When most people think of the economic decline that is happening in America, most of them think of states like California and cities like Detroit.  In both cases, unemployment is rampant, government finances are a mess, and businesses and families are both leaving in droves.  So what is causing this?  What do California and Detroit have in common?  Well, for one thing, both the state of California and the city of Detroit have been run by anti-business socialist control freaks for decades.  Once upon a time millions of young Americans that dreamed of a better life flocked to California and Detroit was one of the most vibrant manufacturing cities in the history of the world.  But now both of them are in an advanced state of decline, and a lot of the blame can be placed at the feet of the politicians in both cases.  Both California and Detroit have become very unfriendly places to businesses and families, so businesses and families have been leaving both California and Detroit in very large numbers.  At the same time, the socialist welfare policies in both places have caused them to become magnets for those that enjoy being dependent on the government.   Welfare recipients are not likely to pack up and move down to Texas because they know that their benefits would not be nearly as good down there.  So both California and Detroit will continue to attract those that want to live under socialist control freaks and it will continue to drive away those that do not want to live under socialist control freaks. (Read More.....)

Once upon a time, millions upon millions of young people dreamed of moving to California.  Nearly endless sunshine, pristine beaches and a booming economy made it seem like paradise to many.  But now those days are long gone.  Unemployment is rampant, home prices have fallen like a rock, violent crime and gang activity are on the rise, local governments all over California are facing horrible financial problems, millions of illegal immigrants have poured into the state, traffic around the big cities is nightmarish and tax rates are absolutely outrageous.  Plus there is the constant threat that your home could be destroyed by an earthquake, a wildfire or a mudslide.  In recent years, hordes of hard working families have decided that they have had enough and have decided to move away from California.  In fact, since the year 2000 more than 1.6 million people have moved away from the state of California. (Read More.....)

Right now, about the only things that the American people can agree on is that they are angry and that they do not like the direction that this country is headed.  Of course a lot of this is being caused by the economy.  Unemployment is rampant, millions of families have been kicked out of their homes and our country is drowning in debt.  But the economy is not the only cause of what is happening.  There is a growing restlessness in America today.  An increasing number of people feel very empty and very frustrated.  We still have a very high standard of living compared to the rest of the world, and yet there is this growing sense that our country is right on the verge of something really bad.  The very fabric of our society is coming apart at the seams and the thin veneer of civilization that we all take for granted is beginning to disappear.  You can almost feel the fear in the air. (Read More.....)

Haven't you heard?  The coming economic collapse has officially been canceled.  The U.S. economy is in full recovery mode.  It has just been announced that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 8.9% in February.  That was the third monthly decline in a row.  192,000 new jobs were created in the U.S. during February.  That was the fifth month in a row in which the U.S. economy has gained jobs.  Corporate profits are way up.  For the most recent month that numbers are available, sales of GM vehicles were up 49%, sales of Chrysler vehicles were up 13%, and sales of Ford vehicles were up 10%.  Can't you see?  The great American economic machine has roared back to life.  The stock market is way up this year.  The recession is over.  Our financial system is more stable than ever.  Pretty soon all Americans that want jobs are going to be able to get jobs and all of our government debts are going to be paid off.  The greatest days for the U.S. economy are just around the corner.  So don't worry, be happy. (Read More.....)

Over the past twelve months, the U.S. economy has continued to come apart like a 20 dollar suit.  During that time it seems like more bad economic news has been coming out nearly every single day.  Instead of getting better, the problems facing the U.S. economy only seem to be multiplying.  The U.S. government and the U.S. financial system continue to absolutely drown in debt.  Factories, jobs and massive amounts of wealth continue to fly out of the United States every month at an astounding pace.  Meanwhile, the number of Americans enrolled in anti-poverty programs continues to shatter records and the U.S. housing industry continues to set records for futility.  The truth is that less Americans are living the American Dream today than were living it twelve months ago.  The U.S. economy is in a serious state of decline, and it is time for all of us to wake up and admit the truth. (Read More.....)

