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27 Huge Red Flags For The U.S. Economy
Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,
If you believe that the U.S. economy is heading in the right direction, you really need to read this article. As we look toward the second half of 2014, there are economic red flags all over the place. Industrial production is down. Home sales are way down. Retail stores are closing at the fastest pace since the collapse of Lehman Brothers. U.S. household debt is up substantially, and in 20 percent of all U.S. families everyone is unemployed. In so many ways, what we are witnessing right now is so similar to what we experienced during the build up to the last great financial crisis. We are making so many of the very same mistakes that we made the last time, and yet our "leaders" seem completely oblivious to what is happening. But the warning signs are very clear. All you have to do is open your eyes and look at them. The following are 27 huge red flags for the U.S. economy...
#1 Despite endless assurances from the Obama administration that we are in an "economic recovery", the number one concern for U.S. voters is "Unemployment/Jobs" according to a recent Gallup survey.
#2 Historically, sales for construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar have been a pretty good indicator of where the global economy is heading next. Unfortunately, sales were down 13 percent last month and have now experienced year over year declines for 17 months in a row.
#3 During the first quarter of 2014, profits at office supply giant Staples fell by 43.5 percent.
#4 Foot traffic at Wal-Mart stores fell by 1.4 percent during the first quarter of 2014. Analysts seem puzzled as to why Wal-Mart is "underperforming". Perhaps it is because the U.S. middle class is being steadily destroyed and U.S. consumers are tapped out at this point.
#5 It is being projected that Sears will soon close hundreds more stores and will eventually go out of business altogether...
The company said this week that it may sell its 51% stake in Sears Canada, which operates nearly 20% of the company's stores worldwide. It has quietly closed nearly 100 U.S. stores in the last year. Next week, it's expected to announce dismal fiscal first quarter results and possibly yet more store closings.
"They have too many stores and they're losing a lot of money, burning cash," said John Kernan, an analyst with Cowen.
Kernan expects the company to close 500 of its 1,980 U.S. stores in a few years and, ultimately, to go out of business.
"The lights are going off at Sears and Kmart," he said. "There are tumbleweeds blowing through the parking lots at Kmart. They're basically completely irrelevant."
The "retail apocalypse" just continues to roll on, but the mainstream media is treating this like it is not really a big deal.
#6 The labor force participation rate for Americans from the age of 25 to the age of 29 has fallen to an all-time record low.
#7 According to official government numbers, everyone is unemployed in 20 percent of all American families.
#8 As families struggle to pay their bills, many of them are increasingly turning to debt in order to make ends meet. Earlier this month we learned that total U.S. household debt has increased for three quarters in a row. And as I noted in one recent article, total consumer credit in the United States has increased by 22 percent over the past three years, and 56 percent of all Americans have "subprime credit" at this point.
#9 Interest rates on student loans are scheduled to increase substantially on July 1st...
As of July 1, federal student loan rates will edge up. Rates overall will be up 0.8% compared to current rates.
Federal Stafford Loans for undergraduate students will be 4.66% — up from 3.86%. Federal Stafford Loans for graduate students will be 6.21% — up from 5.41%.
Federal Grad PLUS and Federal Parent PLUS Loans will be at 7.21% — up from 6.41%.
This is going to put even more pressure on the growing student loan debt bubble.
#10 U.S. industrial production fell by 0.6 percent in April. This should not be happening if the economy truly was "recovering".
#11 Manufacturing job openings in the United States have declined for four months in a row.
#12 Existing home sales have fallen for seven of the last eight months and seem to be repeating a pattern that we witnessed back in 2007 prior to the last financial crash.
#13 In the real estate bubble market of Phoenix, sales in April were down 12 percent year over year, and active inventory was up 49 percent year over year. In other words, there are tons of homes on the market, but sales are going down.
#14 The homeownership rate in the United States has dropped to the lowest level in 19 years.
#15 Trading revenue at big banks all over the western world is way down...
Late Friday, it was JPMorgan who said trading revenues will be down 20 percent this quarter. Now Barclays says trading revenues in the first three months were down 41 percent. The company cited "challenging trading conditions resulting in subdued client activity." Like JPMorgan, Barclays also warned they were seeing no improvement in trading in the second quarter.
#16 Jan Loeys, JPMorgan's head of global asset allocation, is warning that the Federal Reserve is creating a huge financial bubble which could "push us into a credit crisis"...
