The madmen who are responsible for the coming economic disaster continue to behave as if they can manage to avoid it. Violating Einstein’s definition of insanity, they continue to apply the same poison that caused the problem. These fools believe they can manage complexities they do not understand. The end is certain, only its timing is unknown, and, once interest rates begin to rise, and they will, it's game over so it begs the questions "How much longer this can possibly go on?" and "What will happen to the U.S. and the world when it does?"

Having given a lot of thought to both the differences and the similarities between Russia and the U.S. - the one that has collapsed already, and the one that is collapsing as I write this - I feel ready...to define five stages of collapse to serve as mental milestones as we gauge our own collapse-preparedness and see what can be done to improve it. Words: 2500

Warning: Reader discretion is advised! You are about to read a fictional account of what we could be faced with in the coming years - perhaps as early as 2024 - based on events that are already taking place in America today. It is most alarming but, unfortunately, after everything I’ve seen during my time inside Wall Street, inside the CIA and inside the halls of the Pentagon, that’s the path America’s heading down.

What would happen if someday the rest of the world decides to reject the U.S. dollar and that process suddenly reversed and a tsunami of U.S. dollars come flooding back to this country? It is frightening to think about. Just take a moment and think of the worst superstorm that you can possibly imagine, and then replace every drop of rain with a dollar bill. The giant currency superstorm that will eventually hit this nation will be far worse than that.

If we look at the economic collapses of the past, from the fall of the Roman Empire to Weimar Germany to Argentina and Zimbabwe, the pattern is extremely similar. Let's have a look at that pattern and ask ourselves if the present situation might not play out much the same.

In basic terms, in the bigger picture, the United States is going broke. We’re heading for a sovereign debt crisis. I don’t say that for effect. I’m not looking to scare people or to make a splash. That’s just an honest assessment based on the numbers.

The US dollar has been on a major surge against major global currencies in the past year, recently hitting levels not seen in 20 years and, as the world’s reserve currency, such changes in its value have implications for the entire global economy. Below are five of the main ones.

...Russia supplies more than 20 percent of the world’s high-quality nickel...[but] with Ukraine under siege, however, companies in the West are wary of buying Russian nickel and this has increased demand for nickel from everywhere else, which, in turn, has bumped up its price...and led some Americans to begin hoarding nickels. [Here's why.]

A definition of fiat currency and what smart investors need to know about it.

When sh-t happens at the end of an excessive bubble era, it will always be the worst kind, and what can be worse than a major war that could develop into a nuclear and world war.