Not my favorite subject...
More info to munch on
Posted on 02/21/2010 3:10:51 PM PST by Berlin_Freeper
Most Americans believe that the U.S. economy will fully recover from this recent recession and will soon become stronger than ever. But that is definitely not what is happening. The truth is that the very foundations of the U.S. economy are coming apart and we are headed for a massive amount of financial trouble as a nation.
Collectively, the U.S. government, U.S. businesses and U.S. consumers have piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world. This mountain of debt has enabled us to enjoy a spectacular standard of living for the past several decades, but now the bills are coming due and nobody seems to even realize how great of a financial disaster the U.S. now finds itself in the middle of.
The following are 10 huge flashing danger signs that show just how much of a mess the U.S. economy is in....
#1) The FDIC is opening a satellite office in the Chicago area that will accommodate up to 500 temporary staffers and contractors to manage receiverships and liquidate assets from what they are expecting will be a massive wave of failed Midwest banks.
#2) The U.S. Treasury Department announced on Tuesday that foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities fell by $53 billion in December, which is the biggest one month decline in history. China alone reduced its holdings of U.S. Treasuries by $34.2 billion. So if foreigners quite buying up all of our debt, what happens then?
#3) Mortgage defaults in the U.S. have continued to hit record highs and housing prices are continuing to fall. Now, a massive "second wave" of adjustable rate mortgages is scheduled to reset beginning in 2010. The first wave of adjustable rate mortgage resets absolutely devastated the U.S. housing market in 2007 and 2008. So what is this second wave of mortgage resets going to do to the U.S. economy?
#4) In fact, one new study estimates that five million houses and condominiums will go through foreclosure over the next few years. Needless to say, that would be absolutely catastrophic.
#5) The number of Americans who are declaring bankruptcy continues to skyrocket. 1.41 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009 which represented a 32 percent increase over 2008.
#6) But how can Americans pay their bills without jobs? In some areas of the United States it is now nearly impossible to get a really good job unless you have an inside connection. In fact, the mayor of Detroit estimates that the real unemployment rate in his city is approximately 45 to 50 percent.
#7) America needs jobs, but soaring unemployment insurance taxes are discouraging small and mid-size companies from bringing on more workers. According to the National Association of State Workforce Agencies, companies in at least 35 states will have to fork over even more in unemployment insurance taxes in 2010. Making it more costly to hire a new worker is not going to help put Americans back to work.
#8) The U.S. economy is facing a pension crisis of unprecedented magnitude. The truth is that the vast majority of all pension funds in the United States, both public and private, are extremely underfunded. With millions upon millions of Baby Boomers now at retirement age, there is simply no way that all of these unfunded pension obligations can be met. Robert Novy-Marx of the University of Chicago and Joshua D. Rauh of Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management recently calculated the collective unfunded pension liability for all 50 U.S. states for Forbes magazine. So what was the total that they came up with? 3.2 trillion dollars.
#9) Not only that, but the Social Security system is also a silent monster that threatens to devastate U.S. government finances. In fact, many analysts are now forecasting that the coming wave of Baby Boomers is going to bankrupt the entire Social Security system.
#10) All of these economic problems come at a time when the U.S. national debt is exploding into the stratosphere. The national debt is now over 12 trillion dollars and it is rising at a rate of about 3.8 billion dollars per day. So how much is one trillion dollars? Well, if you spent one dollar every single second of every single day, it would take you over 31,000 years to spend one trillion dollars. That is a lot of money.
The truth is that the U.S. is drowning in debt. American consumers are broke. American businesses are broke. State governments are broke. The U.S. federal government is broke. The only way that we can keep things going is to borrow increasingly larger amounts of money.
But when we do borrow even more money we make our long-term problems even worse.
The day of reckoning for the U.S. economy is fast approaching and we are headed for some extremely difficult economic times.
Are you ready?
... and what rough beast, its hour come ‘round at last, slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?
Thats why you alternate sleep shifts with your team (they teach this in basic training!)
Add this one:
Citibank is cancelling uptodate perfect credit cards, and just announced they may require a 7 day notice before withdrawals are made, starting in April.
So what’s up at Citibank?????
Got guns... Got plenty of ammo... wife knows how to shoot... and reload all the mags.
