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If No Debt Ceiling Deal By Early June, Stocks Crash, The Economy Implodes, And Social Security Payments Don’t Go Out

May 14, 2023May 14, 2023 by Michael

We are being warned that there could be some real serious economic doom at the beginning of next month if the Democrats and the Republicans cannot agree on a deal to raise the debt ceiling. Experts are telling us that the stock market will crash, the economy will immediately plunge into a recession, and tens of millions of Americans will not get their Social Security payments. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says that a U.S. debt default would begin somewhere around June 1st. She can’t nail down the date precisely, because there is some uncertainty regarding how much tax money will come in over the next few weeks. But what is exceedingly clear is that time is very short, and there are only four days when the House and the Senate are both scheduled to be in session before June 1st. So the clock is ticking, and right now both sides are still far apart on any sort of a deal.

Of course the Republicans in the House have already passed a bill to raise the debt ceiling, but it is not acceptable to the Biden administration.

The Biden administration has chosen to play hardball, and so we really are facing the possibility of a nightmare scenario. The following description of what could be ahead comes from the Washington Post…

Federal workers furloughed. Social Security checks for seniors on hold. Soaring mortgage rates. A global financial system sent reeling.

Leaders from Congress and the White House are trying to forge an agreement to lift the federal debt ceiling, with only a few weeks before the Treasury Department may no longer be able to avert an unprecedented U.S. default. If they fail, and the government can’t meet its payment obligations, economists and financial experts predict chaos.

According to the Post, there are 7 major things to watch for if a U.S. debt default actually happens…

-Stocks crash

-A sudden recession

-Federal workers in limbo

-Social Security and Medicare miss payments

-U.S. borrowing costs soar

-Economic problems spread worldwide

-The dollar drops, along with U.S. prestige

The severity of the crisis will depend upon the duration of the default.

If the federal government can’t meet its obligations for a few days, it won’t be a very big deal.

But if there is no deal for several months, things could get really crazy. In fact, the White House is projecting that stock prices could fall by 45 percent…

Moody’s Analytics has estimated that stock prices could fall by roughly one-fifth, wiping out $10 trillion in household wealth and devastating the retirement accounts of millions of Americans. The White House has estimated that the decline could be closer to 45 percent.

That would be quite a crash.

And imagine what our country would look like if over 60 million Social Security recipients did not receive any payments for several months.

People would be going out of their minds.

The longer a debt ceiling crisis lasts, the more pressure the American people will put on their politicians.

And I think that it what the Biden administration is counting on.

Of course there are many Democrats that actually want Joe Biden to invoke the 14th Amendment in order to avoid a debt ceiling crisis altogether…

The 14th Amendment, passed by the Senate in 1866 shortly after the end of the Civil War, states “the validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.”

Biden says that he has been “considering” such a move, but Janet Yellen is publicly telling reporters that it would be “legally questionable”…

“I have been considering the 14th Amendment,” Biden told reporters Tuesday after meeting with congressional leaders at the White House and making little progress on the debt-limit stalemate.

Treasure Secretary Janet Yellen last week, however, acknowledged serious problems with the 14th Amendment as an answer to the debt crisis.

“There would clearly be litigation around that; it’s not a short-run solution,” she said at a news conference in Japan, adding it would be “legally questionable.”

We shall see what happens.

In the end, I don’t think that Biden will try to use a tortured interpretation of the 14th Amendment to end this crisis.

Instead, I believe that he will simply wait for the Republicans to fold like they always do.

For decades, Democrats have watched Republicans fold like a 20 dollar suit whenever some major deadline approaches.

And there are some Republicans that are already talking like they intend to fold this time around too…

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Sunday he does not think the United States will default on its debt.

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” McCaul said he was optimistic the nation would raise the debt ceiling by June 1, noting that defaulting would embolden the country’s adversaries.

“Our adversaries look at this very closely. They look at when we’re divided. … I think they would love nothing more, particularly China, to see us default in our full faith and credit under the Constitution,” McCaul said. “I think defaulting is not the right path to go down.”

But there is one key difference now.

Kevin McCarthy is the one holding the cards for the Republicans, and he does not intend to be steamrolled like other Republican leaders have been in the past.

There are certain things that he wants, and at this moment he is saying that there will be no deal if he does not get them.

Having said that, I still expect the Republicans to fold.

I just can’t help it.

I have seen it happen time after time, and it is clear that many of them simply do not have a stomach for this sort of a fight.

So I believe that doom will be averted because the Republicans will eventually cave in and give the Democrats almost everything that they want.

However, I have to admit that there is a chance that I could be wrong about this.

Maybe Kevin McCarthy and his team are made of sterner stuff than I suspected.

If that turns out to be the case, you will want to keep a very close eye on early June, because that is when things would start to get really “interesting”.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends. Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible. I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of my articles. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Even The Federal Reserve Is Admitting That More Than A Million Americans Could Soon Lose Their Jobs

May 11, 2023May 11, 2023 by Michael

How would you feel if a million Americans lost their jobs? Would you consider that to be a pretty catastrophic event for the economy? Well, as you will see below, even the Federal Reserve is projecting that more than a million Americans could lose their jobs in the months ahead. Needless to say, Fed projections are usually wildly optimistic. So what will the real number be? Ultimately, I think that things are going to be far worse than most of the experts would dare to imagine right now. According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, the number of layoffs during the first three months of this year was 396 percent higher than the number of layoffs during the same period in 2022. A tremendous amount of negative momentum has been building up, and there is a whole lot of fear out there.

