According to the mainstream media the economy is in recovery mode. But when you look at the reality of the situation, take into account the actual debt numbers, and then think about your own financial situation, recovery starts to look like nothing more than a media hyped fairytale. A fairytale that at some point is going to have very unhappy ending.
The United States is literally drowning in debt
The United States holds the largest mountain of debt the world has ever seen, yet the moronic do-nothing politicians in Washington D.C. seem to be more ignorant than ever. In fact, they’re not only ignorant, they’re out-of-control and doing everything they can to strap us with even more debt.
As I write this article, The United States government has accumulated around $18.2 trillion in reported debt. That puts every one of us on the hook for somewhere around $154,161 in Government debt.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, federal debt will climb to almost $27.3 trillion within the next 10 years.
The Debt number is a Big Lie; True Debt could be as high as $222 Trillion
While $18 trillion seems like an insurmountable amount of debt to recover from, the fact is, that number is only a drop in the bucket. When factoring in unfunded liabilities like Social Security, Medicare, government pension plans and Obamacare, the true debt is actually much higher. Estimates range anywhere from $205 trillion to $222 trillion.
How could that be?
Well, The Congressional Budget Office actually has two sets of books – something every good Ponzi scheme needs. The first set of books, known as the Extended Baseline Forecast, are the books released to the idiots in the media who then report the numbers to the gullible public.
The second set of books, the Alternative Fiscal Scenario, are the ones that really matter. If you look at those books, the unfunded liability number is actually $205 trillion. This is the figure that the CBO does not want the American public to be aware of.
It’s not just Government Debt; Business Debt is out of control.
Since 2006, Business debt in the United States has skyrocketed from 2.6 trillion dollars to a staggering 5.8 trillion of debt. In 2014 alone, total debt levels for non-financial companies inside the United Stated rose $650 billion — six times faster than the $100 billion these companies added in cash.
Keep in mind, most of this debt was piled on after the 2008 economic crisis, something that should have been a wake-up call to everyone in the country.
The Student Loan Debt Bubble
The class of 2015 will be leaving college with much more than a degree. They’ll be leaving with the most student debt in U.S. history. The average graduating student will owe somewhere around $35,000.
Student loan debt has grown completely out of control. Americans have acquired over $1.2 trillion in outstanding student loan debt, setting up a potential wave of defaults as more and more graduates find themselves without a job, unable to pay back these student loans.
But it’s not just college age students. In fact, some seniors are actually putting off retirement because of outstanding student loan bills. According to a new study by LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute, retirees are bringing unprecedented levels of student loan debt into their retirement years. In 1989 student loans made up only 1 percent of debt for retirees, today student loans now account for 15 percent of retiree debt.
The amount of U.S. debt owned by foreign nations has never been higher.
34 percent of total federal debt is owed to foreigner governments and international investors, including China (which owns about $1.3 trillion of the total debt, or about 8 percent), closely followed by Japan, which owns $1.1 trillion, or 7 percent.
5 More Troubling Signs that we are heading for an Economic Disaster
Texas Pulls $1 Billion in Gold from Federal Reserve Bank
It seems like Texas has seen the writing on the wall and will soon be pulling $1 billion in Gold from the Federal Reserve. The move will allow Texas to safeguard their gold from the federal government, and highlights the very real trouble our economy is in.
Major Bankers Warning that a Crash is Coming
HSBC chief economist Stephen King is warning his clients that the world’s economy is like the Titanic and lacks the lifeboats needed to save us all. King warns that the so-called recovery is nothing more than hype, and says “In the event we hit an iceberg, there aren’t enough lifeboats to go round.”
Bankers calling for a Ban on Cash
Both J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup are calling for a ban on paper currency. In fact, Chase took the unprecedented step of restricting cash in certain markets and recently started banning the storage of cash or coins in its safe-deposit boxes. They also put policies in place that will ban using cash as an acceptable payment for credit cards, mortgages and auto loans.
Top Investors Making Preparations for Crash
Some of the world’s top investors are taking steps to prepare for a huge market crash. Jeremy Grantham, co-founder and chief investment strategist of Grantham Mayo van Otterloo, is warning investors that stocks are 65 percent overvalued. He says the bubble will burst around or after the 2016 presidential election.
The Real Unemployment rate is at 23%
If you believe the federal government, then you probably think unemployment rate is somewhere around 5.5%. But, if you take a little closer look into the numbers, you will see that just like the federal debt, the books are cooked!
The real unemployment numbers are a complete fabrication; they don’t take into account those who have stopped looking because they can no longer find a job.
What can you do to prepare for the collapse?
