Scariest thing I have read in a long time

[hobbes4star 0]

David Walker is comptroller general of the United States, which makes him the head auditor for the most important and powerful government in the world. In an interview last year Walker warned that there is a $43-trillion hole in America's public finances that's getting worse every day, and it is eventually going to lead to a financial collapse that will make my (and your) retirement plans disappear in a wave of recession, inflation and unemployment.
It's becoming increasingly obvious that, within the next 10 years, the U.S. government will simply not be able to borrow money fast enough to keep up with its exploding expenses.
The Economic Policy Institute recently projected that under the current tax regime, by 2014 all government revenue would be consumed by four areas of spending: health care for the elderly and the poor, Social Security for retirees, national defense and interest on the debt.
Interest on the national debt would be about half of all government tax revenues by 2031. And ten years later, the cost of servicing the debt will exceed all government revenues.
History provides some harrowing examples of what happens when an economy collapses under the weight of unsustainable debt. One of the most chilling is Argentina in 2001. When the International Monetary Fund cut off its support for the country's escalating debt, the effect was catastrophic: the value of the national currency plunged, decimating the savings of millions. The resulting surge in inflation and sudden slowdown in consumer spending put thousands of
businesses into bankruptcy within weeks. That, in turn,
put further millions out of work and pushed one of South America's biggest economies into a punishing recession.
As unfathomable as it may seem, most economists think something like that could happen in the United States.
Doesn't sound very cheery, does it? Imagine if the company you work for suddenly went bankrupt and the market was so bad that you couldn't find a job for more than half of what you were making (if you could find work at all). You decide to cash in all of your savings and retirement funds to make ends meet to discover that what used to be worth 30, 40 or maybe 50 thousand dollars is now worth about 15 or 20. How
long do you think you would keep your house or even your car?
It makes you want to start writing letters to congressmen, doesn't it?

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[warpedskydiver 0]

How long do you think you would keep your house or even your car?
It makes you want to start writing letters to congressmen, doesn't it?

[kallend 2,150]

Quote

It makes you want to start writing letters to congressmen, doesn't it?

No. They are the people that got us here. It makes me want to throw the bums out.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[hobbes4star 0]

it makes me want to move all of my assets off shore.

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[lawrocket 3]

Quote

it makes me want to move all of my assets off shore.

By golly, by gee, wouldn't you know it, the government has regulations about that because you just can't trust those offshore entities. You may put money there and have it disappear, with no recourse. No, your money needs to stay HERE where you can have it secure...

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[Skyrad 0]

I've been saying this for a while now but people just think I'm having a pop at the US.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[DrewEckhardt 0]

Quote

Doesn't sound very cheery, does it? Imagine if the company you work for suddenly went bankrupt and the market was so bad that you couldn't find a job for more than half of what you were making (if you could find work at all).

Jobs will be scarce enough that landing one is a big deal. Argentina even had a TV game show in which the prize was a job.

Although if you DO get one it'll pay you more than today's highest paid CEO. You'll get paid mountains of cash once or twice a day that are so big you need wheelbarrows to get them home.

Quote

You decide to cash in all of your savings and retirement funds to make ends meet to discover that what used to be worth 30, 40 or maybe 50 thousand dollars is now worth about 15 or 20. How
long do you think you would keep your house or even your car?

That's hugely optomistic. Your money won't be worth enough to buy a beer.

While hyper inflation starts at 50% monthly (your savings loose half their value every 51 days) it gets a lot worse.

For example, as the Weimar Republic was failing in the 1920s German inflation hit 3,250,000% a month (three million percent is not a typo, your money looses half its value every 49 hours). The government had to print 100,000,000,000,000 (one hundred trillion is not a typo) mark bank notes. The exchange rate hit 80,000,000,000 (eighty billion is not a typo) marks for one US dollar.

Quote

It makes you want to start writing letters to congressmen, doesn't it?

