The 10 economic charts that you are about to see are completely and totally shocking. If you know anyone that still does not believe that the United States is in the midst of a long-term economic decline, just show them these charts. Sometimes you can quote economic statistics to people until you are blue in the face and it won't do any good, but when those same people see charts and pictures suddenly it all sinks in. What is great about charts is that you can very easily demonstrate what has been happening to the economy over an extended period of time. As you examine the economic charts below, pay special attention to what has been happening to the U.S. economy over the last 30 or 40 years. The truth is that what is wrong with the U.S. economy is not a great mystery. All of the economic problems that we are experiencing now have taken decades to develop. Hopefully the charts in this article will help people realize just how nightmarish our economic problems have become, because until people start realizing how incredibly bad things have gotten they will never be willing to accept the dramatic solutions that are necessary to fix our financial system.
The sad fact of the matter is that we have been living in the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world over the last 40 years. All of this debt has purchased a wonderful standard of living for the vast majority of us, but all of this debt has also destroyed the economic future of our children and our grandchildren. Someday future generations will look back on what we have done in absolute horror.
The 10 economic charts posted below are meant to shock you. Most Americans today need to be shocked before they will be motivated to take action. Please share these charts with as many people as you can. Hopefully we can wake enough people up that something will be done about all of these problems while there is still time.
1 - Government spending is expanding at an exponential rate. As you can see from the chart below, federal spending is almost 18 times higher than it was back in 1970. Now Barack Obama has proposed a budget that would increase U.S. government spending to 5.6 trillion dollars in 2021. Just imagine what the following chart would look like if that happens....
2 - U.S. government debt is absolutely exploding. The U.S. national debt is currently $14,081,561,324,681.83. It is more than 14 times larger than it was back in 1980. Unfortunately, the national debt continues to grow at breathtaking speed. In fact, the Obama administration is projecting that the federal budget deficit for this year will be an all-time record 1.6 trillion dollars. Can we afford to continue to accumulate debt at this rate?....
3 - Unless something changes right now, the outlook for U.S. government finances in future years is downright apocalyptic. The chart posted below is from an official U.S. government report to Congress. As you can see, it is projected that interest on our exploding national debt is absolutely going to spiral out of control if we continue on the path that we are currently on....
4 - Household debt has soared to almost unbelievable levels over the last 30 years. The sad truth is that it is not just the U.S. government that has a massive debt problem. U.S. households have also been accumulating debt at a staggering rate. Total U.S. household debt did not pass the 2 trillion dollar mark until the mid-1980s, but now total U.S. household debt is well over 13 trillion dollars....
5 - The total of all debt (government, business and consumer) in the United States is now well over 50 trillion dollars. For the past couple of years this figure has been hovering around a level that is equivalent to approximately 360 percent of GDP. This is a debt bubble that is absolutely unprecedented in U.S. history....
6 - As tens of thousands of U.S. factories get shut down and as millions of our jobs get shipped overseas, the number of unemployed Americans continues to go up and up and up. As you can see from the chart below, there has been a long-term trend of increasing unemployment in the United States. In fact, there are about 3 and a half times as many unemployed workers in the United States today as there were when 1970 began. These jobs losses are going to continue as long as we allow our corporations to pay slave labor wages to workers on the other side of the globe. All of the major trends in global trade are very bad for the U.S. middle class. For example, the U.S. trade deficit with China for 2010 was 27 times larger than it was back in 1990. How long will our politicians stand by as our nation bleeds jobs?....
7 - The median duration of unemployment in the United States is in unprecedented territory. For most of the post-World War 2 era, when the median duration of unemployment in America reached 10 weeks that was considered a national crisis. Well, today competition for jobs is so intense that the median duration of unemployment is now well over 20 weeks....
8 - Since the Federal Reserve was created in 1913, the value of the U.S. dollar has declined by over 95 percent. One of the reasons given for the existence of the Federal Reserve is that the Fed helps control inflation. But that is a huge lie. The truth is that the United States never had consistently rampant inflation until the Federal Reserve took control. In particular, once the U.S. totally went off the gold standard in the 1970s inflation really started escalating out of control....
