Painful

This Is Definitely Going To Be “Not A Normal September” For The Rapidly Imploding U.S. Economy

The “good times” were supposed to be rolling by now, but instead the wheels are starting to come off, and the economic outlook for the rest of the year is not good at all.  Just yesterday, I warned my readers that things were about to get worse, and it only took exactly a single day for that to actually happen.  As you will see below, major factory shutdowns were just announced, and that is going to make shortages even worse.  Fear of COVID is restricting production all over the globe, and meanwhile national governments and central banks have been absolutely flooding their systems with fresh cash.  As a result, we now have way too much money chasing way too few goods and services, and anyone that has taken ECON 101 will tell you that will inevitably result in higher prices and shortages.

As I discussed yesterday, if there is something that you need to buy, run out and get it now because the shortages are only going to get worse in the coming months.

On Thursday, General Motors shocked the entire nation when it announced that it is going to be closing down almost all of its manufacturing facilities due to our ongoing shortage of computer chips…

General Motors will idle nearly all its assembly plants in North America starting Monday as the COVID-19 pandemic affects production of semiconductor chips overseas.

GM said its Arlington Assembly in Texas, where it makes its highly profitable full-size SUVs, will run regular production next week, along with Flint Assembly in Michigan, where it makes its heavy-duty pickups, Bowling Green Assembly in Kentucky, where it makes its Corvette, and a portion of Lansing Grand River Assembly in Michigan, where it will make some Chevrolet Camaro and Cadillac Blackwing cars.

I knew that things were bad, but I didn’t know that they had gotten this bad.

Ford also announced that it will be slashing production due to a lack of chips…

Ford Motor is once again cutting production of its F-150 pickup truck and other highly profitable vehicles due to the ongoing global shortage of semiconductor chips.

The automaker informed employees Wednesday of the cuts, which also impact production of its larger Super Duty pickups and Expedition SUV.

This was supposed to be a time when vehicle sales were soaring to all-time highs, but thanks to a lack of chips the number of new Ford vehicles that were sold last month was down by a whopping 33 percent compared to a year ago…

U.S. sales of Ford Motor’s new vehicles last month declined by 33.1% from a year earlier due to an ongoing global shortage of semiconductor chips that’s wreaking havoc on the automotive industry, the company said Thursday.

The Detroit automaker’s sales capped off a dismal month of U.S. auto sales in August, which plummeted to an adjusted selling rate of 13.09 million vehicles. That’s the worst pace since June 2020 and down from this year’s peak of 18.5 million in April, according to auto data firm Motor Intelligence.

Demand is not the problem.

There is simply not enough Ford vehicles to go around right now, and this has pushed dealer inventories to frighteningly low levels…

Dealers only have about 942,000 vehicles in inventory for retail sale, compared with roughly 3 million before the coronavirus pandemic two years ago, according to Thomas King, president of the data and analytics division at J.D. Power.

Of course it isn’t just the auto industry that is dealing with these sorts of problems.

Supply chains all over the globe are in a state of complete and utter chaos, and it just seems to keep getting worse with each passing day.  I really like how Wolf Richter has described the current state of affairs…

Yesterday, just outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, a record 44 container ships were anchored, waiting. And there are hundreds of these ships hung up somewhere globally, trying to get into a port, or they’re being rerouted to different ports. And all this takes time.

And containers are stuck in ports because railroads are backlogged, trucking companies are troubled by driver shortages, and containers are hung up in railyards and clog them up to where some railroads have stopped routing trains to those particular railyards until the backlog is cleared, thereby further contributing to the pileup of containers at ports.

And each extra day that a loaded container doesn’t get to its destination is a day that it cannot be unloaded and returned to the flow of containers, and cannot be sent to a manufacturer that has goods ready to ship but cannot ship them because they cannot get empty containers.

In my last article, I discussed the fact that experts are already warning that Christmas has been ruined because of all the mayhem.

And now fear of Delta and other variants threatens to gum up the works even more.  Most Americans had assumed that we would be “returning to normal” by now, but instead we seem to be going in reverse in a lot of ways…

The delta variant of the coronavirus is preventing a return to normal and pumping the brakes on the economic recovery. Major corporations such as Apple, Facebook and Ford have pushed back their return-to-office dates from September to January. Schools are reinstating mask mandates and, in some cases, dealing with virus outbreaks, sending students home to quarantine. Restaurants and retailers are scaling back hours, as workers remain hesitant to return to lower-paying service jobs in which they are also more exposed to the virus. Meanwhile, brands including Nike and Gap are warning that factories in Vietnam and elsewhere aren’t operating at full capacity and that some items may not be available as the coronavirus surges around the world.

Authorities thought that they would be able to have the pandemic under control by now, but they have dramatically failed.

As long as these variants are sweeping across the globe like wildfire, there definitely will not be a return to “normal” any time soon.

The machinery of our economy is being shaken at a very basic level, and many believe that this is just the beginning.

For many years there have been warning signs, but our leaders have somehow been able to hold the U.S. economy together.

But now inflation is out of control, shortages are becoming exceedingly painful and confidence in our national leaders has plummeted to extremely low levels.

We haven’t even reached the official end of summer yet, and things are already starting to become very, very interesting.

