FUNG ADVISORY: The Economic Collapse Could Begin (in Earnest) on August 1st.

[doctor_fungcool]

Warning: The Economic Collapse Could Begin on Aug. 1st

NOTE: I changed the word Ernest to Earnest....thanks 4bears. I laughed so hard I almost fell out of my chair.
The line you wrote, "I had an uncle named Ernest" really struck home. I'll never misspell Earnest again, trust me.


Warning: The Economic Collapse Could Begin on Aug. 1st
By Terry Weiss, Money Morning

http://www.investorvillage.com/smbd....g&mid=11961400

Noted expert Peter Schiff says the U.S. economy is on the verge of an economic collapse worse than 2008 and is warning investors to take immediate steps to protect themselves.

[B ]In a gripping interview on Yahoo Finance, Schiff warns that while the Fed's moves could "artificially" bolster the economy - and bring investors false hope that things are turning around - the truth is that the government will only be delaying the "Day of Reckoning."[/B]

"If the Fed ultimately comes through with QE3... it won't strengthen the economy,but it will weaken the dollar," Schiff said, noting that Bernanke's policies will eventually lead to a Greek style debilitating sovereign debt crisis where the dollar plunges and consumer prices and interest rates spike.

"We have a much bigger collapse coming, not just the markets, but of the economy. It's like what you're seeing in Europe right now only worse," Schiff said.


An Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker followed a team of scientists, economists, and energy analysts to explore an incomprehensible financial crisis that's facing average Americans. Click on the video above to see the shocking charts and proof.

The collapse could be set in motion as early as August 1st. That's the day that Fed chairman Ben Bernanke gives his annual remarks from Jackson Hole, Wyoming where many analysts expect Bernanke will announce plans for QE3 - and the next phase of money printing begins.

He goes on to say that things will get truly ugly when we hit our fiscal cliff and have to slash government spending across the board.

"People on entitlements like Social Security and Medicare... they're not going to get the benefits they've been promised. Government workers are going to have to take pay cuts... banks are going to fail... people are going to lose money, not just investors but depositors. The housing market is going to fall again."

And Schiff isn't the only expert warning about the U.S. economy's dire predicament.

A group of prominent scientists, economists and geopolitical experts have uncovered an emerging pattern... one they believe could soon hasten an American economic catastrophe - and a radical hit to the wealth and financial security of millions Americans.

Editor's note: Germany's military held a secret investigation into this emerging pattern and concluded it could lead to "political instability and extremism." Click here to view this controversial investigation.

A large part of this has to do with the velocity of total credit market debt. It's part of a pattern of accelerating debt - and few have been able to track the speed of it, which is growing at a rate even faster than just a few months ago.

Chris Martenson, a highly acclaimed scientist and an expert on exponential growth, says the dangerous pattern of accelerating debt can go unnoticed at first. But what's happening underneath the radar is the speed of the doubling, which is now accelerating even faster to an unsustainable level.

"That's when chaos breaks out," Martenson says.

As of today, the total credit market debt is 357% larger than GDP. That represents an astounding $691,000 for a family of four in America.

Yet the doubling period for this gets shorter at an exponential rate that increases every day. "It's a very dangerous exponential growth curve," says Martenson, "one that's setting us up for a situation worse than we've seen in Greece and across Europe."

"Every American needs to know what this means and what steps to take with your finances, investments and day-to-day life to prepare for it, "Martenson added.

http://moneymorning.com/ob/warning-t...-on-aug-1st-3/


Black Blade: We are well past the tipping point. There is no way to stop the economic collapse at this point. The last four years have been an absolute disaster compounding the problems from previous years though several administrations. The last four years we have seen the national debt soar at the fastest rate in history and deficits run four times faster than the previous administration. If you haven't prepared by getting out of debt by now then kiss your sorry ass goodbye. If you haven't stocked up nonperishable food and basic necessities, then kiss your sorry ass goodbye. To protect and preserve your remaining wealth then you better move into tangibles and hard assets and do it soon. Not so sure I agree with Schiff about August but we will see some ugly data and Europe looks weaker than ever while China's economy is slowing. Meanwhile the US markets are soft and propped up by institutional money while employment continues to fall and the real estate bubble continues to deflate even with rising inflation. We are in uncharted territory. In short - the United States of America is fiscally (and morally) bankrupt.

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I will add a few words of my own to the last line of this post. the United States of America is fiscally (and morally) bankrupt. [/B] Added is the phrase spiritually bankrupt. Many of the citizens of the U.S. have taken the low road.
Because of our spiritual degradation, we are looking at a fiscal reckoning the likes of which have never been seen by the civilized world.

It's Sunday morning......please say a prayer for our country.

[doctor_fungcool]

Now if article #1 weren't enough, here's a bit more grist for your mental mills.


http://www.economicnoise.com/2012/07...e-end-is-near/


THE END IS NEAR

At the risk of looking/sounding like some crazed religious fanatic usually seen carrying a sign or proclaiming: “Repent, the end is near,” I shall avoid the word “repent. To me, the rest of that proclamation appears accurate and reasonable, at least with regard to our economic condition.

The US and world economy are near collapse. Sovereign debt, driven by increasingly desperate government interventions, spirals upward at accelerating rates. There is no recovery and there can be no recovery with the debt levels of both governments and citizens.

For a time fiscal and monetary stimulus were undertaken in the hopes that they would enable economies to achieve traction and return to normal growth paths. The political myth of Keynesianism demanded such “conventional” tools be applied. Almost five years into the economic crisis, there has been no recovery, despite trillions of dollars wasted. Nor can there be one without massive debt liquidation and the redeployment of misplaced capital.

Lip service is still given to the pseudo economics known as Keynesianism. Die-hards like Paul Krugman and other Statists continue to insist it is the answer to a recovery and push for additional interventions. Statists defend this alchemy because it is the source of government growth and power. In applying more of these remedies, the ultimate resolution of the crisis is deferred but made worse.

