Economy

History has shown us that all financial bubbles eventually burst. It is not a question of "if" they will burst. It is only a question of "when" and when the 7 current financial bubbles in America burst, the pain is going to be absolutely enormous. That being said, how much time do you believe that we have before these bubbles start to burst?

Many people refer to me as a “doom and gloomer” because I run a website called “The Economic Collapse”. [Just because] I am constantly pointing out that the entire world is heading for a complete and total financial nightmare, [however,] I don’t think that it does any good to stick your head in the sand. I believe that there is hope in understanding what is happening and I believe that there is hope in getting prepared. [This article does just that.] Words: 2432

In the past few decades, the concept of home ownership has been completely turned on its head. Previously, homes were considered a very long-term consumption good...[No one] ever considered tripling the value of their homes by retirement time and selling them to move beachside yet, somehow along the way, this became a reasonable investment expectation. Even today, home buyers still make their purchases with the hopes of escalating prices. [It begs answers to these questions: Is a house just a home? Should a house be expected to behave like an investment? Is the housing game nothing more than a Ponzi scheme where the end buyer before the market corrects becomes the "greater fool"? Let's try and answer those questions.] Words: 935

I will prove in this piece, the people who believe in the “low inflation” myth are being fooled by the fact that inflation in this unusual, central bank-driven economic cycle is concentrated in asset prices rather than in consumer prices...

It now looks that inflationary pressures are starting in earnest...In the last two years, inflation has gone from 0% to 2.5% which is a 5-year high...and could easily reach 10% in the next couple of years and ultimately a lot higher as inflation turns into hyperinflation. That will have an explosive effect on metal prices.

This short video - on the sustainability of government spending - should be watched by everyone, including those not yet old enough to vote. It should be shown in every high school and college classroom.

History clearly shows that when it comes to currencies black swans do happen as the average lifespan of a currency is just 27 years. As such, investors should study currency history and, as part of a smart portfolio, they should protect their hard earned wealth and savings in a defensive fashion. The infographic below documents the history of currency in 10 different countries of significance.

The debate over deflation/inflation continues as some of our most astute economic observers take sides. Frankly, I think that both sides are missing part of the picture. The debate concentrates on the after shocks of inflation/deflation: prices instead of the money supply and the demand for it. Words: 721

The term “derivative” has become a dirty, if not evil word. So much of what ails our global financial system has been laid-at-the-feet of this misunderstood, mischaracterized term – derivatives. The purpose of this paper is to outline the origin, growth and ultimately the corruption of the derivatives market – and explain how something originally designed to provide economic utility has morphed into a tool of abusive, manipulative economic tyranny. Words: 3355

the U.S. national debt is not a problem, says Gary Shilling, until we either see "a tremendous amount of inflation or a complete breakdown in confidence in US Treasury obligations." Once that happens, the world's largest economy is at risk of an exploding 'debt bomb.'