9 - Now the Federal Reserve says that the solution to our current economic problems is to print even more money out of thin air. The games that the Federal Reserve is playing with our money supply are simply inexcusable. Just look at what the Federal Reserve has done to the monetary base since the beginning of the recession....
10 - All of this new money is creating tremendous inflation. In particular, the price of oil is now ridiculously high. A high price for oil is very, very bad for the U.S. economy. Our entire economic system is based on being able to use massive quantities of very cheap oil. Unfortunately, that paradigm is starting to break down and the consequences will be very bitter. Back in mid-2008, the price of oil hit an all-time record of $147 a barrel and subsequently the world financial system imploded a few months later. Well, the price of oil is on the march again and that is very bad news for the U.S. economy....
Needless to say, if the economic trends documented by the charts above continue the U.S. economy will be totally wiped out. The U.S. economy as it currently exists is unsustainable by definition. It is only a matter of time before we slam into an economic brick wall.
We have developed an economy that cannot function without debt, and at this point it seems like almost everyone is drowning in red ink. The federal government is massively overextended, most of our state and local governments are massively overextended, most of our major corporations are massively overextended and the majority of U.S. consumers are massively overextended.
The only way that the game can continue is for the Federal Reserve to print increasingly larger amounts of paper money out of thin air and for everyone in the economic food chain to go into increasingly larger amounts of debt.
But no debt spiral can go on forever. At some point this entire house of cards is going to collapse.
When that happens, there is going to be economic pain that is greater than anything that this country has ever seen before.
Someday we will all desperately wish that we could go back to the "good times" of 2011. A great economic collapse is coming, and all of us had better get ready.
You are creating without knowing the third world war because you are scaring people .. Why do not you say that with the 3.8 trillion dollar everything will be better
These charts sum up completely the cause of what we are facing – and more changes are on the horizon. Better stock up on Beans, bullets, and band-aids because the S is going to Hit the Fan.
Jobs continue to leave, government continues to print dollars devaluing it’s value, taxes continue to increase, in some places as much as 71% real estate tax, and 70% income tax in some places increase to maintain our governmental services, people continue to lose jobs, gas, food, oil, etc.. continue to unaffordable levels, THIS ALL SPELLS TROUBLE AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE! How, when and who will reverse this trend? Maybe it’s time we’d take a serious look at what the Independent and the Tea Parties have to offer. The Democrat and Republican Parties are just trimming at the edges of our real problems,(Deficits, debt, expenditures, taxes).
Let’s go back to basic, like plant your own food, live from the earth, etc.
If the U.S dollar ever loses its reserve currency status, it will be the beginning of the end, if not the end itself. Red flags and sirens everywhere!
We would no longer have the “priviledge” of printing as much currency as we wish, to fund as many domestic pork projects and garbage programs as we wish. Right now, the dollar is king. But there’s always a new king waiting around the corner…it may be the Euro, or special drawing rights (SDR’s), heck, maybe the Chinese yuan or Mexican peso!
So, is there any hope? Umm, er, well… maybe. Doesn’t look so good at this point in time though.
Those charts are scary. What is even scarier, is the response of the masses. Why don’t more people know about this? If they DID know, what would they do about it?? (Which answers the question, “Why don’t more people know about this?”)
Are they hypnotized by Bieber Fever? Yes, they are. Sad to say, but most people know more about Elton John, than they do about our current fiscal predicament.
“How long will our politicians stand by as our nation bleeds jobs?….”
Re-election is a reward for a job well done. The body politic keeps re-electing politicians so their previous deeds are validated. Those that voted for NAFTA were re-elected and gave you China Free Trade and financial de-regulation. Job well done.
Vote out the incumbents in their respective political primaries and vote in political unknowns that put the United States of Americas population first. Why unknowns? Because the respective party machines have proven that their choices are poor choices. The engineer, physician or teacher is preferred over the Governor climbing the latter to Congress and Congressman to US Senator. Can such people successfully legislate? I wish our decades long incumbents were less successful legislators.
Re: Item #6, and the accompanying chart.
Notice how unemployment increases dramatically after each recession.
And during the Great Recession? Unemployment hit the ceiling.
Coincidence? You decide.
Money isn’t the problem. Umh, let me rephrase that – maybe money IS the problem. You can’t keep throwing dollar bills at a problem, and expect it to get better. That’s what we did with education. Look at where that’s gotten us so far.