Why Do Interventions Continue?
Interventions, primarily in the form of monetary expansion, continue. Many in the political class realize additional stimulus cannot solve the economic problems. The reason for favoring them is not for an economic cure but as a means to continue government spending at its unsustainable levels. Keynesian economics has always been a political rather than economic tool. The pretense otherwise is becoming harder to maintain. Lance Roberts, commenting on the latest Richmond Fed data, states:


http://www.economicnoise.com/2012/07...e-end-is-near/

[doctor_fungcool]

Here are 5 things to begin plugging into your psyche to prepare and comfort you.


http://oneimprovedunit.com/5-mental-...-the-collapse/

Let go of the WW2 world. Clinging to the post-WW2 world has been a huge factor in the decline. After the war, the United States was crushing it and the rest of the world was flushing it. The United States is no longer crushing anything, other than the futures of upcoming generations. Not only were most people grinders back then, but there were winds of good fortune at their backs. Contrast that to now, when most people are flimsy and there are hurricane force winds in their face. The systems that thrived at that time have been bled of all their usefulness and now have become a draining burden. The still prevailing social attitudes towards authority, collectives, and the value of top down power structures stagnates us. The mindless American exceptionalism that cripples critical thinking in this country can trace its roots back to the golden years after WW2. It may be with us forever. Can’t you just picture some patriotic boob chanting USA while choking down a can of dog food?

Fantasies of better days gone by will serve no purpose for you during the decline. Abandon them, they were mostly myths anyways.

Let go of the Vietnam world. I don’t think there is any debate, the mass peaceful protest for social change in this country is dead on arrival. Any movement that gains mass appeal is quickly co-opted by the dominant parties and herded towards their dead-end agendas. The antiwar movement during the Iraq war was largely an anti-Bush movement, likewise, the tea party movement was largely an anti-Obama movement. The powers that be, aided by their allies in the media, have the co-opting and smearing of peaceful mass movements down to a science. When a real, unco-opted movement hits this country, it is likely to be violent and have little regard for social improvement. The only movement I can suggest is the opt-out movement of caring for and improving yourself and offering the influence of one improved unit. Also, the age of the do-gooder is likely to end. There will always be do-gooders, but their arguments will likely inspire less people and there will be far less public monies to support their efforts. My suggestion is do good for yourself and your family and lead by example.

Joining mass movements or trying to improve society-at-large will take away from the critical effort of improving yourself. Realize that peddlers of good, especially through the means of the State, should be highly suspect, especially in troubled times.

Take note of the 9/11 world. If you are going to take away any lessons from history it should be from the more recent. If there has ever been a more apparent, abysmal failure of the power structure than during the last 10 years I’d be amazed. The political, social, and financial powers of essentially every developed nation state has fallen flat on their face, at least in terms of what they claim to provide, and what they have actually provided to people outside of their class. Despite their undeniable failure, they have done very well for themselves during this time. Rewarded failure is probably the # 1 signal of a decaying society.

“Oh your decisions have been a series of botched fiascos and every prediction you’ve made has been dead wrong? Well then, here is more power and keep your position of influence, better yet, how about a higher position?”

During the decline the captains of this sinking ship will try to convince you everything is going to be fine, meanwhile they’ll be loading their rescue boats with the last of the available provisions. Don’t listen when they tell you to hold tight, stick it out and not panic. Understand they are, and have been lying to you. And even if they do have the interests of you and your family in mind, they simply do not have the means to rescue everyone. Start making plans to load up your own rescue boat and devise an escape plan from this collapsing system.

Realize it may not be all that bad. If you value self reliance and individualism, have little consumerist tendencies or just don’t have much use for our failing systems, the collapse may not be all that bad. Yes, it is going to awful, but let’s be honest, there are a lot of things that are awful in society right now. A major shock to the status quo will bring at least the chance to change the direction of our society. The longer the status quo limps along, the longer the revival will be delayed.

Many of the more painful parts of the collapse can be hedged with a little foresight. Take the time to think about ways to blunt the misery during the decline. Live as if the collapse has come, within reason of course. When it all falls down you will not be going out to eat every night, partaking in mindless consumerism or caring about unimportant things. When you see the signs realize an opportunity is coming.

In the long run, we’re all dead. Take pleasure knowing you’re living in interesting times. Think of the history you study, do you read about happy times, where everyone got along, everyone prospered and lived long and happy lives then died of old age surrounded by their loved ones? No. You read about wars, famines, depressions and all the human turmoil brought by them. Sorrow is entertaining to the people who haven’t experienced it. Our time will be studied. Make your mark and leave your artifacts behind. People will care about our plight, unfortunately we will be long gone.

Now, if we are all roaming the countryside, eating nettles and insects, I doubt anyone will say to themselves “Don’t worry I read this blog once that said people will find us interesting in 200 years”. This tip is just to put in perspective that we are living in history, and that we should take the time to appreciate it.

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Last week I posted a thread entitled, "Intellectual Prepping".....I suggest that it be read and re-read. The author, Truth Rising, had some pretty good ideas.

[mechanic 217]

Interesting article ,I hope the time frame is wrong , maybe QE3 will not happen?

[Ragnarok]

and the next phase of money printing begins.

This always astounds me... Am I the only one who remembers learning in elementary school that flooding the economy with money only increases inflation???

doctor_fungcool

Here are 5 things to begin plugging into your psyche to prepare and comfort you.

...In the long run, we’re all dead.

Gee...thanks...

[doctor_fungcool]

[QUOTE=Ragnarok;4502706]This always astounds me... Am I the only one who remembers learning in elementary school that flooding the economy with money only increases inflation???

There isn't a morning that I wake up and don't contemplate my life and my death. Keeping those things in perspective is a necessity for me.....by contemplating those facts of life, we can then NOT TAKE OURSELVES TOO SERIOUSLY, since in the grand scheme of things, we're merely penciled into this place....

[Dio]

I recieved this in an email from publishing@gainspainscapital.com.... and while it is an advertisment it does follow the general gist of this thread.


July 29, 2012

Why the Financial System Could Indeed Collapse

In order to understand why we're at risk of the financial system collapsing, you first need to understand how the global banking system works. When you or I buy an asset (say a house, or shares in a stock, or a Treasury bond), we do so because we're looking to increase our wealth through either capital gains or through the income that asset will pay us in exchange for us parking our capital there.

In simple terms, you're putting/ lending your money somewhere (especially if you're buying a bond) in the hope of increasing the value or your money.

This is not how banks work. When a bank buys something, especially a bond, it parks that bond on its balance sheet as an "asset." It then lends money out against that asset. This in of itself is not problematic except for the fact that the financial modeling of 99% of banks base assume that sovereign bonds are "risk-free." Put another way, these models assume that the banks will always get their money back on 100 cents on the Dollar.

Yes, you read that correctly, despite the fact that world history is replete with examples of sovereign defaults (in the last 20 years alone we've seen more than 15 including countries as significant as Russia, Argentina, and Brazil), most banks assume that the sovereign bonds sitting on their balance sheets are risk free.

This phenomenon occurs worldwide, but given that it will be Europe, not the US that takes the system down, I'm going to focus on European bank models/ capital ratios.

