If you're inclined to believe Igor Panarin, and the Kremlin wouldn't mind if you did, then President Barack Obama will order martial law this year, the United States will split into six rump-states before 2011, and Russia and China will become the backbones of a new world order.
Of course, he's spouting the official party line under Putin. But hey--if you're looking for a good disaster scenario so you can light your hair on fire and run screaming in circles, why worry about little details like who came up with it and why...
but I simply can't buy the premise that one can continue to spend a great deal more than one makes (either by a private citizen or public entity) without, eventually, encountering economic catastrophe. Maybe I'm wrong.
The day of reckoning usually comes when the entity is unable to even service the debt on the money it's borrowed. GDP isn't increasing, and we're racking up trillions on the national debt which is becoming a significant percentage of our GDP, and is even infringing on our net economic worth as a nation.
I really can't see a way out unless we stop the spending madness yesterday. There's simply no way to service our national debt at this point without printing money, which will destroy any real saved money and non-tangible capital (i.e. treasuries, bank account money, or investments which aren't physical things). No country has ever been able to do this successfully (even those who had previously sound fiscal policy), and our government is less fiscally responsible than many others.
An economic collapse in and of itself isn't really that big of a deal; it's the "what comes next" that is problematic.
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God gives us free will; the statist tries to take it away
I ain't running in circles for anybody. Especially a former enemy! Former? I try to keep an eye on things, and yell like crazy, when the pols go numb between the ears. And yes, I get sarcastic, and grumpy, when bad news hits. But, all in all, I just try to keep equilibrium in my life, as well as I'm able. We aren't going to collapse, and we ain't going to turn into a bunch of little split off countries. I think the worse that might, and I say MIGHT happen, is the states will start standing up for their citizen's rights, if the fed pulls any more boners. I do believe that is why so many states are voting on Sovereignty Laws. I'm not the least bit happy with all the spending, but I'm only one voice, and there seems to be a lot more voices, that are screaming "I want mine", regardless of who it hurts. There's a lot of folks out there, who actually WANT a welfare society in this country. I would venture to say they are the folks who don't believe in working for a living!
every few months in Russia. For some reason it gets media attention then PRAVDA feels duty bound to print it stating it is the view of the author.
The predictions never come true but the printing of this sort of story just goes on and on and on.
My Russian friends ignore this repetitive nothingness.
but I simply can't buy the premise that one can continue to spend a great deal more than one makes (either by a private citizen or public entity) without, eventually, encountering economic catastrophe. Maybe I'm wrong.
The day of reckoning usually comes when the entity is unable to even service the debt on the money it's borrowed. GDP isn't increasing, and we're racking up trillions on the national debt which is becoming a significant percentage of our GDP, and is even infringing on our net economic worth as a nation.
I really can't see a way out unless we stop the spending madness yesterday. There's simply no way to service our national debt at this point without printing money, which will destroy any real saved money and non-tangible capital (i.e. treasuries, bank account money, or investments which aren't physical things). No country has ever been able to do this successfully (even those who had previously sound fiscal policy), and our government is less fiscally responsible than many others.
An economic collapse in and of itself isn't really that big of a deal; it's the "what comes next" that is problematic.
The Sun will burn out before this country can retire it's debt.
... former enemy? Um, no. Has anyone noticed that Putin has appointed a bunch of "former" KGB personnel into "top positions" within Mother Russia ? The KGB and the Soviet Union is rising again ...
... and the Cold War never ended. Houston, we've got problems.
__________________ You don't scare me! Work on it!
... former enemy? Um, no. Has anyone noticed that Putin has appointed a bunch of "former" KGB personnel into "top positions" within Mother Russia ? The KGB and the Soviet Union is rising again ...
... and the Cold War never ended. Houston, we've got problems.
You forgot the nazi UFOs.
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AR- Arm of the free world
AK- Arm of everybody else
MN- Arm of Chuck Norris
Yea china does have the short and curleys but what If mind i said if we just gave them the finger and ignored the fact . Would it inspire war or finally would I get an american made $2,000 TV that lasts longer than a year before it takes a dump.If its the latter I say read between the lines . Ifs its war than screw it I can afford a tv every 6 years. That just gives me 5yrs to load more bullets .
