Economic Crisis

If The American Dream Is To Own A Home, Then It Hasn’t Been In Worse Shape Since 1967

Home House For Sale Mortgage MortgagesThanks to the “Obama recovery”, the rate of homeownership in the United States has fallen to the lowest level in 48 years.  The percentage of Americans that own a home is widely considered to be a key indicator of the health of the middle class, and we have just learned that during the second quarter of 2015 that number dropped from 63.7 percent to 63.4 percent.  It is now the lowest that it has been since 1967.  Unlike a lot of other government economic statistics, this one is fairly difficult to manipulate.  Either someone owns a home or they do not.  And what the homeownership rate is telling us is that the percentage of Americans that can qualify for a mortgage has been falling dramatically.  Just take a look at the following chart.  This is not just a decline – this is a complete and utter collapse… (Read More...)

The Economic And Financial Problems In Europe Are Only Just Beginning…

Euro Gears - Public DomainRight now, the financial world is focused on the breathtaking stock market crash in China, but don’t forget to keep an eye on what is happening in Europe.  Collectively, the European Union has a larger population than the United States, a larger economy than either the U.S. or China, and the banking system in Europe is the biggest on the planet by far.  So what happens in Europe really matters, and at this point the European economy is absolutely primed for a meltdown.  European debt levels have never been higher, European banks are absolutely loaded with non-performing loans and high-risk derivatives, and the unemployment rate in the eurozone is currently more than double the unemployment rate in the United States.  In all the euphoria surrounding the “deal” that temporarily kept Greece in the eurozone, I think that people have forgotten that the economic and financial fundamentals in Europe have continued to deteriorate.  Whether Greece ultimately leaves the eurozone or not, a great financial crisis is inevitably coming to Europe.  It is just a matter of time. (Read More...)

10 Very Strange Things That Have Happened In Just The Past Few Weeks

10 SignHave you noticed that events have begun to accelerate?  Over the past few weeks, things have officially started to get very weird.  Chinese stocks are crashing, the Greek debt crisis is spiraling out of control, the New York Stock Exchange was down for about four hours on Wednesday thanks to a “technical glitch”, and global politicians have been acting very strangely.  After several years of relative calm, could it be possible that the second half of 2015 will usher in a time of chaos and confusion on a worldwide scale?  Personally, I have never been more concerned about a period of time as I am about the last six months of 2015.  And if I am right, what we have seen so far is just the tip of the iceberg.  The following are 10 very strange things that have happened in just the past few weeks… (Read More...)

EU Makes Greece ‘An Offer They Can’t Refuse’: Agree To A Deal By Sunday Or Go Bankrupt

Gangsters - Public DomainIt looks like we aren’t going to have to wait much longer to see if Greece remains part of the eurozone or not.  Instead of softening their demands in the wake of the Greek referendum, European leaders have given the Greek government an ultimatum.  On Tuesday night, EU officials gave Greece a deadline of Thursday to submit a new proposal and a deadline of Sunday for agreeing to a deal.  If a deal is not reached on Sunday, all aid to Greece will be cut off and the nation will be faced with financial oblivion and a forced exit from the common currency.  But Angela Merkel has already made it abundantly clear that any new deal will not include a debt haircut – one of the key things that the Greek government wanted.  If a deal is actually made, it is almost certainly going to look very much like what Greece’s creditors have been offering all along.  Needless to say, this is precisely what the Greek people just voted against, but the pressure on Greek leadership is immense at this point.  In essence, they are being given “an offer they can’t refuse”.  So will the Greek government buckle under this mobster-like intimidation? (Read More...)

Bare Supermarket Shelves In Greece Should Be A Huge Wake Up Call To Millions Of Clueless Americans

Supermarket In Greece - Photo posted by Vasilis Dalianis On TwitterWhat you are watching unfold in Greece right now is eventually going to come to your own neighborhood.  Someday, people living all around you will be storming the supermarkets in a desperate attempt to secure the food and supplies that they neglected to store up when they had the chance.  Of course the Greeks never thought that it would happen to them either.  Their civilization had endured for thousands of years, and they were a part of the most powerful economic alliance on the face of the planet.  Most Greeks never imagined that they would be plunged into a multi-year economic depression that would ultimately lead to “bank holidays”, long lines at ATM machines, and people diving into dumpsters in a frantic search for something to sell.  And this is just the beginning of the chaos in Greece – things are going to get much, much worse for them.  Hopefully, this will serve as a wake up call for millions upon millions of clueless Americans out there, because we are on the exact same path that Greece has gone down.  The sad truth is that no amount of “American exceptionalism” is going to prevent us from suffering the consequences of decades of very foolish decisions.  We are steamrolling toward our own version of economic collapse, and when that time arrives you don’t want to be caught totally unprepared for it. (Read More...)

Barack Obama Promises That Events In Greece And Puerto Rico Will Not Cause A Global Financial Crisis

Barack Obama Giving Speech - Photo by Gage SkidmoreBarack Obama says that we shouldn’t be alarmed by what is happening over in Greece.  On Tuesday, he told reporters that this “is an issue primarily of concern to Europe” and that “I think the markets have properly factored in the risks involved“.  And apparently Obama is not too concerned about the debt crisis in Puerto Rico either.  In fact, the Obama administration has already completely ruled out any sort of federal bailout for the island.  Barack Obama is assuring us that everything is going to be just fine and that we are not headed for another global financial crisis.  So is he correct?   (Read More...)

Unprepared: What Do You Think Would Happen If A Greek-Style Crisis Hit America?

Despair And Depression - Public DomainIn this article, I am going to share with you some statistics that prove that most Americans are completely and totally unprepared for a Greek-style economic crisis.  According to one recent survey, an all-time high 72 percent of all Americans are concerned about an economic downturn, and yet the amount of actual preparation that is taking place for the next economic downturn is very low.  As 2008 has faded into our memories, most Americans have been lulled into a false sense of security.  Most people seem to be far more concerned about the latest exploits and scandals of their favorite celebrities than they are about the very real problems that this nation is steamrolling toward.  Hopefully what is going on in Greece right now will serve as a wake up call, because the truth is that similar things could happen in the United States much sooner than most of us would dare to imagine. (Read More...)

Joel Rosenberg: ‘Something is coming. I don’t know what. But we must be ready’

Earth Space Planet Globe - Public DomainDo you also have the feeling that something really BIG is coming?  Recently, there has been quite a bit of chatter on the Internet about what the second half of 2015 will bring.  During the last six months of this calendar year, we are going to witness a remarkable confluence of circumstances and events, and this is something that I covered in a previous article entitled “7 Key Events That Are Going To Happen By The End Of September“.  But in addition to all of the things that we can point to outwardly, a lot of very prominent individuals are also really feeling an inner “urgency” regarding what is about to happen to this country.  For example, Bible prophecy expert Joel C. Rosenberg just posted an ominous message on his own personal blog in which he stated that “something is coming” and that “we must be ready”… (Read More...)