You may or may not be familiar with EU banking law. EU banks are meant to comply with Basel II which is a series of capital requirements and other specifications meant to limit systemic risk.

In terms of capital ratios, Basel II requires that EU banks have equity and Tier 1 capital equal to 6% of risk weighted assets. On paper this idea was supposed to limit bank leverage to 16 to 1 (the bank has €1 in capital or equity for every €16 in loans).

However, the term "risk weighted assets" destroys this premise because it means that the bank's loan portfolio and ultimately its leverage ratio are based on the bank's in house models/ assumptions concerning the risk of its loans.

Let me give you an example...

Let's say XYZ Bank lends out €50 million to a corporation. The bank won't necessarily claim that all €50 million is "at risk." Instead, the bank will claim that only a percentage of this €50 million is "at risk" based on the company's credit rating, financial records (debt to equity, etc), and the like.

Thus, based on "in-house" risk modeling, European banks could in fact lend out much, much more than the Basel II requirements would imply. Considering that both bank profits and executive compensation were/are closely tied to more lenient definitions of "risk-weighted," (i.e. lend as much as you possibly can) it's safe to assume that EU banks are in fact much, much more leveraged.

Indeed, according to the IMF's "official" analysis, EU banks as a whole are leveraged at 26 to 1. I would argue that in reality many of them are well north of 30 to 1 and possibly even up to 50 or 100 to 1.

The reason I can claim this with relative certainty is because the EU housing bubbles dwarfed that of the US. In the chart below the US housing bubble is the lowest line. After it comes Britain (blue) and Italy (orange) then Ireland (green) and finally Spain (dark blue).

You can only get bubbles of this magnitude if you're lending to literally anyone with a pulse. And you can only lend that much if your in-house risk models believe that the risk of lending to anyone with a pulse is much, much lower than reality.

Hench, EU banks are likely leveraged at much, much more than 26 to 1. Indeed, considering how leveraged and toxic US banks' (especially the investment banks') balance sheets became from the US housing bubble, the above chart should give everyone pause when they consider the TRUE state of EU bank balance sheets.

This fact in of itself makes the possibility of a systemic collapse of the EU banking system relatively high. Let me give you an example to illustrate this point.

Let's assume Bank XYZ in Europe has a loan portfolio of €300 million Euros and equity of €30 million Euros. This means the bank is "officially" leveraged at 10 to 1 (this would be a great leverage ratio for a European bank as most of them are leveraged to at least 26 to 1 or worse).

So... let's say that 10% of the bank's loans (read: assets) are in fact worth 50% of the value that the bank claims they're worth (not unlikely if you're talking about a PIIGS bank). This means that the bank's actual loan portfolio is worth €285 million (10% of 300 is 30 and 50% of 30 is 15).

With equity of only €30 million, the bank, at some point, will have to take writedowns or one time charges on its loan portfolio that would erase HALF of its equity. At this point, the bank becomes leveraged at 19 to 1 (€285 million in assets on €15 million in equity).

This announcement would result in:

1) Depositors pulling their funds from the bank (thereby rendering it even more insolvent)
2) The bank's shares plunging on the market (raising its leverage levels even higher as equity falls further).

Thus, at a leverage ratio of 10 to 1, even a 50% hit on 10% of a bank's loan portfolio can result in the bank needing a bailout or even collapsing.

Now, what if that €300 million in loans is actually the amount the bank's in-house risk models believe to be "at risk" and the REAL loan portfolio is around €800 million?

Immediately, we realize that the bank is in fact leveraged at 26 to 1. At this level even a 4% drop in asset prices erases ALL equity rendering the bank insolvent.

And yet, based on Basel II requirements, this bank can claim in all public disclosures that it is only leveraged at 10 to 1. With this in mind, you should understand why the banks lobbied so hard against a rapid implementation of Basel III capital requirements (which would require equity and capital equal to 10.5% of all of risk-weighted assets.)

Indeed, Basel III requirements which were meant to go in effect at the end of 2012 will now gradually begin to be implemented in 2013. And banks will have until 2015 to adjust to the new capital requirements and until 2019 conservation buffers in place.

With that in mind, take my XYZ bank example, apply it to all of Europe, assume leverage ratios of 26 to 1 at the very minimum (Lehman blew up when it was leveraged at 30 to 1), and take another look at the housing bubbles in the above chart.

In simple terms Europe's entire €46 trillion banking system is in far worse shape than even the US investment banks were going into 2008. And this is based on their leverage ratios alone.

Now, let's take this process further...

Historically, most depositor banks made their money on the spread between the interest rates they pay depositors and the interest they receive on the loans they make. This is why they were so highly incentivized to leverage themselves to the gills.

Given that a bank's share price and executive compensation are closely tied to its profits, you can imagine just why a bank would want to leverage itself as much as possible.

Even under this traditional banking model, Europe would be at high risk of systemic collapse. However, thanks to the fact that many large banks have shifted into trading as a means of generating profits, there's a second even more frightening reason why the EU banking system will very likely implode. It's the multi-trillion Dollar "smoking gun."

I'd like to share this information with you... the only problem is that my private clients are paying me to provide them with this information. So as much as I think people need to hear it, I have to honor their trust and their confidence and not make this information free.

However, you can access it via my Private Wealth Advisory newsletter.

As I mentioned earlier this week, Private Wealth Advisory costs $329. When you consider that I've not only uncovered information pertaining to the financial system that almost NO ONE in the world knows about... as well as the fact that I've shown subscribers 72 straight winning trades over the last year (and we haven't closed a single loser over that time), $329 seems a mere pittance.

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So if you're ready to take the plunge and face the cold hard facts of the financial system, I highly suggest you take out a subscription to Private Wealth Advisory. I'll not only explain to you the risks that 99.9% of analysts are unaware of, but I'll show you how to profit from all of this (and yes, you can profit during Crises, my clients did in 2008 and they will again this time around).

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Chief Market Strategist

Phoenix Capital Research

[China Connection]

Um, I looking to get some work in a country where even the official unemployment rate is 45%.

I think one has to think outside the box for what is about to happen. One has to stay in the workforce if at all possible.

[Hfcomms]

Black Blade: We are well past the tipping point. There is no way to stop the economic collapse at this point.

That is why in a very real way all the fighting and arguing over the elections is just rearranging the deck chairs on the USS Titanic watching the
fools struggle over who is going to be holding on to the tiller as the ship slips beneath the waves. As great as it would be to have Paul in there
at this point their is little that anyone can do.