Fear of what could happen to PacWest drove their stock price 22 percent lower on Thursday. Overall, PacWest is now down close to 80 percent so far in 2023…

Shares of PacWest were under pressure once again Thursday after the struggling regional bank said that deposit outflows resumed in the first week of May.

The stock dropped 22.7%, further extending its recent declines. PacWest’s shares have now fallen more than 50% this month and nearly 80% for the year.

The only reason why PacWest’s stock price is falling so rapidly is because it is getting a lot of media attention.

If you look closely at the numbers, PacWest really isn’t that much different from hundreds of other regional banks that are essentially insolvent at this point.

As I keep telling my readers, when banks get into trouble they start getting really tight with their money, and this is already happening all over the country…

It was already difficult for businesses and households to borrow money earlier this year — but after the collapse of three US regional banks and a cascade of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, getting money has become a little harder.

More lenders have stiffened their standards in the wake of increasing turmoil within the banking sector, according to the Federal Reserve’s quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey (SLOOS) released Monday.

Survey respondents attributed the changes in lending standards to economic uncertainty, a reduced appetite for risk, deterioration in collateral values and broader concerns about banks’ funding costs and liquidity positions, according to the Fed report. Additionally, lenders reported that they expect to tighten standards across all loan categories for the remainder of this year, citing the above concerns as well as customer withdrawals.

If businesses and consumers have access to less credit, economic activity will slow down.

And as economic activity slows down, more businesses will get into trouble or fail completely.

And that is going to mean more layoffs.

In fact, initial claims for unemployment benefits just jumped to the highest level in nearly two years…

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week jumped to the highest level since 2021, the latest sign the historically tight labor market is cooling off in the face of rising interest rates.

Figures released Thursday by the Labor Department show initial claims for the week ended May 6 surged by 22,000 to 264,000, well above the 2019 pre-pandemic average of 218,000 claims. It marks the steepest level for jobless claims since October 2021.

This was a very sharp rise.

According to Zero Hedge, it was actually “a 4-sigma miss to expectations”…

The print was a 4-sigma miss to expectations, and was above the highest forecast made by the 45 economists participating in the survey.

Ouch.

But this is just the beginning.

According to Fox Business, if current Fed projections are accurate more than a million Americans will soon lose their jobs…

The most recent projections from the Fed show that officials expect unemployment to rise to 4.6% by the end of next year, up from the current rate of 3.5%.

That could mean more than 1 million Americans lose their jobs between now and the end of the year.

Of course many of us do not believe that the Fed’s projections will be accurate.

Personally, I expect to see absolutely massive job losses over the next couple of years.

And as the economy steadily deteriorates, the condition of our society will get even worse than it is right now.

For many of you, that may be hard to believe, because things have already deteriorated quite dramatically.

In San Francisco and other cities around the nation, organized retail looting now happens on an industrial scale. For example, just check out what is going on at a Target near San Francisco’s Union Square…

“I’d say 10 thefts a day,” said one worker at the Target inside the Metreon, a mall near San Francisco’s Union Square. The worker spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not have permission from a supervisor to talk to the press.

“Every 10 minutes you see it,” another worker said who also did not wish to be named. “Look in some corner of the store, and you’ll see people shoveling stuff into a bag—food, cosmetics.”

We have never seen anything like this before, and this is why countless businesses have already left the city.

Another worker that was interviewed noted that lipstick and nail polish had just been stocked that morning “and now they’re empty”…

A third worker who also spoke on the condition they not be named said lipstick and nail polish, which are not locked behind plastic, are regularly stolen in handfuls.

“They were stocked this morning, and now they’re empty,” the worker said, pointing to an empty shelf reserved for lipstick.

Another worker said food and diapers are commonly stolen.

If this is how Americans are behaving now, while economic conditions are still at least somewhat stable, how will they behave when we are in the midst of a full-blown economic nightmare?

Our relatively strong economy has been the only thing that has kept our nation from descending into complete and utter chaos.

Once our economic strength is crippled, things are going to get really frightening.

So let us hope for the best, but let us also get prepared for the worst.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

Most People Believe That Life In America Is “Worse” Than It Was 50 Years Ago

May 10, 2023 by Michael

If you could go back and live in 1973, would you do it? To me, that is not an easy question to answer. I think that for many of us it would be a real challenge to adjust to a world without the Internet and so many of the other technologies that we enjoy today. But I also think that if we were suddenly transported back to that time we would be absolutely shocked by how freely people lived. In 2023, there are literally millions of different laws, rules, regulations and ordinances that constrain how we behave down to the smallest detail. A lot of us still think that we are “free”, but that hasn’t actually been true for a very long time. In addition, the values of our society are completely different from what they were in 1973. Over the past 50 years our culture has been completely turned upside down, and we can see the nightmarish consequences of this cultural revolution all around us.

Of course there was no time in U.S. history when life was perfect. But when Pew Research recently asked people if life in America “is better, worse, or about the same as it was 50 years ago”, an overwhelming majority of respondents said that life is worse today…

The survey showed Americans with a negative view on how life is for people now. They were asked, “In general, would you say life in America today is better, worse, or about the same as it was 50 years ago for people like you?”