Where do we go from here? To this analyst, still very subdued economic growth, both at the US and global level, implies continued easy monetary policy. The risk is that bond yields rise no faster than the forwards. Financial overheating (asset inflation) proceeds much faster than economic overheating (CPI inflation). Before CPI inflation has a chance to emerge, and before monetary policy is truly above neutral, a financial bubble will have popped up somewhere and will have corrected, pushing the economy down. That is what has happened in the past 25 years. The behavior of central banks gives us no confidence that this time will be different: Central banks talk about financial instability, but appear to define this mostly in term of bank leverage. Each successive boom and bust is always in another place. A bubble can emerge without leverage. It is not possible to project exactly where this boom and bust cycle will take place as knowing where it will be would induce evasive actions that should prevent it from occurring. One possible ending, among many, is that ultra-easy rates having induced credit markets to grow much faster than equity markets, combines with reduced market making by banks (many of whom have become like brokers) to create a liquidity crisis when the Fed starts the first set of rate hikes. This could then be bad enough to close primary markets, and thus push us into a credit crisis.
#17 Peter Boockvar, the chief market analyst at the Lindsey Group, is warning that the U.S. stock market could experience a 20 percent decline once quantitative easing completely ends.
#18 A lot of other big names are telling CNBC that they expect a significant stock market "correction" very soon as well...
A bevy of high-profile names have warned lately that the market is on the doorstep of a major move lower. From long-term market bulls such as Piper Jaffray to short-term traders such as Dennis Gartman, expectations are high that the major averages are poised for a big dip, with calls varying from 10 percent or so all the way up to 25 percent.
#19 The number of Americans enrolled in the Social Security disability program exceeds the entire population of the nation of Greece and has just hit another brand new record high.
#20 Poverty continues to grow all over the country, and right now there are 49 million Americans that are dealing with food insecurity.
#21 According to Pew Charitable Trusts, tax revenue in 26 U.S. states is still lower than it was back in 2008 even though tax rates have gone up in many areas since then.
#22 Barack Obama is doing his best to keep his promise to destroy the U.S. coal industry...
The EPA is about to impose a new regulation that will reduce carbon emissions from existing power plants starting June 2 and will become permanent in 2015. The new regulation, according to Politico, is the “most dramatic anti-pollution regulation in a generation.” Because the new regulation will further cripple the coal industry, as coal-burning plants will be severely affected, American power will become more dependent on natural gas, solar and wind.
#23 Climatologists are now saying that the state of Texas is going through the worst period of drought that it has experienced in 500 years.
#24 It is being reported that "dozens of Texas communities" are less than 90 days away from being completely out of water.
#25 It is being projected that the drought in California will cost the agricultural industry 1.7 billion dollars and that approximately 14,500 agricultural workers will lose their jobs.
#26 Due in part to the drought, the price of meat rose at the fastest pace in more than 10 years last month.
#27 According to recent surveys, only about a quarter of all Americans believe that the country is heading in the right direction.
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#28...eat drink and be merry....CAUSE THIS FUCKING TRAIN'S HEADED FOR A BRICK-FUCKING-WALL
I’m just happy there ain’t moar red flags or flares and that my future health and safety is secured by the unnaturaly born citizen.
When I first read this I thought it was an expose on Obama's true vision -- 27 Huge Red Fags for America. I'll keep my eyes out and post the real link when I find it.
Besides the MIC, Hollywood and hookers. What's our economy?
You're forgetting that which funds the 3 you listed -- bankers.
In Crimea and East Ukraine is huge red flag (with white and blue stripe above) that thing is to be very bad for Ukraine people... also is huge red flag on border of Vietnam. Too bad star spangle flag is so impotent after boy king is drive USSA economy through latrine.
i'm seeing white flags splatted with blood, whilst the banksters cash in...
tie a yellow ribbon around my cock and have a banker suck on that package...
But I just cut loose 99 red ballons, does that count for anything.
Never forgetting, all war is bankster's war.
Speaking of which... what's going on in Donetsk? Didn't they threaten all-out war on Ukraine if their forces didn't leave over the weekend?
Old Russian proverb, "When you are eat cabbage roll, expect plenty gas, but no solid waste... until later when get run in trouser."
Not sure how bankers are "cashing in" these days. Tons of finance people are out of work and bonuses are 1/2 the size and 60% deferred. 99% of bankers/traders are honest. Give it a rest already.
Banksters and their minion thugs have not even begun to get their....
They are a cancer that needs to be removed.
"99% of bankers/traders are honest"
IS THIS A SURVEY or a personal opinion?
how could it be possible when the criteria #1 for "any" position is sociopath status?
Sorry Boris, Amerikansky taxpayer no give ?????? about Ukraine and tired of being whole world's ????. Boy king's mistake is not keeping us farther from those conflicts, and letting his chain be yanked by DC pundits who promote the fantasy that the USA can control the world just by swinging big ?????.
Dear Mr. Shorts,
USSA citizenry is love any excuse for war, but that is beside of point. You are please to consider behavior of one super power is affecting of behavior of other super power and when USSA is sufficiently to demonstrate global ineptitude, then "red line" chatter and hash-tag diplomacy like giggle school girl is only to make Russian autocrat chuckle and proceed with impunity. So you are take that and swing big ????? for display only.
Sincerest regards,
Boris
"A lot of other big names are telling CNBC that they expect a significant stock market "correction" very soon as well..."
wow. The awfulness of this article can't even be measured. It actually can't be measured.