[doctor_fungcool]

Black Blade: We are well past the tipping point. There is no way to stop the economic collapse at this point.

That is why in a very real way all the fighting and arguing over the elections is just rearranging the deck chairs on the USS Titanic watching the
fools struggle over who is going to be holding on to the tiller as the ship slips beneath the waves. As great as it would be to have Paul in there
at this point their is little that anyone can do.

The current folks running for prez really don't give the American people a choice. Same old, same old.....




http://au.news.yahoo.com/video/natio...-peter-schiff/



Here's a video in which a discussion is conducted as to where we're headed....economically.

If the first video doesn't load, check out this video that Schiff did in 2007....very good indeed, although very short.

http://peterschiffblog.blogspot.com/...eal-crash.html

This video is predictive in nature. Where we are...and where we're going.

http://moneymappress.com/pro/Pyramid...MIDMMR49EADMMP

[Hfcomms]

The current folks running for prez really don't give the American people a choice. Same old, same old.....

Yeah, when offered a glass of 'water' with 60% sewage in it as opposed to a glass with 50% sewage and forced to drink it at gunpoint is there really much of a difference?

[Kris Gandillon]

I mentioned this over on another thread a few minutes ago but since he was specifically mentioned in the OP I will post it again here.

If you have not done so, you should listen to Chris Martenson's 20 Chapter audio/video production called "Crash Course".

http://www.peakprosperity.com/crashcourse

He connects a lot of dots and explains the underlying economic forces at work.

The chapters are mostly about 2-5 minutes each but a handful are between 15-20 minutes.

[PilotFighter]

Why should we believe it's going to crash now. The sky is falling. It's been fallimg for the last 15 years, and still hasn't happened. Maybe you would like to post the same headline for Aug. 1st next year while your at it.

[Kris Gandillon]

Actually, the sky has been falling for at least the last 41 years since Nixon slammed the door once and for all on the gold window. The problem is, like a real fall it starts off slow and continues to accelerate at 32 feet per second per second.

In economic terms the same exponential acceleration effect manifests itself in the growth of debt and the money supply.

Martenson explains this very clearly in the Crash Course snippets.

"will happen August 1st" and "may begin in earnest August 1st" are two entirely different scenarios.

In reality, if QE3 is announced, that will in effect lend that much more "acceleration" toward the edge of the cliff.

As Martenson says, the next 20 years are going to be nothing like the last 20 years, simply because we have too many exponential impacts in economics, energy and the environment all coming to a head practically simultaneously. This is uncharted territory but has no way of ending well as most of us define "ending well".

[Kris Gandillon]

Black Blade: We are well past the tipping point. There is no way to stop the economic collapse at this point.

That is why in a very real way all the fighting and arguing over the elections is just rearranging the deck chairs on the USS Titanic watching the fools struggle over who is going to be holding on to the tiller as the ship slips beneath the waves. As great as it would be to have Paul in there at this point their is little that anyone can do.

^^^^^
This X 10,000

[Shinmen Takezo]

The wonks in DC both commie and so-called conservatives will not talk about this.
They want only happy-happy, sing-song gibberish and mindless chanting about the "economy" (see MSNBC shows).

They/them want you to keep pulling the handles of the slot machine (consume) right up to the moment that the Earth splits open.
They/them won't tell you the truth about this impending disaster.

When this happens it will cause the downsizing and breakup of the USA as you know it (which will be a good thing).
It will literally force you to get off your behinds and seize your freedoms back.

Not the word "seize" above.
This does not mean, "take it to a court of law," nor to run more conservative candidates, or fall upon your knees sniveling and praying for Jesus to save the day.
It literally (in every sense of the word) that you will have to take to the street and if need be leave your jobs and possession and homes (and possibly loose all) to accomplish this feat of building a "new country."

Wrap you minds around the fact that the USA will go the way of the USSR (breakup/secession), and that you will have to wage a successful "counter revolution" to secure your freedoms.

But will most of you get off your duffs?
Will you go without your 1 liter bottles of diet Pepsi and Snapple?

ST

[Seeker]

So what can the little people, like us, do about it? I grow weary of "the end is near/now" without solid, constructive ways to deal with it. This forum offers the best advice possible and we read and do our best. But we cannot stop a tsunami, only move to higher ground. So is that going to be north/south/east/west? No one seems to know, do they?

[Jonas Parker]

Interesting article ,I hope the time frame is wrong , maybe QE3 will not happen?

Sorry, but everything I've researched says the timing is right on the money (pun intended). I'm thankful for every extra day.

Doc, thanks for the additional information (I think)!

So what can the little people, like us, do about it? I grow weary of "the end is near/now" without solid, constructive ways to deal with it. This forum offers the best advice possible and we read and do our best. But we cannot stop a tsunami, only move to higher ground. So is that going to be north/south/east/west? No one seems to know, do they?

I'm afraid this financial tsunami will hit us from all directions at once.

OK, some solid constructive ways to deal with it:
My parents and grandparents who lived through the "Great Depression" always told me "cash is king". They could also squeeze a nickel until the buffalo crapped! With this in mind, get your spouse on board now, hold a family meeting, and announce the new economic reality that's quickly coming. Then:

1. Go through all your "stuff" in the next three days (and yes, this will cut into your TV time).
2. Weed out what you aren't using or don't need.
3. Have the Garage Sale this coming weekend.
4. Take the money you make and buy beans, bullets, and band-aids.
5. If you already have enough beans, bullets, and band-aids, take the money to the nearest coin store and buy 90% silver US coins. Don't get sucked into 40% Kennedy halves or "war" nickels
6. Minimize your checking and savings accounts (the money isn't earning much interest anyway) and redeposit the cash in the Sealy National Bank (Serta branch)
7. Cut down on all your living expenses that you can:
a. get a cheaper cable TV package, or cancel TV entirely
b. adjust the thermostat in your house to a more economical setting
c. do your own oil changes on the cars.
d. do you REALLY need two cars? If not, sell one NOW!
e. talk with your insurance agent on ways to save on car and home insurance
f. minimize or eliminate your cell phone bills
g. go over your grocery bills with a fine-tooth comb - eliminate waste and buy cheap (on sale and with coupons)
h. don't forget "thrift shops" for needed items - check them out first.

These ideas should give you a constructive start, but START NOW!

[Moto]

Why should we believe it's going to crash now. The sky is falling. It's been fallimg for the last 15 years, and still hasn't happened. Maybe you would like to post the same headline for Aug. 1st next year while your at it.