Over half, 58 percent, said they believe life is “worse” for people like them than it was 50 years ago. That reflects a 15-point increase from the 43 percent who said the same in July 2021.

Only 23 percent said they believe life is “better,” and 19 percent said it is “about the same.”

Needless to say, if many of us had to pick the best years in American history, 1973 would not be among the top few choices.

The economy was really struggling and the fashions were absolutely horrible.

But if you watch this 1973 street footage from New York City, you can see that life was pretty good and people seemed to be pretty happy…

Would I want to trade my current life for a life in 1973?

No.

But if I could trade the people and values of 1973 for the people and values of 2023, I would do that in a heartbeat.

Our society is falling apart all around us, and that is because the character of this nation has been fundamentally transformed.

Crime rates are spiking in our major cities, mass killings are happening at a record pace, our streets are filled with drug addicts, and the biggest crooks of all are walking the halls of power.

In addition, we live at a time when millions of Americans are afraid to leave their homes because our society is literally teeming with predators. For example, the next time a hotel manager tells you that he wants to check in on you, it may not be because he is concerned about your air conditioning unit…

A manager at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Nashville has been charged with aggravated burglary and assault after he reportedly entered a guest’s room and sucked on his toes.

According to Metro police, 52-year-old David Neal was the night manager at downtown Nashville’s Hilton Hotel, located in the 100 block of 4th Avenue South.

Police said Neal allegedly made a key card and used it to enter the guest’s room on March 30 at around 5 a.m. The guest told police he woke up and found Neal sucking on his toes. He immediately confronted Neal and recognized him as the person who had come into his room the day before with another employee to address an issue the guest was having with his TV, according to investigators.

There are millions of others just like him all over the country.

And some of them even get invited to the White House.

Of course it is debatable whether we even have a “country” at this point because we essentially have no southern border.

Thousands upon thousands of migrants illegally enter the U.S. every single day, and this isn’t just causing enormous issues in the border states.

In the state of Indiana, approximately 22 percent of all students in the public schools “receive lessons in both English and Spanish”…

But it’s not just a problem in the border states. Take Indiana, for example, where Indianapolis police have just declared the capital city a sanctuary for the invasion. WISH reported last year: “Across Indiana, there are nearly 78,000 students called ‘English Learners’ who receive lessons in both English and Spanish. The number of English learners in Indiana schools has increased by almost 27,000 from six years ago.” FAIR estimates that 22% of Indianapolis students are LEPs!

And now that Title 42 is expiring, the surge of migration that we have been witnessing is likely to become an avalanche…

Tens of thousands of migrants are reportedly surging at the U.S.-Mexico border ahead of Title 42’s expiration.

In the Texas border city of El Paso, about 2,200 migrants are currently camped or living on the streets a few blocks from major ports of entry that connect El Paso with the Mexican city of Juárez. The city is prepared to open up shelters next week if needed at two vacant school buildings and a civic center.

So the pace of societal change is only going to accelerate even more in the years ahead.

I just wish that things would go back to the way they once were.

We live at a time where almost everything is corrupt. For example, if I order a chicken sandwich at a restaurant, I want them to give me a piece of meat that comes from a dead chicken.

But instead, our “chicken-based products” often contain fillers such as “seaweed” and “wood pulp”…

Fried chicken is a favorite for millions of Americans – but many of the options offered by America’s biggest fast food chains contain other unexpected ingredients.

These restaurants will often fill their food with additives, preservative and even other proteins in order to keep costs to a minimum and give their offerings a longer shelf life. Others may use buzzwords such as ‘premium’ or ‘all-white meat’ to describe their poultry-based offerings.

But more surprising ingredients – such as beef, seaweed and even wood pulp – can be found in the recipe for some chicken-based products at major restaurants.

Yuck!

And don’t even get me started on the “meat glue” that is used to hold many of our meat products together.

The reason so many people eat “organic” today is because they want to eat like people did 50 or 60 years ago.

In fact, many of the “movements” that we are witnessing right now are simply attempts to recapture what life in America was once like.

We have lost so much, and we are losing even more with each passing day.

But there are still many of us that remember how great America was in the old days, and we simply are not willing to stand by and just accept the new version of “America” that is now being forced upon us.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

It Could Happen To You

May 9, 2023May 9, 2023 by Michael

Those that are wrecking our economy don’t seem to have much empathy for the millions upon millions of people that they are hurting. As you will see below, one Fed official is actually suggesting that interest rates may need to go even higher even though the interest rate hikes that we have already seen are turning lives upside down all over the country. Everywhere you look people are in severe pain, but this is only just the beginning. And I would encourage you not to ever look down on those that have had a run of bad fortune, because it could happen to you too.

The other day I wrote about a homeless encampment in Marin County, California that stretches along the side of a highway for about two miles. It can be easy to assume that those that live in the encampment deserve to be there, but the truth is that a lot of them are just like you and I.

The Daily Mail sent a reporter down there, and he talked to a 69-year-old man that once “ran a business with 15 workers” and had a home that was completely paid off…

John Sherry saved all his life, owned his home outright, and ran a business with 15 workers. Then his wife got cancer.

Now the couple live in a trailer and take grocery handouts from shelter volunteers. Their prospects of ever getting back into a home in tony Marin County, California, are swiftly dwindling.