***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 Snyder 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 others 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)  By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

The Media Says “The Delta Variant Stole Christmas”, And Severe Shortages Are Projected To Stretch Long Into 2022

Thanks to extreme disruptions caused by the global response to the pandemic, millions upon millions of Americans are going to have a very disappointing holiday season.  Supply chains are in a state of complete and utter chaos all over the world, and now we are being told that it will remain this way for the foreseeable future.  And that is actually a best case scenario.  If a new variant comes along that causes even more global disruptions, the shortages that we are experiencing right now could become even more dire.  We are so vulnerable right now, and any unexpected twists or turns could easily make things a lot worse.

Earlier in 2021, the mainstream media was full of optimistic talk about how wonderful the second half of the year would be.

But now reality is setting in.  The following comes from a Washington Post article entitled “How the delta variant stole Christmas: Empty shelves, long waits — and yes, higher prices”…

“I’m afraid there is simply not enough time to get products on the shelf this year,” said Isaac Larian, chief executive of MGA Entertainment, the toy giant behind Rainbow High and such popular lines as L.O.L. Surprise and Little Tikes. “The holidays are going to be very tough and, frankly, a lot of families are not going to be able to get the toys they want.”

Mounting challenges — including factory shutdowns, computer chip shortages and clogged ports — are rattling the industry as it prepares for the crucial holiday shopping season, an eight-week window that can account for more than half of a retailer’s annual sales.

Didn’t Kamala Harris just give us a very similar warning?

If there are toys that you want to buy, you should try to get them as soon as possible, because the supply crunch is only going to intensify.

Even the biggest voices in the mainstream media are now admitting that these shortages are not going to be resolved any time soon.  The following comes from a New York Times article entitled “The World Is Still Short of Everything. Get Used to It.”…

Pandemic-related product shortages — from computer chips to construction materials — were supposed to be resolved by now. Instead, the world has gained a lesson in the ripple effects of disruption.

The economic optimists assured us that the economy would be “booming” by now, but instead the shortages are worse than ever.

Earlier today, I came across a local news story about the painful shortages that small businesses in western Massachusetts are currently dealing with…

This has everything to do with the supply chains. Businesses all over western Massachusetts are scrambling because they can’t get their hands on the most basic items. Silverware, takeaway containers, food items, you name it, and it’s probably in short supply.

Of course many of the largest corporations in the entire world are dealing with the same headaches.

According to Elon Musk, Tesla has been experiencing “super crazy supply chain shortages”…

Elon Musk said that supply-chain snags have hindered Tesla’s plans in 2021.

“2021 has been the year of super crazy supply chain shortages, so it wouldn’t matter if we had 17 new products, as none would ship,” Musk tweeted on Wednesday.

For many companies, one of the biggest sources of pain has been a persistent lack of computer chips.

This is a worldwide phenomenon, and it is the reason why game systems like the PS5 and the XBox Series X have been so exceedingly difficult to acquire…

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the demand for microchips has far exceeded supply, causing problems in every industry that relies on computers. And if you’re a Decoder listener, you know that that is every industry. Right now, major automakers have unfinished cars sitting in parking lots waiting for chips to be installed. Game consoles like the PS5 and Xbox Series X are impossible to find. And even things like microwaves and refrigerators are impacted, because they contain simple controller chips.

We were promised that things would be getting better by now, but instead this crisis just continues to escalate.

In fact, Toyota just announced that they are going to be cutting global production by 40 percent because of the shortage of chips…

In the face of an enduring shortage of computer chips, Toyota this month announced that it would slash its global production of cars by 40%. Factories around the world are limiting operations — despite powerful demand for their wares — because they cannot buy metal parts, plastics and other raw materials. Construction companies are paying more for paint, lumber and hardware, while waiting weeks and sometimes months to receive what they need.

As bad as things are now, it looks like they are about to get even worse.

One prominent shipping company just declared that they expect this crisis to persist “until the first half of 2022”…

From anchorage stats to forward arrivals, ocean bookings, and inventory-to-sales numbers, all the latest data paints the same picture: The U.S. congestion crisis has never been more severe than it is now — and it’s getting worse.

Hope for any relief this year has vanished. French carrier CMA CGM is the latest in a long line of market participants to push back its timeline on normalization. Capacity constraints “are expected to continue until the first half of 2022,” CMA CGM warned on Friday.

Alarmingly, America’s import system — which is already stretched to the limit — looks like it will have to handle even higher volumes next month. The likely outcome: Carriers will be forced to cancel more sailings as terminal berths max out and ships get stuck at anchor, even more cargo will get “rolled” (pushed to a future sailing), and importers will face even longer delays and even less slot availability as they scramble to build inventories for holiday sales.

Others are even more pessimistic.

Just check out this quote…

“There is no end in sight,” said Alan Holland, chief executive of Keelvar, a company based in Cork, Ireland, that makes software used to manage supply chains. “Everybody should be assuming we are going to have an extended period of disruptions.”

“No end in sight”?

“An extended period of disruptions”?

And what is going to happen if another variant comes along that creates a lot more fear?

Just today, the WHO issued a very ominous warning about a variant that is now known as “Mu”…

The World Health Organization has issued a warning about yet another new COVID-19 variant it fears could potentially evade vaccines.

That variant, called Mu, was first detected in Colombia in January, and has been announced just as the Delta variant finally appears to be peaking in the U.S.

This “Mu variant” has already spread to over 40 different nations, and there have already been more than 2,000 confirmed cases in the United States…

Over 4,600 cases of the variant, whose scientific name is B.1.621, have been spotted since then, and it has spread to more than 40 countries.

Almost 2,000 cases of the variant have been detected in the United States.