My thoughts exactly.

Humans can adjust to virtually any condition, but the amount of human sufferring will be directly proportional to the speed at which society is forced to adjust. If real change in the American standard of living is inevitable, the best course is to do whatever it takes to prolong the status quo and soften the landing. In this sense, a gradual deflation of the dollar is probably wise. Like everyone here I think it's a real shame that it has come to this, but it is what it is.

[Flippper]

Why Do Interventions Continue?

I firmly believe they will collapse the house of cards on a specific date and likely exact time, as I also believe these people are satanists who believe their time has arrived. My gosh, look at the Superbowl half time show, it was blatant satanism, then the Olympics with all it's globalist illuminati eye candy. 2012 is the beginning of their rule, they have stirred up the middle east, fulfilling prophecies thousands of years old. The economies of the entire planet are lined up like dominoes, purposely, and with one, pre-timed flick, it all comes crashing down. I think it will happen overnight, nearly instantly. We will go to bed in this reality, and awaken to a new, vastly different and evil one. That fast.

[Sleeping Cobra]

Or maybe August 1, 2013. Who knows.

[MC2006]

http://www.economicnoise.com/2012/07...e-end-is-near/


THE END IS NEAR

At the risk of looking/sounding like some crazed religious fanatic usually seen carrying a sign or proclaiming: “Repent, the end is near,” I shall avoid the word “repent. To me, the rest of that proclamation appears accurate and reasonable, at least with regard to our economic condition.

The US and world economy are near collapse. Sovereign debt, driven by increasingly desperate government interventions, spirals upward at accelerating rates. There is no recovery and there can be no recovery with the debt levels of both governments and citizens.

For a time fiscal and monetary stimulus were undertaken in the hopes that they would enable economies to achieve traction and return to normal growth paths. The political myth of Keynesianism demanded such “conventional” tools be applied. Almost five years into the economic crisis, there has been no recovery, despite trillions of dollars wasted. Nor can there be one without massive debt liquidation and the redeployment of misplaced capital.

Lip service is still given to the pseudo economics known as Keynesianism. Die-hards like Paul Krugman and other Statists continue to insist it is the answer to a recovery and push for additional interventions. Statists defend this alchemy because it is the source of government growth and power. In applying more of these remedies, the ultimate resolution of the crisis is deferred but made worse.

Why Do Interventions Continue?
Interventions, primarily in the form of monetary expansion, continue. Many in the political class realize additional stimulus cannot solve the economic problems. The reason for favoring them is not for an economic cure but as a means to continue government spending at its unsustainable levels. Keynesian economics has always been a political rather than economic tool. The pretense otherwise is becoming harder to maintain. Lance Roberts, commenting on the latest Richmond Fed data, states:


--Read the rest at

http://www.economicnoise.com/2012/07...e-end-is-near/

[Seeker]

1. Go through all your "stuff" in the next three days (and yes, this will cut into your TV time). Jonas, those who know me also know I rarely watch TV.

These are all useful suggestions on ways to minimize one's dependence on a financial infrastructure. But what do you suggest if holding silver or gold is declared illegal and subject to confiscation? What do you suggest to those who are already living on retirement/fixed income from investments that may be wiped out overnight? How does one stay healthy if medical care is rationed and drugs that sustain are unavailable? Cash may be king- but what if the entire dollar-based system is replaced with pennies-on-the-dollar script for the dollars you have saved? These are my questions, not can we get by on any less than we are already doing. . .

Constant reminding that its all going down on such-and-such date are getting tedious. We'll know for sure the morning we wake up and are told that its happened.

[doctor_fungcool]

1. Go through all your "stuff" in the next three days (and yes, this will cut into your TV time). Jonas, those who know me also know I rarely watch TV.

These are all useful suggestions on ways to minimize one's dependence on a financial infrastructure. But what do you suggest if holding silver or gold is declared illegal and subject to confiscation? What do you suggest to those who are already living on retirement/fixed income from investments that may be wiped out overnight? How does one stay healthy if medical care is rationed and drugs that sustain are unavailable? Cash may be king- but what if the entire dollar-based system is replaced with pennies-on-the-dollar script for the dollars you have saved? These are my questions, not can we get by on any less than we are already doing. . .

Constant reminding that its all going down on such-and-such date are getting tedious. We'll know for sure the morning we wake up and are told that its happened.

Think outside the box, become a pirate............................arrrrrr matey.

[colonel holman]

.gov dared to report their version friday that 4Q 2011 growth was 4%, 1Q 2012 was 2%. 2Q 2012 was 1%... showing downward trajectory into second recession... which is of course their optimistice version to placate the masses, but does show they are willing to admit the trend, which means it is bad enough for them to guide the masses toward that conclusion.

[mzkitty]

Think outside the box, become a pirate............................arrrrrr matey.

Well, pirates were always only interested in gold and silver, IIRC.

Hard to come by for mere mortal landlubbers.

Think way outside their box. Think of a better way to not let us all starve to death and become slaves (we're already peons).

[Doc1]

To the idea of ruthlessly going through your "stuff" with an idea towards selling these things and increasing US Dollar holdings should be done [I]very[I] judiciously. Stuff is often good to have! The prices one can reasonably expect for used items are a fraction of their retail cost. There is little reason to sell anything that you are likely to have to replace in future. I hear the "sell your stuff" advice repeated endlessly on various prep boards and - often enough - it it's just wrong-headed! The idea of increasing your US Dollar holdings is futile unless you have a well thought-out plan for using them. Yes, it's nice to have a lot of cash for its own sake, but you already understand that dollars are an ever-shrinking store of value and if you are selling your stuff to accumulate dollars...just to buy more stuff...are you really accomplishing anything (other than losing money)?

Earlier, someone mentioned the possibility of the government outlawing precious metals. This is entirely possible, but it is equally possible with other prepper favorites, such as guns, ammo and food stocks. My approach would be to diversify.

If you are going to buy stuff, bargain ruthlessly and stick to the 2nd-hand market as much as possible. Wanting the very latest tech is little more than vanity at work. Few of us actually need the latest computer or television. Most consumer electronic items manufactured within the last two to fifteen years - depending on the item - give perfectly adequate service. As an example, DW and I decided to give up all broadcast television, but still wanted a big screen TV for video. We found a nice, big screen CRT TV for $25 and it serves admirably as a home theater centerpiece on our "movie nights." No, we aren't Luddites. We use our computers for a lot of video and some (highly selective) TV watching. For these, we have nice, large screen LCDs which we purchased 2nd-hand and - again - bargained ruthlessly for! Vehicles are another area where intelligent purchasing can save a fortune. For us, the choices have been (used) economical diesels and motorcycles. Wise choices here avoid depreciation losses and can help ensure parts availability.

