Up to this point, it seems as though most Americans have not really been too concerned about the financial meltdown that is taking place in Greece. But they should be. The truth is that the debt crisis we see playing out in Greece may soon repeat itself in some of the largest nations in the world such as Japan, the U.K. and even the United States. Once upon a time, this kind of thing only happened in third world nations, but now virtually every nation on earth has a debt problem. As the saying goes, the borrower is the servant of the lender, and so when a country like Greece gets in way, way too deep financially, it ends up having to give up a portion of its sovereignty to those controlling the purse strings. In the case of Greece, those controlling the purse strings are the IMF and the EU. But it just isn’t Greece that is in trouble. Dozens of nations are in serious financial trouble and are at the mercy of those who can bail them out. The truth is that global financial institutions like the IMF, the World Bank, the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve are increasingly gaining power all over the globe as governments around the world continue to accumulate frightening amounts of debt. (Read More...)
“Things Are Never Going To Get THAT Bad”
Our recent article, “20 Things You Will Need To Survive When The Economy Collapses And The Next Great Depression Begins“, has drawn some intense criticism from those who believe that the U.S. economy is so strong that it could never completely and totally collapse. In fact, this blog is being accused of officially going off the deep end. Why? It’s not because we are pointing out that the economy is bad. After all, according to a recent Pew Research national poll, 88 percent of Americans rate national economic conditions as only fair or poor. No, rather it is because we are projecting the eventual complete and total collapse of the U.S. economy. There still seems to be a belief among a large number of Americans “that things are never going to get THAT bad”. But they are going to get that bad. It’s just that most people do not realize it yet. (Read More...)
20 Things You Will Need To Survive When The Economy Collapses And The Next Great Depression Begins
Today, millions of Americans say that they believe that the United States is on the verge of a major economic collapse and will soon be entering another Great Depression. But only a small percentage of those same people are prepared for that to happen. The sad truth is that the vast majority of Americans would last little more than a month on what they have stored up in their homes. Most of us are so used to running out to the supermarket or to Wal-Mart for whatever we need that we never even stop to consider what would happen if suddenly we were not able to do that. Already the U.S. economy is starting to stumble about like a drunken frat boy. All it would take for the entire U.S. to resemble New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina would be for a major war, a terror attack, a deadly pandemic or a massive natural disaster to strike at just the right time and push the teetering U.S. economy over the edge. So just how would you survive if you suddenly could not rely on the huge international corporate giants to feed, clothe and supply you and your family? Do you have a plan? (Read More...)
The Economic Recovery Is Moving Along Quite Well – For The Boys Down On Wall Street
If you are part of the Wall Street establishment, the economic recovery is moving along quite well. Many of the biggest firms on Wall Street just handed out record-setting bonuses, the Stock Market has been moving up steadily and the DOW is back up to around 11,000. Profits at the top banks have been quite impressive lately. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo combined for first quarter profits of $13.4 billion – the most in almost three years. Yes, life is quite good down on Wall Street these days. People are still buying fast cars, big yachts and homes in the Hamptons. It is almost as if “the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression” didn’t even happen. Things are quickly getting back to “normal” for the banking elite and to many it seems like there are a lot more smiles down on Wall Street than there have been in a long, long time. (Read More...)
Megabanks: The Banking Oligarchy That Controls Assets Equivalent To 60 Percent Of America’s GNP
Today financial power is being concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer individuals. In fact, the six biggest banks in the United States now possess assets equivalent to 60 percent of America’s gross national product. Back in the 1990s that figure was less than 20 percent. These six banks – Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo – literally dictate what goes on in the U.S. banking industry. These entities are the poster children for “too big to fail”, and they donate massive amounts of cash to the campaigns of both Republicans and Democrats to ensure that they will continue to receive favorable treatment. The vast majority of Americans have had a banking account, a credit card and/or a mortgage with one of these institutions at some point. If they acted in concert, these six banks could literally bring down the U.S. economy overnight if they wanted to. Together with the Federal Reserve, these six banks represent the real financial power in America. They are the 800 pound gorilla in the room that influences nearly every major financial deal that gets done and virtually every major political decision that gets made. As the last couple of years have demonstrated, top politicians from both parties (John McCain and Barack Obama for example) will instantly jump into action and start advocating that the U.S. government spend billions upon billions of dollars when the interests of these behemoths are threatened. The frightening thing is that the power of these megabanks is growing at a frightening pace. As dozens upon dozens of smaller U.S. banks are “allowed to fail”, they either go out of existence or the Feds actually encourage these smaller banks to sell themselves to one of the big sharks. In either event, the banking power in the United States becomes further consolidated in the hands of the megabanks. (Read More...)
Paupers In The Land Our Forefathers Conquered
A long time ago, in an America now far, far away, the majority of the American people owned the land that they live on. The term “my land” actually meant something back then. But today that has fundamentally changed. Now the majority of the American people owe on the land that they live on. In fact, most of them owe big money to the giant corporate banking interests that control the mortgage industry. So how did the American people come to be debtors and paupers in the land that our forefathers conquered? Today when someone says that they “bought a house” what they really mean is that they have signed up for 30 years (or more) of bloated mortgage payments which they care barely afford. As you will see below, the percentage of residential mortgage debt to total home equity (housing net worth) in the United States continues to rise at a staggering pace. In fact, thanks to the housing crash, for the first time in American history residential mortgage debt far surpasses the total home equity owned by all Americans. So what does that mean? It means that the big corporate banks have more of an interest in America’s homes than we do now. (Read More...)
Taxed Enough Already!
When you talk to most Americans about taxes, primarily what they think about is the U.S. government and the federal income tax. But while that may be the biggest tax that most Americans pay, the reality is that the truly insidious nature of the tax system in the United States is how it sucks money out of us in dozens of different ways until we don’t even feel it anymore. Instead of having one or two big tax bills, U.S. taxpayers face a “death by a thousand cuts” as tax after tax after tax just keeps coming. Most Americans don’t even realize how many kinds of taxes they pay. Before reading the rest of this article, try to estimate how many different kinds of taxes that Americans pay each year. Five? Ten? Twenty? Well, below we have listed over 50 different kinds of taxes that Americans pay. It is no wonder the Tea Party movement is growing so fast! People are sick and tired of constantly being financially drained by tax after tax. But even as you read this, members of the White House panel charged with reducing the U.S. national debt are considering recommending the adoption of a “European-style” Value Added Tax as a way for the U.S. government to bring in even more money. (Read More...)
America’s Crumbling Infrastructure
One of the key signs that we are in the early stages of an economic collapse and that we are heading towards another Great Depression is America’s crumbling infrastructure. The truth is that our infrastructure is literally falling apart all around us. Thousands of bridges are structurally deficient and there have already been some very high profile collapses. Over 30 percent of the highways and roads in the United States are in very poor shape. Aging sewer systems are leaking raw sewage all over the place. The power grid is straining to keep up with the ever-increasing thirst of the American people for electricity. There have already been some regional blackouts, and unless something is done quickly things promise to get even worse. The truth is that a nation’s infrastructure says a lot about who they are. So what does America’s infrastructure say about us? It says that we are a rusting, crumbling, decaying leftover from a better, more prosperous time. (Read More...)