Look what they can do to the stock market in 2 picoseconds. The news just can't keep up.
oh heck.. get into the spirit of things...
embrace the crushing as we are all plummeted into the chasm created by our betters.
..or maybe some might not react so meekly.
My comment from Mike's Blog.
Prepping for annual audit right now. Sales of Ready mix concrete, aggregate, steel and steel fabrication are down 10% from last year. Our transportation of these materials from our own sources are down 6%, and outside sources 7% (the costs/revenue depends on distance).
We were a $60 million business in 2005. We did $23 million for FY 03-2014. In 2005 we had 30% government business, in 2014 we have 60% government business.
At least we got to build the guard towers for the FEMA camps.
"It actually can't be measured."
The Fed is working on a chart big enough to measure it. Practice makes perfect.
It went parabolic! Just need a taller chart!
One huge red flag for the US economy: the hammer and sickle banner of the USSA.
Is banner most important sickle for people's collective.
*******************************************************
I added the ass-terisks so that twats will read this. If you're not a twat, move on, this is for the little girls running this author down.
I'm gonna come back here all day today and I'm going to Take the piss out of anyone who replies to this with anything other than a sincere apology. (after a nap, I got up early to see my oldest awarded top student in her class)
"The awfulness of this article can't even be measured. It actually can't be measured."
I'm sick of useless eaters running down Michael Snyder. What are you doing? FUCK ALL, that's what, FUCK ALL! NOTHING.
What would be better, RE an article on the overall state of the economy? Do you want a prosaic exposition of the various elements? Then FUCKING WRITE IT, ASSHOLES.
Until then, either stop reading his posts (you won't because there's good information in all of them) or just keep your shitty, cranky little opinions to yourself. Save your snide shit for the control freaks. This fellow is one of ours.
********************************************************
I got 27 reasons why I am tired of Snyder's lists. But I'll leave y'all to your own.
"Foot traffic at Wal-Mart stores fell by 1.4% ... but scooter use is up 430%."
Going to have to start building some infrastructure under those aisles pretty soon.
Ummm gee why would that be? Oh yeah they cut EBT by $100/mo. Why is this such a mystery.
He has lists of lists of lists.
While there might be some useful information, for which I am thankful, it does get rather old that it is all presented in the most digestible form. ZH should just have a news scroll at the bottom of the site for Mr. Snyders lists.
All that is needed to change things, is the average IQ upgraded by 30 to 50 points for the masses, ignoring what they think they know and start thinking about everything from scratch.
See, nothing to worry about, the future looks bright!
PS: The average will go up, one way or the other. My bet is on the other.
faacts is facts....
WTF ?
Number 28: Snyder is using quotes from the parasitic banker class to describe the state of the economy.
pods
So when it's shit and the bankers concede that, then what? It's utterly irrelevant? What's your point pods?
The biggest red flag that one can see everyday is that all US markets are completely manipulated. When your government will not permit free or fair markets, you can be sure that the end is nigh.
In my opinion it has been a really, really long time waiting for that nigh to come by.
The markets can remain nigh longer than you can remain solvent.
government? It is the bankers control the government. You don't think Blackrock, Caryle, Goldman, etc don't just decide how they are making money next year....and give their orders to the people you elected, to pass the law....to allow them to make that money, if they don't just Bloomberg a Fed minion to print them what they need?
I am sure Standley Fischer(bank of Israel & FED gov, can't make this stuff up) at the FED won't put a dent in a certain group taking ALL YOUR MONEY!
i only need one reason to UNDERSTAND how bad it is.... Printing Money/Zero percent Interest LOCKED IN FOREVER!!!!!
Locked in forever, or until The Big Reset?
A map of the worst countries in the world in which to be a worker via @BoingBoing http://boingboing.net/2014/05/21/a-map-of-the-worst-countries-i.html
“Countries such as Denmark and Uruguay led the way through their strong labour laws, but perhaps surprisingly, the likes of Greece, the United States and Hong Kong, lagged behind,” said ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow.
USA USA USA ;-)
whomever does a negative on my comment
1) does not believe in meaningful statistics
2) does not believe in factual science
3) is just a fucktard IDIOT who probably voted for Obama twice
4) all of the above
Dude (wasn't me gave you any red marks, BTW) ITUC is the International Trade Union Conference, about as far a left wing group as one can get.
HQ in Brussels?
Du-fucking-h
That's where your reddies are coming from.
It is neither science, nor "factual" through their lenses.
Ain't science trough anybody's lenses, FFS
Grouping Hong Kong into your list with USA and Greece was your mistake.
Socialists don't like Fascists.
And the United States is now Fascist.
Out of the 14,500 agricultural workers in Kalifornia expected to lose theor jobs, 14,499 are illegal ailiens, paying almost zero taxes.
The price we pay for cheap strawberries, indeed.
