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The last time interest rates were this high, the U.S. economy plunged into “the Great Recession” and millions of Americans lost their jobs.  But the Federal Reserve is not going to stop here.  In fact, Fed Chair Jerome Powell is telling us that more rate increases are on the way and that officials at the Fed are determined to “stay the course until the job is done”.  If “the job” is to destroy the U.S. economy, they have already made a tremendous amount of progress toward that goal.  The housing market is completely and utterly imploding, and economic activity is steadily slowing down all around us.  But even though Powell can see the damage that is happening, he insists that the Fed will keep raising rates until the official rate of inflation returns to 2 percent.

But this isn’t the early 1980s.

Today, there are a whole host of factors that are working in unison to push prices up.

So the Fed can try to hammer demand as much as it wants, but getting inflation back under control is not going to be as easy as it was during the Volcker era.

And dramatically hiking interest rates at the beginning of a major economic downturn is literally suicidal.  Many of us have been pleading with the Fed to stop raising rates so rapidly, but we witnessed yet another 75 basis point rate hike on Wednesday…

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday approved a fourth consecutive three-quarter point interest rate increase and signaled a potential change in how it will approach monetary policy to bring down inflation.

In a well-telegraphed move that markets had been expecting for weeks, the central bank raised its short-term borrowing rate by 0.75 percentage point to a target range of 3.75%-4%, the highest level since January 2008.

According to Fox Business, it was a unanimous vote, and this “marks the sixth consecutive rate increase this year”…

The three-quarter percentage point hikes in June, July, September and November underscore just how serious Fed officials are about tackling the inflation crisis after a string of alarming economic reports. Policymakers voted unanimously to approve the latest super-sized hike.

The widely expected move puts the key benchmark federal funds rate at a range of 3.75% to 4%, the highest since before the 2008 financial crisis, from near-zero in March. It marks the sixth consecutive rate increase this year and puts interest rates in firmly restrictive territory.

What we are watching is economic malpractice.

I don’t know how else to describe it.

Sadly, the Fed is telling us that “ongoing increases” will be needed until the overall rate of inflation is brought back down to 2 percent…

“The Committee anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate in order to attain a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2 percent over time,” the Fed said in a new sentence added to its post-meeting statement.

So more rate hikes are on the way.

The good news, if you want to call it that, is that Powell told the media that future rate increases may be smaller in size…

“I’ve said at the last two press conferences that at some point it will become appropriate to slow the pace of increases,” Chairman Jerome Powell told reporters during a press conference in Washington. “So that time is coming. And it may come as soon as the next meeting, or the one after that. No decision has been made.”

But of course rates are now clearly high enough to crash the economy.

The housing market is already coming apart at the seams, and we just keep getting data point after data point telling us that the economy is really slowing down.

There is no way in the world that the Fed should be raising rates, but Powell insists that the Fed “will stay the course until the job is done”…

‘My colleagues and I are strongly committed to bring inflation down to our 2 percent goal… We will stay the course until the job is done.’

I truly believe that those words will come back to haunt him.

Look, I can understand why the Fed is so spooked about inflation.  We haven’t seen anything like this in decades, and one recent survey discovered that 50 percent of Americans are “feeling their health suffer as a result of the cost-of-living crisis”…

Research at Toluna, a consumer insights firm, found that 50 percent of those surveyed were feeling their health suffer as a result of the cost-of-living crisis, with inflation currently running above 8 percent according to the consumer price index.

Among them, 37 percent said they were feeling more stressed, 21 percent said they were eating less healthily, 16 percent said they were smoking more, and 13 percent were boozing more often.

And we have just learned that approximately 29 million U.S. households “have been unable to pay their energy bills this past year” due to rapidly rising energy costs…

Some 29 million households have been unable to pay their energy bills this past year, according to a survey that says the cold winter weather and rising utility costs will only worsen the crisis.

Data from the US Census Bureau show that many more American families — 43 million households — have cut back spending on groceries, medicine and doctors’ visits, so they could settle an energy bill.

So I definitely agree that inflation is a major problem.

But killing the economy is not the answer.

If you doubt the severity of the crisis that we are heading into, just take a look at what is happening at Wells Fargo right now…

Mortgage volumes at Wells Fargo slowed further in recent weeks, leaving some workers idle and sparking concerns the lender will need to cut more employees as the U.S. housing slump deepens.

The bank had about 18,000 loans in its retail origination pipeline in the early weeks of the fourth quarter, according to people with knowledge of the company’s figures. That is down as much as 90% from a year earlier, when the Covid pandemic-fueled housing boom was in full swing, said the people, who declined to be identified speaking about internal matters.

If Wells Fargo is already facing a 90 percent decline, what will happen as the Fed hikes rates even higher?

Sadly, the “housing recession” that we are now experiencing could quickly become a “housing depression”.

