
When is the economic collapse going to happen? Just open up your eyes and  take a look around the globe. The next wave of the economic collapse may not  have reached Wall Street yet, but it is already deeply affecting billions of  lives all over the planet. 
Much of Europe has already descended into a  deep economic depression, very disturbing economic data is coming out of the  second and third largest economies on the globe (China and Japan), and in most  of the world economic inequality is growing even though 80 percent of the global  population already lives on less than $10 a day. 
Just because the Dow  has been setting brand new all-time records lately does not mean that everything  is okay. Remember, a bubble is always the biggest right before it bursts. The  next major wave of the economic collapse is already sweeping across Europe and  Asia and it is going to devastate the United States as well. I hope that you are  ready.
The following are 10 scenes from the economic collapse that is  sweeping across the planet...
#1 27 Percent Unemployment/60 Percent Youth  Unemployment In Greece.
The economic depression in Europe just continues  to get worse with each passing month. According to the Daily Mail, the  unemployment rate in Greece has nearly tripled since 2009...
Greek youth  unemployment rose above 60 per cent for the first time in February, reflecting  the pain caused by the country's crippling recession after years of austerity  under its international bailout.
Greece's jobless rate has almost tripled  since the country's debt crisis emerged in 2009 and was more than twice the euro  zone's average unemployment reading of 12.1 percent in March.
While the  overall unemployment rate rose to 27 per cent, according to statistics service  data released on Thursday, joblessness among those aged between 15 and 24 jumped  to 64.2 percent in February from 59.3 percent in January.
#2 Detroit,  Michigan Is Insolvent And Is Rapidly Running Out Of Cash
I love to write  about Detroit because it is a perfect example of where the rest of the country  is headed. They have just gotten there first. At this point, Detroit is  essentially bankrupt, and the new emergency financial manager is saying that  Detroit may totally run out of cash next month...
Detroit may run out of  cash next month and must cut long-term debt and retiree obligations, according  to emergency financial manager Kevyn Orr’s preliminary plan to save Michigan’s  largest city from bankruptcy.
Orr’s report says the cost of $9.4 billion  in bond, pension and other long-term liabilities is sapping the ability to  provide public safety and transportation. He listed cutting debt principal,  retiree benefits and jobs among his options.
“No one should underestimate  the severity of the financial crisis,” Orr said yesterday in a statement. He  called his report “a sobering wake-up call about the dire financial straits the  city of Detroit faces.”
#3 Economic Despair In France
France is  going down the same path that Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy have gone. The  following is an excerpt from a recent article in the Economist...
HELDER  PEREIRA is a young man with no work and few prospects: a 21-year-old who failed  to graduate from high school and lost his job on a building site four months  ago. With his savings about to run out, he has come to his local employment  centre in the Paris suburb of Sevran to sign on for benefits and to get help  finding something to do. He’ll get the cash. Work is another matter. Youth  unemployment in Sevran is over 40%.
#4 7,000 Abandoned Buildings In  Dayton, Ohio
All over the upper Midwest, there are formerly great cities  that are dealing with thousands of abandoned buildings. Dayton, Ohio is one  example...
Like many urban cities in recent years, Dayton still finds  itself knee-deep in abandoned, dilapidated properties as the result of the  foreclosure crisis and economic downturn five years ago.
Boarded up  buildings that appear to be on their last legs litter the city as it attempts to  recover.
Kevin Powell, the city’s acting manager of housing inspection,  says officials plan to use $5.2 million — half from the state’s Moving Ohio  Forward program and a matching grant from the city’s general fund — to raze 475  abandoned properties by the end of September.
That will scratch the  surface of an estimated 7,000 abandoned property problem that is  growing.
#5 Overwhelmed By Squatters In Spain
In Spain,  unemployment is rampant and people have become incredibly desperate. In fact, in  some Spanish cities you can now find entire apartment buildings that are being  overwhelmed by squatters...
A 285-unit apartment complex in Parla, less  than half an hour’s drive from Madrid, should be an ideal target for investors  seeking cheap property in Spain. Unfortunately, two thirds of the building  generates zero revenue because it’s overrun by squatters.
