We Americans are a clever bunch, especially our media who spend all their time telling us not to worry about the writing on the wall, declaring "its only graffiti".They are the experts of MOMCOM, expert in their own eyes.
They spend the bulk of their time sound-biting out their message that "Amurka is the greatest nation in the history of the world".
Ok groovy sound-bite historians, you have done you propagandic duty, but now lets get real.
Somehow your MOMCOM pabulum seems like some sort of cover-up, especially when it is obvious that you in MOMCOM's media are ignoring the warnings of a plethora of actual experts who keep in touch with economic realities that are relevant today, relevant now:
The following experts have - at some point during the last 2 years - said that the economic crisis could be worse than the Great Depression:(Global Research). The writing is on the walls of garage doors of foreclosed America, and it is spreading like the plague:Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan (and see this and this), Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, Economics scholar and former Federal Reserve Governor Frederic Mishkin, The head of the Bank of England Mervyn King, Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel prize winning economist Paul Krugman, Former Goldman Sachs chairman John Whitehead, Economics professors Barry Eichengreen and and Kevin H. O'Rourke (updated here), Investment advisor, risk expert and "Black Swan" author Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Well-known PhD economist Marc Faber, Morgan Stanley’s UK equity strategist Graham Secker, Former chief credit officer at Fannie Mae Edward J. Pinto, Billionaire investor George Soros, Senior British minister Ed Balls...How could that possibly be, when the stock market has largely recovered? (Let's forget for a moment that the stock market rallied after 1929, but then crashed in a double dip).
An influential economist who long predicted the housing market bubble cautioned Tuesday that the slump in the U.S. housing(ABC news). The writing is also on the walls of city halls:market could cause prices to fall more than they did in the Great Depression, and bailouts will be needed so millions don't lose their homes.
Yale University economist Robert Shiller, pioneer of the widely watched Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index, said there's a good chance housing prices will fall further than the 30 percent drop in the historic depression of the 1930s. Home prices nationwide already have dropped 15 percent since their peak in 2006, he said.
"I think there is a scenario that they could be down substantially more," Shiller said during a speech at the New Haven Lawn Club
As cities across the nation face increasing budget strains, t(City Bankrupties Will Increase). Regular readers know that Dredd Blog has attempted to associate the endless wars with our current endless economic problems.he vocal group of experts warning about municipal defaults has gained a powerful member: Jamie Dimon.
The JPMorgan CEO said he expects to see more U.S. municipalities declare bankruptcy, Bloomberg News reports. His concerns echo those of Meredith Whitney, the analyst who has said the next major financial crisis will come from a wave of local government defaults, and those of famed investor Warren Buffett, who has called the municipal debt situation a "terrible problem."
"If you are an investor in municipals you should be very, very careful," Dimon said, according to Bloomberg.
For examples see Graphs of Wrath or States of War Budgets, and note that we have figured out that the military section of MOMCOM does not go down without a bloody fight, and is always religiously looking for a resurrection of war:
We have seen that MOMCOM has been resurrected over and over again as a life-death-rebirth deity:(The Virgin MOMCOM). Two blogs recently carried quotes and/or statements from David Stockman, a former government official concerning the impacts of a rogue and mavericky MOMCOM:The Pentagon needed to help Bush II get elected, to save the military oil complex from becoming a class like the military in other countries of the world:(GE Serves The Pentagon On TV Near Yoo). Birth and death are worshiped faithfully by the military priests who believe they are the saviors of the world.Until more money arrives, the defense apparatus is literally feeding on its own parts, pinchi(Is There A Shadow Government - 2). That was the state of the military just as Bush II was being elected, with the help of GE and the GE CEO, Bush II's greatest campaign contributor.ng this and that, scrimping here and there, in order to keep the same Cold War force structure in place and the same lineup of new weapons moving through the pipeline of development. During the Cold War era, the military institution acquired a reflexive appetite for growth that it's now unwilling to give up. Instead, it lumbers toward a self-induced crisis of malnourishment, as when an addict's starving body eats its own liver.