The sooner that shit state burns, the better.
Same with the other 49.
RafterMan, don't wish for...you night get it good and hard...
CA produces a hugmiongous amount of America;'s food and contributes a piss load more to the Feds for everybody else than we get back ...
The Dumbocraps think of us as a natural resource ... as slave labor and a tax base.
Plus 1 for the most creative spelling of 'humongous'.
#27 According to recent surveys, only about a quarter of all Americans believe that the country is heading in the right direction.
And most of the other three quarters would vote for the Kenyan jackass again if given the chance.
I know I would!
But a little full disclosure, I've got Stockholm Syndrome.
I didn't vote, but I waved the we're number one sign.
Or was that the bad finger.
Oh well, never mind.
This Snyder guy is a bit annoying, but many of these don't bode well for the economy.
My question is just how long can this US faux economy be propped up before the seemingly inevitable catastrophic failure?
A lot longer than I ever imagined it could!
Me, too, I figured we were done in 2010; how they managed to keep this shit flowing since then has amazed me.
Yup...same here, 2010.
By June of that year I was completely out of the equity markets and totally reorganized financially. And you know what? I don't regret being an "early adapter"....although I haven't made any money since then, I haven't grown any more gray hairs either! (And that was my primary goal).
Rainbows & skittles.
Is Snyder having a half-price sale on Prepper products again?
It's a bit disturbing to read an article here that begins with "If you believe that the U.S. economy is heading in the right direction, you really need to read this article."
The author and the publisher need to be careful about insulting the audience/reader.
It's a simple nitpick -- until it becomes more, when there is no choice but to throw it into the "too much self-interest over time leads to chaos" bucket (the biggest one).
I disagree;
My recent blog posts start with:
"Dear fucking imbecile..."
"Attention inbred drooling devolutionary throwbacks..."
"Today's post: An Instructable on how to castrate yourself..."
You really need a "hook" to reach people.
97% of Lawsofphysics posts end with "BOOM MOTHERFUCKER". and I actually get upset at the 3% that don't.
LOL
Y'all are going to have to start putting links in with that shit. Get us all curious, leave us hanging [being too stoopid to look it up ourselves]. That shit just ain't right!
And if all of that wasn't bad enough I've got a wicked bad toenail infection on my left big toe.
the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round
I WILL DO WHATEVER OBAMA WANTS JUST NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MORE LISTS PLEASE !!!!!!!!
Yea yea yea blah blah blah...The end is nearer the end is nearer...always the same, Prepare the end is NEARER!
I think i'm getting desensitized to this brand of doom porn, should I start looking up a different genre or just take a break?
Just ignore Michael Snyder and you should be fine.
Farmers and ranchers are going belly-up by the dozens in Texas due to the drought.
The gubmnt has given priority to the massive housing devleopment/developers and diverted water away from farms and cattle ranches so the sub-burbanites can water their lawns endlessly and warsh their Escalades.
My Uncle went down fighting but was forced to sell his 60 head of solid beef and then dumped his land.
Oh well.
But shiney stuff is what makes the world go round.
They dumped water out to watch it go all the way to the Sea of Cortez. They dumped water in Sacramento. There is a slow grift to control water, sell the eterna-drought, and ultimately Enron Style execute a multi year wallet rape of the evicerated and reeling California middle class.
@handfullofdust - What region of Texas are you speaking of? What water resource are you speaking of?
West Texas and the Valley. Austinites need their lake front property more than cotton farmers down by Corpus and the coast.
Fuck Prop 6
"Mike, stop the bus please, I wanna get off."
I'd hate to be in this guy's post-apocalyptic compound; "47 reasons you need to feed the chickens today."
That would get real old real fast.
Yeah. And why is this moved up with a later time stamp?
Post-apocalyptically, Mike would be struggling to find a 70th "Ways To Do Your Bitch That Hasn't Bathed In Three Months".
The eye watering gut-buster comment is the real reason I can't stay away from ZH.
Fucking awesome!
Live from his parent's basement...it's Michael Snyder!
Michael Snyder's fanboys can go fuck themselves too.
In your basement, no one can hear you scream.
Except your parents, who wearily request you stop looking at porn.
As depressing as it may be, I think this was a very good argument for the gloom that may lie ahead. Points are supported with solid rationale and should serve as a solid foundation for intelligent conversation. To that end, any thoughts on where the money is coming from pushing the stock markets higher?
Oh shut the fuck up
Where is the wall of money coming from? From borrowing. The average joe isn't creditworthy enough to borrow for anything beyond a car or a government student loan, but big corporations are borrowing trillions in ultra long term debt at rock bottom interest rates (even 50 and 100 year notes !!), and using the proceeds to buy back stock. Half of the stock market gains of the last 5 years are from buybacks diminishing the float. The financial industry is living high on the hog because they touch the newly printed money first.
Im stroking my AK. Number 29.
