Economy

I have a sinking suspicion - a feeling I just can’t shake - based on multiple fundamental, technical, and timing indicators....[that] the end is near. I’m not talking about some Mayan calendar apocalypse kind of thing....[but] a catastrophic, painful, epic meltdown-type endgame for this European sovereign debt crisis...[[Let me explain why I see that to be the eventual outcome.] Words: 810

In the 1930s...when unemployment breached 25% you started seeing authoritarianism really come into vogue....and we are seeing those kinds of unemployment rates in Greece and Spain.... [In fact,] what's going on in France is starting to look a little bit totalitarian - and this is in France of all places...The world and the global financial system are in an extremely dangerous situation so investors need to be careful and make sure they protect themselves.

In the 1930s...when unemployment breached 25% you started seeing authoritarianism really come into vogue....and we are seeing those kinds of unemployment rates in Greece and Spain.... [In fact,] what's going on in France is starting to look a little bit totalitarian - and this is in France of all places...The world and the global financial system are in an extremely dangerous situation so investors need to be careful and make sure they protect themselves.

“The sense that you have in Europe is that the European political union and the European economic union are faced with some real dislocations. That isn’t to say that it necessarily won’t survive, but certainly from the point of view of the private wealth in Europe, the money managers for those families are quite concerned.... and quite frankly, they have good reason to be concerned.... we have the very real possibility of experiencing a psychotic break in the markets, such as we experienced in 2008."

“The sense that you have in Europe is that the European political union and the European economic union are faced with some real dislocations. That isn’t to say that it necessarily won’t survive, but certainly from the point of view of the private wealth in Europe, the money managers for those families are quite concerned.... and quite frankly, they have good reason to be concerned.... we have the very real possibility of experiencing a psychotic break in the markets, such as we experienced in 2008."

I've often been labeled as "Gloom and Doom" in the past, but the situation in Europe today is beyond anything I've ever seen before. It is highly likely that the EU will not exist in their current form by the end of the year. I realize some of this may sound overly dramatic but the following should give you an idea of how serious things are getting: [Words: 715]

The 15 countries that we project to grow the slowest over 2013-14 include, not surprisingly, dysfunctional countries with weak leadership and debt-laden countries with limited financial flexibility, but also developed countries that are just too big to grow quickly. [Here they are hyperlinked to a page of information on each country.]

The U.S. already has more government debt per capita than the PIIGS (Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain) do and it just keeps getting worse and worse thanks to both political parties. We are on the road to national financial oblivion yet most Americans don't seem to care. They don't realize that we have enjoyed the greatest prosperity we will ever see...and that when the debt bubble bursts there is going to be an immense amount of pain. That is a very painful truth, but it is better to come to grips with it now than be blindsided by it later. [Let me explain.] Words: 1140

Financial markets have largely been focused on Europe's debt crisis, the looming fiscal cliff in the U.S., and the deceleration of the Chinese economy but there are at least 14 other global geo-political risks that investors need to watch for. [The list is below.] Words: 415

Nothing explains the world more elegantly than a map and, in that spirit, we've compiled the 15 most excellent, unusual, and just cool maps that we've recently come across. They cover all the bases: economics, politics, culture, immigration...and some fun stuff too. Take a look. Words: 345