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Economic Crisis Goes Mainstream - What Happens Next?
Submitted by Brandon Smith via Alt-Market.com,

Last year, when alternative economic analysts were warning that the commodities crush and oil crash just after the taper of QE3 were blaring signals for a downshift in all other financial indicators, the general response in the mainstream was that we were overreacting and paranoid and that the commodities jolt was temporary. Perhaps the fact needs repeating that it’s not paranoia if they are really out to get you.
Only a short time later, it is truly amazing how the rhetoric from the mainstream economic yes-men is changing. The blind analysts who were cheerleading for the nonexistent global recovery are now being carefully relegated to the janitor’s closet over at The New York Times, where Paul Krugman’s office should be. Media outlets are begrudgingly admitting to global instabilities like, for instance, a U.S. interest rate hike leading to a return to recession. (Special note to the mainstream media: Take away the fruitless manipulation of indicators through Fed stimulus, and we never left the recession.) They also are now forced to acknowledge that China’s market crash and yuan devaluation have far-reaching implications for global crisis, whereas a year ago the claim was that China’s problems would stay in China. Even China’s own media are now warning of the chain of fiscally interdependent economies and what the nation’s downturn means for everyone.
The MSM are finally entertaining the obvious notion that the vast financial problems of the EU have little to do with the crisis in Greece and more to do with crushing debt obligations and employment problems in primary nations like France and Italy.
And suddenly, pundits are once again concerned with Japan’s epidemic of mini-recessions and the truth of fiscal contraction that is not just a way of life, but an exponential dynamic that is getting worse fast, rather than staying static. This concern is, of course, always followed with suggestions that the light can be seen at the end of the tunnel and that growth will inevitably return. The mainstream media may be discussing points of reality, but that does not stop them at times from mixing in fairy tales.
This alteration in rhetoric from the mainstream may not necessarily be due to an awakening in the media. Rather, it may be due to the new narratives being put forth by core banking elite institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of International Settlements, institutions that have established a mission to appear competent in the wake of an economic crisis they KNOW is about to be triggered. The IMF is consistently making statements regarding potential disaster in global markets due to central banking stimulus measures (which it originally championed), as well as potential rate hikes, sending mixed messages to devout mainstream followers. The IMF’s latest overviews of global markets have been far gloomier than mainstream media outlets until recently. Suddenly, it would seem, the media has been given direction to parrot internationalist talking points.
The BIS warns that the world is currently defenseless against the next market crisis. I would point out that the BIS has a record of predicting economic crashes, including back in 2007 just before the derivatives and credit crisis began. This ability to foresee fiscal disasters is far more likely due to the fact that the BIS is the dominant force in global central banking and is the cause of crisis, rather than merely a predictor of crisis. That is to say, it is easy to predict disasters you yourself are about to initiate.
It is no mistake that the warnings from the BIS and the IMF tend to come too little too late, or that they are beginning to compose cautionary press releases today that sound much like what alternative analysts were saying a few years ago. The goal of these globalist organizations is not to help people prepare, only to set themselves up as Johnny-come-lately prognosticators so that after a collapse they can claim they warned us all, which can then be used as a rationalization for why they are the best people to administrate the economies of the planet as a whole.
So now that the mainstream is willing to report on clear economic dangers, what happens next?
The change in the MSM narrative is a bad sign. The initial media coverage of the derivatives implosion in 2008 did not become negative until we were well within the shadow of the avalanche. If the same holds true today, then a market event is imminent. Here are some of the issues you may hear more about as the year goes forward.
China ‘Contagion’
Forget about Greek contagion, we will be hearing far more about Chinese contagion over the next several months. The globalist run Carnegie Endowment for International Peace is already fielding the concept in their magazine 'Foreign Policy'. With the devaluation of the yuan, mainstream analysts are frantic over the possibility of currency wars, a concept they rarely ever entertained in the past. Yuan devaluation is not, though, necessarily a negative for China itself. In fact, the IMF in recent statements argues that China’s economy is entering a “new normal” of slower but more “stable” growth. The IMF also has announced that the recent shock of the falling yuan to global markets actually makes the currency MORE viable for inclusion in the Special Drawing Rights global currency basket, a decision that is supposed to be finalized by November (though a year long extension has been recommended by the IMF before approval).