We are now at a historical inflection point at which the time has arrived for a classic post-war demobilization of the entire military est(Washington's Blog, see also Raw Story). One of our regulars, disaffected also picked up on that story recently and shared a link to it in comments.ablishment," David Stockman said in an exclusive interview.
"The Cold War is long over," he continued. "The wars of occupation are almost over and were complete failures -- Afghanistan and Iraq. The American empire is done. There are no real seriously armed enemies left in the world that can possibly justify an $800 billion national defense and security establishment, including Homeland Security."
Short of that, he suggested, the United States has "reached the point of no return" with its artificial creation of wealth, and will eventually face a sharp economic decline.
Hey you MOMCOM media folks reading this, did you think Dredd Blog was kidding when we said you were enablers and perpetrators of the mode to Destroy The U.S. In Order To Save It?
You need to grasp that your behavior modifies your DNA. so change your experience to make it like the real Americans who know that war will destroy America if we do not stop those wars YESTERDAY (and if it is not already too late).
The previous post in this series is here, the next post in this series is here.
Alot of people think we are doomed, but there are still great ways to make money. Even while the economy is collapsing around us.
ReplyDeleteI subscribe to the FFT economic newsletter at http://www.forecastfortomorrow.com that guy has called many big events before they have happend, which I have found to be amazing, and has helped me. including the stock market crash in 2008 and the current financial collapse of the US. (currently happening) I found him from a friend last year, and he has some important work.
His oil calls are insane, and I have been making good money with them. He is well worth a look, if you want to keep two steps ahead of the sheeple out there.
I am worried about my financial future. Is anyone else nervous out there?
I agree with Stockman's quote. I think we've already passed the point of no return a few miles back and went whizzing right by at jet fighter speed and have not looked back since.
ReplyDeleteThe Atlantic also hits alll these subjects hard this month. Dire States points out that state and local governments will be where the budgetary rubber first comes off for at least two reasons: inadequately funded federal mandates that states must support, and the inability to print their own money, which of course the "feral" government can.
The Tyranny of Defense Inc. speaks for itself. The same goes for The Rise of the New Global Elite.
Strict Obstructionist provides background on ol' chinless, Mitch McConnell, and finally Why Our Best Officers Are Leaving reveals that evn some of the military insiders see the writing on the wall.
Best issue they've put out in quite a while, as they had really become quite "businessy" over the last few years.
Oh, one more thing. It's now evidently becoming fashionable to blame the extreme left (do they actually exist?) as well as the right for the "heated political rhetoric" of late. None other than our Chamelion in Chief said as much yesterday. I have one word for that. Capitulation. And a second word. Appeasement. Isn't the first time he's sold out, and this obviously won't be the last. To which I reply: one and done. If I wanted a Republican president, I would have voted for one. One thing's for sure, no more votes for treasonous dems. Civil enough for you NoBama?
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYour financial future is not the major thing, in terms of your future and your neighbor's future.
Thinking of making money at such a time is like being on the Titanic and wanting to get a lifeboat for yourself while children and others are deprived to save you.
Selfish greed warps the mind.
So much here to weigh in on.
ReplyDelete1. Housing bubble was created by Bush, and he instructed Freddie and fannie to target certain demographics, and yes, there was no resistance from the left, nor from Banksters. resistance only came later from the FBI, States AGs and the Tea Party.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNqQx7sjoS8
2. Ray Gun deregulated the CIA, but today's Dems looooooooooove it. Think Pelosi is opposed to war? Or any of the Dems now that Kennedy has died? What happened to Kerry's idealim? Please show me any elected official, other than Ron Paul, that is speaking out against the treatment of Bradley Manning.
3. The health care bill was coopted before the Obama got the nomination, just watch the debate where Edwards exposed Obama's true intensions. He was in bed with Big Pharma before the run for the presidency, and the resulting health care bill fais to control cost.
4. The US continues to be on the fachism path, spending all our resources on tilting windmills, ie, socialism, or anything that looks like socialism. Competition, where there are winners and losers is the end all be all of our collective morality. Even the Brits are shocked by the tennor of the DoS Cables.