Ultimately, buying as though you were anticipating TEOTWAWKI can be practiced for day-to-day living and save you a lot of money in the process.

Best regards
Doc

[Milk-maid]

So what can the little people, like us, do about it? I grow weary of "the end is near/now" without solid, constructive ways to deal with it. This forum offers the best advice possible and we read and do our best. But we cannot stop a tsunami, only move to higher ground. So is that going to be north/south/east/west? No one seems to know, do they?

Everyone is weary of it, .. tired of hearing about it, tired of thinking about it.... but that doesn't stop it from coming closer. That is the reality.

I do believe as Jonas Parker said, that the Tsunami is going to come from all sides, all directions.

Suggestions for some solutions:

*pay off all debt

*buy tangible goods, ie:
Long term storage food
Precious metals

*plant an edible garden

*Have chickens or other food sources that will work in a city as well as country.

*prepare and practice defensive measures (guns/ammo/self-defense/border control around property, etc)

*Make a back-up plan B

*Have a plan for alternate back-up plan C

(I contribute to my alternate economic back-up plan each and every month in case my retirement pension should ever cease up)

Do you have an alternate place you can go to in case everything else fails where you are?

Just my .02
*

[TerryK]

This always astounds me... Am I the only one who remembers learning in elementary school that flooding the economy with money only increases inflation???

Hell getting old, isn't it?? Schools havent taught real economics in decades
You're and I are lucky we were educated when there still was education.

[Milk-maid]

PS.. they can't confiscate what they don't know you have. No one knows what you have except you.

Seriously, I don't think they will ever confiscate (except through pure theft) PM's.

[China Connection]

We are not gong to see any overnight end to the economy. A 40% drop in the value of the U.S. dollar will change thing in a big way but society will go on. What we will see is a lot more unemployment along with rising crime rates.

In a few years when the welfare system stop that is when all hell will brake loose.

On a personel level all hell can happen at any time. Below most live on about $15 US a month. Some do not live on $15 U.S. a month

[summerthyme]

Choosing to not acquire and keep PM's "because they might outlaw them" says "I give up" to me. JMHO... in that case, you might as well just quit- don't keep firearms and ammo (God knows they may outlaw those, if they ever think they can get away with it) food (there are already laws against "hoarding") fuels (laws against keeping more than a few gallons on hand in many areas). Heck, about the only thing there AREN'T laws against "hoarding" or "stocking" are completely useless trash like tons of "designer" shoes.

And Milk-maid is correct- they can't take it if they don't know you have it! (And while that will make USING your metals more difficult if things get tough, there has never been a collapse or a totalitarian government which didn't also have a thriving black market. Yes, it will be risky, dangerous and frightening- hell, LIFE will be all of those when the time comes.

As far as health care, etc... TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. If you absolutely *require* meds and there are no natural substitutes, and it's too late to fix your health by the common sense actions in diet, exercise, etc... look at online sources to stock up on the meds you absolutely need to survive. I know that people with serious thyroid issues simply won't live without thyroid meds... you can get 100 count bottles of thyroxin for around $6 right now. A HUGE percentage of diseases in this country are "lifestyle diseases"... some of them will literally be cured if people can't get their sodas, 1000 calorie fast food lunches and other "cheap" foods, and have to actually work to produce their own food. For many others, it's too late. And for some, the truth sucks- if things collapse to the point where they can no longer get dialysis, or certain meds, their lives are going to be very short.

We already pretty well have done what Jonas Parker suggests in his excellent post- except we never HAD "stuff" to sell. We've living on a shoestring for so long, we have nothing else to cut. But we also have prepped- gradually, carefully and very, very selectively- for almost 30 years. I thank God daily that we saw the writing on the wall when times were a little easier (we've NEVER had it "easy", but we did have some times when there were a few dollars "extra" that weren't needed just to keep the cows fed and taxes paid) and that we chose to put them into preps, not vacations, fancy clothes, dinners out...

But I believe we are just about completely out of time... TS is about to HTF. I've watched the "cheap" foodstuffs- beans, rice, wheat, pasta- climb steadily in price to a point where it IS damned near impossible for those on a very tight income to feed themselves and also to stock up for a rainy day. If you look at some of my past posts, I was saying a couple years ago that "you're nearly out of time" to stock up (for people on average incomes). I don't like being right.

Then again, few people are so disciplined and on such a strict budget that they can't eliminate SOMEthing like a couple sixpacks of soda or beer, a movie night out, a purchased coffee or soda or McDogfood special - and if you look at your budget and cut *every one* of those extras for a couple of months, you probably can stash some beans, rice, pasta and a few things to help flavor them... maybe some seeds to grow your own flavoring herbs. For those who have already cut everything out and still aren't making it- you have my prayers. You probably are eligible for Food Stamps... they probably won't last too much longer, but I'd rather see those who NEED them get them, than some of the users I've seen using them recently.

Anyone who has been on this board for a few years who hasn't prepped (even if they've since needed to use those preps, and I know that has happened to many) has no one to blame at this point but themselves. (and no, I'm not talking about the TINY MINORITY who are living well below the poverty level and had absolutely no way to prep... I know there are some out there, but I'm not talking to you)

Every once in awhile, something big will hit the news... and *every* *single* *time* we'll get some posts saying "boy... I think I really probably should consider prepping. Where do I start?" And almost every time, you look at the join date of the poster and you realize they've been here for 5 years. And I'm sorry, but I wonder what in the WORLD they have been doing for all that time! And then I wonder if they realize how much time they wasted and how many dollars it's going to cost them.

If things "hold together" (basically, if stores stay open, green pieces of paper are still accepted as legal tender and you don't need an armed escort to go to the grocery store) for a couple more years... I can guarantee that anyone who hasn't prepped then will need probably twice as many green pieces of paper as they'd need if they started now. But it's a choice...

Summerthyme

[China Connection]

Here in China I have seen many thing double in price within the last year. This in itself should give an idea of what is coming to the U.S.

[Buckster]

no collapse until after the Iran war.

boring huh?

[Thunderbird]

I will get my pension check on he 1st, I do not depend on getting annother.

[Double_A]

You know one thing I rarely hear anyone say to stock up on is maintenance and repair related stuff.

