http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com
http://albertpeia.com/65signseconomiccollapsehappening.htm
‘Do you want to know when the "economic
collapse" is going to happen? Just open up your eyes and take a
look. The "economic collapse" is already happening all around
us. So many people talk about the coming economic collapse as if it is
some massively hyped event that they will be able to point to on the calendar,
and a lot of writers spend a lot of time speculating about exactly when it will
happen. But as I have written about before, the economic collapse is not a single event. The economic
collapse has been happening, it is happening right now, and it will be getting
a lot worse. Yes, there will be moments of great crisis. We saw one
of those "waves" back in 2008 and another "wave" is rapidly
approaching. But all of the waves are part of a process that is
continually unfolding. Over the past 40 years, the United States and Europe
have piled up the greatest mountain of debt in the history of the world, and
now a tremendous amount of pain is heading our way. Economic conditions
in the United States and Europe have already deteriorated badly and they are going
to continue to deteriorate. Nothing is going to stop what is coming.
But
many people are still in denial about our economic decline. Some people
still believe that everything is going to be just fine. Way too often I
get comments on my
site that go something like this....
"I
just don't know what you are talking about. Where I live everything is
just fine. The malls are packed, the restaurants are full and everybody I
know is going on vacation this summer. Personally, I am doing
great. I just bought a 60 inch television and a new boat. Every
year all the 'doom and gloom' types such as yourself
proclaim that an economic collapse is right around the corner but it never
happens. And you know what? It is not going to happen. Those
in charge know what they are doing and America has the greatest economy on
earth. We have overcome challenges before and we will be able to handle
whatever comes this time. Your lack of faith in America and in
the American people astounds me. Everything is going to be just fine, so
why don't you just *************************************."
You
get the idea.
I
definitely understand that most Americans are terribly self-involved these
days, but when I read comments like this I am once again amazed at just how
delusional some people can be.
Why
can't people just open their eyes and look at the evidence of economic collapse
that is all around us?
Yes,
there are wealthy enclaves all over the country where things may seem better
than ever, but that is not the reality for most Americans.
All
over the country, our infrastructure is in shambles.
All
over the country, our once proud cities are being transformed into hellholes.
All
over the country, formerly middle class families are living in their cars.
There
are dozens and dozens of economic statistics that clearly show that we are in
the midst of a long-term economic decline. I have listed 65 of them
below, but I could have easily doubled or tripled the size of the list.
I
simply do not understand how anyone can believe that things are
"great" or that the U.S.
economy is going to be "just fine".
We
are living through a complete and total economic nightmare, and hopefully we
can get more Americans to wake up from their entertainment-induced comas so
that they can begin to understand exactly what is happening to this country.
The
following are 65 signs that the economic collapse is already happening all
around us....
1. Since Barack Obama entered the White House, the number of
long-term unemployed Americans has doubled from 2.7 million to 5.4 million.
2. The
average duration of unemployment in the United States is nearly three times as long as it was back in the
year 2000.
3. The
unemployment rate in the U.S. has been above 8 percent for 40 months in a row, and 42 percent of
all unemployed Americans have been out of work for at least half a year.
4.
Unemployment in the eurozone has hit another brand
new record high. It is now sitting at 11.2 percent. It has risen for
14 months in a row.
5. The U.S. economy
lost more than 220,000
small businesses during the recent recession.
6. The
percentage of Americans that are self-employed fell by more than 20 percent between 1991 and
2010.
7. Overall,
the number of "new entrepreneurs and business owners" dropped by a staggering 53 percent between 1977
and 2010.
8. The
unemployment rate in Spain
is now up to 24.6 percent.
9. Morgan
Stanley is projecting that the unemployment
rate in Greece
will exceed 25 percent in 2013.
10. Since Barack Obama became president, the price of a gallon
of gasoline has risen from $1.85 to $3.49.
11. The average
American household spent approximately $4,155 on gasoline during 2011, and
electricity bills in the U.S.
have risen faster than the overall rate of inflation for five years in a row.
12. About
three times as many new homes were sold in the United States in 2005 as will be sold in 2012.
13. While
Barack Obama has been in the White House, home values in the United States
have declined by 12 percent.
14. According to AARP, 600,000 American homeowners that are 50 years
of age or older are currently in foreclosure.
15. Right now
there are now 20.2 million Americans that
spend more than half of their incomes on housing. That represents a 46
percent increase from 2001.
16. According to Gallup, the current level of homeownership in
the United States
is the lowest that they have ever
measured.
17. Federal
housing assistance increased by a whopping 42 percent between 2006 and 2010.
18. In some areas of Detroit,
Michigan you can buy a three
bedroom home for just $500.
19. All around
us our cities are crumbling. According to the American Society of Civil
Engineers, 2.2 trillion dollars is needed
just to repair critical infrastructure in the United States.
20. The
unemployment rate in New York City
is now back up
to 10 percent. That equals the peak unemployment rate in New York City during the
last recession.
21. Back in
1950, more than 80 percent of all
men in the United States
had jobs. Today, less than 65 percent of all men in the United States
have jobs.
22. The U.S. Postal
Service is about to default on a 5.5 billion dollar payment for
future retiree health benefits.
23. According to Graham Summers
,
"when we account for all the backdoor schemes Germany
has engaged in to prop up the EU, Germany's REAL Debt to GDP is
closer to 300%."