Time for active measures?
https://www.swatmag.com/articles/view/toys-for-totalitarians
Even the gubmint's own figures show 20% of Amerikan families consist of completely jobless folk? Well, that means the true figure must be quite a bit higher. Go, USA!!
So when we reach 0% workplace participation rate, does that mean we have finally reached Utopia? Will we all live in really nice retirement villages?
The facilities are a little stark, but the stay will be brief and you will have the undivided attention of the staff. Welcome to Camp FEMA Fort Irwin.
I been saying we would see this decade the Death of American Retail for a long time.
The days of running to sears and maxing out the credit card are over.
The only businesses / franchises that will survive are resteraunt chains, IMO but they wont perform well.
People will slowly opt for thrift style stores, and will shop online to avoid taxation to save money.
When and if they institute an internet shopping tax, online business will die off as well.
When no one is shopping, you pretty much endup with mass lay-offs , and social decline.
This is all caused by inflation,taxation and rules and regulation.
Government War and Central Banks have destroyed the economy and turned America into a welfare state 60% of the population doesn't work, most of the jobs are being stolen from people aged 25 ~ 35 and given to people 65+ and 15~20.
As it stands, you are going to have to wait till you are in your 60s to get hired.
The government causes this, because companies are hiring people who qualify for medicaid to escape medical insurance costs of employment, and they are hiring ultra-young to avoid insurance premium hikes (since young people tend to stay healthy).
The people who should be shopping in malls right now (ages 25~40) should be having kids, starting families, and shopping for baby products and kitchen appliances, but instead they are broke.
The entire situation is a government induced demographic collapse of society.
99% of job listings consist of:
Waiters
Resteraunt Managers for failing Resteraunts
Bus Boys (clean tables etc.)
Food Delivery
Misc. Government Seasonal Jobs (park cleaning leaves etc.)
Discretionary income for age groups that would spend is too low, (old people dont spend money, they try and save it for retirement or it all goes to cover fixed expenses).
So there is NO WAY OUT, the economy mathematically can not recover under the current model for atleast another 30 years, only revolution, and banking/monetary system replacement can fix the problem, or you wait till old people die off and hand jobs/wealth over to the next generation, and hope the inflation and central banks have not stollen all the wealth before then, its just simple demographics.
All that being said, these doom lists are getting old, "we get it already".
And in a colder part of the continent
There aren't enough workers
To fill all the job vacancies.
We could use some help.
"and they are hiring ultra-young to avoid insurance premium hikes (since young people tend to stay healthy)"
Nope, you're absolutely wrong there. Those that are 11-21 simply are no longer even on the map for work. We have an entire generation that is out-sourced by older workers or by foreign workers.
And while I know there are outstanding exceptions, my daily encounters with those 30 and below in age (not necessarily IQ) makes me believe we've raised a generation of pure cannon fodder. And I find that greatly concerning.
China has lots of cannon fodder too. And they have about 40 million excess males who can't find mates. Looks like the pieces are slowly moving into place for WW III.
Exactly, all the smart males should hide under a rock till the war is over, and steal all the G.I.Joe widow women, its easy when they are alone, vulnerable, and outnumber you 30 to 1.
;P just saying.
Internal (CONUS) Surveillance seems to be a growing industry.
The math doesn't lie, so why not declare a jubilee and get on with life?
#1, No one wants to know the truth
#2, no one wants to work for wealth
#3, No one believes they will let the ponzi fall
#4, No one cares if they are indebted servants
#5, No one has any problem with an absolutely corrupt government as long as they get theirs
#6, No one will ever see "it" coming
27?
Sears? Last time I walked into a Sears was 2006. And I didn't buy anything. And KMart? 2001 maybe. So if my average Joe shopping habits are any indication, they're both fucked!
Exactly.
All those big chains like JCPenny , Sears, Macy's , etc.. etc... are fucked (I think radioschak is on the tight ropes, might make it might not).
The only ones that will probably make it . . .
Footlocker
Most big food chains Wendys, McD's, Subway, etc..
Other similar sized shoe outlets (stuff people out-grow buy seasonally, boots, shoes,dress shoes,sneakers etc.)
Jacket manufactureres (its cold outside on the breadline lol)
Local Footlocker in the mall shuttered after Holiday season 2013; all those shiny Nike's must not have been enough.
Can't buy Jordan's with an EBT?
Not Yet...I'm sure it's in the works.
I last walked through Sears in 2013 in idle curiosity because I hadn't actually been to the Mall since 2005. And the only reason I went to the Mall was because my wife heard that there was some new outfit called Dick's Sporting Goods, and she wanted to see if they carried any decent weapons.
Well, this IS California, so we thought we'd wander around a bit since we drove ten miles to get to the shithole, and it WAS Christmas Season, and we were parked right outside in the mostly empty parking lot...