‘I’m not the guy that’s down there and has zero. I saved real well. I owned my home outright. But circumstances happen,’ Sherry, 69, told DailyMail.com.

It sounds like he was doing everything right.

But his wife got sick.

Sadly, the goal of the cancer industry is to extract as much money from you as possible.

If they can help you along the way, that is a side benefit.

Whether you live or whether you die, the primary goal is to systematically suck the wealth out of your accounts.

It is such a broken system, but it isn’t going to change any time soon.

There is simply way too much money at stake.

So try not to get sick.

Sherry and his wife now live on the side of the road in an RV that they once thought would only be used “for family vacations”…

He thought he would only ever use his $50,000 Outback Keystone RV for family vacations.

Now, it is one of a reported 135 motorhomes, cars and makeshift shacks that have assembled over the past two years to fill a two-mile stretch of Binford Road – the Misery Miles – alongside the 101 highway north of Novato, a city of 53,000, a 45 mile drive from San Francisco.

These days, most Americans are just a couple of bad breaks away from losing everything.

And often it is children that suffer the most.

The Daily Mail also interviewed 61-year-old mechanic Keith Jackson. In his case, he actually has an 11-year-old son that he needs to care for…

His friend, Keith Jackson, 61, has been out of work since the pandemic began.

‘I’m a single dad with an 11-year-old son. I was a welder and a mechanic, but I got fired. Now I’m doing anything I can for money. In the past year I made $11,000,’ he said.

If your kids have warm beds to sleep in tonight, you should be very grateful.

Because there are way too many kids in this country that do not have homes anymore.

Earlier today, I was talking with a good friend that is absolutely horrified by how rapidly economic conditions are deteriorating in this country. This particular individual has very little faith in those running our system, and a brand new Gallup survey that was just released seems to indicate that most Americans feel that way at this stage…

With the U.S. facing a deadline to increase the nation’s debt limit and the threat of an economic recession looming, Americans lack confidence in a variety of key U.S. leaders on economic matters. Gallup finds between 34% and 38% of U.S. adults expressing a “great deal” or “fair amount” of confidence in President Joe Biden, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and congressional leaders in both major parties to do or recommend the right thing for the economy.

The incompetence that our leaders have displayed in recent months has been absolutely breathtaking, but they don’t seem to understand how badly they have failed.

In fact, New York Federal Reserve President John Williams just told CNBC that interest rates could go even higher later this year…

“First of all, we haven’t said we’re done raising rates,” Williams told CNBC’s Sara Eisen during a Q&A session after his speech. “We’re going to make sure we’re going to achieve our goals and we’re going to assess what’s happening in our economy and make the decision based on that data.”

“I do not see in my baseline forecast, any reason to cut interest rates this year,” he said, adding that additional rate hikes would be possible if the data doesn’t cooperate.

The first rule of central banking is that you don’t raise rates if the economy is plunging into a major downturn.

But they are doing it anyway.

So now banks are in deep trouble all over the nation, and they are telling the Fed that loan standards will soon tighten even more…

Also on Monday, a new Fed survey on bank lending practices underscored that lenders expect to tighten loan standards even more in the near future, including for commercial real estate loans.

“Banks most frequently cited an expected deterioration in the credit quality of their loan portfolios and in customers’ collateral values, a reduction in risk tolerance, and concerns about bank funding costs, bank liquidity position, and deposit outflows as reasons for expecting to tighten lending standards over the rest of 2023,” the survey said.

In fact, we just learned that mortgage credit availability has already plunged to the lowest level in 10 years…

Mortgage credit availability fell to its lowest level in a decade as lending tightened amid ongoing instability in the banking sector, according to data released Tuesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

If Fed officials had any sense left at all, they would immediately start slashing interest rates.

But they aren’t going to do that.

So the credit crunch will get even worse.

And more businesses will fail.

And more workers will get laid off.

And more people will end up living in their vehicles or in our streets.

This isn’t rocket science.

The Federal Reserve and our politicians in Washington got us into this mess, and now they insist on doing things that will make this new crisis even worse.

If you are going to enjoy a warm dinner in a warm home tonight, you should be very thankful.

Because our system is starting to fall apart all around us, and countless American families have already had their hopes and dreams completely shattered.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

Economic Despair Is Rapidly Spreading As The Cost Of Living Rises To Extremely Oppressive Levels

May 8, 2023 by Michael

This new economic downturn is starting to bite, and we are starting to see signs of severe pain all over the nation. In fact, unless you are independently wealthy, you are likely feeling pain too. The cost of living has risen to extreme oppressive levels, and this has happened at a time when close to two-thirds of the country was already living paycheck to paycheck. As a result, many Americans are having their finances stretched to the breaking point, and millions of them are reaching out for help. For example, on Saturday morning the line of people waiting for assistance at one of Boston’s largest food pantries “stretched the length of two football fields”…

The line outside Boston’s American Red Cross Food Pantry on a recent Saturday morning stretched the length of two football fields.

The number of people filing into the red-brick industrial-zone warehouse on some days now exceeds the worst periods of the pandemic economic crisis and in April it had the second highest monthly traffic since it opened in 1982, according to David Andre, the director.

In recent months, food stamp benefits have been reduced to pre-pandemic levels, and that has made things even more challenging for those near the bottom of the economic food chain.