So how much worse will our supply chain disruptions become if that variant starts spreading across the country like wildfire?

Most people don’t realize that we are so close to the sort of extreme economic chaos that I have been warning about.

The second half of this year was supposed to be a time when our lives started to go back to “normal”, but that is obviously now out the window.

Instead, the rest of 2021 is looking exceedingly bleak, and at any moment another sudden “surprise” could take our problems to a whole new level.

***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 Snyder 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 others 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)  By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

I Feel Like I Am Living In Crazytown

We haven’t had an extended bout of painful inflation like this since the days of the Carter administration, and our leaders in Washington have decided that the best way forward is to rapidly create even more inflation.  They keep using words like “transitory” to describe the current inflation crisis, but then they turn right around and talk about the need to create, borrow and spend even more money.  It is utter madness, but at this point there is nobody that is going to stop them.  We are all passengers on a “highway to Weimar”, and those that have their hands on the wheel have gone completely nuts.

On Wednesday, we learned that on a year-over-year basis inflation continues to rise at the fastest pace that we have seen since the last financial crisis…

Federal data released on Wednesday showed that for the 12 months through July, the consumer price index rose 5.4 percent, unchanged from June and at the highest level since the Great Recession in 2008.

But since the way that the rate of inflation is calculated has literally been changed dozens of times over the decades, the only way to get an apples for apples comparison is to calculate what the rate of inflation would be if it was still calculated the same way it was at some previous moment in our history.

John Williams of shadowstats.com has done just that.  According to Williams, if inflation was still calculated the same way it was back in 1990, we would be at about 9 percent at this moment.

And if inflation was still calculated the same way it was back in 1980, we would be way into double digits right now.

Many Americans had assumed that we would never again see the sort of crazy inflation that we witnessed during the Carter years, but now it is here.

In particular, food prices, gas prices and vehicle prices are rapidly becoming quite painful…

New vehicle prices rose 6.4 percent on the year, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending January 1982. Gasoline was also up 42 percent.

The prices of many everyday items have jumped sharply in the past year. Bacon was up 11 percent and whole milk and beef roast were both 8 percent higher on the year.

Travel expenses jumped hugely from last summer’s depressed base level, with hotels up 24 percent and airfare up 19 percent.

Needless to say, this is having a substantial impact on our standard of living.

Even though wages are rising, they aren’t rising nearly as fast as the cost of living is…

It is getting harder and harder for American workers to make ends meet as rising inflation outpaces pay gains, pushing down inflation-adjusted compensation at a pace almost never seen before.

Adjusted for inflation, hourly compensation fell 2.7 percent in the second quarter, data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the nonfarm business sector showed Tuesday.

Inflation is a tax on all of us, and it is going to whittle down the size of the middle class with each passing month.

And this is just the beginning.  In recent days, many corporate executives have been very vocal about the fact that more price hikes are ahead.

For example, Shake Shack has publicly announced that another round of price increases is incoming…

The popular burger chain Shake Shack announced it will be implementing yet another price hike in 2021 to fight inflation.

During a conference call with analysts last week, Shake Shack’s chief financial officer Katherine Fogerty said customers will be paying three to 3.5 percent more for their food in the fourth quarter of 2021.

And the CEO of Tyson Foods is warning that costs keep rising even more quickly than his company can raise prices for consumers…

Tyson Foods Inc., the top chicken producer in the U.S., confirmed in an earnings call that food inflation continues to push prices higher.

Tyson’s CEO Donnie King said higher costs are hitting the firm faster than the company can lift prices, and retail prices are set to rise on Sept. 5.

My friends, this is going to get bad.

Really bad.

So what are our leaders doing in response?

Well, they have decided to create, borrow and spend even more money.

In fact, the Senate just passed a 1.2 trillion dollar infrastructure package and then immediately began working on a 3.5 trillion dollar spending package…

The Senate on Tuesday passed a $1 trillion infrastructure package and sent it to the House for consideration. The upper chamber then started work on a second $3.5 trillion package of further government spending. President Joe Biden will have to knit his party together to pass the larger measure. Already moderates like Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, have voiced concern about the impact of the $3.5 trillion measure on the $29 trillion national debt.

I feel like I am living in Crazytown.

They know that they are causing inflation, but they just can’t help themselves.

At this point, even a top Democrat is warning that there will be “grave consequences”…

U.S. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin on Wednesday said he had “serious concerns” about Senate Democrats’ planned $3.5 trillion spending plan, potentially gumming up efforts to move ahead with President Joe Biden’s top priorities.

Manchin, in a statement, said that although he voted to move ahead and debate the plan, he was worried about the “grave consequences” of such spending on the nation’s debt as well as the country’s ability to respond to other potential crises.

But even though some of our politicians may pay lip service to fiscal responsibility once in a while, in the end most of them just keep voting for these insane spending packages.

So what can we do?

I often say that we should “hope for the best and prepare for the worst”, but in this case there is no hoping for the best.

We know what they are going to do, and we know where this road leads.

So my recommendation is to prepare for the worst, and then do some more preparing, because things will eventually get really, really bad.

Congress is going to pass wild spending package after wild spending package, and the Fed is just going to continue to pump billions upon billions of fresh dollars into the financial system.

This is the greatest financial bubble in the history of the world, and it will be fascinating to watch how long it can last before it finally implodes.