I'll be damned, they have a big fucking Macy's there now. A LOT of painted plywood in the Mall itself. Holy shit, they moved the movie theater! "Didn't this used to be a different store?" "yeah, we came and bought shit for homeless kids." "What used to be here?" "Fuck, I don't know..." Three hours later..."Merlin's!!"
All that said, forty years ago that mall location was empty desert at the end of a road on I-15 that the National Guard was handing out free coffee and donuts to people so they wouldn't fall asleep on their way home to Los Angeles from Las Vegas.
I go to Landmark Mall only for the Chinese massage joint and the dollar store.
So they're charging 4.66%-7.21% on student loans when savers get paid 0.02% on savings and the FED still has the prime rate at 0%?
If that isn't a scam I don't know what is. It's a generational ass raping in the guise of a shoulder rub.
Look at the principal too. The original loan is counterfeit. It is created by an enter key and doesn't represent the money of productive work. Instead, the government is exchanging nothing, the counterfeit, for the student's something, their productive work which will be required to pay off the loan.
This new counterfeit will permeate throughout the system and everyone's purchasing power will drop. Inflation is theft and theft only benefits the thief.
Hopefully none of the current crop of students pay back one penny of their loan. That will make the 6% interest look... well... irrelevent. That is, unless the predators-that-be officially brand them all as "slaves", which is plausible (they consider all citizens to be slaves already).
You asked for slaves, the 13th amendment gives to you slaves.
Link please: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_C...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOIMmmyv1uc
Today a big topic is the huge growth in inequality. Those who look closely understand that it is not the 1% at the top stealing the icing off the cake, but the much smaller .1% or .01% that are skewing the numbers and overreaching.
I contend this goes hand in hand with the massive growth in crony capitalism and corruption. Much of this can be attributed to the ability of those in control "changing the rules" and positioning themselves to benefit at every corner. In our busy and complex world we have found it impossible to watch all the moving parts. More on this subject in the article below.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2014/05/how-empires-collapse.html
The inequality is caused by the counterfeit:
"...It is this exchange of counterfeit that lowers the producers' power to purchase. Whomever receives the counterfeit first trades it for the products of other people's work. As the counterfeit is passed along its power to purchase decreases and what one would have purchased with the higher power to purchase before the counterfeit was introduced has been stolen from them by the thief. The repeated process of introducing more and more counterfeit into the economy necessarily then represents the increasing theft of the purchasing power from those who do productive work by those who do not. Counterfeiting therefore is the primary cause of the atrophy of the middle classes as they are surreptitiously pummeled into poverty. Such is the corrupt nature of modern economics and how well established thieves steal from producers..." -OC Sure
And the "counterfeit" is allowed because of corruption, and this benefits the crony capitalist at the top.
A major business group said Monday that U.S. manufacturers are hoping an immigration bill will let them give hundreds of thousands of jobs to foreign workers.
Jay Timmons, the president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers, said he believes an immigration bill will pass near the end of this year. He said creating some pathway to citizenship for non-legal residents is “absolutely essential” for manufacturers to help bring skilled workers to the United States.
The push for immigration reform has nothing to do with "social justice."
The real driver is the oligarchs wanting a bigger labor pool who will work cheaper to leverage against the American worker.
It's just that simple.
Bill, -- I mostly agree with you, but it's not quite that simple. I must add; third world migration is an assault on White Man. A creeping genocide actually.
The White Frog says; "damn! that water is paralyzing hot.
White here, brown in India or Mexico, yellow in China or black in Nigeria. I don't think they give a damn what color we are. The globalists have been busy destroying cultures the world over. They have to annihilate any culture who may harbor ideas of resisting the "master planners", otherwise known as globalist scumbags.
But we need cheap labor. How else can we afford to keep living without jobs?
just swallow this litlle blue pill....ahh thar u go...27 Green flags for the US economy
and lookie lookie, Big Bang Theory is on the tellie
This is the best of all possible worlds!
http://intellihub.com/george-soros-sells-shares-citigroup-bank-america-j...
Sears is a yellow flag, last time they went bust their stock moved to 190 on real estate speculation. The spot in the strip mall is worthless, but on paper unicorns have value.
Assuming one can pay attention, u dont need a list to know the liar in chief's economy policies eat stool. Just look @ ur after tax pay check, look @ ur 2013 tax bill, look @ the unterest paid on ur savings account if any, ur credit card bill, the cost of filling up ur car, the cost and package size of anythung u buy in the grocery store, the cist of just about any service u buy compared to 2007 b4 the corrupt pissant liar in chief set about to destroy your country with its hope and change malarky. For all u who voted twice for the arrogant, ignoramus, how do u like your change now? Yet the liar in chief and the ruling political elite get to live their grand imperialvlifestyles on the backs of hard working US citizens paying taxes. The country is still great but the gummint. - time for cntrl-alt-del.
The country is near dead....populated by overfed sheep lining up for the abbatoir.
Nothing changes until K Street burns....and that isn't going to happen anytime soon.
