The Economic Populist - Comments for "Why we are headed into Depression"

while I can believe a double dip

I'm not sure who this guy is or what exactly is his justification in hard data.

I'll have to go dig around more on the analysis on currency manipulation, I'm working on it (if it was stopped). But I have huge questions on the well know MNC manipulation of using China as their jobs base to import and resale products with a "U.S. label" on it.

I'm sure this would cause some to bring back their operations to the U.S. because the cheap labor/cheap currency was no longer available.

On Financial reform though it's looking so bad we are not going to see anything on the great gambling casino/rigged game ....so Economic Armageddon redux or ? If Goldman Sachs has wiped out most of the competition and it's just a few players mostly trading these derivatives at the table..
is this like no limit poker now and what is really the money pool made of?

The crash of 2010

recession, depression lets call the whole thing off

It was such a fine idea tying all our boats together in the spirit of globalization, except when one boat sinks it drags the rest underwater. Ooops. The double dip will be upon us by late summer, Commercial Real Estate is collapsing, more Alt-a loans are defaulting, the census temp workers will be laid off, and the evidence of widespread fraud by Lehman, Geithner, Bernanke, Goldman and the usual suspects will become common knowledge to the point where some people will pull money out of the rigged game of Wall Street. The government will continue to pour money into Wall Street through its backdoor/inside connection with Goldman & other big banks but it will become so glaringly obvious that only the greedy fools of Wall Street will continue to believe in the bull market of 2010.

Between Peak Oil, Peak Aging, and outsourcing, the economy doesn't have a chance - the fraud is just the normal looting that takes place at the end of an empire, of course Wall Street has figured out a way to amplify it to nose bleed levels, but thats what the big crooks do for a living.

The mere demographics of our aging population, our declining output of oil and gas, and the wholesale outsourcing of entire economic sectors like manufacturing to overseas markets, means this little jitney is barrelling down the mountain with no brakes and no steering wheel. I'm investing in canned goods, and the only silver lining I expect to find is in the silver coins I've been buying. I said good bye to wall street when they said goodbye to main street, its food and silver from here on out.

Good luck and God bless, the times ahead will be very trying and the new nation will not much resemble this one.

Wile E. Coyote Syndrome

Good article.

I call the current economic situation the Wile E. Coyote Syndrome because it reminds me of the old cartoon where the Coyote runs off a cliff and then hangs in mid-air for a while.

From what I'm reading now on the MSM econ sites, more and more commentators and analysts are beginning to glance downward and discover the ground is far below their feet. I figure the plunge and the tiny puff of smoke far, far down will come soon enough.

Then things will really become "interesting." The Coyote always survives, but even though the USA has become quite cartoon-like in many respects, I don't have such high hopes for us.

Great Article, but.

You have written an excellent piece explaining who the players are in the financial chicanery. The American economics profession has been avoiding the cause of this problem. In the article you allude to the fact that "there are no creditworthy borrowers". Why? Answer is the wage productivity gap according to Dr Ravi Batra. There are other contributing factors as well. Regressive taxation and fees on the poor and middle class. All while giving tax cuts to the upper brackets. We have to reset the economy of the U.S.; the idea that reforms will fix our deep foundational problems is wishful thinking. In 1973, manufacturing was over 30 percent of economy. Last year it was hovering at an anemic 11 percent. To quote Dr. Batra "without production you have nothing". The nation desperately needs an industrial policy and review of all trade treaties and foreign currency manipulations. You spoke of our trade gap the current deficit probably can't be funded with paper assets any longer. We have to have the courage move in a different direction away from the corruption of neoliberal economics professed by friedman, rand, greenspan, summers, geitner, and bernanke. The laws of economic physics can't be suspended forever.

economic facts & propaganda

Another piece of ‘soft’ evidence that the economy is slipping back, is in today’s fascinating blog article at Naked Capitalism: “The Empire Continues to Strike Back”

One quote: “The campaign to defend Geithner and Emanuel, both architects of the administration’s finance friendly policies has gone beyond what most people would see as spin into such an aggressive effort to manipulate popular perceptions that it is not a stretch to call it propaganda.”

If things are going well, then there would be no need defend Geithner and Emanuel et al with “propaganda”. The facts would speak for themselves and they could just brag about them.

In election years: if the facts are on your side, argue the facts; else propagandize.

27 months, 9 to go

Although technically positive GDP growth will claim a recession is over, also technically a recession that goes on for 36 months is classified as a Depression.

I really can see the possibility and what I found from last Friday's unemployment report in the MSM was astounding...
all sorts of headlines claiming job growth was "just around the corner" and I am like, uh, what? From where?

Even when one goes off of cyclical events, frankly I don't see it and it's not that I am by nature a Doom & Gloomer (yes I am), I mean I went digging around in the stats and theory and finally said, "Jesus, some sort of public relations thing has to be behind these headlines, this projection, just is not in reality!"

I mean I can be wrong, but ya know, show me de money and I didn't see it.

I believe we're going to get hit with a double dip, or at least very low GDP quarterly growth.

Broken system and a uber rich criminal class. hmmm, ever wonder if you were a Russian Serf in a past life? Maybe the unwashed masses in France? This is just random thoughts but what is really happening....talk about cyclical! We have history showing us, over and over and over when you get a narrow group of elites and then trade deficits > 5% of GDP and massive debt....you are almost guaranteed "social unrest" eventually.