I devoted an entire section to financial preparedness and the coming collapse in my book, The Ultimate Situational Survival Guide; I believe it’s one of the most serious threats facing this country. Some of the suggestions I outline in the book include:
Develop a Plan of Action
When it comes to economic preparedness, one of the most important things you can do is to put together a plan of action. If things go bad, having a plan of action can help increase your chances of surviving the chaos. Check out my list of Essential Preparedness Tips, Skills and Resources to Prepare for Disasters & Threats
Start being more Self-Reliant
Skills that were once part of our daily life, the kind of skills that helped our ancestors survive, have been largely forgotten. They have been replaced by a generation of dependent people that can barely balance a checkbook, cook a meal, or change a flat tire. Read my List of Preparedness Skills that Everyone Should Know.
Start Stockpiling Food and Long-term Consumables: During any type of crisis, food, water and long-term consumables are going to be worth their weight in gold! During an economic collapse, major shortages and supply chain problems are highly likely, making these types of supplies one of your most important pre-collapse considerations.
Start stocking up on the kinds of things that you know you’ll need and use in the future.
Start Cutting Expenses and get out of Debt: During the 2008 financial meltdown, millions of Americans lost their homes, cars and personal possessions because of debt. During an economic collapse, the possibility of losing your home to debt collectors is a real threat. If you can get out of debt, do it now.
Start cutting all nonessential expenses. The money you save can be used to pay down debt and stockpile extra emergency supplies.
Start an Emergency Fund: An Emergency Fund should be one of your top priorities. This fund will be essential in the lead up to the collapse, and can help you stockpile any last minute supplies that you might need.
Take a serious look at your Defense: One of the biggest threats you’re going to face is the hordes of people looking to take advantage of the situation. The riots that we witnessed in Ferguson and Baltimore are going to pale in comparison to what we’ll see during a full-scale economic collapse.
- Start looking into ways to secure and fortify your home.
- Learn the basics of self-defense, and consider learning how to use a firearm.
- Watch for signs of social unrest, and stay alert to what’s going on around you and in your neighborhood.
- Stock up on Firearms and learn how to use them.
uhm, if you look at the debt clock, the unemployment rate is much higher then 23%
look at those on benefits, subtract retuirees and disabled, you have 1/3rd of the total population on benefits, or 33%, either unemployed, or underemployed. and less then 50% of the total population working.
Could be… especially when you add in the underemployed. It’s pretty hard to nail down the exact numbers on anything with the way the government cooks the books, so I just went with the best conservative numbers I could find through my research. That being said, I do think many of these numbers are conservative and it is probably much worse.
Yup, and I have seen the signs for a while now.
Problem is the last fiasco (The Bailouts) didn’t hit most people, and the ones it did aren’t enough to matter, even though they were in the hundreds of thousands, most people still voted for Trump, one of thee ones who fared well in the bailouts, and I didn’t hear anything about that happenstance in his campaign for Hillary, and her Bad I guess.
Not to mention Trumps global holdings in construction companies, and stock in other companies going to get the lucrative government contracts building his Wall, and I say HIS WALL because he’s going to profit handsomely for it, and still nobody cares, which I find funny, because I bought my home right after the bailouts when everything went to shit and homes were dirt cheap, then I sold it two years ago when everything went artificially back up at double what I paid, then bought an RV and am living in the Olympic National Forest in an RV park safe and sound form the next big collapse, and there’s no tell how hard this next one will hit, but I can guarantee our political leaders will make it through better than We The People, and as always, but no one remembers those facts, and were stupid I guess, it’s human nature to trust you government with conviction if our a true American, and that’s what they tell us, Lol, Lol
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The unemployment rate is NOT higher than 23%. You forget to subtract the 30 million fulltime students and the 15-20 million stay at home moms that have children. They should not be counted as unemployed because they are not available to work.
I agree and disagree. Many SAHMs (I am one of them) are highly educated and would like to work, but the high cost of daycare makes it so they can’t afford to work. So yes, they are currently unavailable to work, but like the underemployed and those who have given up looking, many have a strong desire to work.
Rubbish, I am a stay at home mom and have been looking for work for over 3 years. In fact it’s harder to find a job if your a stay at home mom as you have to apply for work from home jobs. I do office work from home now, do I juggle both because I can’t afford daycare costs and travel costs.
And with the economy getting worse, work from home jobs are getting far and few between.
If full time students are not looking for jobs, then why doesn’t Congress make it law that full time students don’t work? Perhaps it’s because they are a form of cheap labor!
Also the full time students work weekends and nights, so they are also actually also jobseekers (unless they have parents wealthy enough to pay their way) So it’s difficult to find 2 side by side part time time jobs to make ends meet when there are not many full time jobs around.