***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 Snyder 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 others 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)  By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

Americans Are Taking On Debt As If Tomorrow Will Never Come

If you make a conscious choice to ignore all long-term consequences, managing your personal finances can be a lot of fun.  For example, instead of rationally evaluating what sort of mortgage payment you can actually afford, why not take a plunge and buy a $600,000 house?  You only live once, right?  And instead of making your current dumpy vehicle last another year or two, why not take out a huge loan on a brand new $60,000 SUV?  You know you deserve it.  While you are at it, why don’t you go on another huge spending spree and max out all of your credit cards again.  Paying off those credit cards will be very painful in the long run, but nobody thinks much about long-term consequences these days.

Just look at the federal government.  They are 28 trillion dollars in debt and yet our politicians continue to throw money around like a bunch of drunken sailors.

Of course the federal government is far from alone.  State and local governments have never been so deep in debt, we are in the midst of the greatest corporate debt binge of all time, and U.S. consumers are certainly doing their part.  In fact, last quarter we witnessed the largest increase in consumer debt since just before the last financial crisis…

Americans have more debt than ever before.

A surge in credit card spending and home purchases caused US household debt to increase by $313 billion, or 2.1%, in the second quarter, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
That’s the largest nominal jump since 2007 and the biggest percentage increase in seven and a half years.

Overall, U.S. consumers are now $14,960,000,000,000 in debt.

We will shortly hit the 15 trillion dollar mark, and I think that we should commemorate the crossing of that threshold with some sort of celebration.

Of course any celebration should involve going into even more debt, because there are few things that Americans enjoy more than getting even deeper into debt.

Mortgage debt is rising particularly quickly.  Housing prices have been going through the roof recently, and this has created a frenzy on a scale that we haven’t seen since just before the subprime mortgage meltdown of 2008…

Mortgage debt, the single biggest contributor to overall household debt, rose $282 billion to $10.44 trillion. A whopping 44% of the outstanding balances were originated over the past year, accounting for both new mortgages and refinancings.

But even though the US housing market is red hot and borrowing to purchase homes is through the roof, “there are still 2 million borrowers in mortgage forbearance who are vulnerable to financial distress once the forbearance programs come to an end,” said Joelle Scally administrator of the Center of Microeconomic Data at the New York Fed.

Is it just me, or does it seem like we have been here before?

All of this just seems so oddly familiar.

Of course the experts are assuring us that this even bigger housing bubble will end so much more nicely than the last one did.

You believe them, don’t you?

After being showered with trillions upon trillions of dollars by the federal government, you would think that most Americans should be in pretty good financial condition these days.

Unfortunately, it turns out that all of that money just made the gap between the wealthy and the rest of us even larger…

Americans added nearly $4 trillion to their savings during the coronavirus pandemic, but most of the gains went to the wealthy, according to a new study.

Stimulus checks, rising stock markets and fewer spending choices led to a massive savings boom over the past year, with Americans saving about $3.7 trillion, according to a study from Oxford Economics. Yet 70% of the gain went to the wealthiest 20% of Americans, the study found.

As I discussed the other day, there are millions and millions of Americans that were in danger of being thrown out into the streets once the eviction moratorium ended, but now Joe Biden has decided to come to the rescue…

President Joe Biden’s administration Tuesday issued a targeted moratorium on evictions in areas hardest hit by COVID-19, replacing a nationwide evictions freeze that expired Saturday despite legal concerns about doing so unilaterally.

The new action, in effect for 60 days, bans evictions in counties with high rates of COVID-19 transmission, reflecting where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends vaccinated residents mask indoors and in public settings.

But is this legal?

After all, we have already seen several courts rule on this, and they have said that it isn’t.

Well, just like any good career politician, Biden isn’t going to let a little thing like “legality” stand in the way…

The president said he sought input from constitutional scholars to determine whether the CDC had the legal authority to issue a new evictions action but it was unclear whether it could pass constitutional muster.

“There are several key scholars who think that it may, and it’s worth the effort,” Biden said.

Biden says that even if the courts strike this new moratorium down, it will buy some time for his administration to get aid money to those that need it.

Needless to say, what Biden has decided to do has absolutely horrified those that still actually have respect for the U.S. Constitution.  Here is an excerpt from Jonathan Turley’s reaction…

…What was astonishing is that Biden acknowledged that it is still likely unconstitutional but that they could tie it up in courts to get the money out in the interim…

Sadly, Biden’s approach is typical of how most Americans deal with things.

Most of us do whatever we feel like doing in the moment, and we don’t really give too much consideration to the long-term consequences.

Let us party today, because tomorrow is not guaranteed for any of us!

Of course the truth is that “tomorrow” always arrives eventually, and our “tomorrow” is going to be more painful than most people would dare to imagine.

But for the moment, the consequences of our actions have not caught up with us quite yet, and so it is still party time.

Most Americans fully intend to enjoy this party for as long as they possibly can, but at this point time is not on our side.

***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 Snyder 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 others 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)  By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

More Cowbell! Federal Reserve Officials Decide That More Inflation Is The Answer

Someone please make the madness stop.  Many years ago, when Saturday Night Live was still actually funny, comedian Will Ferrell starred in a skit that was entitled “More Cowbell”.  To this day, it remains one of the most famous skits in comedy history, and that is because it was absolutely hilarious.  If you have never seen it, you can find it right here.  Unfortunately for all of us, the Federal Reserve is now doing their own version of “More Cowbell”, but it isn’t funny at all.  At this point, Fed officials sound like a broken record, because month after month they just keep telling us that the answer to our growing economic problems is even more inflation.  They have completely gone off the deep end, but since most Americans are illiterate when it comes to economics hardly anyone is objecting.