But it isn’t just those that are unemployed or that are on government assistance that are hurting. At one food bank in Colorado, “military families, teachers, nurses and even dual-income couples” are now coming for help…

Nathan Springer, a retired army colonel who is president and chief executive officer of the Colorado Springs-based Care and Share Food Bank, said his organization is seeing more requests for groceries from military families, teachers, nurses and even dual-income couples following the cut in assistance.

“We’ve seen young full-time employees who are for the first time facing hard decisions: Are we going to buy food or pay our utility bills?” Springer said.

We witnessed this kind of suffering in 2008 and 2009, but at that time food prices were at least relatively stable.

Here in 2023, food prices have already surged to absurd levels, and they continue to go higher at a very alarming pace…

In the first quarter alone, global foodmaker Nestlé SA reported raising prices in North America 12.4% compared to last year. Unilever Plc raised prices 13.4% globally in its food division.

No matter what the Federal Reserve does, I believe that food prices are going to keep rising.

And that is not going to be good for any of us.

In a recent tweet, I think that Mike Cernovich summed up what a lot of Americans are feeling right now…

I’ll give you example. I took my kids to a causal eating place. Ordered meals. Saw the amount due. And was PISSED. I can afford it that’s not the issue. It’s like we are being bled everywhere. If you’re struggling, this sentiment is amplified by helplessness, which leads to rage.

Can you identify with that?

I sure can.

I remember the days when you could go out to eat and feed an entire family for just ten bucks.

Needless to say, those days are long gone.

The days are also gone when the average family could afford to purchase a new vehicle every few years.

At this point, millions upon millions of us keep patching up our old vehicles because new vehicles have become just too expensive…

Juan David Ramirez knows that his 2012 Nissan Juke SL is on its last legs. But buying a new car in the Orlando area these days reminds him of car buying in his home country in Colombia, where only the wealthy can afford new cars.

Ramirez, 33, and his wife Angelica Castro-Calle really want a new, small SUV with a little space for camping and paddleboarding gear. But despite good jobs in finance and business contracting, the couple’s monthly loan payment would run around $700 for the $35,000 models they are looking at, before dealer markups.

So they plan to patch up the Nissan, which is paid off.

Actually, a lot of people would argue that if he has a vehicle that is from 2012 he is still living the high life, because many Americans are driving around in vehicles that are far older than that.

Of course there were a lot of very unwise people that went out and purchased vehicles that they could not afford over the past couple of years, and now subprime auto loan delinquencies are spiking…

The duo pointed to 60-plus day delinquencies hitting 9% in March for borrowers with credit scores of 550 and below when looking at subprime auto loans packaged into asset-backed securities, or bond deals. That’s up from a rate of about 7% in March 2019 before the COVID crisis.

They also studied evaporated savings of the lowest income borrowers since mid-2021 peak levels, and anticipate a greater share of all U.S. consumers will “run out of excess savings,” in the months to come, leaving them vulnerable to missing payments and delinquencies.

Perhaps more alarming, the 1-month constant default rate for subprime auto bonds, or asset-backed securities, already was nearing 12% (see chart), on a path toward the 16% peak seen in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Just like in 2008 and 2009, we are going to see a huge wave of mortgage delinquencies, auto loan delinquencies, and credit card delinquencies in the months ahead.

Meanwhile, banks are getting into financial trouble all over the nation and so they are starting to get really tight with their money.

In fact, the Fed’s most recent quarterly Senior Loan Officer Opinion survey shows that a credit crunch for businesses is already here…

Forty-two percent of banks said they somewhat tightened lending standards for large and midsize companies over the past three months, according to the Fed’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey. And 45% said they somewhat toughened lending criteria for small firms.

And lending standards have also been rapidly getting tighter for consumers…

Banks also toughened lending standards for consumer, auto and credit card loans, according to the survey. Credit card balances have reached a record level and delinquency rates have edged higher as low- and middle-income households grapple with high inflation.

As I have been warning my readers, lending standards have only just begun to tighten.

The latest SLOOS report confirms this. According to the report, U.S. banks are “expecting to tighten standards across all loan categories” throughout the rest of this year…

“Banks reported expecting to tighten standards across all loan categories,” the report said. “Banks most frequently cited an expected deterioration in the credit quality of their loan portfolios and in customers’ collateral values, a reduction in risk tolerance, and concerns about bank funding costs, bank liquidity position, and deposit outflows as reasons for expecting to tighten lending standards over the rest of 2023.”

What does this mean?

It means that things are going to get substantially worse than they are right now.

So the lines at the food banks are going to get even longer.

And a lot more people are going to lose their jobs.

And more businesses are going to fail.

If you remember what 2008 and 2009 were like, that will give you some idea.

We’ve got a long, hard road ahead of us, and our leaders seem to have absolutely no idea how to get us out of this mess.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends. Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible. I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of the latest updates. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Homeless Encampments Are Exploding In Size All Over America As Rents Soar And Evictions Surge

May 8, 2023May 7, 2023 by Michael

Communities all over the United States are being taken over by giant homeless encampments, but we are supposed to believe that this is perfectly normal. The Biden administration is trying very hard to convince all of us that the economy is in fine shape even though many of our most prominent corporations are currently conducting mass layoffs and even though Challenger, Gray & Christmas is telling us that the number of jobs cuts during the first three months of this year was up 396 percent compared to the same period last year. Just like in 2008 and 2009, large numbers of people that have lost their jobs or their businesses are ending up living in the streets, and as a result homeless encampments are absolutely exploding in size from coast to coast.