Nope. Anything happening more than 2 or 6 years out is irrelevant to my congress people.

It makes me want to have hard currency (you can't devalue gold by making more of it) and own property outside the first world (where it's already cheap to live and salaries correspondingly low the leveling out of pay and resulting conflict with existing costs won't be as severe as first and third world economies merge).

The coming crash had a lot to do with why I had an inexpensive property that would have been paid off in a dozen years.

[StreetScooby 5]

Quote

Nope. Anything happening more than 2 or 6 years out is irrelevant to my congresss people.

Very true. The horizon can be pretty scary for those of us in our mid 40s. How do we protect ourselves? Still trying to figure that out.

We are all engines of karma

[hobbes4star 0]

he horizon can be pretty scary for those of us in our mid 40s

40's how about those of us in our 20's, and Teens.

if fun were easy it wouldn't be worth having, right?

[rhys 0]

Quote

I've been saying this for a while now but people just think I'm having a pop at the US.

me too I was saying how the iraq war was a waste of time and how GWB was flushing the americam dream down the toilet and i was mocked for it. but now a year and a half later a realisation seems to be coming.how many trillions has it cost so far???

the US govornment are a pack of Idiots/assholes/greedy cu*ts.
I bet when the U.S. is in recetion they will be chilling on the beach sipping expensive grog and talking about the good old bad old days!

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, then the world will see peace." - 'Jimi' Hendrix

[pirana 0]

Quote

Quote

Nope. Anything happening more than 2 or 6 years out is irrelevant to my congresss people.

Very true. The horizon can be pretty scary for those of us in our mid 40s. How do we protect ourselves? Still trying to figure that out.

Precious metals. Or anything else that is relatively portable and always in demand.

In a situation of total chaos things like food or guns work well.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[rehmwa 2]

Quote

he horizon can be pretty scary for those of us in our mid 40s

40's how about those of us in our 20's, and Teens.

Dollar cost averaging. You have time.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[DrewEckhardt 0]

Quote

Quote

he horizon can be pretty scary for those of us in our mid 40s

40's how about those of us in our 20's, and Teens.

Dollar cost averaging. You have time.

With hyper inflation decades of savings in the devalued currency quickly become worthless.

20X your annual pay is a nice number to save for retirement if you don't want to count on what the government decides your social security benefit will be.

One month of hyper inflation could leave you with a single paycheck worth in the bank.

[DJL 235]

I can skin a buck and I can run a trot-line.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[wmw999 2,589]

Plenty of countries have had hyperinflation over the years. What was a unit of currency in Brazil in 1960 when I moved there is now worth about 1 millionth of the current currency. People continue to survive; factories are built, etc.

It's not good, but I haven't heard a lot about trot lines either. It's tougher for the poor than it is for the rich (and most of us have enough disposable income to skydive regularly -- most of us are rich by many people's standards).

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[yourmomma 0]

The specter of hyper inflation (in the immediate future of the US) is as ominous as Y2K, the cold war, the war on terrorism, global warming etc……... Getting your panties in a bunch does nothing to prevent the problem or exude a solution. Is it as inevitable as our deaths? Absolutely,. Is the danger right around the corner? BOO.!!!!!!!NO The microcosm of yester year has been replaced, intentionally, by the U.S (or us) to make the world more interdependent than it needs to be. To think that our economy is not inextricably linked to that of the EU and China, Russia, Africa is to not be paying attention. Given the fact that the rest of the world strives vainly to have some sort of hard currency does nothing to make it relevant(yes this means you fucking POHM git‘s). Microsoft’s soft wear and expertise is as good(and often interchanged with) gold. Our debut is an arbitrarily asessed number that has little or nothing to do with the actuality of the services we provide. In layman’s terms; like the English lost their empire, they never lost their impact, so will be the unfolding at our attempt at imperialism.

deited to add: and our economy

[Royd 0]

Quote

I can skin a buck and I can run a trot-line.

Rock on, Brother.