For example, nails, screws all sizes, bolts, washers, nuts, bailing wire, brass wire, copper electrical wire, electrical connectors like ring terminals, wire nuts, split bolt connectors, electrical solder, sprays like, carb cleaner, silicone, liquid wrench, tri-flow, lubricants 3 in 1 oil, lithium grease, paint thinner, cheap paint brushes as applicators, armourall, tube of silicone clear & white caulk and sealant, liquid nails, gorrilla glue

ok you get my point, price on some of this stuff is really going up

[Ragnarok]

Hell getting old, isn't it?? Schools havent taught real economics in decades
You're and I are lucky we were educated when there still was education.

LOL!

Yeah...Problem is that, now, I'm feeling the age, too...

[Housecarl]

For links see article source....
Posted for fair use....
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/0...86E0JJ20120730

Euro drops vs dollar on caution over Fed, ECB meetings

By Julie Haviv

NEW YORK | Tue Jul 31, 2012 1:41am IST

(Reuters) - The euro dropped against the dollar for the first time in four days on Monday as investors refrained from taking on risk ahead of key European Central Bank and U.S. Federal Reserve policy meetings.

Fears that the ECB may not take strong enough action to contain the region's debt crisis and belief the Fed will not announce new stimulus measures this week had the euro retreating from Friday's three-week high against the greenback.

Market expectations for action from the euro zone's central bank, which holds its policy meeting on Thursday, have grown sharply after ECB President Mario Draghi said last week the bank would do whatever it takes to save the euro, a message echoed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.

"Last week's euro rally was pretty aggressive, so it makes sense that we are seeing some consolidation today," said John Doyle, director of markets at Tempus Consulting in Washington, D.C. "Overall, there is really no good reason to be buying the euro, especially with Spain and Italy remaining big issues."

Against the dollar, the euro fell 0.5 percent to $1.2258. That is down from Friday's three-week high of $1.2389, but above last Tuesday's two-year low of $1.2040, according to Reuters data.

Adding to bearish sentiment was the euro's failure on Friday to close above a key technical level near $1.2325.

Tempus' Doyle said he expects the euro to stay within the range of $1.21 to $1.2350 for another week or two, with medium-term support at $1.2050.

"The euro will get a bump on ECB action, but sellers should emerge at the $1.25 level," he said.

The ECB will probably say that it will re-start its dormant government bond buying programme with the aim of lowering Spanish and Italian government bond yields, a Reuters poll of money market traders showed.

Many, however, remain sceptical of ECB bond buying because Germany has repeated its opposition to such a step.

"Traders were in 'Show me' mode, with enthusiasm fading over last week's comments by both Mario Draghi and Angela Merkel in support of the euro," said Boris Schlossberg, managing director of FX strategy at BK Asset Management in New York.

German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler warned the ECB about any large-scale government bond purchases and a German government spokesman on Monday reiterated Berlin's opposition to any form of mutualization of euro zone debt.

BUSY WEEK

Markets were bracing for a busy week, with central bank decisions due in the United States and the UK as well as the euro zone, in addition to key U.S. jobs data on Friday.

The U.S. Fed begins a policy meeting on Tuesday and its decision will be announced on Wednesday. Economists expect policymakers to sit on their hands for now.

"We look for the Fed to extend its forward guidance language to 'at least late 2015' at this week's meeting," Michael Hanson, senior U.S. economist at BofA Merrill Lynch in New York, said in a global research report.

"While there is a moderate chance of additional QE at this meeting, we think it is more likely that the Fed will announce a third round of asset purchases in September," he said. "We look for $600 billion of purchases, split roughly equally between Treasury and MBS securities, through June 2013."

A third round of bond buying, called quantitative easing, would be negative for the dollar as it is tantamount to printing money and therefore dilutes its value.

In related news, foreign exchange turnover rose slightly in North America but slipped elsewhere in the world in early 2012 when compared with the year earlier period, according to a semiannual survey of major central banks on Monday.

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar eased 0.3 percent to 78.18 yen, according to Reuters data.

(Additional reporting by Wanfeng Zhou; Editing by Andrew Hay)

[almost ready]

quick synopsis: adjusted for inflation, the US retail numbers show a 16% year-over-year collapse as of June, 2012. This follows a long slow collapse for some time, which is accelerating. The details are how the statistics are reported incorrectly, to camo the results and gloss them over.

Economy: The U.S. Retail Collapse Accelerates

July 25th, 2012

Less than two weeks ago I wrote “Crash Warning.” It outlined the current economic parameters of the global economy and explained that we were careening toward a particular form of economic Armageddon which I believe was first described by John Williams of Shadowstats.com, when he coined the phrase “hyperinflationary depression” nearly a decade ago.

The debt-laden, fraud-saturated paper Ponzi-schemes of Western bankers are now all about to implode in a deflationary (debt-default) collapse – most notably all their fraud-bonds. Simultaneously, the rabidly excessive money-printing of these reckless gamblers is causing (and will cause) the prices for hard assets (i.e. assets which actually have value) to spiral upward, with the most likely final destination being hyperinflation.

Because that previous commentary was describing a global economic paradigm, my analysis was necessarily abbreviated with respect to the apex of all economic ills: the United States. In particular, I spent less than a paragraph discussing the collapse of the retail sector in the world’s largest economy – a consumer economy.



Before we examine this train-wreck directly, let’s take a moment to define the backbone of this consumer economy: the American consumer. The two charts below should be very familiar to regular readers, and describe the American consumer in stark but precise terms: poor and/or unemployed.





[chart above courtesy of http://nowandfutures.com/index.html]





We see two things in the chart above on average American wages. First we see how (in real dollars) wages for the average U.S. worker have been falling steadily for more than 40 years. Those wages have now fallen by more than 50%, all the way down to the same levels as during the Great Depression. And we see how the U.S. government’s lies about inflation have almost entirely concealed this relentless collapse in wages. How convenient.

Meanwhile, we see the percentage of Americans who are actually working also plummeting downward, to a 30-year low. The collapse in wages has been accompanied by a collapse in employment levels. Combined, it translates into a collapse in consumer purchasing power of well in excess of 50%.

The great Economic Myth (naturally perpetuated by the U.S. government) is that “the world can’t live without” the American Consumer. The truth is that the rest of the world has been gradually learning how to live without the American consumer for the past 40 years, as the American consumer is literally less than half what he used to be. The real-and-obvious question instead is how will the U.S.’s consumer economy be able to survive the Death of the U.S. Consumer?

The relentless campaign by the U.S. government to transform its own Middle Class into the Working Poor has been an unmitigated success. Using the numbers of the Corporate Media itself, only about 10% of the U.S. population presently qualify as “middle class”, now actually a smaller segment of the total population than the wealthy Americans who tower oppressively above them.