“This is  happening all over the country,” said Jose Maria Fraile, the town’s mayor, who  estimates only 100 apartments in the block built for the council have rental  contracts, and not all of those tenants are paying either. “People lost their  jobs, they can’t pay mortgages or rent so they lost their homes and this has  produced a tide of squatters.”
#6 The Collapse Of Chinese Power  Consumption
Energy consumption tends to closely mirror economic activity.  That is why the recent collapse of Chinese power consumption is so alarming. The  following is from Zero Hedge...
According to CLSA's Chris Wood using NEA  data, China's monthly power consumption (the most accurate proxy for underlying  economic strength according to the current premier) growth slowed from 5.5% YoY  in Jan-Feb 2013 to 1.9% YoY in March, the slowest growth rate since May 2009 (as  discussed in-depth here).
#7 Horrible Economic Data Coming Out Of The  Second Largest Economy On The Planet
The economic data that has been  coming out of the second largest economy on the globe has been quite alarming  recently...
For starters, China’s recent economic data, as massaged as it  is to the upside, is downright awful. China’s PMI numbers were the worst in two  years. Staffing levels in the Chinese service sector decreased for the first  time since January 2009 (remember that year).
China’s LEI also shows no  sign of recovery. If anything, it indicates China is heading towards an economic  slowdown on par with that of 2008. And if you account for the rampant debt  fueling China’s economy you could easily argue that China is posting 0% GDP  growth today.
#8 One Out Of Every Five U.S. Households On Food  Stamps
Back in the 1970s, about one out of every 50 Americans was on food  stamps. Today, even though we are supposedly in the midst of an "economic  recovery", food stamp enrollment continues to soar to new highs. The following  is from CNS News...
The most recent Supplemental Assistance Nutrition  Program (SNAP) statistics of the number of households receiving food stamps  shows that 23,087,886 households participated in January 2013 - an increase of  889,154 families from January 2012 when the number of households totaled  22,188,732.
The most recent statistics from the United States Census  Bureau-- from December 2012-- puts the number of households in the United States  at 115,310,000. If you divide 115,310,000 by 23,087,866, that equals one out of  every five households now receiving food stamps.
#9 Child Hunger In  America
Those that work for the big banks on Wall Street may have no  problems feeding their children, but overall there is a rapidly growing child  hunger crisis in America today. Just check out the following statistics from one  of my previous articles...
*For the first time ever, more than a million  public school students in the United States are homeless. That number has risen  by 57 percent since the 2006-2007 school year.
*In Miami, 45 percent of  all children are living in poverty.
*In Cleveland, more than 50 percent  of all children are living in poverty.
*According to a recently released  report, 60 percent of all children in the city of Detroit are living in  poverty.
#10 The Tremendous Suffering Of Hundreds Of Millions Of  Desperately Poor People That We Never Hear About
There are billions of  people around the globe that are deeply suffering but that do not have a voice.  We usually never hear about the desperate poverty that these people are living  in, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist. The following statistics that  Stephen Lendman recently compiled should shock and alarm you...
At least  80% live on less than $10 a day. Over three billion people live on less than  $2.50 a day. More than 80% live in countries where income disparity is  increasing.
The poorest 40% of world population has 5% of global income.  The bottom fifth has $1.5%. The top 20% has 75%.
According to UNICEF,  22,000 impoverished children die daily. They "die quietly in some of the poorest  villages on earth, far removed from the scrutiny and the conscience of the  world. Being meek and weak in life makes these dying multitudes even more  invisible in death."
An estimated 28% of children in developing countries  are underweight, malnourished and/or stunted.
How can so many people be  living like that in a world with such wealth?
Sadly, things are going to  get much worse. The economic and financial systems of the world are rapidly  breaking down, and in a few years these are going to look like "the good old  days".
And a growing number of people are starting to realize the  direction that things are headed. For example, according to a survey that has  just been released, 48 percent of all Americans believe that the best days of  America are now behind us.
So what do you think?
Are our best days  behind us, or are they still ahead of us?