Category: Economic Depression
The analysis published under this category are as follows.Wednesday, January 28, 2009
U.S. Heading for Japan Style Two Decade Economic Depression / Economics / Economic Depression
Every day seems worse than the previous day. Five hundred thousand people are getting laid off every month. Our banking system is on life support. Retailers are going bankrupt in record numbers. The stock market keeps descending. Home prices continue to plummet. Home foreclosures keep mounting. Consumer confidence is at record lows. You would like to close your eyes and make it go away. Not only is the news not going away, it is going to get worse and last longer than most people can comprehend. The Great Depression lasted 11 years, but the more pertinent comparison is Japan from 1990 until today. A two decade long downturn has a high likelihood of occurring in the United States. There are many similarities between the U.S. and Japan, but in many areas the U.S. has a much dire situation. If the next decade resembles the Japanese experience, there will be significant angst and social unrest.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Engines of Economic Growth Beyond the Depression / Economics / Economic Depression
The purpose of this high level analysis goes beyond an attempt to explain why an economic depression is virtually inevitable. It seeks also to identify a possible pathway out of the economic quagmire.
It is the view of this analyst that many of our political decision makers and/or their advisers do not clearly understand the overarching macro problem. The relevance of this observation is best illustrated by the following quote from an article entitled “Downturn Accelerates As It Circles The Globe”, which appeared in the Washington Post on January 24th 2009:
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Thursday, January 15, 2009
Economic Depression is Inevitable / Economics / Economic Depression
The simple analysis below demonstrates that – based on current behaviour of the Central Banks and monetary authorities – Economic Depression is inevitable.
In the article which can be accessed via the attached link, (http://www.hoisingtonmgt.com/pdf/HIM2008Q4NP.pdf ) Hoisington states that “nominal GDP …. is equal to the stock of money multiplied by its turnover, or velocity.”
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Monday, December 29, 2008
Great Depression 2009 Similarities to 1930's / Economics / Economic Depression
Martin Weiss writes: I have just received a series of urgent questions about the massive crisis swirling all around us. So to help you prepare for 2009, I am going to give you my best answers right here and now. First, though, an important reminder: December 31 — this coming Wednesday — will be your last chance to sign up for Jack's new landmark recommendations aiming for high double-digit returns early in the new year. Plus, it's the last day you can save $295 before a price increase that goes into effect on the dawn of January 1.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, December 22, 2008
Great Depression 2009 Follows $30 Trillion Deflation / Economics / Economic Depression
Not Your Grandfather's Depression - It will be much worse, in many respects.
The chart below, borrowed from Dr. Marc Faber's Market Commentary December 1, 2008, is devastating. The chart shows a stunning loss of $30 trillion stock market wealth around the world. By some estimates, combined losses in commodities, stocks, bonds, real estate are greater than $60 trillion. This is beyond rescue.
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Friday, December 19, 2008
The Greatest Wealth Transfer in the History of Mankind Starts Now! / Interest-Rates / Economic Depression
Right now, the Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the banking system seem to be gearing up for an event the likes of which has never been seen. I believe the crisis that will unfold over the next few years will add up to the biggest economic event in history. The scale of what is happening will dwarf all other economic events combined. The Tulip mania of 1637, John Law's "Mississippi Scheme" of 1720, and the dot-com / tech bubble of 1999 will pale by comparison. Even the hyperinflation in Weimar Germany in 1923 and the Great Depression will seem like a walk in the park compared to what is coming.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Excess Debt and Deflation = Depression / Economics / Economic Depression
Irving Fisher (1867 - 1947) was perhaps the most noted economist of his day. The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics calls him "one of America's greatest mathematical economists and one of" its clearest writers. He earned special acclaim for his work on monetary and statistical theory, policy, index numbers, econometrics, and the distinction between real and nominal interest rates.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Fed Deploys Every Trick in the Book to Avert Another Great Depression / Economics / Economic Depression
" Conditions have deteriorated on a scale and with a speed that no one could have predicted just a few months ago. Market conditions of unprecedented strength are roiling the world's financial markets. The global economy is either in, or close to, recession and 2009 is not likely to be a year of great recovery." Brett White, chief executive officer of CB Richard Ellis, LA TimesRead full article... Read full article...
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Half Million Job Losses as Economic Depression Spreads / Economics / Economic Depression
I wrote about the latest jobs numbers this morning in Jobs Contract 11th Straight Month; Unemployment Rate Hits 6.7% .Let's look at some more details starting with this report: Half-million jobs vanish as economy deteriorates . An alarming half-million American jobs vanished virtually in a flash last month, the worst mass layoffs in over a third of a century, as economic carnage spread ever faster and the nation hurtled toward what could be the hardest hard times since the Great Depression.
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Thursday, December 04, 2008
Why Bond Markets Are Right, Depression Coming, No Time to Buy Equities / Stock-Markets / Economic Depression
Let's hear it for Ghana . The Ghanaian stock exchange is the planet's top performer this year – up a cool 60% to be exact. And in sterling terms it's up by two-thirds.