SAVINGS rate?
Savings is for ter'rists!
Yea You guys are morons. I have been on this site for years and have read read read all this bull true or false but the markets continue to rally rates continue to go down I know rich are getting richer but have you given any thought to the reason behind this beside your stupid statements give me something besides the continued political crap what is the problem what is the cure do something besides write crap thats phoney crap use energy for results. Stop the continued bashing of food stamps,disability,these are the weak why care there more fish to fry then these, our Commander-in-Chief, our party, conservative,liberal,we are all in this together. My Dad got his body blown away in WW2, my brother lost his life in Viet Nam, as for me I have been a proud Miltary hater but have continued to work for the betterment of this country regardless of my feelings because like it or not its all we have so do something...
Fuckin A dude....use better grammar.
Periods and stance is important here, Mr. Fuckin Run-on-sentences.
You have your losses - all of us also do - so spare us.
I am a moron as you say, but for none of the reasons you cite.
The longer I live the more I realize how much I do not know and couldn't ever find out, like who really is the most powerful man in america.
If I spent 3 hours a night sleeping and spent the rest of my formidable IQ and the other 21 hours doing nothing but gathering and disseminating the truth about things, I couldn't even make a tiny dent in the amount of things I do not know.
I am a moron, sometimes I think, for just trying to get my arms around all I do not and can not ever know.
I am a moron for even writing down here the things I do know and will have no effect on anyone, perhaps not even me.
The Chinese have a saying: "Know one thing and you know 10,000 things".
I've adopted a corollary, the paraphrase of it: "Don't know one thing, don't know 1,000,000,000 things.
The older I get the more I think I should just shut up about it all, what I know for sure, e.g. Hilary clinton is possibly the worst choice for POTUS since George Bush but so is everyone else...and those things I suspect and can't prove because I don't have and can never expect to get access to, like the secret meetings of any number of powerful elite.
Like infinity, it is impossible to comprehend just how moronic I am. Along with 5,999,999,999 other human beans.
They really need to stop posting this guy's articles.
"#8 As families struggle to pay their bills, many of them are increasingly turning to debt in order to make ends meet. "
Exactly the same thing happened in the UK in the run up to the 2008 crash, when personal debt levels rose to UKP 1.6 trillion. Since then, debt levels reduced to about UKP 1.3 trillion but latest data informs us that it's now back up at 2008 levels due to stagnant wages and far higher prices.
#28 Prostitution a huge "growth" industry. In Nevada, where prostitution is legal, the whore houses are filled up to overflowing with rabid customers. JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs are underwriting a massive IPO for ISuckLongTime (ISLT) expected to pop at $24 per share, making the company worth $540 billion, bigger than Apple and ExxonMobile combined.
Lloyd Blankfien, head of Goldman Sachs, said, "WTF? How did you get in my office? Anyhow, women are just bitches anyhow, they need to be exploited and we will do that exploitation."
Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan CEO, opined, "That's why I'm bigger than you."
Rosie Cheeks, harlot and entrepreneur, expressed her interest from the standpoint of small business: "I knew it was only a matter of time before Wall Street took over another professional racket. After all, they've been our best clients for decades, coming in all coked up with their short dicks, they only take up, um, an average of three minutes of my girls' times. Our ROI has skyrocketed, but I'm afraid the party is about to end. Wall Street types will turn an honest business into one which can only be afforded by the ultra-wealthy. Blow jobs, the core of our business model, are going to cost $500 once the vampire squid gets involved, but, hey, there are no jobs, so blow jobs it is."
Most of these things have been true for 5 years, and some (like drought) are temporary. The real economy of the USA has completely changed. The median consumer is becoming a sideshow to the economy. Increasingly, the only group that matters is the rich. Corporations are taking on 100 year debt at rates below 4%. In the EU, the rates are below 2.5%. This tells me it ain't gonna end soon. When the current era does end though, it is likely to be the greatest crash ever.
All that is needed to change things, is an upgrade by 30 to 50 points of IQ for the masses, ignoring what they think they know and start thinking about everything from scratch.
See, nothing to worry about, the future looks bright!
Problem is, the only way you're going to do that is eliminate the bottom 40%..
You could always sell them Brawndo!
It's got electrolytes! plus arsenic
The 28th thing wrong with America is that there is no longer an America.
Wake me when the sheeple stop believing in our govt and the total anti-free market manipulation that's keeping the illusion alive.
A story on the PBS Newshour just last week told of how many of those newly enrolled in the ACA were people being released from prison. The story told how this will be a big help for the ex-cons who often can't afford and go without healthcare. This means we are now paying for their healthcare and also much of the cost to employ thousands of people to encourage and sign them up for program. While this appears as economic growth in the GDP it is not the stuff of a vibrant economy. More in the article below on this subject and the shift in consumer spending that should concern us all.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2014/05/consumption-of-autos-healthcare-a...