5. Our leaders never hold each other accountable, they only engage in finger pointing, and nary a one has a real mirror in their own house. Using clinical terms that best describe mental or cognative impairments is a sure path to stigmatizing those who have mental or cognative illness, preventing them from seeking needed treatment. Blaming the Wolf Killer may bring satisfaction, but it is a Red Herring exercize.
take care, and take care of WikiLeaks, 2011 has just begun!
Yahoo News has this report:
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON (AFP) – The F-35 fighter jet, set to replace a large part of the US warplane fleet, has become the most expensive weapons program ever, drawing increased scrutiny at a time of tight public finances.
Following a series of cost overruns and delays, the program is now expected to cost a whopping 382 billion dollars, for 2,443 aircraft.
The so-called 5th generation fighter was built with features designed to help avoid enemy radar and ensure American supremacy in the skies for decades.
But there is now the potential for competition from China, which this week unveiled its first radar-evading combat aircraft and fueled a sense of a military rivalry between the two powers.
At home, the Lockheed Martin F-35 is getting increased criticism even from some at the Pentagon.
Defense officials say the original cost estimates have now doubled to make each plane's price tag reach some 92 million dollars.
At the same time, the contract awarded in 2001 had been planned to last 10 years, but has been extended to 2016 because of testing and design issues.
Lockheed Martin, which is working with Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems, is developing three versions of the aircraft, which are being designed for ground attack as well as reconnaissance missions.
The F-35A is designed to replace the F-16 and A-10 of the US Air Force, while the F-35C is designed for deployment on aircraft carriers to supplant to F-18, and the F-35B would have a vertical takeoff capacity and replace Harrier aircraft.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has warned the cost overruns cannot continue and expressed particular concern over the short take-off and vertical landing variant.
"The culture of endless money that has taken hold must be replaced by a culture of restraint," he said recently.
For the short-takeoff version, Gates has ordered "the equivalent of a two-year probation," adding that "if we cannot fix this variant during this time frame and get it back on track in terms of performance, cost and schedule, then I believe it should be canceled."
As part of a cost-saving drive, the Pentagon chief has decided to delay the purchase of 124 of the 449 units of this version until 2016.
Another bone of contention is a second engine being developed for the fighter by General Electric and Rolls Royce in case the Pratt & Whitney engine is not up to par. Gates contends this second engine is "unneeded."
Private analysts say the whole F-35 program is becoming a money pit.
"The incredibly unfortunate phrase 'too big to fail' applies to this aircraft more than any other defense program," said Richard Aboulafia, an aerospace industry analyst with the Teal Group.
"It's difficult to think of a civil or military program in the past decade that hasn't experienced similar delays and cost overruns."
Still, it may be hard to make many changes to the F-35 program because Britain and seven other countries have been closely involved in its development.
The United States is covering 90 percent of the cost of the development but has participation from Britain, Italy, Turkey, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Australia.
Other nations, including Israel and Singapore, have signed contracts to buy the plane.
"The US wants a globalized JSF program for a combination of strategic and economic reasons," said Aboulafia.
"It greatly simplifies logistics, training and doctrine for coalition warfighting. Dominating the military aerospace export business is certainly a strong draw, too. It's as much an industrial policy as a fighter."
Dredd,
ReplyDeleteThe Pentagon is completely under the spell of the technocrats, in spite of the real world experience of the last ten years that should have taught them the very real limits of same. Very much like the 60's and Kennedy/Johnson's "Go-Go Boys" all over again, headed by Robert McNamara. Even though McNamara has long since repented publicly for his sins and gone on to the next life, his legacy is apparently quite alive and well.
The US and MOMCOM suffer from a very peculiar ailment: too much money (or credit at least) and too little adult supervision over how it's spent. The good news? This too shall pass (i.e., via bankruptcy, default, and painful collapse), and by all current indicators, fairly soon at that.
It's sad that we have to actually root for the collapse of our own illegitimate government; but alas, that is indeed what it has come too. Oh well! It beats shooting innocents in the head!
"I only know what I read in the paper" :)
ReplyDelete