In Marin County, California the average price of a home is 1.4 million dollars, and it is one of the most prosperous areas of the entire country.

But it is also home to vast hordes of homeless people. In fact, one of the biggest homeless encampments in Marin County is now more than two miles long…

Hundreds of locals in one of San Francisco’s wealthiest counties have been forced to pack up their lives into RVs and trailers after being pushed out of the housing market.

Shocking photos show the ever-growing line of trucks and other vehicles along 101 Highway – which now stretches over two miles in one of the largest encampments in the country.

The Federal Reserve knew that pumping vast amounts of money into the system would make the wealthy even wealthier, but they also hoped that some of that wealth would eventually trickle down to the poor.

Sadly, that didn’t really happen.

Instead, the gap between the wealthy and the poor has gotten larger than it has ever been before, and now we are witnessing scenes like this all over the nation…

I was absolutely floored when I first viewed that footage.

Those that live there are trying to make the best of it. In fact, one woman that recently “moved in” is comparing it to “heaven”…

“My life here … it’s OK to me. It’s really relaxing. There’s no harassment,” Shelly G. told the Post.

Shelly, 53, moved to Binford Road from Petaluma at the beginning of April to join her friend Terry.

Shelly was seated under a covered area behind a green vehicle and held her small dog, Bailey, as she talked to the Post.

“This right here, this is heaven,” she went on.

No, you are not living in “heaven”.

You are 53-years-old and you are living in a vehicle on the side of the road.

But I give her credit for trying to put a positive spin on her very distressing circumstances.

Of course she is far from alone. More than half a million Americans are currently homeless, and that number is inevitably going to grow much larger.

Many would argue that the problem is even worse in southern California. The homeless encampment along San Vicente Boulevard in Beverly Grove just continues to expand, and this has pushed one physician to the breaking point…

Dr. Kenneth Wright, a physician and surgeon, has been working out of an office in the neighborhood for 22 years.

“For the last year and a half to two years, there’s been encampments on both sides of our office building. Patients are afraid to come in. Many of them have psychiatric problems, drug problems, and they’re screaming profanities. They [unhoused people] defecate in our planters, defecate in the parking lot and it’s gotten to the point now that I had to leave. My office staff is afraid. They’re afraid to come to the office. They come in pairs,” said Wright.

I feel very badly for him.

But at least he has the option of moving his office.

Other types of businesses are not so easy to relocate.

Unfortunately, it has now become nearly impossible to escape this crisis in some cities.

At this point, the entire city of Portland is essentially one enormous homeless encampment, and countless businesses have fled for greener pastures as a result.

Yes, some of the people living in these homeless encampments are drug addicts and criminals, but there are also a lot of hard working individuals that have just had some tough luck.

These days, most of the population is barely scraping by from month to month, and inflation has pushed housing costs to absurdly high levels…

Americans are facing one of the toughest markets in years – with up to 20 prospective renters per single apartment in some cities.

The Northeast is ground zero in the battle for a new apartment, as inflation, interest rate hikes and cost of living pressures shatter the home ownership dreams of many Millennials and Gen Zers.

Almost half of the 20 most competitive markets for renting in 2023 are in the Northeast, with North Jersey topping the list, according to Rent Café, which analyzed 134 markets across the U.S.

I can hardly believe what landlords are asking these days.

In New York City, the average rent on a one-bedroom apartment has now reached five thousand dollars a month…

That high demand could partly be a result of New York renters getting sticker shock from exorbitant renewal rates for shoe boxes in the city, where one-bedrooms are now going for an average of $5,000 per month.

Can you imagine paying $5,000 a month for an apartment with just one bedroom?

That is insanity.

But thanks to the Federal Reserve, this is our country now.

And as economic conditions deteriorate, the number of Americans that are getting booted out of their rentals has been soaring…

All told, landlords filed nearly 970,000 eviction cases across the sites that we track in the ETS, an increase of 78.6% compared to 2021.

Those that are running things are not going to be able to fix this.

In the months ahead, many more Americans will lose their jobs, and many more Americans will get evicted from their homes.

That means that a lot more people will be joining the ranks of the homeless, and homeless encampments will continue to rapidly grow all over the country.

Please do not look down on those that end up in the homeless encampments, because with a few bad breaks you could be one of them too.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends. Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible. I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of the latest updates. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

On The Verge Of A Banking Industry Apocalypse?

May 4, 2023May 4, 2023 by Michael

Every time that they tell us that everything is fine, things just seem to get even worse. This banking crisis was supposed to be “over” after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed. It wasn’t. Then it was supposed to be “over” after First Republic collapsed. It wasn’t. By now, most of you already know about what has been happening to PacWest, Western Alliance, First Horizon and countless other regional bank stocks. In all my years, I have never seen banking stocks fall so quickly. If this avalanche continues to pick up momentum, pretty soon we will have to stop talking about a “banking industry crisis” and start talking about a “banking industry apocalypse”.

Ironically, I think that CNN has actually summarized the current state of affairs better than anyone else…

A summary of where things stand in the banking crisis:

The Fed: “Banks are fine.”