In my brand new book entitled “End Times”, I explain that the U.S. economy has been going through a housing market crash every 14 years.

There was a crash in 1980, there was a crash in 1994, there was a crash in 2008, and now a new crash has begun in 2022.

But if the Federal Reserve was not being so foolish, we could have likely avoided a severe crash this time around.

Unfortunately, our leaders never seem to learn from history, and the months ahead promise to be exceedingly painful.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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.

They are trying really hard to convince all of us that everything is just fine.  But close to one-fifth of the U.S. population is skipping meals because food prices are too high.  And nearly 40 percent of our small businesses couldn’t pay rent in October.  Our leaders are trying to put a positive spin on things, but the truth is that we are witnessing a tremendous amount of economic suffering all over the United States right now.  The core consumer price index just surged to “the highest level since 1982”, and this is putting an enormous amount of financial stress on American families and businesses.

This week, I was stunned to learn that a survey that was just released found that 37 percent of all small businesses in the United States could not pay rent last month…

The survey of 4,789 randomly selected small business owners saw more than half of respondents say their rent is at least 10 percent higher than six months ago.

If you go back seven months, the majority said their rents had increased by at least 20 percent.

Moreover, the study found that roughly 37 percent of small businesses – almost half of all Americans working in the private sector – were left unable to pay rent in October.

Prior to getting this news, if someone had asked me to guess the percentage of small businesses that are currently unable to pay rent, I would have responded with a figure that was far lower.

So often, things turn out to be even worse than I thought they were.

If those small businesses continue to be unable to pay rent, they will eventually be forced to shut down.

So what will our communities look like if millions of small businesses suddenly close up shop on a permanent basis?

Meanwhile, a different survey has discovered that 18 percent of Americans are now skipping meals because food prices have become so crazy…

Over the last 12 months, nearly two in five American households (40%) received food or goods from a food bank (22% for Millennials), and the same amount (17%) stopped buying healthier foods (organic or high-priced healthy foods).

Nearly one in five Americans (18%) say they skipped meals or didn’t buy groceries due to high inflation (including 28% of Gen Z and 23% of millennials).

Skipping meals can be a positive thing, because fasting is actually really good for your health.

But most of these Americans are not skipping meals for the health benefits.

In addition, the same survey found that many Americans are not taking medications or seeing their doctors because prices have gone up so much…

Many have cancelled or postponed plans in the past 12 months to see a specialist (14%), take a prescribed medication (10%) or get an annual physical (11%) due to high inflation.

If things are this bad already, what will those numbers look like next year at this time when economic conditions are significantly worse?

The American people are going to become increasingly frustrated as our standard of living continues to plunge.

All of us have to eat, and so many of the products that so many of us buy on a regular basis have gone up dramatically in price…

A year ago, a bag of potato chips at the grocery store cost an average of $5.05. These days, that bag costs $6.05. A dozen eggs that could have been picked up for $1.83 now average $2.90. A two-liter bottle of soda that cost $1.78 will now set you back $2.17.

Sadly, this is just the beginning.

Even though the Federal Reserve has declared war on inflation, food prices are going to continue to rise for a variety of reasons.

And as the cost of living keeps becoming more oppressive, more American families are going to struggle to make it from month to month.

Even now, nearly two-thirds of the entire country is currently living paycheck to paycheck…

As rising prices continue to outpace wage gains, families are finding less cushion in their monthly budget.

As of September, 63% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent LendingClub report — near the 64% historic high hit in March. A year ago, the number of adults who felt strained was closer to 57%.

“Consumers are not able to keep up with the pace that inflation is increasing,” said Anuj Nayar, LendingClub’s financial health officer.

The worse things get, the more we will see people clamoring for the federal government to help them.

In fact, one recent survey actually discovered that 63 percent of all U.S. voters are in favor of “inflation stimulus payments”…

A recent poll found that almost two-thirds of Americans are proponents of the federal government sending out inflation stimulus payments.

About 63% of eligible U.S. voters expressed some degree of support for federal inflation relief checks being distributed, the Newsweek poll conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies showed. Of those who agreed the federal government should do so, 42% indicated they “strongly agree” while 21% said “agree,” according to the poll.

Sadly, most voters don’t seem to understand that sending out more stimulus checks would create even more inflation.

There is always a cost when the government gives out “free money”.

If our politicians would have exercised discipline over the past several years, we would not be in the mess that we are in today.

But now years of very bad decisions are catching up with us in a major way, and economic conditions are rapidly deteriorating.

At this point, the vast majority of the U.S. population can see this.  According to one recent Gallup survey, a whopping two-thirds of all Americans believe that economic conditions in this nation are getting worse.

So many people are talking about the possibility of a recession in 2023.

If all we have is a recession next year, we would be extremely fortunate.