Earlier today, I received an alarming email from one of my readers.  This particular reader was quite alarmed that the price of her favorite juice just went up three dollars, and I would have loved to tell her that these price increases are just “temporary” and that everything will go back to normal soon.

But I couldn’t do that, because that isn’t the truth.

On Wednesday, Fed officials once again voted to continue flooding the financial system with giant mountains of fresh cash…

The Federal Reserve open market committee has voted unanimously to continue the central bank’s easy money policies, again dismissing soaring inflation as ‘transitory’ and saying COVID-19 still poses risks to the economy.

The 11-member committee voted on Wednesday to keep the federal funds rate near zero and continue flooding the market with money through massive bond purchases ‘until substantial further progress’ is made on boosting employment.

“$120 billion a month in bond purchases” may sound boring to most Americans, but if people really understood what this was doing to our standard of living they would be protesting in the streets tomorrow morning.

On average, the Federal Reserve is pumping more than a billion dollars into our financial system every single hour.

This sort of thing is only supposed to be done during a major emergency.  The very first time that “quantitative easing” was used on a large scale was during the last financial crisis, and now it has basically become something that the Fed just does all the time.

As I discussed yesterday, the size of the Fed balance sheet has roughly doubled during this pandemic.  Of course this was going to cause inflation to spike.

On Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell openly admitted that “inflation could turn out to be higher and more persistent than we expected”.

Ya think?

But Powell also continued to insist that in the long-term inflation would go back down to 2 percent…

Indicators of long-term inflation expectations appear broadly consistent with our longer-run inflation goal of 2%. If we saw signs that the path of inflation or longer-term inflation expectations were moving materially and persistently beyond levels consistent with our goal, we’d be prepared to adjust the stance of policy.

What in the world is he smoking?

Does he actually believe that we can flood the system with trillions and trillions of fresh dollars and keep inflation down to about 2 percent at the same time?

If so, he should see a mental health professional immediately.

Right now, prices are skyrocketing all around us.  Earlier today, I came across an article that discussed how farmers are hurting because the price of hay has gone up by about 20 percent…

Local prices for large bales of hay — small bales are significantly more expensive — are shaping up to be around $210 a ton, DeRuwe said, around 20% more than the average year.

Yesterday, I discussed the fact that home prices are up 23 percent over the past year.

Apparently home prices are not yet high enough, because Fed officials want to flood the system with even more money.

Used car prices are up more than 45 percent over the past year.  In many cases, used cars are now selling for more than they were when they were brand new.

What we are now witnessing is completely and utterly insane, but the Fed is not the only one to blame.

Our politicians in Washington have been spending money like mad, and now another gigantic spending package is being discussed.

Fortunately, there is at least one Democrat in the Senate that thinks that Joe Biden’s 3.5 trillion dollar infrastructure package is just too big…

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona on Wednesday came out in opposition to Democrats’ $3.5 trillion spending blueprint, virtually ensuring her party would be forced to make substantial cuts to get her on board.

In a statement to The Arizona Republic, the moderate Democrat said while she supported efforts to bolster the country’s economic competitiveness in an infrastructure plan, she believed the bill was too large.

In the end, we may see a package that is only about a trillion dollars in size.

But that is still utter madness.

Since the start of the pandemic, we have increased the size of our national debt by five trillion dollars, and now our politicians in Washington want to borrow and spend more giant mountains of money.

Earlier today, I came across an article about a “two-headed snake”…

An incredible video captures the moment a two-headed snake called Ben and Jerry devours two mice in each of is fanged mouths.

Reptile enthusiast Brian Barczyk shared the clip to his Instagram account, which shows each of the heads slowly chomping down on a pair of dead mice.

The two-headed reptile is the result of a phenomenon known as bicephaly, which occurs from the incomplete splitting of an embryo.

When I read that, I immediately thought about our current situation.

These days, the Federal Reserve and our politicians in Washington have become a “two-headed snake” that is relentlessly devouring our financial future.

If we stay on the path that we are on, there is no future for our country.

But it has become obvious that our leaders are not going to change.

Every time a new crisis erupts, their “solution” will be to create, borrow and spend even more money.

This “More Cowbell” approach to managing the economy is literally insane, but there will be no turning back now.

***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 Snyder 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 others 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)  By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

Let’s Compare The U.S. Economy Before The Pandemic To The U.S. Economy Today

Throughout the first half of 2021, there was a tremendous amount of optimism about the U.S. economy.  Many believed that the pandemic would soon be behind us and that a new era of great prosperity would soon be upon us.  But now the optimism that we witnessed is fading as Americans become increasingly concerned about inflation, shortages and rising debt levels.  Our leaders created, borrowed and spent trillions upon trillions of dollars in a desperate attempt to get our economy back on track, and it turns out that all of that money didn’t really have the enormous impact that they had hoped.  On the other hand, inflation is now beginning to spiral out of control, and many are comparing this time in our history to the Jimmy Carter era of the 1970s.

In this article, I would like to compare the state of the economy today to the state of the economy just before the pandemic started sweeping across the country.

As you will see, it appears that a tremendous amount of long-term damage has been done.

Let’s start by talking about employment.  Just before the pandemic hit, 152 million Americans were employed, but today only 145 million Americans are currently employed.

Many economists are telling us that it will probably take a number of years for employment to return to pre-pandemic levels, but that also assumes that we will not be facing another major economic downturn in the near future.