The Treasury: “Banks are fine.”

The banks: “We’re fine.”

Wall Street: “Everybody sell, the banks are on fire!”

On Thursday, PacWest released a carefully worded statement that was supposed to calm investors down…

Our message remains consistent with what was conveyed last week with earnings. As previously announced, the Company has explored strategic asset sales, including moving the $2.7 billion Lender Finance loan portfolio to held for sale in 1Q23. This planned sale remains on track and upon completion will accelerate our CET1 capital ratio to 10%+ (from 9.21% at 1Q23). Additionally, in accordance with normal practices the Company and its Board of Directors continuously review strategic options. Recently, the Company has been approached by several potential partners and investors – discussions are ongoing. The company will continue to evaluate all options to maximize shareholder value.

But instead this statement sparked a massive wave of panic and the stock dropped more than 50 percent…

The rout in regional banks picked up steam again on Thursday morning, with several stocks suffering sizeable losses.

PacWest sank 50.6% was halted for volatility multiple times. The slide began on Wednesday evening following news that the Los Angeles-based bank was exploring strategic options, including a potential sale.

Western Alliance was down 38 percent even though it pushed back very hard against a report by the Financial Times that indicated that a sale of the bank was being explored…

Western Alliance is exploring strategic options including a potential sale of all or part of its business, the Financial Times reported on Thursday citing two people briefed on the matter.

The Arizona-based bank has hired advisers to explore its options, the report added, saying the bank’s deliberations were at an early stage and might not come to anything.

And shares of First Horizon fell 37 percent when the market opened after their merger with Toronto-Dominion Bank fell through…

First Horizon Corp. shares plunged 37% at the cash open in New York, the most significant decline since September 2008.

Bloomberg reported First Horizon held a conference call earlier today, seeking to calm investors after the merger agreement with Toronto-Dominion Bank was “terminated.” The regional bank said it has ‘stable funding’ and adequate capital.

Those are the three big names that are dominating the headlines right now, but there are many more institutions that are teetering on the brink of insolvency.

In fact, one recent study determined that “186 more banks are at risk of failure”…

After the demise of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank in March, a study on the fragility of the U.S. banking system found that 186 more banks are at risk of failure even if only half of their uninsured depositors (uninsured depositors stand to lose a part of their deposits if the bank fails, potentially giving them incentives to run) decide to withdraw their funds.

So what is the bottom line?

The bottom line is that things are bad, and now that the Fed has decided to raise interest rates again they will soon get even worse.

At this stage, very few banks are truly safe. Depositors continue to pull money out of the system, bonds that are held by these banks continue to lose value, and more loans are going bad with each passing day.

This banking crisis is far from over.

In fact, it is just beginning.

Yesterday, Bill Ackman warned that our entire regional banking system “is at risk”…

The regional banking system is at risk. SVB’s depositors’ bad weekend woke up uninsured depositors everywhere. The rapid rise in rates impaired assets and drained deposits. Zeroing out shareholders and bondholders massively increased the banks’ cost of capital. CRE losses loom. Meanwhile, higher-yield, more user- friendly alternatives beckon @Apple.

The @FDICgov failure to update and expand its insurance regime has hammered more nails in the coffin. FRB would not have failed if the FDIC temporarily guaranteed deposits while a new guarantee regime were created. Instead, we watch the dominoes fall at great systemic and economic cost.

Banking is a confidence game. At this rate, no regional bank can survive bad news or bad data as a stock price plunge inevitably follows, insured and uninsured deposits are withdrawn and ‘pursuing strategic alternatives’ means an FDIC shutdown over the coming weekend.

He is mostly correct.

But I will quibble with him on one point.

Even if all deposits in the system are fully guaranteed, a lot of people will still be pulling their money out.

As Zero Hedge has aptly noted, many wealthy individuals are transferring funds from checking accounts that yield next to nothing to money market funds that pay around five percent…

People are not moving their money because of deposit loss fears: everyone already knows unlimited insurance is guaranteed, especially in blue states; they are moving because it takes 30 seconds to transfer from a 0.01% yielding checking account to a 5.1% money market.

The Federal Reserve could help the banks by cutting interest rates.

But that isn’t going to happen any time soon.

So brace yourselves for more bank failures.

Prior to the collapse of First Republic, Gallup conducted a survey that asked Americans if they are concerned about the money that they have in the banking system.

These are the results…

Amid turbulence in the U.S. banking system, nearly half of Americans are anxious about the safety of the money they have in accounts at banks or other financial institutions. A total of 48% of U.S. adults say they are concerned about their money, including 19% who are “very” and 29% who are “moderately” worried. At the same time, 30% are “not too worried” and 20% are “not worried at all.”

These findings are from a Gallup poll conducted April 3-25, the month after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank collapsed. News about the failure of a third bank — First Republic — came after the poll was completed.

Needless to say, the events of the past couple of weeks are not going to help people feel any better.

Our banking system is in a tremendous amount of trouble, and this is just one element of the broader societal meltdown that we are currently witnessing.

I am extremely concerned about the rest of 2023.

And I am even more concerned about what 2024 will bring.

Events are starting to move very rapidly now, and very dark days are ahead.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends. Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible. I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of the latest updates. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Is The Federal Reserve Trying To Cause An Economic Depression?