Because right now the economy is starting to crack and crumble all around us, and the outlook for the months ahead is exceedingly bleak indeed.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

In my entire lifetime, global supplies of diesel fuel have never been tighter than they are right now.  And that is really bad news, because the entire economy of the western world runs on diesel.  If we suddenly had no more diesel fuel, virtually all of our trains, trucks and ships would stop running.  Needless to say, just about everything that stocks our store shelves comes to us via trains, trucks and ships.  So the fact that there is not enough diesel fuel to go around is a really big deal.  Supplies have been declining for months, and at this point diesel inventories have fallen so low that we only have a 25 day buffer remaining…

The U.S. is facing a diesel crunch just as demand is surging ahead of winter — with only 25 days of supply left, according to the Energy Information Administration.

National Economic Council Director Brian Deese told Bloomberg TV that diesel inventories are “unacceptably low” and “all options are on the table” to bolster supply and reduce prices.

Unfortunately, this is not just a problem here in the United States.

Globally, supplies of diesel fuel have fallen to the lowest level that we have seen since 1982…

“The demand for diesel tends to rise as you get close to the winter, because the molecule that makes up diesel is very similar to the molecule that you use for heating homes in the U.S., for winter fuels in Europe,” Tom Kloza, dean of U.S. oil analysts at Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), told Newsweek.

The issue is global, said Kloza, adding that diesel inventories around the world are the lowest as they’ve been since 1982, “and we’ve added about 3.4 billion people in that time.”

Read that last line again.

The total population of the planet has nearly doubled since the early 1980s, and so we truly are in unprecedented territory.

Like I said earlier, I have never seen global supplies of diesel fuel any tighter than they are at this moment.

Of course that doesn’t mean that we are about to totally run out of diesel fuel.

But as supplies get tighter, we are likely to increasingly witness temporary shortages that have the potential to cause immense supply chain headaches…

A shortage of diesel fuel is spreading across the United States, with one company launching an emergency delivery protocol, requesting a 72-hour advance notice from clients to be able to make the delivery.

Per a Bloomberg report, fuel supplier Mansfield Energy wrote in a note to its clients that “conditions are rapidly devolving” and “At times, carriers are having to visit multiple terminals to find supply, which delays deliveries and strains local trucking capacity.”

In a desperate attempt to alleviate the pressure, two tankers that were loaded with diesel and jet fuel that were headed to Europe have been turned back around…

Meanwhile, the scarcity of diesel has prompted traders to start diverting cargoes with the fuel that were originally bound for Europe, Reuters reported earlier this month.

Tanker tracking data showed that at least two tankers with some 90,000 tons of diesel and jet fuel that were initially bound for Europe were diverted toward the U.S. East Coast.

That may help us a bit, but it is not good news at all for the Europeans.

In fact, some areas of Europe have already started to experience very serious shortages of diesel fuel.

Unfortunately, things are not likely to improve much any time soon.

In recent years, politicians in the United States and Europe have made life really difficult for refiners.

As a result, the number of refineries has actually been shrinking, and nobody has really wanted to build any new ones.

Now we get to experience the consequences of their very foolish policies.

At this point, we are being told that the only way to reduce demand for diesel is to have a “significant slowdown in freight movements and manufacturing activity”…

Stabilizing then rebuilding inventories to more comfortable levels will require a significant slowdown in freight movements and manufacturing activity.

There are early indications manufacturing and freight activity peaked in the third quarter of 2022. If confirmed that would take some of the pressure of distillate inventories.

But a deeper and more prolonged slowdown in the United States and/or in Europe and Asia will be needed to boost inventories significantly.

Rebalancing diesel supply will likely require a further rise in interest rates and tighter financial conditions in the United States and other major economies to reduce fuel consumption to more sustainable levels.

In other words, it is going to take a recession and/or a depression in order to fix this crisis.

Ouch.

We should have never allowed things to get this bad.

Over the past decade, we should have been building a lot more refining capacity.

But our politicians didn’t want that, and so now we all get to pay the price.

And thanks to the war in Ukraine, supplies from Russia that could help alleviate this nightmare are not going to be available.

So there will be shortages.

Also, it is likely that diesel prices will go a lot higher than they are right now.

Needless to say, that is going to add even more fuel to our ongoing inflation crisis, because just about everything that we buy has to be transported.

This is yet another reason why our standard of living is going to continue to go down at a frightening pace in the months ahead.

We truly have got a colossal mess on our hands, and it is going to be with us for quite some time to come.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

We have reached a point where nearly two-thirds of all Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.  So what happens if millions of those people suddenly lose their paychecks during the severe economic downturn that is ahead of us?  In 2008, unprecedented numbers of Americans found themselves unable to pay their mortgages when the recession struck, and foreclosures surged to absolutely shocking levels.  Unfortunately, we have set ourselves up for the same thing to happen again.  Most Americans are literally teetering on the brink of financial disaster, and it won’t take much to push them over the edge.