As election season 2010 draws near, the Obama administration has finally realized that the Democrats could actually lose both the House and the Senate in November.  Suddenly all Obama wants to talk about is his wonderful new plan for the U.S. economy.  Unfortunately, what he is suggesting is far too little and far too late.  Anything Obama is proposing now will not be passed by Congress before the upcoming elections, and that is bad news for the Democrats.  The American people tend to vote based on their wallets, and right now the American people are not happy.  They desperately want someone to "fix" what is wrong with the economy.  Obama is running around the country trying to convince people that he is the man to restore the American Dream, but at this point the American people have less faith in his economic policies than ever.  The White House is insisting that Obama's new economic plan is not a new "stimulus package", and that is actually true.  Obama's new plan will not stimulate much of anything.  The truth is that Obama's new economic plan is really just a cruel joke on those who are willing to have faith in Obama's ability to somehow turn the dying U.S. economy around.  Unfortunately, throwing several hundred billion more dollars at the problem is not going to do anything to fix the foundational problems that are destroying our economic system.  (Read More.....)

For years, researchers such as Gerald Celente have been warning that the coming economic collapse is going to spark mob scenes and riots that are unprecedented in U.S. history.  Many have scoffed at these predictions and have refused to believe that anything like that could ever happen in America.  But if what happened on Wednesday near Atlanta is any indication, we could be on the verge of something really bad.  30,000 people turned out to pick up only 13,000 applications for government-subsidized housing.  Some people had waited for over two days just to get their hands on an application.  The "chaotic mob scene" that developed as the applications were being handed out left 62 people injured.  It turns out that there aren't even any vacancies in government-subsidized housing at this time in that area.  These people were going wild just to get an application to get on the waiting list for government-subsidized housing.  Yes, this is what the American Dream has degenerated into - thousands of people rioting in an attempt to get on a waiting list for a government handout. (Read More.....)

If you are currently unemployed, you might not want to look at the chart I am about to show you.  In fact, even those who have jobs are likely to get quite depressed after looking at it.  Why?  Well, because it shows that long-term unemployment in the United States continues to get much worse.  Millions of middle class Americans have been dumped out of their jobs over the past two or three years, and they can't seem to find equivalent jobs no matter how hard they try.  Millions have given up on finding something that will pay about the same and have resorted to flipping burgers or greeting customers down at the local "big box" store.  Millions of others can't seem to get hired anywhere.  The truth is that there are not nearly enough jobs for everyone anymore.  Today, there are about 6 unemployed Americans for every single job opening in the United States.  It is almost as if tens of millions of American workers have been forced into a very sick version of musical chairs where there are not nearly enough chairs for everyone.  Unfortunately, the losers in this game are likely to lose their homes, their dignity and any chance at achieving the American Dream.  The truth is that things are getting really bad out there.  According to one disturbing new survey, 28% of all U.S. households have at least one member that is looking for a full-time job.  That is not just a problem - that is a national crisis. (Read More.....)

Most Americans know that the U.S. economy is in bad shape, but what most Americans don't know is how truly desperate the financial situation of the United States really is.  The truth is that what we are experiencing is not simply a "downturn" or a "recession".  What we are witnessing is the beginning of the end for the greatest economic machine that the world has ever seen.  Our greed and our debt are literally eating our economy alive.  Total government, corporate and personal debt has now reached 360 percent of GDP, which is far higher than it ever reached during the Great Depression era.  We have nearly totally dismantled our once colossal manufacturing base, we have shipped millions upon millions of middle class jobs overseas, we have lived far beyond our means for decades and we have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world.  A great day of financial reckoning is fast approaching, and the vast majority of Americans are totally oblivious. (Read More.....)

Never before in American history has so much wealth been concentrated in the hands of so few.  Once upon a time, children throughout the United States were taught that America was the land of opportunity where anyone can make it if they work really hard.  But today the system is designed so that wealth flows into the pockets of the rich as the rest of us struggle feverishly to stay above water.  The once great middle class that did so much to define America as a nation is slowly being squeezed out of existence.  For tens of millions of ordinary Americans, the American Dream is rapidly becoming the American Nightmare.  The labor of blue collar workers was once the engine that built the United States into an economic powerhouse, but today many of those workers have been replaced by robots and computers, or their jobs have been shipped overseas by greedy corporate executives.  Those who are in a position to exploit advances in technology and third world labor pools are becoming exceedingly wealthy, while the rest of us are left wondering why it seems as though we are working harder and harder for less and less.  The sad truth is that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.  A very small percentage of Americans are sitting on massive piles of cash while an increasing number of Americans are having to rely on government handouts just to survive.  So is this a good thing for America? (Read More.....)