Just keep spending. We’ll soon be dumb, and broke.
Hi.
the best way to solve the current problem of unemployment, debt,and manufacturing is to abolish currency in its totality or completely, wipe out I mean, introduce electronic currency, abolish income tax completely, give 100000 dollars of electronic money to all small businesses,introduce a tax based on consumption , introduce mass transport systems nation wide, compulsory college eduction to all for free, compulsory or mandatory physical work out for all aged between 18 and 65, no single meal over 650 calories, and America , the real America I mean , the people of America will be a real super power in 20 years. There will be considerable reduction of crime, drugs, illegal transactions. paper currency is root cause of all problems as it attracts greedy people and cannot be tracked. Finally, this is my opinion only, suggestions or additions are welcome
thank you
C+I+G=Y
Someone has to borrow the money to keep us from deflation. If the people won’t do it, the Gov. will. If no one does it BAM deflationary depression.
This is what happens when you let “those-who-will-not-be-named” run your banking system.
As I said before I do not know anyone right/left or in-between who gives two shits about the debt/deficit. I am beginning to believe it is all right wing media hype.
All we need to do is tax the rich=no debt.
For those who say even if you tax the rich 100% blah blah blah… I say then at least taxing them HARD will make a down payment.
If you were to do a baker’s dozen, you might look at the M1 Money Multiplier (MULT) from the St. Louis FED as an 11th or 12th pick. It measures the velocity of money, and it’s been swirling the bowl in what feels like forever. One I have kept an eye on for years.
It’s amazing how government officials act as if it’s perfectly natural to have a global system of fiat currencies, when in actuality it’s all been pretty new ground since the U.S. went off the gold standard in 1971.
See more details related to the more dismal science of fiat money. Click here.
P.S. “The Economic Collapse” is a great source of stimulating discussion. Thank you for your consideration and guidance!
Can scaling and job-centric economy revive the manufacturing sector in America, thus lowering unemployment?
We help Americans find jobs and prosperity in Asia. Visit http://www.pathtoasia.com/jobs/ for details
Regarding the word choice in your title, “wrong” could be perceived as a subjective perspective of one who might not be on the right side of the fence, so to speak.
You see, for someone on the opposite side of the fence, someone who might have been involved in the planning of this “drama” many decades ago, the charts you display might represent a glorious, crowning achievement based on methodically manipulating almost the entire American population to do exactly what they were told. Collapse to one might be expansion to another. It’s quite beautiful if seen strictly in terms of a marketing plan. They’re pulling it off and we just bend over and grab our ankles and point to that spot where we want it and where they want to put it.
Yeah, so they’re motivated by selfishness and greed. Are we any different, those of us on this side of the fence? We just bitch a lot, but that’s as far as it goes. Just lot’s of talk. On this blog and all the others. If you think about it, isn’t that also a form of selfishness and greed, also?
Regarding the President and all his predecessors. They’re just doing what they were hired to do. They’re all the same cause they’re on the opposite side of the fence from us.
Mike…
You have made an egregious mistake. All of these charts have been posted upside down. There is nothing to see here. Everything is fine, move along please.
Gary makes more money than I do, so I should be able to tax the living crap out of him and take his dough. He’s rich by my standards, so he’d better start coughing it up or I’ll just have to employ sterner tactics to teach him the loving nature of Marxism.
I hope you Gary2 and Micheal enjoy this video. I have always hated new generation rock, but I have a new found respect for this band, it speaks to the sheeple and the mass. Are you looking for another way to die? The Collapse is coming are you ready to drink the muddy water. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwELajFteTo Doom and Gloom! There is no way back!
Oh wait you have to see this too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Igt-jW4e8ts
What to do about this?
1. Get on your knees.
2. Pray to Almighty God.
3. Plant radishes and beans.
Face it, we’re all going to have to go through the next several years together. Everyone will suffer some pain. There is a way out. But the only way out is through.
(Sigh)… You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Boomers are starting to retire now. The retirement peak will be around 2025 – not that far down the road. And don’t forget Medicare. That’s a lot of government checks to cut every month. I heard these obligations will amount to around $65 Trillion.