According to a survey that was just released, 63 percent of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck in September…

As rising prices continue to outpace wage gains, families are finding less cushion in their monthly budget.

As of September, 63% of Americans were living paycheck to paycheck, according to a recent LendingClub report — near the 64% historic high hit in March. A year ago, the number of adults who felt strained was closer to 57%.

Why aren’t more people alarmed by the fact that nearly two-thirds of the entire country is just barely scraping by from month to month?

If you do not have anything to fall back on, you are just one major setback away from extreme financial distress.

A job loss, an auto accident or a serious illness could hit at any time.  If you suddenly experienced such a tragedy, how would you make ends meet?

A different survey that was recently conducted found that two-thirds of all working adults in the United States believe that they are “worse off financially” than they were 12 months ago…

As inflation pressures continue, two-thirds of working adults said they are worse off financially than they were a year ago, according to a recent report by Salary Finance.

To make ends meet, many are dipping into their cash reserves or going into debt.

Nearly three-quarters, or 72%, of consumers have less in savings than last year, a jump from 55% who said the same in February, the report found. And 29% said they have wiped out their savings entirely. The report is based on a survey of 500 adults in August.

So most of us are living paycheck to paycheck, and most of us are also doing worse than we were in 2021.

Isn’t that just great?

If things are this bad already, what will these numbers look like six months from now?

We continue to get even more evidence that we are plunging into a very painful economic downturn.  For example, on Tuesday we learned that U.S. business activity has now contracted for 4 months in a row…

U.S. business activity contracted for a fourth straight month in October, with manufacturers and services firms in a monthly survey of purchasing managers both reporting weaker client demand, the latest evidence of an economy softening in the face of high inflation and rising interest rates.

S&P Global said on Monday its flash U.S. Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, fell to 47.3 this month from a final reading of 49.5 in September.

And just like we witnessed in 2008, home prices are starting to crash at an alarming rate.

In fact, it appears that prices are going down particularly fast in the western portion of the nation…

The study was conducted by Ed Pinto—director of the American Enterprise Institute’s Housing Center. Pinto told Fortune that he predicts that the ‘damage’ will spread for the Northeast, with low and middle-markets being hit the worst.

It’s Northern California that leads the way, with San Jose experiencing a drop of 10.8 percent since September, followed by San Francisco at 8.5 percent, then it’s Seattle at 8.2 percent, Denver at 5.8 percent, San Diego 5.2 percent, Portland 5.1 percent, Las Vegas 4.8 percent and Phoenix at 4.4 percent.

Unfortunately, millions of Americans that purchased homes at or near the peak of the market could soon find themselves “underwater” on their mortgages.

Do you remember the last time such a thing happened?

It was a complete and utter nightmare.  Countless homeowners ended up simply walking away from their mortgages, and that caused a giant mess for our financial institutions that took many years to finally sort out.

In so many ways, what we are going through right now is reminiscent of what we experienced in 2008 and 2009.

And just like we witnessed in 2008, most Americans are completely and utterly unprepared for what is ahead.

To me, that is quite strange, because at this point what is happening to the economy should be apparent to everyone.

We are enduring the worst inflation crisis in decades, the housing market is starting to come apart at the seams, and economic activity is slowing down all around us.

The state of the U.S. economy has become a top issue during this election season, and pessimism about the future seems to be permeating just about everything.

In fact, at this point Americans are even becoming more pessimistic about the long-term future of their children…

Americans have as little optimism as they have had at any time in nearly three decades about young people’s chances of having greater material success in life than their parents. In all, 42% of U.S. adults think it is very (13%) or somewhat (29%) likely that today’s youth “will have a better living standard, better homes, a better education and so on.” This marks an 18-percentage-point drop since June 2019 and is statistically tied with the previous low in 2011.

But even though there is so much pessimism in our society right now, most people are still not getting prepared for a full-blown meltdown of the system.

And that is because most of the population does not think that it is going to happen.

After everything that has transpired, most Americans still have a tremendous amount of faith in the fundamental soundness of our system.

Overall, there is still an overwhelming consensus that most of the severe problems that we are facing right now are just “temporary” and that things will “return to normal” eventually.

It would be wonderful if that assessment was true.

Sadly, our leaders have really messed things up this time, and we are all going to experience a tremendous amount of pain as a result.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

Things haven’t looked this bad for the U.S. economy since 2008.  We are in the midst of the worst inflation crisis in decades, the housing market has started to collapse, some of the largest companies in America have begun laying off workers, and economic activity is slowing down all around us.  Of course Joe Biden is telling us that our economy is “strong as hell”, but that is just because he wants his party to do well in the upcoming elections.  Ultimately, anyone that takes a truly objective view of things is forced to admit that the outlook for the months ahead is incredibly bleak.  The following are 12 reasons why it is impossible for any rational person to be optimistic about the U.S. economy at this point…

#1 According to a recent Gallup survey, two-thirds of Americans believe that economic conditions are getting worse.  When such a large proportion of the population starts behaving as though an economic downturn is coming, that actually makes an economic downturn even more likely.  So many Americans are starting to hold on to their money more tightly, and that is having lots of ripple effects.

