Peter Schiff is predicting an economic collapse of the markets worse than 2008...and it could happen as early as tomorrow! Isn't THAT special?
"If the Fed ultimately comes through with QE3... it won't strengthen the economy, but it will weaken the dollar," Schiff said, noting that Bernanke's policies will eventually lead to a Greek style debilitating sovereign debt crisis where the dollar plunges and consumer prices and interest rates spike.
"We have a much bigger collapse coming, not just the markets, but of the economy. It's like what you're seeing in Europe right now only worse," Schiff said.
Apparently the debt bomb is about to go off. And its going to hurt. A lot. Sort of like a WMD but without all the noise and dust. At least I won't have to dust again. I hate housework even more than owing $691,000 dollars in government debt, which is the amount each family of four is in the hock for from government promises.
He goes on to say that things will get truly ugly when we hit our fiscal cliff and have to slash government spending across the board.
"People on entitlements like Social Security and Medicare... they're not going to get the benefits they've been promised. Government workers are going to have to take pay cuts... banks are going to fail... people are going to lose money, not just investors but depositors. The housing market is going to fall again."
So tonight it's some Glenmorangie over ice and AC/DC:
UPDATED!
Commenter, RG, directed me to this awesome video.
"Run up a deficit, ignore the facts! Blame someone else, put up tax."
Besides, you didn't spend that. Someone else did that.
True. Can't argue with that.
Did you see the Debt Bomb music video? It's pretty good, rated R for a couple of strippers though. Google "Debt Bomb Frisby" if you're interested.
ReplyDeleteThat was SUPERB! It's going in right now.
DeleteBlush
DeleteI'm hopeful that the Fed's going to announce a big goose egg today. The usual "We're, concerned about weakness in xxx, and if it doesn't pick up soon we're going to take action next time. There's oodles of stuff we can still do that would totally work and fix things this time, you better believe it."
ReplyDeleteThat could trigger a drop in the stock market but I think more QE would wind up being a bigger disaster.
RG, let's hope so. If they can just screw around doing nothing until Obama and crew gets tossed, I think we have a chance---a slim one---but a chance at putting economic policies in place that will eventually turn this ship of state around.
DeleteBut I'm not holding my breath. And I haven't stopped drinking.
I need to create a simple image/graphic to convey, "I'm drinking in the closet". I'd stick it here as my entire commentary on this post.
ReplyDeleteWhat time is in America? When does the QE3 report come out? Nevermind, I actually have an "American" clock going on my computer at all times because it reminds me to not get ragey when nothing is updated from the time I get up in the morning until about 2 p.m. Italy time, which is 5 a.m. west coast time, 8 a.m. east coast.
The good thing about that is, it's already nearly 5 p.m. here right now. So I can read your post, click the links, come back and make this comment, and then get in that closet with my wine bottle.
Seriously though - I'm reading more and more on some of the economics websites that even if nothing major "happens" today or this week, it IS COMING, and a lot of people are saying fucking hell man let's get this over with. Bring the doom.
I'm on the fence. I don't want the doom quite yet even though I know it's inevitable.
Rachel, you're going to need more than wine in that closet. Might I suggest Glenmorangie scotch, or Don Julio 1942 tequila? 'Cause DOOM is never fun. Either way, I think I might crawl in with you this time. I don't want to watch.
DeleteI am also teetering on the fence, not sure whether to jump, squat, or grab on with my fingernails. I'm just really glad that I live in the country with great weather, plenty of water, and LOTS of bitter clingers.
The Fed announcement is at 2:15 Eastern.
DeleteFor the last few months it's seemed to me like things were coming to a head again. Not sure if that's been real or due to general anxiety about the election and because I seem to be skating along the rim of depression.
Buttercup, the good news is that decent wine (12% alcohol) is about one euro per liter over here. So I can and do get extremely fucked up for a couple of bucks, which is good because then Rupert can save all the rest of our euro-cash for our emergency plane tickets back home when the shit hits the fan.
DeleteYou SHOULD be glad to live in the country with your weather and water and bitter clingers. That's the thing that distresses me the most - I live in the opposite of that. Well, except the weather; it's not so bad. But I'm starting to develop actual anxiety issues over the shit hitting the fan while I'm in a foreign land with no family and only casual friends we've known less than a year, where my husband doesn't speak the language at all and I speak it badly. We live in an 8th-floor apartment,we have no guns, we have no resources other than cash that will be worthless if everything goes all wrong. It's unsettling, to say the least.
RG, I don't know if you're joking about skating along the rim of depression, but if you're not, dude I'm with you. My current dalliance with depression is partly personal (I miss home and family so bad I could choke but I feel guilty for not enjoying my "privilege" of having this European "adventure", blah blah) but this election and future-of-western-civilization uncertainty is at least half of it, too. And I feel like 90% of the people I know outside of the blog world are completely oblivious and happy that way.
Thanks for the Fed announcement info. 2:15 EST is 8:15 for me so I'll be looking for it.
I know neither of you are going to give a shit about this, but I am just about to melt down over my fucking keyboard. This is the SIXTH reply that I have ATTEMPTED to write and every fucking time this craptastic super duper keyboard does SOMETHING (okay...it's me, but I don't have any fucking idea WHAT I'm doing) destroys it ALL! POOF!!! GONE!!!! It's a dual action whizbang gamer computer (yeah, like I need THAT!) and it does shit that you can NOT believe. I make up swear words to scream at it.
