Richard Duncan, formerly of the World Bank and chief economist at Blackhorse Asset Mgmt., says America's $16 trillion federal debt has escalated into a "death spiral, "as he told CNBC.
And it could result in a depression so severe that he doesn't "think our civilization could survive it."
And Duncan is not alone in warning that the U.S. economy may go into a "death spiral."
Since the recession, noted economists including Laurence Kotlikoff, a former member of President Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers, have come to similar conclusions... Kotlikoff estimates the true fiscal gap is $211 trillion when unfunded entitlements like Social Security and Medicare are included.
However, while the debt crisis numbers are well known to most Americans, the economy hasn't suffered a major correction for almost 4 years.
The cracks in our society are appearing more and more frequently.
Three large cities in California declared bankruptcy in the last two weeks alone.
The Washington Post reports that Congress won't have money for the U.S. transportation system within two years. Trenton, New Jersey laid off a third of its police force. Colorado Springs removed a third of its streetlights, trashcans, and bus routes.
The entire gambit is called "The Cloward-Piven Strategy"... and it's anything but a conspiracy theory.
Hat tip: Cold Fury.
...meanwhile, the bailout bernanke bubble in equity prices is expanding well beyond "irrational exuberance." When these things pop, there will be no place to hide.
ReplyDeleteReminds me of a graphic I published in 2008.
ReplyDeletehttp://bp0.blogger.com/_b5jZxTCSlm0/R9Nr8z1MPKI/AAAAAAAABBc/TDxemJ0MQe4/s1600-h/Downward+Economic+Spiral.jpg
I read in an article on-line:
ReplyDelete"California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York are even securitizing their future tax revenue—that is, not merely borrowing with bonds that must be serviced but selling their projected tax collections to investors. So to "balance" their budgets today, they're making it far harder to correct them in the future and locking in higher tax rates. Even Greece doesn't do that."
If this is true, America as we have known it is unlikely to continue to exist much longer. Government officials cravenly stupid enough to do what is described above deserve to be taken outside and shot.