Needless to say, I do not share that rosy assessment.

The number of Americans that are considered to be “not in the labor force” has also not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Just before the pandemic, 95 million Americans were considered to be “not in the labor force”, but now that number is up to more than 100 million.

We are being told that unemployment is “low” in this country even though more than 100 million people do not have jobs right now.

But according to John Williams of shadowstats.com, if honest numbers were being used the unemployment rate would currently be above 25 percent.

The good news is that at least we are not at 35 percent like we were during the peak of the pandemic.

Our politicians realized that things were really, really bad in 2020, and so they started spending money at a rate that we have never seen before.

All of this spending pushed our national debt from 23 trillion dollars prior to the pandemic to more than 28 trillion dollars today.

This is complete and utter insanity, but at least our politicians have been more restrained than the Federal Reserve has been.

During this pandemic, the size of the Fed balance sheet has nearly doubled.  It was sitting at about four trillion dollars just before the pandemic, and it has grown to more than eight trillion dollars today.

“Economic malpractice” is way too soft a term to describe what the Fed has been doing.

If the American people truly understood the Fed and what it has been doing to our currency, there would be wild protests in the streets tomorrow morning.

Collectively, our politicians and the Federal Reserve have pushed the size of our money supply to dizzying heights.  Just before the pandemic, M2 was sitting at about 15 trillion dollars, and now it has crossed the 20 trillion dollar threshold.

Anyone that believed that we could do this without causing rip-roaring inflation was just being delusional.

Just look at what has been happening to home prices.  They have been rising at the fastest pace ever recorded, and families all over America are feeling the pain.

A few days ago, I published an article in which I explained that home prices are 23 percent higher than they were at this time one year ago…

The median price for an existing home in June hit an all-time high of $363,300, up 23% over last year. That marks 112 straight months of year-over-year gains.

Needless to say, the vast majority of Americans have not had their paychecks increase by 23 percent over the past year.

The gap between the ultra-wealthy and the rest of us just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and the middle class is shrinking a little bit more with each passing month.

These days, we also have widespread shortages to deal with.  Prior to the pandemic, I don’t remember ever hearing about any major shortages, but now they are all around us.

In particular, the chip shortage has been incredibly painful for a lot of Americans, and the CEO of Intel is now telling us that it could last into 2023…

One of the leading voices in the semiconductor industry sees the chip-supply problems stretching as far as 2023.

It could take one or two years to get back to a reasonable supply-and-demand balance in the semiconductor industry, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal after the company posted second-quarter earnings on Thursday. “We have a long way to go yet,” he said. “It just takes a long time to build [manufacturing] capacity.”

At first, a lot of Americans believed our leaders when they were told that wonderful days were just around the corner.

But now reality is starting to set in.

Faith in “the recovery” is fading, and at this point more than half of all Americans believe that the economy is in poor shape…

Fewer than half of Americans, 45 percent, judge the economy to be in good shape, while 54 percent say it’s in poor shape, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Views are similar to what they were in AP-NORC polls in June and in March, despite increases in vaccinations and the flow of aid from Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

If most Americans are dissatisfied with the economy today, how will they be feeling if economic conditions are even worse six months from now?

In my opinion, we should be very thankful that economic conditions have been relatively stable in recent months, because the long-term outlook for our economy is not good at all.

Our leaders are literally in the process of committing national financial suicide, and the whole world will be affected since we produce the reserve currency that the entire planet depends upon.

So enjoy these relatively good times while you still can, because eventually they will be gone for good.

***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 Snyder 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 others 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)  By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

Elderly Americans Are Increasingly Being Targeted As Violent Crime Soars To Crazy Levels In Major U.S. Cities

Those that prey on elderly people just because they are easy targets should be deeply ashamed of themselves.  Unfortunately, we live at a time when violent criminals are roaming the streets of our major cities in packs, and many of them seem to have no sense of honor at all.  Women are being attacked, children are being attacked, and those that are advanced in age are often specifically targeted.  Reading that may make your blood boil, but they don’t care what you think.  Many of these criminals don’t have respect for anyone or anything, and a lot of them have hearts that are as cold as ice.

Let me give you an example of what I am talking about.  A 68-year-old man in Brooklyn was beaten to a pulp and had his skull stomped on just because his much younger attacker wanted to rob him…

A Brooklyn man has been seen pummeling a 68-year-old victim and stomping on his skull, before going through his pocket as he lay unconscious on the street in a shocking daylight, as the New York City crime wave continues.

In a disturbing video released by the New York Police Department, shows a black man wearing a hoodie and a blue disposable face mask launching the vicious attack at 9am on Saturday morning in the East New York neighborhood.

Even more disgusting is when a group of criminals decides to gang up and physically attack an elderly victim.  Last week, a 61-year-old woman in Harlem was violently assaulted by one man and three women…

The incident occurred at about 8:18 p.m. local time on Tuesday in Harlem at the corner of 8th Avenue and West 151st Street, police said. The altercation began with a verbal disagreement that police said the group started with the 61-year-old woman as she was standing at the corner. The incident quickly escalated and became physical.

The group, composed of three women and one man, began kicking and punching the victim, who was tackled to the sidewalk by one of the attackers. The individual who fell to the ground with the victim, a woman seen in the video wearing a yellow T-shirt and light blue pants, continued striking her as the others beat her while standing.

When I was growing up, it was very rare for women to commit violent crimes.

But since then something has dramatically changed in our society, because now we often see gangs of crazed young women commit violent crimes collectively.