The purpose of destroying wage-levels for U.S. workers has been to drive those wages so low that American serfs will be able to “compete” with the wages of Asian serfs…while they manufacture toys and consumables for the wealthy. This is the “prosperity” which the Corporate Oligarchs promised us when they rammed “globalization” down our throats. They had the gall to call it “free trade”, when the only thing “free” about it was their ride – on our backs.

However, this transformation comes at a terrible cost. Deprived of income, the Working Poor have been forced to use ever-increasing amounts of debt in a foolish quest to sustain an unsustainable level of consumption: mimicking the policies and attitude of the U.S. government itself. The result is the ultimate retail “perfect storm”: consumers with small-and-falling incomes; loaded up with so much debt that they are incapable of borrowing any more; and with much/most of those incomes permanently going to pay interest to the Debt Parasites (i.e. banks). Perpetual debt-slavery.

Of course the “collapse” to which I’m referring didn’t just start last month, or even last year. It began in earnest with the Crash of ’08, and has continued unabated since then. The propaganda-concocted “recovery” of government and media has been nothing but a cruel hoax, designed to placate the growing suffering of the Working Poor, and goad them into more overspending with the malicious lies that “things are getting better”.

The truth is the exact opposite. During every month of this sham-recovery, the real rate of inflation (as provided by John Williams of Shadowstats.com) has exceeded the percentage increase in retail sales (which are always unadjusted for inflation). Translation: every month of this “recovery” U.S. retailers have been selling less and less goods. This leads to another extremely obvious question: how can a consumer economy claim to be experiencing a “recovery” when it sells less and less goods each month, to consumers with ever-smaller incomes (and ever-larger debts)?

This scenario become still more absurd when we note that rising costs of raw materials have put extreme pressure on retail profit margins. Selling less and less goods for less and less incremental profit is not a formula for retail success. Rather it is a prescription for annihilation, and this is precisely what we see before us.

U.S. mall-vacancy rates have soared to all-time highs, and stubbornly refused to budge from those levels. Concurrently, margin-starved retailers are closing their storefronts and opting for more and more on-line commerce. In other words, they’re closing stores which generate significant numbers of jobs and tax revenues in favor of on-line operations which provide little of either. It is a self-reinforcing downward spiral which can only end in total economic disintegration. And we’re told that this collapse in sales, profit margins, employment, and tax revenues can all be taking place while the U.S. economy “recovers”.

This brings us (at last) to the actual numbers currently being peddled by this propaganda-machine. On Monday it was announced that U.S. retail sales had fallen by 0.5% in the month of June, and that this was the third month in a row that sales had (officially) fallen. For a consumer economy, this sounds bad enough even when we only contemplate the official propaganda. However, it’s only when we translate these numbers that we can truly appreciate the approaching U.S. economic holocaust.

As noted previously, retail sales numbers are never adjusted for inflation. Living in a permanent era of high inflation, this makes absolutely no sense at all if you’re attempting to distributeinformation with this statistic, but makes wonderful sense if you’re a propaganda-machine with the sole goal of deceiving people every day of their lives.

Instead of the runaway inflation produced by the psychopathic money-printing of Western bankers being their “enemy”, it is their best friend. The propagandists hide it completely with their absurd lies about “official” inflation. And eureka! High inflation is magically transformed into “high (and growing) retail sales”, and “high (and growing) GDP”.

I’ve dealt exclusively with the U.S.’s GDP sham in a previous commentary, so those readers still not familiar with this clumsy ruse can refer to that older piece. Here’s how the game of pretending that inflation doesn’t exist is used to lie about retail sales.

Real inflation is currently bouncing somewhere around the 10% level. John Williams will tell us that it has briefly dipped below that level, however his calculation is somewhat skewed by the effect of (temporarily) falling gasoline prices. As less and less of the Working Poor can afford to drive, the correct weighting of gasoline in an any inflation calculation must steadily fall – while (high) double-digit increases in food prices must be given more and more weight, as is the case in other poor nations.

I will steadfastly stick with a 10% figure for real inflation, with the qualification that this is an understatement for the American majority. Note also that in order to hide its deceptions involving retail sales, the U.S. government reports it as a monthly figure, with monthly rates of change. Conversely, almost every other major economic statistic is expressed as an annual rate of change, because we have been programmed to understand all statistics expressed in this manner. Thus by reporting retail sales in purely monthly terms, this dramatically shrinks theperceived size of these incremental changes in the eyes of the average reader. This serves two purposes.

When these numbers are bad (as they are presently), it dramatically understates this severity in the minds of those being fed these numbers. Conversely when the numbers were (supposedly) “good”; when U.S. retail sales were increasing (nominally) by a 20%+ annual rate while wages were increasing by only a (nominal) 3% annual rate, it stopped the dim bulbs in the media from forming the word “bubble” in their minds.

The argument for expressing these numbers in monthly terms is that they are “highly volatile”, and so reporting them as annual figures would be “misleading”. Obviously such an argument is nothing less than Machiavellian when coming from the most-accomplished propaganda machine which the world has ever seen.

Translated into an annual number, and adjusted for inflation; the 0.5% number reported for June is transformed into a collapse in U.S. retail sales at an annual rate of 16%. The 0.2% decline reported in May becomes a plunge of well in excess of 12% (annually). Which of these numbers “misleads” people, and which informs them?

With consumption directly or indirectly accounting for well over 80% of the U.S. economy; by the time that the “multiplier effect” is factored in (in reverse) this collapse in retail sales transforms almost point-for-point into a collapse in (real) U.S. GDP. Thus the consequences of this double-digit freefall in U.S. retail sales are plain for all to see.

The worsening economic collapse engineered by several successive U.S. regimes (at the guidance of their Bankster Overlords) is about to produce an economic cataclysm for Americans which will make the Great Depression seem like a day at Disneyland. Indeed, in the don’t-worry-be-happy world of the U.S. propaganda machine and its beloved “recovery” every day is like a day in Disneyland.

Written By Jeff Nielson From Bullion Bulls Canada

http://etfdailynews.com/2012/07/25/e...e-accelerates/

[China Connection]

The same game is in play here in China. Sales are up in dollar terms often but things are costing twice as much. So they quote dollars for exports instead of goods. So if exports are the same in dollar terms as before and things are twice as expensive it means exports are down by half.


The only thing keeping the game going is lending. When everyone is maxed out on borrowing the game stops and enslavement starts.