May 3, 2023May 3, 2023 by Michael

They actually did it. Even though banks are collapsing, the commercial real estate market is imploding, home sales are plunging, and large companies are laying off workers all over America, the Federal Reserve just decided to raise interest rates even higher. This is nothing less than economic malpractice. They know that higher rates are crushing the economy, but they apparently believe that more pain is needed. Officials at the Fed just hiked rates another 25 basis points, and they are now the highest that they have been since August 2007…

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a point, but opened the door to a long-awaited pause in the most aggressive tightening campaign since the 1980s.

The unanimous decision puts the key benchmark federal funds rate at a range of 5% to 5.25%, the highest since August 2007, from near zero a little more than one year ago. It marks the 10th consecutive rate increase aimed at combating high inflation.

When the Fed raised rates that high in 2007, it didn’t exactly work out so well, did it?

The next year we plunged into the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Now a new economic crisis has begun, and even CNN is admitting that higher rates will make things even worse…

Meanwhile, investors are still coming to terms with the rapid run-up in rates, which sparked a huge sell-off in US government bonds and stocks last year.

Banks that failed to adequately prepare have been hammered. The shifting landscape paved the way for the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in March and First Republic Bank this week.

More pain could be on the way. The commercial real estate sector, which is very sensitive to high interest rates, looks particularly vulnerable — its problems made worse by a glut of empty office buildings in the wake of the pandemic.

In particular, higher rates will put even more pressure on hundreds of banks that are already teetering on the brink of insolvency.

And when banks are struggling to survive, they get really tight with their money, and that is why we are now facing a big time credit crunch…

“The data suggest a credit crunch has started,” Morgan Stanley analyst Mike Wilson said during a recent episode of the firm’s “Thoughts on the Market” podcast.

During a credit crunch, banks significantly raise their lending standards, making it difficult to acquire a loan. Borrowers may have to agree to more stringent terms like high interest rates as banks try to reduce the financial risk on their end. Fewer loans, in turn, would lead to less big-ticket spending by consumers and businesses.

If the goal of the Federal Reserve was to curtail economic activity, what they had already done is already working.

So there was no need to hike rates even more.

Just look at some of the things that have happened over the past few days. For example, FedEx Freight has announced that they will be permanently closing 29 locations…

FedEx Freight is closing 29 locations later this year and will begin another round of furloughs for some employees at the end of May, the company announced Monday.

FedEx Freight plans to close the locations and consolidate its operations into other locations effective Aug. 13. When asked about where the locations set for closure are, a FedEx spokesperson said the company did not have “that information to share at this time.”

And Vice Media has announced that it is “preparing to file for bankruptcy”…

Vice Media is preparing to file for bankruptcy – after attempts to find a buyer for a company once valued at $5.7 billion appeared to be going nowhere.

More than five companies have expressed interest in acquiring Vice, The New York Times reported on Monday, but the chances of a sale are seen as increasingly remote.

The decline of Vice comes a little over a week after BuzzFeed News announced its closure, and three months after Vox laid off 130 people, representing 7 percent of staff.

Even GM is feeling the stress of this economic environment. According to USA Today, earlier efforts to reduce their workforce were not sufficient, and so they will be giving the axe to hundreds of contract employees…

General Motors terminated “several hundred” contract employees who worked at its Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, and other locations this weekend in its bid to shave $2 billion from its budget by the end of next year.

The cuts come nearly a month after 5,000 salaried employees agreed to a voluntary separation package that GM said would help it achieve close to 50% of its cost-cutting target this year alone and prevent further involuntary cuts.

Meanwhile, more retailers continue to go belly up.

In particular, I was greatly saddened to hear that Tuesday Morning “is going out of business and closing all of its stores”…

Tuesday Morning is going out of business and closing all of its stores. It is the second major US home goods retailer to go bust in recent days.

The retailer announced on Facebook and its website that it has started a going-out-of-business sale with 30% off discounts on its products sold at its roughly 200 remaining stores. Customers have until May 13 to use their gift cards, and locations will start closing in the coming weeks.

Do officials at the Federal Reserve not understand what is going on out there?

It is a bloodbath, and they just made things even worse.

And it isn’t just us. Economic activity is rapidly slowing down all over the world, and officials at the Fed have chosen this moment to sabotage the central hub of the entire global economy.

If we plunge into an economic depression, the entire planet will feel the pain.

We better hope for a miracle from somewhere else, because economic conditions are deteriorating a little bit more with each passing day, and officials at the Fed have made it abundantly clear that they do not plan to help us.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “End Times” is now available on Amazon.com. In addition to my new book I have written six other books that are available on Amazon.com including “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. (#CommissionsEarned) When you purchase any of these books you help to support the work that I am doing, and one way that you can really help is by sending copies as gifts to family and friends. Time is short, and I need help getting these warnings into the hands of as many people as possible. I have also started a brand new Substack newsletter, and I encourage you to subscribe so that you won’t miss any of the latest updates. I have published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and the articles that I publish on those sites are republished on dozens of other prominent websites all over the globe. I always freely and happily allow others to republish my articles on their own websites, but I also ask that they include this “About the Author” section with each article. The material contained in this article is for general information purposes only, and readers should consult licensed professionals before making any legal, business, financial or health decisions. I encourage you to follow me on social media on Facebook and Twitter, and any way that you can share these articles with others is definitely a great help. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, I strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

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