No one would need health-care if you could just buy some fucking penecillin over the counter for 20$.
But instead we have to spend 300$ to go to a doctor who "tells you that you are sick" (no shit sherlock!) and then writes you a government approved prescription.
you shouldn't need health-care for the common cold , a can of soup and some fucking antibiotics, people can fucking read labels we aren't all brain dead.
99% of health-related issues are not serious, and require little more than sleep, soup, antibiotics which were discovered since before the 30's.
Er, except penicillin hardly works on anything anymore because it was so over-prescribed before that all the little germs developed resistance to it. Hence, all the amoxicillin, omoxacin, ciprofaxicin, etc. etc., needed to replace the older versions of penicillin.
there is a good reason for not giving them out like candy.
Also, with the standard American thinking, "If two is good, four is better!", people keep taking moar, leaving them vulnerable when an MRSA hits.
Still one quarter thinks they are going in the right direction?
My flags for the moment:
- U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT 23.2% (SHADOW STATS)
- Real Hourly Wages Decline For The First Time Since 2012
- Labor Force Participation Rate Crashed to 62.8% from 63.2%
- US Savings Rate Plummets To Second Lowest Since 2008
- Early Tap of 401(k) Replaces Homes as American Piggy Bank
- 94% Of March Consumer Credit Was For Student And Car Loans
- Industrial Production Plunges
- Business Spending Slumps
- Inflation is evident to everyone but the government
- Retail shares tank in premarket on disappointing profit, sales
- American Eagle profit slides, to close 150 stores
- Caterpillar Global Retail Sales Decline For 15th Consecutive Month
- Deere Cuts Sales Forecast After Decline in Equipment Volumes
- Consumer Confidence in U.S. Unexpectedly Declined in May
- Retail Sales Miss Across The Board
- Wholesale March Inventories Rose 1.1% - Smashing Expectations 3rd Month In a Row
- GM’s China April Sales Rise at Slowest Pace in 14 Months
More May Headlines here: http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=247239.msg1471637#msg1471637
Sounds like a recovery!
Lets just be blunt about it, there is no recovery, in-fact things have gotten worst, the only reason the numbers are up on the governments end, is because they fudged everything, removed a lot of stuff that should be calculated from the calculations, and inflation made gdp look like its growing.
The only thing that is growing, is the size of the inevitable collapse that will happen down the line 2 months ~to~ 2 years from now.
Appears like there is lots of room to fit in some Black Swans...
"#6 The labor force participation rate for Americans from the age of 25 to the age of 29 has fallen to an all-time record low."
This is incorrect. It's the lowest since 1982. That's bad enough that there is no need to mislead on this one.
http://a.disquscdn.com/uploads/mediaembed/images/1009/1984/original.jpg
Treasuries are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States of America!
Gold is backed by nothing but physics and chemistry.
Global warming is backed by nothing but physics & chemistry!
Cheap, clean-burning oil, coal & gas are backed by the full faith & credit of George Soros & the Koch brothers, just like clean nuclear energy is backed by the full faith & credit of Tepco.
Bitch, pleez. Murrika be fine. Right?
Plus, now we have Bitcoynz backed by the full faith & credit of Satoshi-power and Fonestar.
#24 is ABSOLUTE HORSESHIT trumped by the Hearst Corp Rag Houston Chronicle
The towns they mention are in FUCKING WEST TEXAS where there is no rain, has not been rain, and will be no rain until the NEXT FUCKING ICE AGE.
BUT our goddang corps of engineers thought it would be awesome to build fucking lakes out there in th 30's and 40's on soils with outrageous absorption rates.
Proposition 6 was passed (read: bought) by overwhelming support last November by our fucking idjit voters here in Texas. Nolan Ryan, Texas Rangers owner and now rancher, advertised the bill on teevee for the idjits to gobble up with slogans like, "Pass Prop 6, it is investing in water for Texas' future!". It passed unanimously in the corrupt as dog shit Texas Senate and only a few liberty minded folks in the Texas House voted no. All Texas Constitutional Amendments have to be passed by voters after approved by the legislator. And Boy, did the fuckwads in this state approve it! The advertisements for the amendment didn't come out till roughly 1.5 months before the vote so no counter ads could be developed. Pretty fucking ingenious.
Prop 6 is a fucking slush fund for the Mafia in Austin to spend freely and to use to grab up rural water rights and sell them to the Cities.
They get their dick slapped if they pull from the Rainy Day Fund, but Prop 6 set up a rat-hole account for them to dip into freely. $2 billion dollars at start, more to be added yearly. What is Prop 6 really about? Power
http://www.news-journal.com/opinion/simpson-it-s-not-just-about-water/ar...
credit crisis?....ahahahaha
Better raise the price for anything the money maker but can't let go of top 1%'ers by 1,000,000,000%.
Would it be price gouging if rockchildbuffates had to pay 40mil for a glass of brandy?