But don’t worry. It’s not so difficult to print a few trillion, like they did in germany, or Zimbabwe.
http://bit.ly/eP8aU0
Same here in Europe, maybe people are bit more tough though, as they’ve gone through hard times before, whereas in the US it’s quite a shock and many people still don’t believe it’s actually happening.
Looks like China is going to join the club as well…
http://endtimeinfo.com/2011/02/chinese-food-prices-have-increased-by-4-6-in-ten-days/
…instead of becoming the next superpower.
Many Americans are Unhappy… just not Unhappy enough to do something about it…
November of 2010 was an appeasement period. When the results of the mid-term elections fail to once again provide any real change.. … it will be interesting to see what will be next.
Don’t be fooled… more and more Americans are catching on. Keep up the good work sharing the information without sounding like a crazy Kook. Hopefully enough Americans will open their eyes and something will eventually be done to steer the Titanic away from the Iceberg on the Horizon.
The present economy is in itself destructive. We have play money in our pockets that allow us the freedom to purchase cheaply from all over the world. Meanwhile, most of us become less productive, and less resourceful. Our fathers, grandfathers, and ancestors had to create and innovate to prosper and we spend and go in debt. Which people of which time were more capable of facing the difficult times? When this pseudo economy fails, after adjustments, we will be have to become more like our ancestors if that is ever allowed to be legal.
There is so many people insane to realise we are fine. Just look at these charts and you do not have to scratch you head wondering.
I have heard from FFT (http://www.forecastfortomorrow.com )that the chinese are sneaking out of the dollars. They are playing russian rouletter cause teh US dollar even if it doesnt crash, just watch when it is devalued on the street. Then there will be carnage!!!
Gary2, so they don’t mind the expensive gas and food or healthcare or education? Everything you need is in inflation, and everything you formally wanted is in deflation. Got it? Our debt equals our GDP, our yearly deficit to GDP is over 10%, and all debt to GDP is north of 350% while individuals debt to income is north of 120%.
Where exactly do you live because I won’t visit there based on your own observations. Any population that dumb and stupid should be given a wide berth.
Gary2
“All we need to do is tax the rich=no debt.”
If we taxed the rich at a 100% rate the debt is still there. This animal is big, real real big.
The charts are scary, but the congress and the presient are afraid of facing the issues that might help get some order back in government and help the job situation: bring toops home from all over the globe and have them guard borders; put a tax on all goods coming into the country, and let the taxes pay the expenses of government as the did in the 1920′s; this would get the companies that left for cheap labor to return and hire our people.
People are refusing to acknowledge what is really going on in this country and the world,and they will pay the price at some point. We are rapidly becoming a society of the Haves and the Have Nots, The Rich and The Poor. More millionaires were created in the Great Depression than at anytime in the history of this country for those that were prepared. Wake Up Americans, Demand the Truth from our Government. Click the following link and then Google the man that’s being interviewed.
http://crashproofprosperity.co/?id=rgc020211
We all bought the lie….consume, then consume, and hey consume a lot more…Idebtedness is the goal….Not to be overly religious, but just some wisdom from the book…we have been gluttonous..We each need to turn, take better care of ourselves, the ones we love, and those around us. We need to rebuild our local communities, and stop dependending on government and the freakin experts on how to live. Retrospectively, we took the bait and swallowed it. Sort of like Pinnochio being coxed by the fox to go to Pleasure Island, we’re all turning into jackasses…SLAVES
Pal: I am trying to figure out if you were laughing the entire time you wrote that stuff or if you seriously meant it. If the former, okay. If the latter, I would suggest that you need serious help on a whole range of things.
“Someday future generations will look back.. in absolute horror”
This article assumes, by way of normalcy bias, that we are going to go back to the way it was before. Although history repeats itself in a certain sense, it never repeats itself in concrete terms (the way we want). Just like a stock chart.
OK. This post seems to be the longer version of Mr. John Boehner saying: “We’re broke”. If so I’m wondering where’s the panic at Wall Street? Last time I checked yields, spreads, … were near a record low and treasury auctions by some multiple oversubscribed. Debt and deficit: Yawn!
But I like point 10: “All of this new money is creating tremendous inflation” in combination with an oil price graph. This is innovative idea only an attorney can come up with.
