The Next Crash Is Coming

I am not an economist but I am guy who has seen enough to believe that our economy is teetering on the edge of falling back into the abyss of recession. I know too many people that are out of work and cannot seem to find a full time gig no matter what kind of experience they have.

I remember watching this same sort of struggle in the late 1970’s in Lansing, Michigan.

Growing up I saw kids go from riches to rags when Motor Wheel, Fisher Body and John Bean all closed down in a couple of years. Two income families went to no income families and lost it all. There was a mass exodus out of the state to all points south and bumper stickers at the time read, “will the last person out of Michigan please turn out the lights.”

It does not feel that desperate quite yet but it does feels ominous to me. There is an uncertainty to America right now that I am not sure I have ever felt. There is certainly a lack of confidence and without question a lack of political courage to look us all in the eye, tell us the truth, and map a better plan forward.

All I see is pandering; on the left the liberals pander to those who want piles of free stuff and despise ‘the rich’, whatever that definition is today and on the right conservatives pander to those who think their guns will soon be confiscated while a sexual predator dressed in women’s clothes stalks the bathrooms for junior high girls and all the while both sides have their hands out asking for more money all the time.

It seems to me that much of it is nothing more than one big diversion after another. The headlines are filled mostly with meaningless drivel from the campaign trail, celebrity gossip and news about our favorite multi-millionaire athletes. The actual news about our economy or China or terrorism seems to slip somewhere well below the fold.

What are they hiding?

I think they are hiding the next big crash, which could be unprecedented. The next collapse could take down not only our economy but that of China as well. The Chinese have been enjoying a big bubble for a very long time. When it deflates, the world economy is almost guaranteed to follow. Our debt is so massive after two terms of Barack Obama that is likely past the point of no return already. In less than a decade just paying the interest on our national debt will be the third largest item on our annual budget.

So if that’s what they’re hiding it creates some disturbing questions.

What will America be like when the ATM doesn’t work anymore? What will it be like when the super market isn’t filled with meat, milk and produce but rather with rows empty shelves? Don’t think for a moment that it cannot happen here because it certainly can. We are not immune to the economic truth and the mathematical certainty of recession. We cannot evade the certain destruction that awaits if we simply keep piling up debt with no plan of ever paying it off.

How long will it take before the people that can no longer find food or other necessities turn on their neighbors? Hungry people become desperate pretty damned fast in my experience. They become openly hostile, angry and violent.

Zero interest rates, a dash of smoke and a few well-placed mirrors are propping up the economy. The participation rate for workers in America is at the lowest rate in a generation. It hasn’t been this bad since 1977, when Jimmy Carter was in the White House. Home ownership is falling, personal debt is rising and fear is compounding daily.

You should know the truth. The truth is there is a large storm on the horizon and if we ignore it, it will arrive anyway. You’d best prepare for the next crash which I can assure you is coming.