#2 The second largest auto lender in the United States just announced that it “saw charge-offs for retail auto loans quadruple in the third quarter”.  We are also seeing credit card delinquencies start to rise.  We certainly aren’t at 2008 levels yet, but we are moving in that direction.

#3 Cargo traffic at the Port of Los Angeles just declined to the lowest level that we have seen since the early days of the pandemic.  As I noted earlier, economic activity is beginning to slow down all over the nation.  One recent survey discovered that 98 percent of corporate CEOs believe that a recession is coming, and those CEOs are behaving accordingly.

#4 Major retailers such as Walmart and Target have been canceling billions of dollars in orders as they seek to cut back inventory levels.  In all my years, I have never seen our largest retailers cancel so many orders just prior to the holiday season.  Are they expecting the next couple of months to be a total bust?

#5 Existing home sales just fell to a 10 year low.  We all knew that the housing market was going to implode once the Federal Reserve started to aggressively raise interest rates, but at this point that implosion is happening faster than most of the experts had anticipated.

#6 U.S. homebuilder sentiment has declined for 10 months in a row.  That is a brand new record.  I really feel sorry for you if you are a homebuilder or if you work for one.  The months ahead are not going to be pleasant for you.

#7 60,000 real estate deals were called off in the month of September alone.  I was stunned when I first saw that number.  All over the country buyers are realizing that they agreed to pay too much and are feverishly trying to back out of deals while they still can.

#8 Mortgage demand has plunged to the lowest level in 25 years.  Things never even got this bad during the downturn of 2008 and 2009.  To me, this is a really troubling sign.

#9 Ian Sheperdson, the chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, is projecting that home prices could fall 20 percent over the next year.  Hopefully that will not happen, but there is also a possibility that they could fall even further than that.  We will just have to wait and see how rapidly this new crisis plays out.

#10 U.S. diesel inventories have fallen to the lowest level since 2008.  This is something that we will want to watch very carefully, because the U.S. economy runs on diesel.

#11 The core consumer price index has just surged to “the highest level since 1982”.  Even though the Federal Reserve has been on an insane rate hiking spree, our inflation crisis continues to rage out of control.  And as prices continue to soar, our standard of living is being absolutely eviscerated.

#12 A model created by Bloomberg economists Anna Wong and Eliza Winger indicates that there is a 100 percent chance of a recession within the next 12 months.  Of course it is entirely possible that their model could be wrong.  But without a doubt this is not a good sign.

Right now, even some of our society’s most relentless optimists are warning that tough economic times are ahead.

For instance, in a post on Twitter Elon Musk just suggested that we could be suffering through a recession until the spring of 2024…

If Elon Musk is any type of financial prognosticator, the market and economy could be in trouble for more than a year to come.

When prompted in a Twitter thread early on Friday morning, the Tesla CEO said that he thought the current recession would last “probably until spring of ’24”.

Because he is such an optimist, Musk believes that economic conditions will turn around eventually.

But what if they don’t?

What if the “perfect storm” that we are currently enduring ultimately results in the collapse of everything?

Are you prepared for such a scenario?

Previous generations of Americans handed us the keys to the most prosperous economy that the world has ever seen.

But instead of managing it carefully, we have piled up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the planet, we have transformed Wall Street into the globe’s largest casino, and we have systematically destroyed the reserve currency of the world.

Thanks to a very long series of incredibly foolish decisions by our leaders, we are now facing a war with Russia, a collapse of the housing market, a global food crisis, a global inflation crisis and a worldwide financial meltdown simultaneously.

The entire system is starting to crumble all around us, but most people still believe that things will “return to normal” at some point.

Personally, I would love to see things “return to normal”, but unfortunately it appears that is not likely to happen any time soon.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

Inflation is systematically destroying our standard of living, and the middle class is shrinking a little bit more with each passing day.  The Social Security Administration just released wage statistics for 2021, and the numbers that they have given us are quite stunning.  As you will see below, half of all American workers made less than $3,133 a month last year.  Once upon a time, you could live a very comfortable middle class lifestyle on $3,133 a month.  But thanks to inflation, such a wage now puts you just barely above the poverty level.  The decisions that our leaders have been making are absolutely eviscerating the middle class, and that should deeply trouble all of us.

You can find the new Social Security Administration wage report right here.  The following are some statistics that I pulled out of the report…

-More than 30 percent of all American workers made less than $20,000 last year.