-~~Ludwig Von Mises
“Several brokerage houses tumbled; blue-sky investment companies formed during the happy bull market days went to smash, disclosing miserable tales of rascality; over a thousand banks caved in during 1930, as a result of marking down both of real estate and of securities; and in December occurred the largest bank failure in American financial history, the fall of the ill-named Bank of the United States in New York.”
~~"Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920’s" by Fredrick Lewis Allen
Here’s a question on China. Who is their largest importer? If we go under... so do they. Besides, I understand China is not doing so well either.
Cash withdrawals from a credit card don’t make sense to begin with. Typically they are at a much higher interest rate than credit purchases.
#1 illegally occupies the Oval Office.
Sorry, I wasn’t clear. These are two separate issues.
1. Citi credit cards are being cancelled with no reason given. Perfect credit, paid monthly etc, just cancelled.
2. Citi checking accounts, starting April, “may” (at Citi’s discretion) require a 7 day advance notice, before ANY funds are withdrawn. This had NOTHING to do with the separate credit card cancellation issue, except to show that Citi must be on very very thin ice.
Sing it Ray!
http://popup.lala.com/popup/432627052160645780
My bills are all due and the baby needs shoes and I’m busted
Cotton is down to a quarter a pound, but I’m busted
I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won’t lay
A big stack of bills that gets bigger each day
The county’s gonna haul my belongings away cause I’m busted.
I went to my brother to ask for a loan cause I was busted
I hate to beg like a dog without his bone, but I’m busted
My brother said there ain’t a thing I can do,
My wife and my kids are all down with the flu,
And I was just thinking about calling on you and I’m busted.
Well, I am no thief, but a man can go wrong when he’s busted
The food that we canned last summer is gone and I’m busted
The fields are all bare and the cotton won’t grow,
Me and my family got to pack up and go,
But I’ll make a living, just where I don’t know cause I’m busted.
I’m broke, no bread, I mean like nothing, forget it, over.
Money’s too tight to mention
I been laid off from work my rent is due
My kids all need brand new shoes
So I went to the bank to see what they could do
They said Son looks like bad luck got a hold on you
Money’s too tight to mention
I can’t get an unemployment extension
Money’s too tight to mention
I went to my brother to see what he could do
He said Brother I’d like to help you but I’m unable to
So called on my father, father
Almighty father, he said
Money’s too tight to mention
Oh money,money,money,money
Money’s too tight to mention
I can’t even qualify for my pension
We’re talking ‘bout reaganomics
Oh lord down in the congress
They’re passing all kind of bills
From up there on capital hill, we’ve tried it
Money’s too tight to mention
Oh money,money,money,money
Money’s too tight to mention
Cutbacks!
We’re talking ‘bout the dollar bill
And that old man who’s over the hill
Now what are we all to do
When money’s got a hold on you
Money’s too tight etc.
We’re talking ‘bout money money
We’re talking ‘bout money money
Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
Great but terrible post.
Get ready for deflation and inflation at the same time. Get ready for counties and cities to default and screw up the bond markets to where all counties cities and states cannot borrow or have to pay sky-high interest rates
Get ready for diminished services as counties and states struggle to pay bloated pensions salaries and benefits
Get ready for entitlement slaves to go berserk when their checks stop coming.
Deflationary recession, with prices, interest rates, stocks, commodities, employment rates, and wages all declining? If so, cash and near-cash (CDs, money market, treasuries, investment grade bonds) is the place to be. Shorting equities, too, for those with strong stomachs.
Severe inflation, even hyper-inflation? Commodities, including precious metals, would make sense.
The GDOW has been badly damaged
an Index of the Global worth of worldwide equities
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/gdow
Where will the investment income come from
to pay for the future?
Even taxes on Capital gains are severely negative
An interesting take. I had not considered this aspect. The liberal scientific and political elite have been wanting to significantly reduce the world's population. Not going to help property values though. If someone tries this they better hope no additional stressors occur as I believe small pox would take out half the population of the world.
Already happened with Cap One. I had been a customer for 5 years, never late, never missed, usually paid in full each month, credit score of 790 and I was sent a letter in December telling me they were closing my account on January 31. I beat them to it. I paid it off in January and closed it myself, it looks better on your credit report.
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