DeleteAnyway, I'm going to keep ears and eyes peeled for the announcement. Hell...I'm going to go ride my horse. The DOOM! will still be here when I get back.
What does worry me is that I can't shake the feeling that it's all been planned. Not in any grand conspiracy way with step-by-step instructions, but in a "let's just keep promising the moon for votes today from stupid voters and kick the can of reality down the road for those poor suckers who haven't been born yet" kind of way.
And now we're those poor suckers.
No not joking. Used to always have a bad patch around this time of year, but it's been a few years. Buttercup asking me how to put links in comments actually cheered me up enormously the other night. I worry about you sometimes when you say you're feeling down, not sure how serious you are.
DeleteRG, you have no idea how amazing your advice on coding was! I still giggle over it 'cause I feel so damned SMART every time I do it and it works! YEAH, ME! And YEAH, YOU! I even mentioned your amazingness over at Rachel's blog this very morning. Super awesome amazingness!!!
DeleteOMG! Hold my beer and watch me do this!!!
DeleteComment Over At Rachel's Blog!
Okay, now you're just showing off. :) Thank you though.
DeleteDamn, I'm good. :) Fed Says Economy Slowing Takes No New Steps They even mentioned the "fear of being seen as influencing the election" reason.
ReplyDeleteButtercup I feel your pain with stupid computer shit messing up your attempts to comment! The exact same thing just happened to me on my blog and I am so pissed that I give up. It wasn't my keyboard, it was the stupid "back" button that's too easy to touch, and I was 90% done with a big long reply comment to like 8 different people and then IT WAS GONE. gahhhh
ReplyDeleteAnyway one of the things I said in that comment was that RG is awesome for helping you with that coding.
RG, damn you are good. I just re-read your first comment after reading the article you linked, and holy shit you pretty much had it verbatim. Are you a precog or something?
As for the "blue" stuff, it's very real for me, too. I've never really had depression but I honestly think I'm bordering on it now. People keep telling me to "just enjoy this adventure" I'm having, but it's not an adventure anymore, it's going on 4 years, and I've had my fill thanks. I miss my family and America so much that it twists my guts into knots. There's more to it but I'm not gonna carpetbomb Buttercup's comment thread with my whining. It's just good to know I'm not alone! And I do think the political stuff right now is making it worse for anyone already a little depressed. Oy.
Nah. It's all spinning gears and electrical discharges in here. Actually, that might be the first time I've thought "They can't possibly be stupid enough to do x" that wasn't followed shortly by "Well damn, I guess they can." I suspect the major reason was the political one, which was just a throwaway line at the end of that report. I guessed that would be the case in a comment on your blog after the last unemployment report.
DeleteRG, depression is no fun. We used to live in the San Francisco Bay area...just a little south on the ocean, and the fog would roll in FOR MONTHS. I am one of those who absolutely require sunlight or I tank. I struggled for years with bouts of depression because of the stupid weather -- how idiotic is that? But that was the truth of it. Finally, I said to my husband, I'm moving. Are you? I simply realized one day that I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life sitting in a chair in the house, wanting to cry.
ReplyDeleteRachel, being away from BOTH family AND country must be trying. It would depress me. Some people are chameleons and can drop in anywhere and just fit in. They don't seem to find themselves through their environment so much as they are able to lose themselves in it. I've met them, when I was in the airlines. Plunk them down in Rome or Rwanda and they are fine. Not me. I couldn't do it. Only lasted three years and got out. I am a nester and NEED my home, family, familiar environs. And I understand how frustrating it must be by now to keep hearing how LUCKY YOU ARE -- JUST ENJOY IT. You must want to just say, "Bite me." Lucky is when you get to travel to all those places, spend a couple of weeks, see the sights, eat out, do fun stuff and GO HOME.
But you're almost back. Hang in there.
Definitely not fun. Usually I can short-circuit it with some physical activity or reading something fun or having an interesting but not overwhelming problem to solve, before it turns into a feedback loop. Worrying about the economy, politics, and changes at work seem to have overloaded my coping mechanisms somewhat though.
DeleteRachel, I think someone once said that adventures are only adventures when they're done and you're remembering them. It may not be a wonderful adventure now but it will be before too much longer.
Quantitative Easing is printing (or creating) money out of thin air. How well does this work for an economy? Well, Germany tried it right after WW1. Before WW1, the Deutsch Mark was the premier currency in the world. When they lost the War, and were forced to pay war reparations, they turned on the printing presses so they could pay off their debt. As a result, a loaf of bread that cost 1 mark before the war, ended up costing a trillion marks after the war. No, that was not a misprint.
ReplyDeleteOh, well that was just a one off, right? No, not at all. In Argentina in 1989, Argentina had huge budget deficits they had to pay for. "Well, hell" they said, "let's just turn on the printing presses and print off a bunch of money. Problem solved." Except it didn't solve the problem: it created an even worse problem called hyperinflation. If you thought the 12% annual inflation during Carter's administration was bad, just wait until inflation is 12% - 30% per week!
So, Barry, Timmy, and Ben, I hope you've been paying attention to this little history lesson, because if you didn't, history will repeat itself.
They ARE paying attention. It's called Cloward-Piven and it is based on sound, historical fiscal policy. Want to bankrupt a nation and destroy its economy and wipe out the middle class?
DeletePRINT MORE MONEY!
What they are doing is intentional.