-More than 41 percent of all American workers made less than $30,000 last year.

-More than 52 percent of all American workers made less than $40,000 last year.

-More than 62 percent of all American workers made less than $50,000 last year.

These numbers tell us that most Americans are just barely scraping by, but our leaders want us to buy into the illusion that most people are “doing well” these days.

Of course that isn’t even close to the truth.

According to the Social Security Administration, the median wage for 2021 was just $37,586.03…

By definition, 50 percent of wage earners had net compensation less than or equal to the median wage, which is estimated to be $37,586.03 for 2021.

If we were still living in 1980, that would be fine.

But we aren’t in 1980 anymore.

In 2022, the poverty level for a household of five in the United States is $31,040.

That means that a worker in the United States making the median wage would be earning just enough to lift a family of five above the poverty line.

If you divide $37,586.03 by 12, that gives you a median monthly wage of $3,132.17.

For purposes of this article, I will round up and call it $3,133.

Half of all American workers make more than that per month, and half of all American workers make less than that per month.

And it is important to remember that this figure is before taxes are taken out.

Ouch.

Meanwhile, the cost of living continues to spiral out of control.  Recently, the average rent on a single family home in the United States reached $2,495 a month…

Rent prices for single family homes swelled during the first half of 2022, hitting a national average of $2,495 a month — a 13.4% increase compared to the same period in 2021, according to a new report from national real estate brokerage HouseCanary.

If you are only earning $3,133 a month and you have to spend $2,495 a month for rent, that leaves you next to nothing for everything else.

For example, all of us have to eat.

But these days a single shopping cart full of food will easily run you more than 300 dollars.

And that is if you are trying to be really frugal.

Gasoline has also become extremely expensive.

All the way back in 1960, a gallon of gas cost just 31 cents.

Today, gas is approaching 7 dollars a gallon in some parts of California.

I could go on and on with more examples of the rapidly rising cost of living.  Heating bills are expected to soar this winter, health insurance has gotten absurdly expensive, and new vehicles cost so much that most Americans can no longer afford them.

If things are this bad already, what will conditions be like for the middle class as the economy deteriorates in 2023 and beyond?

The worst housing crash since 2008 has now started, the financial markets are on pace for their worst year since 1969, and big companies all over America are starting to lay off people in large numbers.

Alarmingly, some of the biggest layoffs are actually being conducted by the big tech companies.  In fact, we just learned that Microsoft will be laying off approximately 1,000 workers…

Microsoft will lay off about 1,000 employees, the company confirmed Tuesday.

Although it is not confirmed if the layoffs are isolated in gaming divisions, employees who work for Xbox and other Microsoft-owned studios said they were being laid off, the Washington Post reported. Axios first reported the layoffs Monday evening.

At this point, almost everyone can see that a recession is coming.

Even Jeff Bezos, who is usually extraordinarily optimistic, is warning people to “batten down the hatches”…

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos warned America’s to ‘batten down the hatches’ as he shared a tweet warning of a likely impending recession.

Bezos – who is the world’s second-richest man – tweeted a video of Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon saying there was a ‘good chance’ of a downturn.

The Amazon founder – who has a $137 billion fortune – signaled his agreement by captioning the tweet: ‘Yep, the probabilities in this economy tell you to batten down the hatches.’

When Jeff Bezos starts sounding like The Economic Collapse Blog, you know that the hour is late.

Yep, the probabilities in this economy tell you to batten down the hatches. https://t.co/SwldRdms5v

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) October 18, 2022

These days, our impending economic downturn has even become a very hot topic among Hollywood celebrities…

Even non-billionaire-but-still-rich person Gwyneth Paltrow is losing sleep over it.

“The economy sucks,” she told the Hollywood Reporter this week. “I’m just worried about next year and how bad the recession’s gonna be.”

Other celebrities are weighing in, too. Last month, rapper Cardi B ranted about inflation and interest rates. “How are people surviving? I want to know.”

If the middle class is steadily eroding during relatively stable times, what is going to happen once the economy really begins to unravel?

There is so much anger all over the United States right now, and the vast majority of the population is simply not prepared for what is ahead.

I have been writing about the demise of the middle class for more than a decade, and the condition of the middle class has never been worse than it is right now.

At one time America had the largest and most prosperous middle class in the history of the world, and that was a wonderful thing.

But now very dark times for the middle class are here, and there doesn’t appear to be much hope on the horizon.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

The U.S. housing market is absolutely imploding, but nobody should be surprised.  In fact, we were warned way ahead of time that this would happen.  When the Federal Reserve told us that they would be aggressively raising interest rates, we all knew what this would do to the housing bubble.  It was obvious that home prices would fall, home sales would plummet and home builders would get absolutely crushed.  Sadly, that is precisely what we are witnessing.  But instead of reversing course after witnessing all the damage that they have caused, Fed officials are insisting that even more rate hikes are necessary.  So as bad as things are right now, the truth is that they are going to get even worse in the months ahead.