... well, China does have us by the "financial short hairs".
Actually, Larry, we kind of have them, but it's not a very good situation overall. Much of the debt China holds as treasuries is inaccessable to them in the near term; I believe it the goal of the administration to attempt to devalue the dollar (for the sake of argument giving hussein the benefit of the doubt as far as to what in fact might be much more sinister intentions of a coordinated attack on our free markets) -- under a best case situation by attempting a "controlled burn" by taking on more debt and inflating the dollar (this erases paper debt, but is very dangerous and I don't think they really know what they're doing). This has never worked ever in any other economy or situation. The dollar devaluation would reduce the actual debt burden held by the Chinese through decreasing the real value of the money more quickly than the interest we owe them on the (current) debt--I don't think any of their treasuries are accurately (if at all) indexed for inflation, and even the inflation indexed treasuries tend to lag inflation over time. It does leave them holding the bag and they'll be less than happy--their investment will basically be erased through deliberate chicanery. Given the economic interdependence, it's hard to see how this will play out and what China will do. I doubt China will lend us any more $$ in any case in that they have to see this would make them suckers and I'd think they have more self-respect than this. Depending on how you feel about Brezynski and Sino-Soviet-Asia "chessboard" stuff you can what-if the outcome--I believe Hussein's undercurrents involve exploiting and initiating conflicts with both amongst themselves, but I don't have a good handle on how the pieces of the puzzle fit.
The likely scenario in any case is our dollar will run away, with a race to the bottom for the $$ when we reach the point we can't even service the interest on the huge $$$ we've borrowed--we'll print more and the dollar will chase its tail (I use the term "print" loosely--it'll mostly be 1's and 0's somewhere). Our only hope is GDP would boom to at least service the debt--this is likely impossible. This will dramatically hurt everyone, but will most hard hit the lower income and the working middle class--wage rates always lag inflation. Even if you leave work with money which would have bought dinner yesterday (and get a daily raise), you'll find dinner always costs 2 dollars more today than you made. This is the nature of the relationship between wages and inflation. So your debt burden gets rolled in as well--and the real "cash" folks who have left the market still have loses any of its value as well. Like I've said, I don't see a more effective way to crash our economy than our admin is currently attempting.
The key to keeping the currency in check is that GDP growth has to be able--or at the very least available in the very near future to service the interest we pay on the additional debt (assuming the gov't can somehow monetarily get enough of this growth to pay the interest). This is the true "tipping point" -- once we have to roll interest back into the debt (thus increasing the principal debt) for any length of time there's no going back (kind of like some folks found out personally with the deferred interest type sub prime loans and decreasing home values--it's a pretty good analogy as to what to expect on a macro scale). You'll know this has occurred when you begin to see the price of real commodities and tangibles consistently rise across the board (gold, fuels, foods, silver, energy, etc.). in what should be an extremely deflationery time. Although we need to not jump at spikes, once we begin to print the devaluation will occur quickly in that interest curves are exponential. Really nothing to worry about--there's nothing any of us can do except be as well fixed as we can before we fly into the storm. Tangibles and useful stuff will have value; prime movers (food and energy) will be the boom fields. Best to just enjoy life and be prepared.
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God gives us free will; the statist tries to take it away
A. H. ; right is still right, and wrong is still wrong.
Our country has people who know the difference--as long as this is the case and those who are right stand on right we aren't too far gone.
I really don't have any idea how this turns out though. Folks might have to take a stand to preserve their principles at some point (no one knows how or when this might happen or to what extent one will have to go to), and shy away from the money with strings and "deals with the devil" comprimises some errantly make over material things. Folks are going to have to realize they own their own fears, get over them, and stop making decisions based on fear or money and start making decisions based on right. Like I said; if you get right with God and live your life right and enjoy your todays no matter what everything will always turn out OK.
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God gives us free will; the statist tries to take it away
Yep things suck and it may take a long long time to get our stuff back together But I dont think we are gonna melt away. and as far as Russian fortune tellers I kind of miss the Soviets - Life was a little more clear cut when we had the evil red tide to lock horns with. Ahh the good old days.