But nearly every other equity market in the world, including our own, is in a complete tailspin. And despite more and more bulls poking their heads above the parapet, the latest news is extra evidence that the selling's set to continue...
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Thursday, December 04, 2008
Central Banks Slash Interest Rates to Prevent Global Depression / Interest-Rates / Economic Depression
Gold fell nearly 1.6% yesterday on light volume as the dollar remained firm. Buyers held back waiting on important interest rate decisions in Europe today and the release of U.S. nonfarm payrolls data tomorrow. Gold remains firm in British pounds and Euros at £523/oz and €613/oz.
Nonfarm payrolls are expected to be poor (economists expect US employers slashed nonfarm payrolls by 320000 in November, which would be the sharpest drop in employment since 2001) and this should put pressure on the dollar and equity markets and see gold remain firm.
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Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Deflation, Nowhere to Hide for Investors / Economics / Economic Depression
“I've been in the market 50 years...(back in 1974) there were 40 people in the (London) office...I had to take it to half a dozen...there was a very severe downturn in equity markets but credit markets were still working. That's what is different this time. There's nowhere to hide .”
Terry Campbell, senior chairman Goldman Sachs JB Were. (by Ingrid Mansell, Australian Financial Review 21 Nov. 2008).
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Sunday, November 30, 2008
The Hyperinflationary Depression / Economics / Economic Depression
Last June, Stephen Lendman published an article covering Walter "John" Williams's views on Future US Hyperinflation . These views are more relevant than ever today.(emphasis mine)
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Saturday, November 29, 2008
Economic Depression in 2009? / Economics / Economic Depression
After suffering through the biggest stock market correction since the 1930s, many are wondering if the market – that great discounting mechanism – foresees depression in 2009. The thinking behind this interpretation of the 45% correction is that the stock market envisions a collapse in GDP and the biggest downturn in consumer spending of the current generation. Could the bear market of 2008 in fact be warning us of economic gloom next year? Is the U.S. destined to start the path, in the words of one widely followed observer, to becoming a Third World country in 2009?Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
G20 Central Banks Unite to Fight Economic Depression / Economics / Economic Depression
Can Central Bankers Prevent the Great Depression?
Amid the worst financial crisis and market meltdowns since the 1930's, the world's top-20 central bankers and finance ministers are busy at work, inflating the world's money supply, slashing lending rates, and crafting stimulus packages, in order to prevent a normal recession from morphing into a Great Depression. The ECB has cut interest rates by 100-basis points to 3.25% since early October, and is telegraphing another 50 basis point cut at the next policy meeting in December.
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Worse than the Great Depression? / Economics / Economic Depression
It's a minority but growing view, including from 86-year old former Goldman Sachs chairman, John Whitehead, at the November 12 Reuters Global Finance Summit in New York. As disturbing evidence mounts, he said: "I think it would be worse than the depression. We're talking about reducing the credit of the United States of America, which is the backbone of the economic system. I see nothing but large increases in the deficit, all of which are serving to decrease the credit standing of America.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, November 10, 2008
Why Washington Cannot Prevent Economic Depression / Economics / Economic Depression
Martin Weiss writes: Fear of depression is sweeping the nation. Millions of Americans are consumed with anxiety, abandoning their old shop-till-they-drop habits, slashing their spending, trying desperately to pinch pennies for the coming hard times.
Thousands of bankers are snapping shut their coffers, tightening their lending standards, hunkering down in anticipation of a massive economic downturn.
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Thursday, November 06, 2008
President Obama to America's Rescue? / Politics / Economic Depression
Having received 62.5 million votes, Barack Obama has earned a spectacular personal victory and a clear mandate to bring some form of change to the United States. Obama's decisive and masterly election campaign, where he first had to outmaneuver the formidable Clinton machine, may bode well for his ability to implement a government response of unprecedented magnitude. Time will tell if this is a blessing or a curse.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, November 03, 2008
United States Heading for Economic Depression and Dollar Collapse / Economics / Economic Depression
The US headed for a depression AND a currency collapse. Americans will see their wealth wiped out as stocks and home values plunge, their cost of living soar as food and oil prices spike up, and their taxes increase as the government struggles to fund itself. To understand where the US is heading, we need to step back and take a look at the deep problems afflicting the US economy:Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Current Economic Crisis Worse than the Great Depression / Economics / Economic Depression
The mainstream media and Wall Street have reached the consensus that the current credit crisis is the worst since the post-war period. George Soros' statement that ”the world faces the worst finance crisis since WWII” epitomizes the collective wisdom. The crisis is currently the ultimate scapegoat for all the economic evils that currently plague the global financial system and the global economy – from collapsing stock markets of the world to food shortages in third world counties. We are repeatedly assured that the ultimate fault lies with the Credit Crisis itself; if there were no Credit Crisis, all of these terrible things would never have happened in the economy and the financial markets.Read full article... Read full article...