Expect that economic news will be focused nonstop on China for the rest of the year, perhaps leading to the perpetuation of the false East/West paradigm and the idea that Americans should blame China for the overall financial crisis rather than the global bankers who engineered the mess. In the meantime, top globalists will continue to remain "neutral", presenting themselves as peacemakers and problem solvers arguing that the crash is "no one's fault", that over-complexity is the danger, and that interconnected economies must be simplified down to a single global currency and single global authority.
U.S. Economy Feeling Effects
The Federal Reserve push for a rate hike will likely be determined before 2015 is over. Talk of a September increase in interest rates may be a ploy, and a last-minute decision to delay could be on the table. This tactic of edge-of-the-seat meetings and surprise delays was used during the QE taper scenario, which threw a lot of analysts off their guard and caused many to believe that a taper would never happen. Well, it did happen, just as a rate hike will happen, only slightly later than mainstream analysts expect.
If a delay occurs, it will be short-lived, triggering a dead cat bounce in stocks, with rates increasing before December as dismal retail sales become undeniable leading into the Christmas season. It is important to remember that the Fed's job is to DERAIL the U.S. economy, NOT protect it.
In the meantime, the IMF’s SDR conference continues, with the inclusion of the yuan now widely considered a threat to the dollar’s world-reserve status. The mainstream media are now preparing the American people (or at least those who are paying any attention) for the coming loss of world-reserve status. The propaganda aims to paint the dollar’s reserve position as a bad thing. The MSM argue that loss of reserve status could actually help the U.S. economy get back on track and that a global harmonization of sovereign currencies will be a boost to our fiscal outlook. This is clearly an attempt to inoculate the public against any concern over the eventual crash of dollar value.
Oil Price Panic
Oil prices will continue to deflate, and the after-effects will be difficult to gauge. With John Kerry publicly warning that the failure of an Iran deal (including the lucrative oil export deals that would be included) could lead to the loss of the dollar’s world-reserve status, I am not very optimistic about the future prospects of energy markets.
Kerry claims that a failed Iran agreement would put the U.S. at odds with allies who brokered the deal, but this is not the whole story. What is really taking place is an attempt by Kerry to distract the public away from the real reasons for the future fall of the dollar, including the rise of the SDR and the likelihood that Saudi Arabia will soon decouple from the dollar as the solitary purchasing mechanism for their oil (Saudi Arabia is surprisingly one of the main supporters of an Iran deal). It is perhaps possible that a collapse of the Iran agreement could be used as an excuse for a loss of dollar reserve status that was going to happen anyway.
Events Moving Faster
Economic news is moving extremely fast this year, and it will only become more frenetic as we close in on 2016. The general consensus among alternative economic investigators seems to be that 2015 will be the year for trigger events and dead fantasies. In my six part series entitled 'One Last Look At The Real Economy Before It Implodes' I essentially agree with this timetable. If 2014 was the new 2007 with all its immediate warning signs, then 2015 is the new 2008 with all the chaos and broken paradigms.
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I guess I really need to start running around outside screaming at the top of my lungs and acting like a raped ape.
Don't bother. There are many others who already have that job.
Party is over good time had by all about 10 yrs ago
Yeah, now it's just a question of when the cops show up to kick the leftover losers out.
long peanutz...
Will they also report the shortage of guillotine blades?!
Zion is a scheme, not an ethnicity.
I've always held it as a litmus test for global downturn. So long as the media says everything is fine, it is going horribly wrong. As soon as the media start saying everything is crashing down, the top end has decided it's time to change the game.
Go to college. Take out loans. Buy gold and then retire at 65. I think it is legal now because not that many are doing it and the FED simply prints the money anyhow. Trillions for banksters and a little for me. That's what I say.
The Chinese market meltdown and subsequent violent Yuan devaluation speaks of an economic war going hot. Combined with the incessant and increasing media rant against gold for the past two months makes me believe something is coming soon. I guess we'll see....
Get he popcorn watch the crash, long time coming
peanutz
might be more appropriate
Just another reason folks in high places lie, steal and murder:
http://www.amlu.com/2015/08/18/silvio-berlusconi-sells-sardinia-mansion-...
And Let Me Say Now There Will Be An Old World Order - Correction to speech by G.H.W. Bush.
Hey, we are in power in NYC, London, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Paris, Zurich, Vatican, and a few folks in Belgium and Nederlands.