So will the great economic collapse happen anytime soon? Maybe. At least a Michael Snyder is working hard to do his part in making it happen by scaring folks about federal debt and deficits and the FED.
BTW: You can instruct FRED to draw the graphs in LOG scaling. This is the preferred way of economists to see whether there is an anomaly. But I guess this is not the purpose of your exercise anyway.
No question this is scary information and all the more reason for individuals to prepare for shocks to come. “Thriving During Challenging Times, The Energy, Food and Financial Independence Handbook” is a road map to make you more resilient to the coming converging challenges of peak oil, climate change and economic collapse. http://www.aztext.com/thriving.cfm
All that has been done in the last two years is destroy jobs. The unions are the biggest single destroyer of jobs in the US. In return for bribes paid to him Obama has given the unions 300 Billion dollars and issued executive orders to help unions take control of small business’. If you have worked 12 hours a day and mortgaged your house to create a business. You don’t add permanent employees so unions can take over your business, just common sense.
As long as a private bank that is controlled mostly by foreign entities is allowed to control the supply of our currency America is doomed along with the dollar. Wake up people! It is with mathematical certainty that the currency will grow exponentially until it is worthless.
Good compilation. Thanks for posting it. Folks like me (us) have been trying to you these charts to “shock” people into action since around 2006. I think there was a little squeaky Texan with big ears who ran for President who threw up some charts as well. Nobody listened.
Now we have awakening – economic and political and I I say – SO WHAT. Do not participate in the fantasy. Set up Time Banks, Alternate Currencies (to augment the national/global fiat fantasy), LETS, State Owned Banks, etc…
Screw the financial services markets — don’t like them? — take out you money and move it into GoldMoney or into physical silver and gold or tangible commodities and consumables like non-perishable goods. Only hold as much fiat cash as needed to participate in the fiat lie.
Money is simply a mental abstraction – nothing more. As the President of the Dallas Fedput it: “There is nothing behind the dollar other that faith”. Money is typically designed to facilitate 3 primary functions:
Unit of value
Store of value
Medium of exchange
The first two are basically kaput — stung along by Fed POMO injections and rhetoric. When the last one reaches the threshold of non-acceptance then the DTCC will take ownership of all the equities, the IMF will take the vaults physical holdings (salted or not) and they will surprisingly already have the new global monetary solution ready and going in place. Like Gomer Pyle they will say “surprise, surprise, surprise.” The bleating sheep will be thankful to their owners and will go back to sleep, forgetting the Texan with big ears and all the exponential charts, happy to be mining natural resources for their owners once again.
Or you can get on with your life and just refuse to play in their mark-to-fantasy monetary system if and whenever feasible.
Amen.
aucanary.blogspot.com
I doubt the Libertarians and the Tea Party will do anything to help–they are crazy and their ideas won’t work. Meanwhile, all those proposed budget cuts will cost thousands more jobs–just as the tax cuts for the rich contribute to the deficit.
There are several immediate solutions: end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (which cost about two billion a week, mostly borrowed from the Chinese); raise the cap on Social Security so that people earning over $108,000 a year pay into it; close down half our foreign military bases and bring home the troops to patrol the borders; make sure big corporations pay taxes (Exxon Mobil made billions in profits and paid not one penny in tax and got a tax refund!).
Ha Ha , the more you write, the less and less credible you become. Oh yeah, it is ALL the Black Mans fault for this mess. yep, you and rushed limburger are all on the same page now. Of course, if you look at the chart about the fed debt, it starts going up right when the Republicans took control of congress, in 1995, outsourced all the jobs with NAFTA and CAFTA, but its ALL the liberals fault. you right wingers get more wacked out by the day. Blame everyone except for the culprits. your blog is getting to be a joke, with your childish blame of the current administration, but nary a word of derision for the REAL admin who caused the collapse. I wont spell it out for you, lets see just how “smart” you are.
These articles give another side of the doom and gloom story, and actually answer some of these fears in this article:
http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/475264-tim-ayles/134563-debunking-myths-of-us-collapse
and
http://seekingalpha.com/article/248003-the-end-of-america-not-quite
Perhaps they just don’t care anymore. It’s a pyramid scam and the sooner investors realise that the better. Anyway, the government probably know about the solar flare heading to earth that will burn half the planet and flood the other half sometime between 2012-17, pole shift on it’s way
@Gary2
What is your definition of “the rich”?