In recent days we have gotten some new data points, and they are sobering.

We haven’t seen numbers like this since 2008, and we all remember what happened back then.

Yes, just about everyone expected that the housing market would slow down, but hardly anyone thought that things would get this bad so soon.

The following are 5 signs that the housing crash is escalating a lot faster than many of the experts had anticipated…

#1 According to Redfin, the number of homes sold in the United States during September dropped by 25 percent…

Home sales declined the most on record in September as mortgage rates surged and pushed prospective buyers out of the once-hot housing market, according to a new report.

A report from the real estate company Redfin shows the number of homes sold fell by 25 percent and new listings dropped by 22 percent last month, marking the biggest declines on record in both categories — excluding numbers at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in April and May 2020.

#2 The number of new housing starts in the United States fell by 8.1 percent in September…

Home building pulled back in September, as buyers faced spiking mortgage rates that have made homes increasingly unaffordable.

September housing starts, a measure of new home construction, dropped 8.1% from August, and were down 7.7% from a year ago, according to the US Census Bureau. After a big drop earlier this spring, housing starts had been holding relatively steady up until July when rising mortgage rates spurred more prospective buyers to sit on the sidelines.

#3 The number of buyers touring new single family homes has fallen to a depressingly low level…

Traffic of prospective buyers of new single-family houses plunged to the lowest since 2012, excluding the two lockdown months April and May, and is now approaching even the levels of those two lockdown months, according to data today from the National Association of Home Builders.

The NAHB index for traffic of prospective buyers dropped to 25, about where it was in mid-2007, well on the way down into Housing Bust 1.

#4 Homebuilder confidence has now dropped for 10 consecutive months…

The overall confidence of builders of single-family houses fell for the 10th month in a row in October, as “rising interest rates, building material bottlenecks, and elevated home prices continue to weaken the housing market,” the NAHB report said.

With today’s index value of 38, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index is now nearly where it had been in May 2020 during the lockdown, and below where it had been in February 2007, on the way down into Housing Bust 1.

#5 Demand for mortgages has plummeted to the lowest level that we have seen in 25 years…

Mortgage demand, which has suffered four straight months of declines, fell last week to the lowest level since 1997, as interest rates continued to rise.

Homebuyers’ demand for mortgages dropped 4% for the week and was 38% lower than the same week one year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications to refinance a home loan fell 7% compared with the previous week, in seasonally adjusted terms. Demand was 86% lower than the same week one year ago.

If you want to thank someone for this giant mess, you can thank the officials at the Federal Reserve.

They knew that raising rates would cause chaos for the housing market, but they did it anyway because they are scared to death of inflation.

But they actually played a major role in causing our inflation crisis.  They should have known that pumping trillions of fresh dollars into the financial system over the years would cause rampant inflation, but they just wouldn’t stop.

Now they are trying to fix one crisis by causing another.

And in addition to absolutely crushing the housing market, they are also causing trillions of dollars in losses on Wall Street.

In fact, the financial markets are on pace for their worst year since 1969…

So far in 2022, both the stock and bond markets have posted serious losses. To find another market that looks like this one, you’d have to go all the way back to 1969, according to data from BlackRock.

The S&P 500 is down nearly 24% year-to-date, and the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index has surrendered about 16%. Should both indexes finish the year in the red, it would be the first time that has happened in decades.

If officials at the Fed keep hiking rates, the markets could go down a whole lot more.

At this point, Bill Holter is warning that we could soon see “a crash that will make 1987 and 1929 blush”…

In closing, Holter warns, “The action you are seeing now is exactly what you saw in 1987, and this is what you saw in August and September of 1929. This is what happens prior to crashes. It’s massive volatility both ways . . . people are losing both ways. The longs get stopped out on the downside, and the shorts get stopped out on the upside. Then, the whole floor gives way, and that’s where we are. We are right on the doorstep of a crash that will make 1987 and 1929 blush. . . . Many people are going to lose everything overnight.”

Time will reveal whether Holter is right about this or if he is wrong.

But without a doubt, it certainly wouldn’t take much to push us over the edge.

Everywhere you look, economic conditions are getting worse, and the stage is being set for the sort of historic meltdown that I have been relentlessly warning about.

If officials at the Federal Reserve had any sense, they would stop raising rates immediately.

Unfortunately, they aren’t going to do that.

So much more pain is coming for the housing market, and this new crash could ultimately be even worse than what we experienced back in 2008.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.