"In the meantime, the IMF’s SDR conference continues, with the inclusion of the yuan now widely considered a threat to the dollar’s world-reserve status. The mainstream media are now preparing the American people (or at least those who are paying any attention) for the coming loss of world-reserve status."
- Giving up Power, Status, Control is normally not done without some kind of coup or defeat... such as Greece or Cypress.
Every central bank in the world is controlled. All of them. Even China's.
Well, they have to be either controlled or out of control, so which one is worse? The real problem is that they exist.
That's right. How do we know that Russia and China are on the same team as the west? They have a central bank. Simple. There are no enemies among nations, WE ARE THEIR ENEMIES.
Saudi Arabia is supporting the Iran deal? I'm not sure I believe that but if it turns out to be true we are screwed. If they are hedging their bets and getting ready to jump ship there is really no other information needed about what condition we are in. I wonder what is going on with their financial reserves and bonds.
I too have a hard time believing that. 1 - The Saudis hate the Iranians - always hve and always will for religeous reasosns. 2- From an economic point and view, given the oil market and its outlook - the Saudis don't want to see Iran dumping 500 K - 4 Million bafrrels of added oil per day on the market.
Aside from that, the other conclusions are reasonble.
That's what's weird about the Iranian deal; the Saudis are suddenly supporting it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/23/world/middleeast/iran-nuclear-deal-sau...
This might explain it - Saudis expect a "payoff" in exchange for their support:
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/07/saudi-arabia-lobbies-c...
If the deal falls apart, the Saudis lose their payoff, get pissed because they stuck their necks out, and allow oil to be sold in other currencies besides the dollar. Sounds like solid set up to me. Plus, the author is right, the dollar is going to lose reserve status anyway. Kerry's warnings on the dollar might be a con to divert blame.
Iran is used to living by frugal means, dumping oil on the market is going to hurt Saudi real bad. Karma is a bitch!
Saudi budget deficit 2015 estimated at 20% of GDP, or about $130bn.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Business/Regional/2015/Jun-03/300296-saudi-a...
They are drawing down reserves (selling USTs) and issuing up to $27bn in bonds:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-09/dormant-saudi-bond-mar...
Saudi consumes about 30% of its oil production, and the share is growing:
http://www.indexmundi.com/energy.aspx?country=sa&product=oil&graph=produ...
To paraphrase both Gandhi:
"First they ignore you,
then they laugh at you,
then they fight you,
then you win." *
* But, they may assassinate you,
while you were working to "win."
and Schopenhauer:
"Every truth passes through
three stages before it is recognized:
In the first it is ridiculed,
in the second it is opposed,
in the third it is regarded as
self-evident." *
* However, some individuals who propose
the valid paradigm shift may have their
careers destroyed before their ideas
became recognized as being valid.
The first stage blends into the second.
Being ignored blends into ridiculed / laughed at.
Those ideas only become seriously considered
when they are enough to start being attacked.
FINALLY, THOSE ARE TAKEN FOR GRANTED.
Durkheimian Deviants:
You know, a kind that may benefit society
in the long run, although, at the time,
society may not appreciate them.
Or, as in the pattern recognized in
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Kuhn
We are pushing towards cusps
of paradigm shifts in science?
"Fool on the hill" perspectives
of political economy 'science?'
If human civilizations ever become sustainable,
then the basic concepts of human ecology, and
human evolution, must become commonplace.
However, that is totally NOT the case currently.
Very few people who promote paradigm shifts
were lucky enough to live through all 3 stages!
Most of them were destroyed during the first 2.
I no longer believe that I will live to see stage 3,
because I no longer feel civilization shall either!
Quotes from this video summarized the situation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00iY4cpEQDY#t=38
Oligarchy will never cancel the debt we owe.
"Every time history repeats itself, the price goes up."
" ... The oligarchy running things ...
would rather annul the right to live of the bottom 90%
than annul the money that is due to them.
And rather strip the planet,
and shrink the population,
and be paid, rather than
give up their claims ...
That's the political fight of the 21st Century."
I agreed with that analysis, however, I perceive
no good reasons to expect that the oligarchical
fascist plutocracy will not mass murder people.
The vast majority of the people ARE Zombie Sheeple,
not merely superficially, but also much more deeply
towards the real debt controls, and death controls.