Most of “the rich” in this country are the employers and small business owners. Listen up Einstein, if you tax the rich excessively, then job loss occurs (you are killing the golden goose). Tax increase = job loss = decrease in government revenue. If you knew anything about economics and history, then you would know that prior tax cuts have resulted in increased government revenue, because of natural stimulation of the economy (not fake stimulation that Zero gave us, which only resulted in greater debt). Similiarly, prior tax hikes have resulted in a drop in revenue to the government. Why? Because the private sector is what CREATES THE WEALTH! Once parasites like you understand this basic priciple, then perhaps you will STFU.
Have you ever heard of the Laffer Curve? I suggest you look it up.
Nobody can stop this gigantic volcano from erupting! America doomed to collapse folks. There is no fix to this mess! It is unsustainable. Many refused to push the reset button to start all over for quite long time! So time is near for a spectacular economic atomic bomb to go off at any given days!Not months, years . . . .but days! That is right! You heard that correctly. However, the situation is global related as well so don´t feel bad because you all think it is just U.S.A!
Time is near for the people of the world to control their own destiny and demolish the power of the Rich, Elite . . . .corruption and so forth. Our world financially has been manipulated, abused,and destroyed by the Rich . . .for too long and people have been suffering enough, but the time of reckoning is here, and that is God´s promise!
Perhaps it is time for a new way of living that is not dependent on a corrupt system.
Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJbEqF-FdoU
Just wanted to say that part of the problem is that we have people as dumb as Gary2. They just don’t understand that without incentives then nobody will try to achieve excellence. It is that pursuit of innovation and excellence that improves the quality of life for everyone, including the morons like Gary 2. If the wealthy were taxed more heavily than other, then it would de-incentive most of the risk taking, creative leaders in our country. You would end up with the whole country being like Detroit – a city that tried to live in a socialistic way and look what happened to that rat-infested dump of a city.
HAHA Frankenstein. I was gonna worry, until I read them upside down. In the words of the immortal Quagmire, “GIGGITY”!!
America is entering a dark age…The flight from the dollar as a “reserve” currency started two decades or more ago….one of the reasons for the “first” Iraq War in 1990 was Hussein beginning to move away from accepting payment for oil only in dollars; Iran (the great new enemy our corrupt choice) has been doing this for years….other countries are following…a “…totally bad example for others to follow”….defying the US.
American labor (organized and otherwise) is being crushed; began in earnest in 1980….”American labor must be crushed to a world level playing field”…Incoming Reagan administration, 1980.
By, by baby!!
Leave us rich people out of it.
the debt was brought on by the middle class;
who have too much political power. That is why we need “citizens united” and the
supreme court on our side. Oh and the fed and congress, justice system, cia, nsa,black water And the military who will shoot you down like the pack of rabid dogs you are if you try to protest and get back your … I mean “our” (top 2% ) country.
Tax 3,000,000 100,000 dollars or ten % of our income equals 300 billion
But
Tax 100,000,000 people 10,000 dollars
or 25% of there income and you get
1 trillion dollars so quit whining
I have always been leery of the Federal Reserve. Sadly, I am not that well-versed in the intricacies of the FED to speak intelligently about it. Getting rid of the FED sounds like a good idea but how do we do it without destroying the USA and what comes next?
How is it even possible that things have not already collapsed? What is keeping the economy afloat?
It’s the Derivatives.
Create a new chart which has that 14 Trillion and 60 Trillion Dollars of Public debt along side of the 1000 Trillion Dollars of Private Financial/Banking Derivatives that are the real BIG Debt that can’t be bailed out.
