/28/2013 - 22:20 | 3606064 daedon
daedon's picture

TALK ABOUT A GLASS HALF FULL, BE OPTIMISTIC,

 

"30 years ago, the U.S. national debt was about one trillion dollars.  Today, it is almost 17 trillion dollars". But taking real inflation into account, that's more like 400 billion dollars.

 

"Since 2001, the United States has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities and millions of good jobs have been shipped overseas". (1) This is great news, Americans no longer need to work. (2) the manufacturing facilities weren't lost they're just empty, waiting for, ... who the f knows what.

 

"The percentage of Americans that are self-employed is at a record low", that means that more Americans have steady Mac-jobs then ever before.

 

Points 1 to whatever, when the rest of the world realizes what the US dollar is "really" worth, it'll be too late, the debt will be reduced to nothing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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