All problems became magnified trillions of times
by science and technology, while human beings
continued being extremely greedy and stupid,
since the science and technology were used
primarily to get BETTER at backing up lies!
Given the ways that the Ruling Class depend on
being able to be Dishonest, and Violent, so that
the Vast Majority are kept Ignorant, and Afraid,
ARE the real systems, hence I have no reasons
to believe the "Zombification" shall be stopped.
WE ARE MANY LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM
ENOUGH PEOPLE GOING THROUGH DEEP
PARADIGM SHIFTS IN THEIR POLITICS!
Gold happens next. Next we go back to using gold as money.
Money is measurement,
backed up by murder.
Gold as money is the measurement of gold
backed by murder, and not really different!
The debt slavery systems have generated numbers which have become debt insanities. That could provoke death insanities. The only theoretically valid solutions would be to develop different death controls, to back up different debt controls. The current situation is globalized electronic monkey money frauds, backed by the threat of force from apes with atomic bombs. To expect that existing system to go back to using gold as money is RIDICULOUS.
It is nostalgic nonsense to expect it is possible to go return to using gold as money. Money backed by commodities, such as precious metals, had some relatively validity derived from the conservation of matter, as a natural law, which manifested as the "ring of truth" in money backed by gold and silver. However, if one looks at any of the history of money backed by metal, from ancient Greece, to early USA, there were death penalties in place to punish debasement of that money, and so, even then that form of money was actually backed by murder. (Moreover, the actual history of that original form of money is that it primarily developed as a way to pay soldiers, which even back that was reinforced by demanding payment of taxes using that form of money.)
Theoretically, what "we should do" is develop money based upon an energy standard. However, when one endeavours to do that one rediscovers how and why the current systems match the operations of the principles and methods of organized crime, and must necessarily do so! Ideally, human beings and civilizations would operate through better understanding of general energy systems, which could better integrate the human, industrial and natural ecologies. However, there are INTENSE PARADOXES that necessarily arise from better understanding of human beings and civilizations as already being general energy systems.
For instance, the general rule that systems follow their own path of least action, or least resistance, in human terms means that civilization follows the path of least morality. As well, systems are controlled by the most labile components, which in human terms are those who are best at backing up lies with violence. Nothing exists other than the dynamic equilibria between different systems of organized lies operating robberies. In that context, governments are the biggest forms of organized crime, controlled by the best organized gangs of criminals, who currently happen to primarily be the international banksters. Hence, the existing systems are based upon symbolic robberies, achieved through governments ENFORCING FRAUDS by privately controlled banks. Those systems are going to follow another general rule of energy systems, as manifested from Le Chatelier's Principle in chemistry, to Romers Rule in evolution, that systems tend to adapt the minimum that they have to, in order to stay the same, unless they are pushed beyond their ability to adapt.
It is simply STUPID to expect that it would be possible to somehow return to using gold as money, as well as to substitute any other commodities, or basket of currencies, or whatever, into that STUPIDITY. The basic problems are due to the money necessarily being measurement backed by murder, because that is what necessarily happens to human artificial selection systems that operate inside of natural selection systems.
The "MAINSTREAM" is dominated by morons who take almost totally for granted living inside of Wonderland Matrix Bizarro Mirror Worlds, where everything they believe is based on the bullshit built by the socially successfulness of ENFORCED FRAUDS, which are not perceived as being fraudulent, due to the long history of that fraudulence being enforced. The Mainstream Media promote the biggest bullies' bullshit world views, to the masses of muppets. In that sense, the article above was correct. However, all of Brandon's Smith's stuff is typical by being grossly superficial, regarding the kinds of intellectual scientific revolutions that would be theoretically necessary to cope with the EXISTENCE of globalized electronic frauds, backed by the threat of atomic bombs.
It is quite typical for the various reactionary revolutionaries who publish their material on Zero Hedge to promote their own preferred versions of somehow going backwards, such as going back to having the public money supply being based on gold and silver. Doing that spares them having to admit and address the actual issues, such as how to operate the human murder systems after the development of weapons of mass destruction.