And sometimes the packs of violent criminals are so large that they can’t be accurately counted.  On Friday, a 44-year-old off-duty New York City firefighter was viciously attacked by “at least 100 kids”…

The 44-year-old victim said he was strolling with his 3-year-old Labradoodle Dylan in Juniper Valley Park in Middle Village at around 9:55 p.m. Friday when he was suddenly targeted by the mob.

“There were at least 100 kids … I was walking my dog. They just picked me out and approached me,” the still-shaken victim, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Post Saturday afternoon.

Thankfully an ambulance was nearby, because otherwise he may not have survived that encounter…

The victim continued: “They didn’t care at all. The kids were going crazy. They were as high as a kite. I got hit, turned around, that’s when the kids started coming at me …. Then I was on the floor, holding one kid and an ambulance pulled up. They were waiting by the park … If they weren’t there I would have been in much worse condition.”

This is what our country has become.

Large packs of violent criminals are just randomly assaulting people in the streets.

The police are supposed to protect us, but way too often they are getting attacked too…

Aurora police said the officer was struck repeatedly in the head and body during the June 21 attack before he was strangled by a female passenger to the point where the officer lost the “ability to breathe.”

Following an investigation into the incident, the three suspects, Jennifer Taylor, 24, of Chicago; Sheba Taylor, 26, of Aurora; and Paul Sherrod, 28, of Aurora, were indicted by a grand jury last week and charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and aggravated assault, police said.

The numbers that are coming in from all over the nation are simply appalling.

In Philadelphia, the murder rate is up 35 percent so far this year, and at this point Philly has “the highest murder rate in the country per capita of the country’s 10 largest cities”…

As of Thursday, the number of homicide victims in Philadelphia this year is up to at least 314 people. That’s up 35% from this time last year.

Philadelphia now has the highest murder rate in the country per capita of the country’s 10 largest cities.

It was going to take a special effort to top Chicago, but Philly has done it.

Of course violence is surging everywhere.  According to Zero Hedge, the number of mass shootings in this country so far this year is up by a total of 21 percent…

To date, the number of mass shootings in the U.S. is 21% higher than the same period in 2020 (Jan.1 – July 20), which is 30% higher than the previous high, according to nonprofit research group Gun Violence Archive (GVA).

GVA’s data so far shows the U.S. has recorded 375 mass shootings in 41 different states (and Washington D.C.) in the first 200 days of 2021. Putting that in perspective, the country had 310 by this date last year.

Most mass shootings barely make a blip in the news before the next one comes along.

We are now known around the globe for the blood that runs in our streets, and our leaders seem powerless to do anything about it.

Of course our problems extend well beyond violent criminals.  As Business Insider recently noted, it seems like a significant portion of the general population is in a constant state of anger these days…

Violence on airplanes is spiking. Retail and fast-food workers say they’re being harassed and assaulted. And small business owners report experiencing frustrated customers whose patience has evaporated.

Have you noticed this too?

I definitely have.

This is one of the reasons why I just like to stay up in the mountains most of the time.

According to a psychiatrist from Harvard Medical School, the pressure that has been building up in our society is causing a lot of people to finally crack…

All of this behavior is the result of a year and a half of fear and anxiety, according to Luana Marques, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

“We’ve been skating thin ice in the past year, and if the weight [becomes] too much, the ice cracks. I think that’s what we’re seeing,” she said.

If things are this bad already, what is our society going to look like when economic conditions become extremely harsh for an extended period of time?

For a couple of months after Biden was inaugurated, most Americans were feeling pretty good about the future, but now that is changing in a major way.

In fact, ABC News discovered that the percentage of Americans that are feeling pessimistic about the direction of the country rose by nearly 20 points since their last poll…

A majority — 55% — of the public say they are pessimistic about the direction of the country, a marked change from the roughly one-third (36%) that said the same in an ABC News/Ipsos poll published May 2. In the early May survey, Americans were more optimistic than pessimistic by a 28-percentage point margin. Optimism is now under water by 10 points. Looking ahead to the next 12 months, fewer than half — 45% — now report feeling optimistic about the way things are going, a significant drop from about two-thirds (64%) in the May poll.

Of course the truth is that Americans should be feeling pessimistic, because things are only going to go downhill from here.

So if you think that the violence in our major cities is bad now, just wait, because much worse is coming.

***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 Snyder 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 others 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)  By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

Inflation Shock: Are You Ready To Start Paying “$40 Or $50” For A Hamburger?

After decades of living in a relatively low inflation environment, it is hard for most Americans to believe that things have gotten so bad so quickly.  In fact, even though I write about this stuff almost every day, it is hard for me to believe it.  We are watching prices spiral out of control all over the nation, and we know precisely who is to blame.  During the pandemic, our politicians in Washington have been borrowing and spending money at an unprecedented rate, and this has pushed our national debt up to 28 trillion dollars.  Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve has been pumping trillions of fresh dollars into our financial system, and this has resulted in the Fed balance sheet nearly doubling over the course of this pandemic.  I have used the term “economic malpractice” to describe what our leaders are doing, but it is actually far worse than that.  They are literally in the process of destroying our economy, and even after so many experts have pointed out their colossal errors they still won’t stop.  They just keep creating more money, and now we have a horrific inflation crisis on our hands.

