Lynette Zang of ITM trading is a previous Lehman Brothers analyst who now analyzes markets for hard asset investment (precious metals). In her podcast with Greg Hunter, she offers some eye-opening insights and charts concerning the financial status of the US and world. (Of course, there are some very bright financial minds out there – none of whom are in any way associated with government or institutes of “higher learning” – like Jim Rogers, Peter Schiff, David Stockman,… so plenty of other places to find similar insights.)
https://youtu.be/KrdWIb7FYiU
And a related article found in my perusals today from zerohedge:
“The World Is Now $217,000,000,000,000 In Debt And The Global Elite Like It That Way”
From my social media post regarding the article:
Global debt estimate $217 TRILLION, >300% of global GDP. Massive debt “funnels wealth to the very top of the global wealth pyramid. In other words, it makes global wealth inequality far worse because this system is designed to make the rich even richer and the poor even poorer. Every year the gap between the wealthy and the poor grows, and it has gotten to the point that eight men have as much wealth as the poorest 3.6 billion people on this planet combined….”
“… debt-based central banking is designed to get national governments trapped in endless debt spirals from which they can never possibly escape.”
Bill Gross, perhaps the world’s most premier and recognized bond investor said recently, “our highly levered financial system is like a truckload of nitroglycerin on a bumpy road.”
And I stumbled upon Neil Howe again, who shares some interesting points from his concept of “The Fourth Turning” – how societies, like seasons, have historically evolved and cycled each generation. The pending fourth turning now, he argues, is one that will be fomented by a large crisis (as always), lead to the collapse/dissolution of power and wealth structures, permit a creative destruction in which institutions and assets which have real value will persist – an across the board reset with a new societal era beginning. Worth consideration.
Stay safe out there! Forecast is for choppy seas.
A friend commented: “I propose a wager – Between the financial aid crisis and the pension crisis, which bubble will burst first?
“Both are on a runaway train’s pace to exceed the debtors’ ability to properly fill the underlying fund.
“Assuming both are inevitable, can we (the American taxpayer) and will we bail them both out? The answer to these questions is unlikely to based on the pressing financial underpinnings. Furthermore, the moral and ethical arguments are unlikely to determine the outcome. Now that healthcare is a right, education is a right, and OBVIOUSLY retirement is a right, political expediency will determine there must certainly be a bailout (or two) in the near future.”
My response: “I agree wholeheartedly with your concern,…. The debt-to-true-value calculations globally are comical. In addition to your above points, there’s also a likely subprime car loan bubble, unsustainable real estate valuations, >$1T in US credit card debt, global derivatives of $500T or more (once you’re pushing a Quadrillion dollars, that’s real money!), >$100T in US unfunded liabilities for elder entitlements (social security, Medicare), Medicaid that eats up the majority of most state budgets, interest on the $20T national debt at $500B just to maintain it at historically low interest rates (what happens when those rise?), a red-hot stock market with corporate debt levels in nose-bleed bubble status,….
“Some enlightened skepticism and minimized dependency on third parties seems appropriate.
“Of course, the solution will not be to correct valuations or to alter corporate/gov strategies to sustainable paths. These are not politically or financially beneficial for The Few. The “solution” will be QE, money printing, forever-low interest rate manipulation, negative savings interest rates, the issuance of forever-more debt, … all of which will continue to devalue the currency, a la Venezuela, et al., until the middle class no longer exists. And with war and fake news and pop culture and beer and sports and gov school pseudo-curricula and undeliverable political promises to incite the masses as distractions, few will ever recognize the decline and debt servitude.
“With an abundance of historic and modern examples, the result will be an uber-wealthy class that benefits from the masses’ debt, contrasted with the heavily indebted destitute lower class. And all of the societal disruptions, instability and decay that accompany such a slow-rolling coup. That is how societies are destroyed. Gov. So, let’s all pop some fireworks and be sure to get to the polls. ‘Murka, etc.”