Philosophically speaking, it is vital to THINK about the deeper meanings of the special theory of relativity, which enabled atomic bombs to be built! First, matter is a form of energy. Therefore, the conservation of matter, most exemplified in the form of the element gold, actually exists inside the overall fact that all matter is a super-concentrated form of energy. Therefore, any use of the measurement of gold as the basis of money, actually is inside of the overall context of the principle of the conservation of energy.
Moreover, as an even more abstract philosophical point, time and space are not independent absolutes, but rather relative, and depend upon the conservation of energy. Since the ways that energy is spread out in time and space is expressed as the concept entropy, that concept should have been changed by the fact that atomic bombs go boom, just as much as everything else about how we thought about the material world should have been changed. However, of course, mostly that did NOT happen! The ways that "we" think about entropy are absurdly backwards, which problems fits inside of the overall history of the philosophy of science being forced to compromise with the biggest bullies' bullshit world view.
There are deeper reasons for how and why the public "money" supply is now based upon governments ENFORCING FRAUDS by privately controlled banks. Those deeper issues are not remotely close to being better resolved by those who promote the nostalgic nonsense of returning to money backed by gold. Rather, we are stuck with money being measurement backed by murder, while those measurements have become electronic, and those murders could be done by an abundance of weapons of mass destruction, whose magnitudes are similar to the magnitudes of the electronic frauds. Overall, we probably do NOT go back to using gold as money! Rather, we more likely go through the electronic debt insanities provoking atomic death insanities, with the only actually possible alternatives being the development of different death controls, to back up different debt controls, because money must necessarily continue to be based upon measurement backed by murder.
"Theoretically, what "we should do" is develop money based upon an energy standard. "
Hydrogenated carbon atoms would fit the bill quite nicely.
Double bonds and triple bonds would be worth more.
I second that. In my book the petrodollar was (and to a large degree still is, but the unravelling is looming) just that.
Do I need a special wallet to carry these?
Radical M, I always enjoy your posts. "Money backed by energy" Interesting. I've always said we should have money backed by heart beats. Heart beats are more valuable than PM's when you get right down to it.
Dow 1450 BTFD
Buy Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium with Bitcoin, Litecoin, multiple other cryptocurrencies and bank wire!!
https://www.eurgold.eu
You nailed this one straight away to center field and out of the ball park. These points in particular are excellent.
I. Terrible financial and economic analysts at various highly public and influential institutions who are seen as leaders and visionaries to some.
II. These same analyst are not forced to admit China financial issues will cause Global problems not Local problems
III. MSM changing their tune that EU problem is related to debt & acknowledging problems far to late as always
IV. "top globalists.....single global currency and single global authority". (full quote shortened)
V. "IMF & BIS have established a mission to appear competent in the wake of an economic crisis they KNOW is about to be triggered"
VI. "likely due to the fact that the BIS is the dominant force in global central banking and is the cause of crisis, rather than merely a predictor of crisis".
VII. "IMF’s SDR conference continues, with the inclusion of the yuan now widely considered a threat to the dollar’s world-reserve status".
VIII. "Japan’s epidemic of mini-recessions and the truth of fiscal contraction that is not just a way of life, but an exponential dynamic that is getting worse fast" + I would add an economic disaster waiting to happen. Similar to the environmental disaster awaiting at the Nuclear plant going back online near the active volcano.
You are also right that events are moving faster. The reason for that is the plan timeline versus project milestone delivery dates are behind schedule. So as I've noted before things could get ugly and fast. This will include potentially increasingly violent actions if necessary on a large enough scale to insight national enmity internally or externally as a means to an end.
Stirring up emotions and old rivalries across nationalities, races etc. is always a good way to cause problems, sucker someone into a fight or quickly advance something to get it back on schedule. Brandon already pointed out quite a few of the expectant beneficiaries that have a vested interest in the current planned failed o financial outcome and eventual end.
The only thing I didn't see in your post is a means to produce either an alternative outcome or a proposed solution. They are available and it would be interesting to hear your take on them in future posts.
Check out the latest archdruid report: he thinks our strategy is sound, even though he may be slightly to the left.
Sorry I can' t link : it is not so straightforward on an I-pad.
Just google archdruid report.
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.nz
You learn something every day.
The only power bankers have is given to them by people who want to live beyond their means.
marvelous...a bogus barking cat.
The Global Financial CollapseBuy Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium with Bitcoin, Litecoin, multiple other cryptocurrencies and bank wire!!
https://www.eurgold.eu
Latest on the auto sales front...