24. According to the Federal Reserve, the median net worth of
families in the United
States declined "from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010".
25. The U.S.
trade deficit with China
during 2011 was 28 times larger than it was back in 1990.
26. The United States
has lost more than 56,000 manufacturing facilities since 2001.
27. During 2010 alone, an average of 23 manufacturing facilities permanently shut down in the United States every single day.
28. The U.S.
government says that the number of Americans "not in the labor force"
rose by 17.9 million between 2000 and 2011. During the entire decade of
the 1980s, the number of Americans "not in the labor force" rose by
only 1.7 million.
29. Eight million Americans have
"left the labor force" since the recession supposedly ended. If
those Americans were added back into the unemployment figures, the unemployment
rate would be somewhere up around 12 percent.
30. Approximately 53 percent of all U.S.
college graduates under the age of 25 were either unemployed or underemployed last year.
31. At this
point, one out of every four American workers has a job that pays $10 an hour or
less. If that sounds like a high figure, that is
because it is. Today, the United States actually has a higher percentage of workers doing low wage work than any other major
industrialized nation does.
32. Back in
1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income
jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.
33. According to one study,
between 1969 and 2009 the median wages earned by American men between the ages
of 30 and 50 declined by 27 percent after you account for inflation.
34. In
2007, the unemployment rate for the 20 to 29 age bracket was about 6.5
percent. Today, the unemployment rate for that same age group is about 13 percent.
35. According
to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, health care costs accounted for just 9.5%
of all personal consumption back in 1980. Today they account for
approximately 16.3%.
36. Medicare spending increased
by 138 percent between 1999 and 2010.
37. Over
the next 75 years, Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38
trillion dollars. That comes to $328,404 for each
and every household in the United
States.
38. Back in 1990, the federal
government accounted for 32 percent of all health care spending in America. Today, that figure
is up to 45 percent and it is projected to surpass 50 percent very shortly.
39. Back in 1965, only one out of
every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid, and things are about to get a
whole lot worse. It is being projected that Obamacare
will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.
40. Since 2008, the U.S. economy has lost 1.3 million jobs while at the same time 3.6 million more Americans have been added to Social Security's
disability insurance program.
41. Since
Barack Obama entered the White House, the number of Americans living in poverty
has risen by 6.4 million.
42. The number of Americans on
food stamps has risen from 32 million to 46 million since Barack Obama became president.
43. Right now the poverty rate
for children living in the United
States is 22 percent, and approximately one-fourth of all American children are enrolled in the food stamp
program at this point.
44. The number of children living
in poverty in the state of California
has increased by 30 percent since 2007.
45. Child homelessness in the United States
has risen by 33 percent since 2007.
46. According to the National
Center for Children in Poverty, 36.4 percent of all children that live in Philadelphia are living in
poverty, 40.1 percent of all children that live in Atlanta are living in
poverty, 52.6 percent of all children that live in Cleveland are living in
poverty and 53.6 percent of all children that live in Detroit are living in poverty.
47. Approximately 57 percent of all children in the United States are living in homes
that are either considered to be either "low income" or impoverished.
48. According
to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of Americans living in "extreme
poverty" is now sitting at an all-time high.
49. In the United States
today, somewhere around 100 million Americans are considered to be either "poor" or
"near poor".
50. It is
now being projected that about half of all American adults will spend at least some time living below the poverty
line before they turn 65.
51. Total
home mortgage debt in the United
States is now about 5 times larger than it was just 20 years ago.
52. Total
consumer debt in the United
States has risen by 1700 percent since 1971.
53. Recently it was announced that total
student loan debt in the United
States has passed the one trillion dollar mark.
54. According to one recent survey, approximately one-third of all Americans are not paying their bills on time at this point.
55. In 1983, the bottom 95 percent of all income earners in the United States
had 62 cents of debt
for ever dollar that they earned. Today, the bottom 95 percent of all
income earners in the United
States have $1.48 of debt
for every dollar that they earn.
56. The United States
was once ranked #1 in the world in GDP per capita. Today we have slipped to #12.
57. According
to the U.S. Census Bureau, 49 percent of all Americans live in a home where at least one person
receives benefits from the federal government. Back in 1983, that number
was below 30 percent.
58. Incredibly, 37 percent of all U.S.
households that are led by someone under the age of 35 have a net worth of zero
or less than zero.
59. Today there are approximately
25 million American adults that are living with their parents.
60. The U.S. dollar has lost more
than 96 percent of its value since 1900. You can thank the Federal Reserve system for that.
61. During
the Obama administration, the U.S.
government has accumulated more debt than it did from the time that George
Washington took office to the time that Bill Clinton took office.
62. Overall, the U.S. national debt has grown by nearly 10 trillion dollars over the past decade.
63. The U.S. national
debt is now more than 22 times larger than it was when Jimmy Carter became president.
64. 40 years
ago the total amount of debt in America
(government, business and consumer) was less than 2 trillion dollars. Today it is nearly 55 trillion dollars.
65. As Financial Armageddon recently point out, so many homeless people are pooping
on the escalators at San Francisco's Civic Center Station at night that the escalators are breaking down and repair teams have been called in to clean up the
mess. As the economy gets even worse, will scenes
like this start playing out in all of our cities?