http://www.webofdebt.com/articles/its_the_derivatives.php
“The point everyone misses,” wrote economist Robert Chapman a decade ago, “is that buying derivatives is not investing. It is gambling, insurance and high stakes bookmaking. Derivatives create nothing.”1 They not only create nothing, but they serve to enrich non-producers at the expense of the people who do create real goods and services. In congressional hearings in the early 1990s, derivatives trading was challenged as being an illegal form of gambling. But the practice was legitimized by Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, who not only lent legal and regulatory support to the trade but actively promoted derivatives as a way to improve “risk management.” Partly, this was to boost the flagging profits of the banks; and at the larger banks and dealers, it worked. But the cost was an increase in risk to the financial system as a whole.2 Since then, derivative trades have grown exponentially, until now they are larger than the entire global economy. The Bank for International Settlements recently reported that total derivatives trades exceeded one quadrillion dollars – that’s 1,000 trillion dollars.3 How is that figure even possible? The gross domestic product of all the countries in the world is only about 60 trillion dollars. The answer is that gamblers can bet as much as they want. They can bet money they don’t have, and that is where the huge increase in risk comes in.
……
Public sector debt looks frugal. Public Banks with No Debt Money should help us get out of some of this mess.
This chart shows the beginning of the Reaganism that took hold of the Republican party, Carter left office , with high interest and high unemployment. Growth was slow but staple . Reagan deregulated banks, broke the unions and increased tax breaks for the rich. This trend was continued by Bush. As you can see by the charts, This is one of the reasons for the complete downfall of our economy. That is what happens when you go to war and don’t fund it. And at the same time cut taxes.
Excellent article on these charts and your right on the money!!! From reading many of these posts, there are many people with their heads still in the sand!!! The handwriting is on the wall folks, prepare now or many will be in serious danger of being totally homeless, without any kind of trade-able currency to buy food and shelter. In history, the Romans thought they were invincible too, but they fell and their economy totally collapsed!!! The USA will fall just like the giant Goliath in Bible times!!! Remember, the bigger you are, the harder you will fall!!!! Later in 2011 you will begin to see everything unraveling at breakneck speeds!!!
Hey Gary2
Do you even know how much 14 trillion dollars is? First of all taxing the rich will do next to nothing.
Second of all do you have any other points? Ever? That is all you seem to say: “Tax the rich.” Well I got a news flash for you, taxing the rich more because they are rich is unconstitutional and morally wrong.
Go any more bright ideas?
The Great Extraction:
From Gold Standard to Petroleum Control.
http://petroleum-s.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0
All this is in my book, Endless Money. Plus much more – Good comparison with the Roman Era, critique of charitable foundations, how fiat money interacts with the tax code, why Bernanke thinks he is theoretically correct — you need to know how it fits together.
Republicans in Congress voted with George W Bush for 8 years. Obama has been president for 2.
Gary2 –
Are you saying that the right wing is the cause of these charts and they are items of a fictitious scare? Am I hearing this correctly?
You need to do some more research brother! Plus, you already answered your question before your BLAH BLAH BLAH… taxing the rich at 100%, which would never happen, still wouldn’t help. 1 trillion in spending alone on over 900 military bases plus medicare, Medicaid, social security, not to mention every government program under the sun would also have to be eliminated to stop the crashing of the dollar.
This is sad times but the only way to survive and prosper right now is to educate each other on the true. “FIX REASON FIRMLY IN HER SEAT”. Research for the truth and how to survive…. we hope that the crash of our brutal dictator (THE FED) will become abolished upon hyperinflation and free trade will again resume. That is what this country needs… hyperinflation might actually be a small blessing in disguise. Too bad so many hardships will come from it all!
@mondobeyondo is correct “…most people know more about Elton John, than they do about our current fiscal predicament.”
It is beyond sad – it’s pathetic – that so many people are so “dumbed down” that Hollywood gossip & sports scores are all the “news” they pay attention to.
They will be the clueless suckers who lose everything because they don’t see the changes coming. Anyone who learn to trade it could make a fortune.
Understanding and adapting quickly are key financial survival skills that the “dumbed down” masses will never know.
Gary2, you are a fixated one aren’t you. I agree with you, but pertaining only to the ones who have outsourced or destroyed entire American industries , and believe me they know who they are. Easy task.
Kevin in my opinion (which its usually correct)understands our current position much better than Gary2 and whats needs to be done, but his analogy of voting in no names is off base. At this point we all should realize that no congress or senate member will do anything for us once elected.
So, we do not need congress to stop buying Chinese products do we? We have all the power, problem is we are just like those we have elected, we think we are going to get ahead or one another by saving money on cheap slave labor. Simple but true.