It is starting to get cold outside.  Are you ready for a winter that will be unlike any other?  As I have been documenting on The Economic Collapse Blog for months, the nightmarish global energy crisis that has erupted is not going to end any time soon.  In fact, it has the potential to get a whole lot worse in 2023 and beyond.  Energy prices have already risen to absolutely absurd levels, and now winter is coming.  Unfortunately, many forecasters are warning that this winter is going to be a doozy.  Colder than normal temperatures are expected across much of the northern hemisphere, and if that actually happens that would put a tremendous amount of strain on the system.

For example, just look at what New England is potentially facing.  According to the Wall Street Journal, residents of the six states which make up the region could actually experience “rolling blackouts” if this turns out to be a really cold winter…

New England, which relies on natural-gas imports to bridge winter supply gaps, is now competing with European countries for shipments of liquefied natural gas, following Russia’s halt of most pipeline gas to the continent. Severe cold spells in the Northeast could reduce the amount of gas available to generate electricity as more of it is burned to heat homes.

The region’s power-grid operator, ISO New England Inc., has warned that an extremely cold winter could strain the reliability of the grid and potentially result in the need for rolling blackouts to keep electricity supply and demand in balance. The warning comes as executives and analysts predict power producers could have to pay as much as several times more than last year for gas deliveries if severe weather creates urgent need for spot-market purchases.

New England will likely be directly competing with the European Union for dwindling supplies of natural gas this winter.

Unfortunately, there is probably not going to be enough to go around.

Europeans have been urged to conserve energy for months, but much of the population is not heeding those warnings.

As a result, many EU countries could also be facing blackouts in the months ahead…

The European Union could face blackouts this winter as the continent faces an ongoing energy crisis amid Russia’s war in Ukraine, but Brussels is preparing for worst-case scenarios, according to EU Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarčič.

Asked in an interview published Tuesday by Germany’s RND media network whether EU countries would need disaster relief due to the energy crisis, Lenarčič responded: “Yes, that is quite possible.”

If the power is completely shut off where you live for several hours on one of the coldest days of the year, what will you do?

You might want to start thinking about that.

In Ukraine, much of the country is without power right now.

The Russians have started to systematically go after the nation’s power grid, and at this point approximately 30 percent of all Ukrainian power stations are not functioning…

Blackouts have struck more than 1,000 towns and villages in Ukraine after a series of Russian attacks.

The Kremlin has killed more than 70 people in the past fortnight after ordering rocket and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said 30% of Ukraine’s power stations have been knocked out in the blitz. Sections of Kyiv have been left without water and power following further blasts today.

The Russians can completely destroy the Ukrainian power grid if they wish to do so.

Will they go that far?

Needless to say, the weather is already starting to get really cold in some parts of Ukraine, and we are being warned that a long-term lack of power could result in an unprecedented humanitarian crisis…

WHO Regional Director for Europe Hans Henri P. Kluge said at the media briefing that the organization is working to anticipate and prepare for the challenges of the approaching “brutal” winter in its humanitarian response to Russia’s war on the country.

Kluge remarked that risk of COVID-19, frostbite, hypothermia, pneumonia, stroke and heart attack will likely increase among Ukrainians who are living “precariously,” whether in substandard shelters, without access to heating or by regularly moving to different locations.

I got the chills just reading those two paragraphs.

It is starting to get cold here in the United States as well.  In fact, some cities near the Great Lakes just received more than a foot of snow…

The cold front has seen freeze alerts issued for more than 89 million Americans in states in its path, already offering rounds of snow, rain, and high speed winds in the Great Lakes.

More than 13 inches of snowfall recorded in cities near the lakes such as Ironwood and Marquette, as well as up to four inches in nearby Minnesota and Wisconsin.

And we are being warned that “the coldest air of the season” is now hitting the South…

The coldest air of the season so far has the South in its grip and near-freezing temperatures could set new record lows across a wide swath of the region into midweek.

AccuWeather meteorologists have been tracking a powerful disturbance since last week as it swept out of Canada and into the central and eastern United States. While this storm continues to bring the first snowflakes of the season to parts of the Midwest and Northeast, areas farther south will be in line for a dose of cold air that some may not be accustomed to handling so early in the season.

It already feels like winter for tens of millions of Americans.

But the official beginning of winter is still more than two months away.

That is not a good sign.

For years I have been urging my readers to become less dependent on the power grid, but up until now being dependent on the power grid hasn’t been a problem.

However, now things are changing in a major way.

Energy prices are absolutely skyrocketing, and officials all over the globe are warning of “blackouts” this winter.

I hope that you got prepared ahead of time, because this winter is going to exceedingly challenging for millions upon millions of people.

***It is finally here! Michael’s new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.***

About the Author: My name is Michael and my brand new book entitled “7 Year Apocalypse” is now available on Amazon.com.  In addition to my new book I have written five other books that are available on Amazon.com including  “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, “Get Prepared Now”, 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 digital copies as gifts through Amazon 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 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 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 ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior today.