Subtract students? Most students are employed enough to qualify as employed. You know, 12 hours a week at DQ “tycoons.”
If cash will not be accepted, how will saving and having a emergency fund be of help? How will a person be able to buy anything? How can banks ban cash?
It will be helpful in the lead up to the collapse, especially if a bank holiday is instated and electronic payments go down! I think we are in the middle of a slow downward spiral rather than a sudden unexpected collapse.
I agree with you. There isn’t going to be any moment we can point to and say, “This is when the feces hit the rotary oscillator”. Things have been getting gradually worse since about 2007, actually. Think, folks, for all the time the news and gov’t spend pimping the idea of a recovery, what percentage of the people that you know are still worse off now than in 2007? The .1% are having a ” recovery”, but not the rest of us.
We are arranging our lives so as to need as little cash as possible, long term.
good article, thanks for the post! Love the website.
I believe one of the main reasons banks are “restricting” cash(far more accurate), is that they are trying to QUIETLY build up their own cash reserves to prevent having to go to the Fed, during runs on their bank branches. Seems that Chase and Citi are following the Greek Model, not much else can simply explain their actions.
Best answer to that question I have found is from David Stockman – Stockman’s Contra Club: http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/why-governments-are-coming-for-your-cash/
What is the possible consequences of large unsecured debt? Credit cards etc. Thanks
Repossessions, Foreclosures on Home, and who knows once things go bad. Remember that debtor prisons were once a real thing.
Prior to 1964, Federal Reserve Notes (such as $20 bills) were backed with gold reserves. There were also “Silver Certificates” ($1, $5, $10 denominations) that read, “This certifies that there has been deposited in the treasury of the United States of America one silver dollar payable to the bearer on demand.”
Since 1964, the only thing that makes a dollar bill (paper currency) worth a dollar is the confidence of the American people. When that confidence is gone, so is the value of our currency. That can happen very quickly. Our financial system is much more fragile than we would like to believe.
Plante par place, salle de classe simplement en classe , Vert Bronx périphérique sera améliorant les résultats finaux ainsi que l’évolution des destins .
La gestion fédérale Medicine fournit plus d’informations en ce qui concerne les suppléments de vitamines et suggère également de vérifier à l’aide de votre médecin ou professionnel de la santé juste avant l’introduction de ces téléphones ce que vous mangez.
I hear being debt free is vital but I don’t understand why. If I owe $10,000 on my visa (from buying hundreds of emergency essential, non-traceable items), how is that bad? Who is going to collect on a non-collectable debt? The reality is when the SHTF, everyone is going to default – especially if the govt raids their savings and people cannot access their money. So, once again, how is being deeply in debt a bad thing?
It’s simple people, do not keep your money in banks, if you haven’t applied for a credit card, don’t. Start stocking up on inexpensive items, lighters, canned food, boxed food, and of course water. These are just a few things, anything that benefits the government, don’t use it. The best way to fight back is refusing to use the services they provide, like banks for example.I’ve even gotten rid of my cell phone, and have purposely become homeless, I have slept outside recently for the past 3 weeks, just to get a feel for the conditions of the outdoors. It’s crucial you start utilizing survival tactics, if you think your home, or car is going to protect, you are sadly mistaken. Don’t be a fool, start preparing for the worst, but hey, if nothing happens, then awesome! You’ve learned a few new things! Your best bet is to get a firearm, a lot of ammo, and gun down anyone who threatens you, end of story.
As for saving cash, I’d also recommend stocking up on things like tobacco, coffee, salt and refined sugar. When those things are no longer available, they would be worth their weight in gold when it comes to bartering.
I have been buying pre 1964 silver dollars for a few months now.Every payday I buy a few,just incase paper money becomes worthless. I also own a couple thousand dollars worth of camping/survival gear. I own a compound bow and a takedown bow, also i have a muzzleloader with 50 pounds of lead and five pounds of black powder.
I have a few places picked out near me,where I can live in the woods near a body of water.Other than that, I just hold on to my faith that Jesus will provide my needs.
I have been thinking of buying a new pickup on credit. That way if the economy crashes and the banks close. I got a free truck!
There is no such thing as free.
What ever you do, don’t just save paper money. Try to get gold silver. These never lose value.
it will take them (the bankers) some time to takes us cashless. If you were smart and lived with eyes wide open you could have seen this brewing since 2002. Get out of the system while you still can. Commerce will continue in some fashion and there will be payment methods since the advent of barter.I would suggest having some real money. Money that comes out of the ground and has been money for thousands of years. The pain will be immense and the losses staggering. There are so many underlying indicators easily seen. They might be able to hold it all together for the next several years and I they do but it will happen (the collapse). It has to, its simple arithmetic and when it does it’s going to be really really bad.