Two friends of mine who live in two regions of the country and sell cars, report that sales have come to a screeching halt in the last month. One sells Fords, the other Hondas.
Gird your loins, and BOHICA.
Get your freaking fiat currency out of all banks and financial institutions in the USSA or elsewhere in the allied evil empire before September 11, 2015.
That's well under one month now, folks. Either buy prepper items you need, spend it on worthwhile items, and/or just buy physical precious metals and hide them super-securely. Or get the hell outta dodge as you should have long ago.
That may get you out before the actual "last minute", but you probably won't be out too extremely early, and the risk of staying in any longer is vastly, insanely, unjustifiably too high.
Be one of the few who survive, or have a chance to survive.
Or don't... but don't blame me or others warning you lately.
Predictive programming from the cabalists:
http://winteractionables.com/?p=21492
Perhaps the world economy will collapse as soon as next month, perhaps not.
I'd wager more money that some events will begin to unfold as America approaches "the most important election in your lifetime™," mostly economic, but also political and social.
Watch Hillary implode, then Jeb (already happening), though the attacks on Trump will undoubtably become more virulant the longer he remains the front-runner.
(Side note: I've watched lots of horse races in my time and one thing is true: speed wins shorter distances - up to 6 furlongs - whereas class (pedigree, level of competition) wins longer races. Speedballs, in longer races, such as Trump may prove to be, often have incredible staying power and establish too large a lead for other horses to catch them, thus, Trump may be the speed horse that cannot be caught by the plodders and closers, the latter of which appreas to be nonexistent.)
But, I'm alsmost 100% certain that there will be some form or possibly many forms of crises to promote the presidential election cycle. The media makes enormous money during the period and, of course, the elites need to whip up the Joe and Jane Sixpacks to a frenzied state in order to get their "vote." In reality, it's all about money, how much is rasied and spent on graft and corruption.
Bottom line, a major crisis will occur sometime between now and November 2016. I'd give it some time in the lead-up, so that Obama's policies can be fully discredited.
That appears to be the game plan, as far as I can tell.
The final global shakedown has the potential to be very uncontrolled. Let the chips fall where they may is a figure of speech which means, "What happens happens" or "Let the imminent events unfold." This metaphoric term dates back to the 1800s and alludes to chopping wood. However, several factors determine just how much influence can be applied to the the final outcome of current economic policies.
Using the metaphor of "falling chips." Things like the size of the chips, the rate or speed at which they fall, and the number of chips in the air may make them uncontrollable. In my opinion luck and caution will impact our individual fortunes as we move through the financially violent period before us. The article below explores the idea our economic overlords have lost control of the game.
http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-final-shakedown-will-be-uncontrolled.html
The single global currency thing is probably BS. Point oh one percenters thrive on FX games and are competing with each other, not passing the loot around and singing kumbayah.
Yawn. They're all still in CYA mode. Call me when they start telling the truth about Donetsk.
SDR is the Dollar with a different name and notional backer (because the actual backer is still the Banking Cartel).
Moving to the SDR will allow the bankers to continue to extract wealth an power, with even less accountability to the population of the 3d rock from the sun.
It is too late to raise interest rates. It was too late when they failed to do it in APR-MAY...and that would have been only valuable as a face-saving measure.
Now the choice is to crash the dollar and evaporate the banker's (and everyone's who has weighted it over real stuff) - Or not evaporate it. Either way it will crash on its own in a few years.
The problem is that they convinced themselves alternatively, that they were benign parasites on productivity, or actually Nobility whose expertise in taking wealth undetected from its creators indicates superior intelligence and hence an obligation to rule and/or distribute some portion of the un-earned wealth to cronies and plebes (Nobless Oblige).
They were wrong.
They were wrong and all their attempts to build a 'Good Bank' where they can park their productive assets, so as to let the US crash as their "Bad Bank" - containing all the unstable and fraudulent assets needed to clean their books - have failed. They tried to build Japan out as a "Good Bank"...but it crashed 20 years in. They tried to build China as a "Good Bank" ...but it crashed 30 years into the project. They've tried to make the EU and Euro into a "Good Bank"...but it has all the same problems as the US plus is politically balkanized.
If you can avoid the shooting and have a year or two of everything needed for life-support on hand it should be entertaining.