Following Joe Biden’s town hall on Wednesday night, the Daily Mail spoke to a restaurant manager in Manhattan named John Stratidis.  According to Stratidis, rising costs and rising wages will mean that consumers will have to pay more for their meals.  In fact, he is warning that New Yorkers could end up “paying $40 or $50 for a hamburger”…

‘When minimum wage goes up, who do you think is going to pay for that? The customer. Everything is going to go up just to be able to stay in business. When we give more money, the prices go up and when the prices go up who’s going to pay for that?

‘They’re going to be crying about it, and saying “it’s too expensive”. That’s inflation. You’re going to be walking in somewhere to eat something and paying $40 or $50 for a hamburger.’

Obviously, we aren’t at that point yet.

But if we stay on the path that we are currently on, we will eventually get there.

In some tourist traps, prices for burgers are already completely insane.  For example, one Las Vegas restaurant is now selling a burger that costs $100…

Located on the casino floor and a few steps from the poker lounge, Posh Burger offers seven burger choices, ranging from a $12 traditional hamburger to a $23 half-pound “super deluxe” waygyu steak burger, plus the option of a $16 vegetarian Impossible burger.

For diners looking to play out their high roller fantasies, an eye-catching $100 menu highlight is dubbed the Posh Royale Burger and created with wagyu beef, truffle, foie gras, gold dust, a garnish of lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and the secret Posh sauce.

That is crazy, but that isn’t even the most expensive burger around.

In the Netherlands, one luxury chef is actually selling a burger for $6,000.

I still remember the days when you could get a nice, thick fancy burger with all of the fixings for less than a dollar.

Sadly, those days are long gone, and food prices are now rising at a frightening pace all over the country.

The other day, billionaire John Catsimatidis made headlines when he warned that there would be a double digit spike in food prices “by October first”…

Catsimatidis said that he expects a 10 to 14% spike in food prices by October first.

FOX Business’ Ashley Webster asked Catsimatidis if he is going to be forced to pass the extra costs onto consumers.

“You have to pass it on otherwise you’re not doing your duty to guard your country, your employees and your company,” he responded.

But at least housing is still affordable, right?

Actually, CNN is reporting that home prices are 23 percent higher than they were at the same time a year ago…

The median price for an existing home in June hit an all-time high of $363,300, up 23% over last year. That marks 112 straight months of year-over-year gains.

23 percent in one year!

Has your paycheck gone up by 23 percent over the past year?

If not, you are rapidly losing ground.

Renters are not faring much better.  In some of the hottest rental markets around the country, rents have risen by more than 20 percent.  The following example comes from the New York Times…

Kaitlin Cindrich is facing a $200 monthly increase in rent this August if she and her husband can renew their apartment lease in Provo, Utah. That 25 percent jump is not something she expected, and the 21-year-old fears she may have to skip doctor appointments for her autoimmune disease to keep up with the payments.

Still, she acknowledges there isn’t much choice but to pay more. “We are hoping to stay because everything is so expensive right now that I would be paying the same whether I’m here or somewhere else,” Ms. Cindrich said.

Some markets are seeing more moderate increases, but overall we have seen rental prices increase by 9.2 percent up to this point in 2021…

Data from Apartment List, a listing site, confirms the trend visible in the Zillow numbers: So far in 2021, rental prices nationally have grown 9.2 percent, compared with the 2 to 3 percent that is typical from January to June. According to the most recent data available, prices were higher than economists at Apartment List would have expected had prepandemic trends persisted.

So what will the rest of 2021 look like?

Will rental prices have risen by a total of 15 or 20 percent by the time the year is through?

The Biden administration continues to insist that inflation is “low”, but hardly anyone believes them.

In fact, one recent survey found that 70 percent of Americans are “extremely or very concerned” about inflation…

A new internal poll from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) shows growing concerns about rising inflation in a number of battleground districts ahead of 2022.

Seventy percent of respondents said they were either “extremely or very concerned” about rising prices and the rising costs of living, according to the polling memo released Thursday. Additionally, 60 percent of voters said they disapproved of President Biden‘s handling of rising prices and the higher cost of living. On top of that, the poll found that 42 percent of people polled were more likely to blame Biden and congressional Democrats for rising prices. Ten percent said they were more likely to blame congressional Republicans.

If you are in the 30 percent that is not very concerned about inflation, you should be, because it is going to absolutely suck the life out of your standard of living.

Meanwhile, more shortages continue to pop up throughout our economy.

Earlier today, I was stunned to learn that a shortage of back-to-school supplies is now being projected…

Back-to-school shopping is always a nightmare. This year, expect it to be even worse.

While parents may be used to encountering shortages of items like sneakers, backpacks and gadgets later in the season -— which typically lasts from mid-July through the end of August — products are expected to be in tight supply even earlier. That means shoppers could find themselves picking over the handful of ugly backpacks and bento lunch boxes with missing pieces left at the store as early as this month.

In the new book that I just released, I have an entire chapter about hyperinflation and shortages.  Everyone could see this coming from a mile away, but our leaders just couldn’t help themselves.

Whenever a major crisis comes along, their only answer is to create, borrow and spend more money.

Many are comparing this to the Jimmy Carter era of the 1970s, but the truth is that what we are facing is much worse than that.

We are literally witnessing our nation commit slow-motion economic suicide, and it is absolutely horrifying to watch.

***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 Snyder 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 others 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)  By purchasing the books you help to support the work that my wife and I are doing, and by giving it to others you help to multiply the impact that we are having on people all over the globe.  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.  During these very challenging times, people will need hope more than ever before, and it is our goal to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we possibly can.

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