Posted on 01/25/2016 5:44:17 PM PST by SkyPilot
We have not seen global economic activity fall off this rapidly since the great recession of 2008. Manufacturing activity is imploding all over the planet, global trade is slowing down at a pace that is extremely alarming, and the Baltic Dry Index just hit another brand new all-time record low. If the "real economy" consists of people making, selling and shipping stuff, then it is in incredibly bad shape. Here in the United States, the dismal economic numbers continue to stun all of the experts. For example, on Monday we learned that the Texas general business activity index just hit a six year low...
Economic activity in Texas keeps getting worse.
The general business activity index out Monday from the Dallas Federal Reserve for January was -34.6, a six-year low and much worse than economists had expected.
The forecast for the monthly index was -14, following a December reading of -21.6 (revised from -20.1) that was also worse than expected.
One could perhaps argue that this is to be expected in Texas because of the collapse in the price of oil.
But what about the very unusual things that we are seeing in other areas of the country? In Erwin, Tennessee, a rail terminal that had been continuously operating for 135 years was just permanently shut down, and hundreds of workers now find themselves without a job...
The last coal train to leave Erwin rolled slowly out of town just after at 3 p.m. Thursday, less than eight hours after CSX Transportation employees heard the news that rocked all of Unicoi County.
"Its a hard pill to swallow," county Mayor Greg Lynch said. "Of course, we heard rumors that something was coming down. But never in my wildest dreams did I imagine they would just shut down..."
(Excerpt) Read more at theeconomiccollapseblog.com ...
I’ve seen a number of chain restaurant locations fail recently. Given the dramatic drop in gasoline prices, that’s not a good sign, as you’d expect more spendable income.
Why does this 'stun the expert"? Those of us that are doing the daily grind just to keep our financial heads above water have seen this happening for the last 7 years. We don't have the money to go out and eat. Therefore the local restaurants are closing. Therefore people are losing their jobs. Homes are being foreclosed. New housing starts are looking up but new home sales are down (DUH!!). The economy sucks! Yet the experts are 'stunned'. Maybe they've been reading too much of the 'Lame Stream Media'.
Understand FedEx is going to build a massive processing center in the burbs just north of Houston. Wonder if it will be staffed by robots or real people.
It’s worse. First the banks got $1 trillion in bailouts for a problem caused by government.
Then the FED prints money (to hell with their words like quantitative easining) and “loans” it at zero interest to these same banks thinking they’ll loan that money and make money thus increasing consumerism. Typical commie thinking.
Instead the banks are shoring themselves back up, dumping the crap assets they were forced to take on, and the economy shrinks.
So now the FED is slowing down with the free newly printed money, which was inevitable, and the cost is bearing down (no pun intended) on the markets.
It’s then a little panic and evenutally a correction. But it takes a lot of time.
If only the government would just let the markets alone.
In other words, you cartoon would be correct if it show GOP congressional leaders in locked arms with Obama.
Really, I blame the GOP. They lied. They were supposed to stop this. They betrayed us. If the GOP was not going to do what it said, it should have said so and we could have voted for someone else. The GOP is as disgusting as Obama.
Who there voted for Hussein change?
I just saw the 200+ BNSF locomotives parked just east of Gillette Wyo. due to lower train demand. 2yr ago the RR’s were at capacity in the reigon.
I have had no money for 7 years. Especially with the insane job market. A lot of Americans have no idea what’s really happening. Sure, they’ve seen stuff on liberal MSM and paid higher for a few things.
The real situation is much more precarious than they ever imagined. Even I was surprised and not in a good way.
True.
Our local short line RR is storing 100’s of BRAND NEW tanker RR cars on a spur that no longer supports a factory.
Railroads are a barometer of the economy. Right now, the facts indicate dark clouds on the horizon.
The most ominous sign is the number of new business startups has been running below the number of small business closures for several years. Small business employs most people in the private sector.
He has accomplished his goal. We’ll just see how the rest of the ride goes.
Experts need to be fired!
“The last coal train to leave Erwin rolled slowly out of town just after at 3 p.m. Thursday, less than eight hours after CSX Transportation employees heard the news that rocked all of Unicoi County.”
That is what Obama wanted.
Erwin is right around the corner from me. This is a tough area to find good jobs.
I’ve been waiting for the crash for some time now.
I am sure they thought they could totally hide it until the day after an (R) took office at which time all media would simultaneously scream in unison about the (R) recession on 1/21/2017
That’s precisely why I’ve been saying that, We don’t need a third party, we need a second party.
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