The Depression Dominoes Are Toppling

The Depression Dominoes Are Toppling

The pandemic lockdown will be blamed for the Greater Depression, but the lockdown only toppled all the dominoes that were already lined up. 

The lockdown would have been survivable if the economy hadn't been over-indebted, over-leveraged, burdened by insanely high costs,

 stripmined by greedy monopolies,

 dependent on stock market fraud, destabilized by extreme inequality, corrupted by political pay-to-play and addicted to speculation.

Regarding unbearably high costs that only go higher, year after year: as noted here many times, Sickcare Will Bankrupt the Nation all by itself, never mind soaring higher education / student loan debt serfdom, skyrocketing rents, junk fees, taxes, etc.

Since the top 5% own the lion's share of the nation's productive assets--stocks, bonds, business equity, investment real estate, etc.-- the enormous asset bubbles have greatly boosted their wealth and income.

 This has enabled the wealthy to service their debt or pay it off. 

The bottom 95% aren't quite so well-placed to survive a decline in income.

Student loans--already in mass default. Credit cards--the wave is rolling in as we speak. Auto loans--looking like Waimea Bay on a big day. Mortgages--better not to look.

Corporate debt has exploded to unprecedented levels, and this is what will break the financial system. Zombie corporations are rushing to borrow billions of dollars (thanks to the Federal Reserve) but increasing their debt is only doing more of what created their fragility in the first place.

Being able to borrow more to service your old debts is not solvency, it's merely the semblance of solvency. We're in the eye of the hurricane right now, as everyone holds their breath and hopes some sort of magic will make all the debt that has to be serviced every month vanish.

Once you allow your economy to become dependent on extremes of debt, leverage, inequality,

 legalized looting, 

monopoly, pay-to-play politics and speculative asset bubbles, a depression is inevitable.

 The only question is "when," and that's been answered, though nobody wants to hear it: 2020 and beyond.

DYI:  Three major problems – there are more than three all are huge; – Medical Industrial Complex, Monopolies, and legalized looting.  As stated in Smith’s article our run-away health costs all by themselves will collapse our economy. 

For decades medical organizations have been in criminal violation of the Robinson Patman, Clayton, and the granddaddy Sherman Antitrust Act(s) for decades. Criminal means CEO’s along with board of directors leaving their buildings in handcuffs!  In a nut shell – and this is an accurate description – are committing price fixing.  There is zero competition in the health care field.  If these 3 acts were aggressively enforced cost of health care would drop on average from 60% to 90% depending upon complexity of illness.  For simple day to day maladies insurance would not even be needed you would just pay cash only requiring catastrophic insurance for major events.

Today we have Walmart, Amazon, and Target that are massive retail sales companies controlling the majority of sales [Monopolies].  If the Sherman Antitrust Act was enforced these companies would have been broken up years ago.  You can find similar situations in just about any industry in America.

Legalized looting of the U.S. Treasury [stimulus packages] by creating staged faked events.  We have had three that have occurred in my lifetime [I’m 65].  Faked moon landings, staged faked 911, and now the Corona or COVID-19 HOAX.  All three were designed in some shape or fashion to steal vast sums –pushed through the elite’s corporate ownership to rob American’s taxpaying dollars.

So here we today with the level of debt whether government or private moving upwards at an exponential rate.  This house of cards will fall – or maybe they have already started? – When it does a flat out depression will occur.  Stocks, corporate bonds especially high yield and junk their high flying prices will be smashed. 

Till Next Time

DYI