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Share This Chart With Anyone That Believes the U.S. Economy is not Going to Crash
Jul 23rd, 2013
Daily News
Michael Synder
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues;Warning

Anyone that thinks that the U.S. economy can keep going along like this is absolutely crazy. We are in the terminal phase of an unprecedented debt spiral which has allowed us to live far, far beyond our means for the last several decades. Unfortunately, all debt spirals eventually end, and they usually do so in a very disorderly manner. The chart that you are about to see is one of my favorite economic charts. It compares the growth of U.S. GDP to the growth of total debt in the United States. Yes, U.S. GDP has certainly grown at a decent pace over the years, but our total debt has absolutely exploded. 40 years ago, the total amount of debt in our system (government debt + corporate debt + consumer debt, etc.) was about 2 trillion dollars. Today it has grown to more than 56 trillion dollars. Our debt has grown at a much, much faster rate than our economy has, and there is no way in the world that we will be able to continue to do that for long.

Posted below is the chart that I was talking about. The blue line is our total debt, and the red line is our GDP. As you can see, this chart kind of speaks for itself...

Total Debt Growth vs. GDP Growth

So how did we get here?

Well, of course the federal government has been the biggest offender. It would be a tremendous understatement to say that the politicians in Washington D.C. have been reckless. Since the year 2000, the size of the U.S. national debt has grown by more than 11 trillion dollars.

Posted below is a chart that demonstrates the dramatic growth of the national debt as a percentage of GDP. In particular, our debt has absolutely exploded as a percentage of GDP since the financial crisis of 2008...

National Debt As A Percentage Of GDP

Does that look sustainable to you?

Of course it isn't.

Right now, the mainstream media is very excited that the federal budget deficit for this year might be less than a trillion dollars, but they are really missing the point. The debt of the U.S. government is still growing much, much faster than the economy is, and the United States already has more government debt per capita than Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland or Spain.

What we are doing to future generations is absolutely criminal. We are piling up mountains of debt that will haunt them for the rest of their lives just so that we can make the present a little bit more pleasant for ourselves.

As I noted in another article, during Obama's first term the federal government accumulated more debt than it did under the first 42 U.S presidents combined. And now we are entering a time period when demographic forces are going to put a tremendous amount of pressure on the finances of the federal government.

The Baby Boomers have started to retire, and they are going to want to start collecting on all of the financial promises that we have made to them.

As I have written about previously, the number of Americans on Medicare is projected to grow from a little bit more than 50 million today to 73.2 million in 2025.

The number of Americans collecting Social Security benefits is projected to grow from about 56 million today to 91 million in 2035.

Where are we going to get the money to pay for all of that?

Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff has calculated that the U.S. government is facing unfunded liabilities of 222 trillion dollarsin the years ahead.

There is no simply no way that the U.S. government is going to be able to meet those obligations without wildly printing up money.

And of course the federal government is not the only one with massive debt problems. We just saw the city of Detroit go bankrupt, and there are lots of other communities all over the nation that could soon follow.

Posted below is a chart that shows the growth of state and local government debt over the years. In particular, please take note that the total amount of state and local government debt has grown from about 1.2 trillion dollars in the year 2000 to about 3 trillion dollars today...

State And Local Government Debt

But the chart posted above does not even take into account the massive unfunded pension obligations that state and local governments are facing. According to the Detroit Free Press, state governments are facing unfunded pension obligations of nearly a trillion and a half dollars...

Let the Headlines Speak
Jul 23rd, 2013
Daily News
From the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Sakurajima volcano (Kyushu, Japan) activity update
A strong vulcanian explosion occurred last night at 11:02 GMT (20:02 local time), following several hours of near complete calm at the volcano. A loud cannon-shot bang accompanied the explosion, which generated a large mushroom cloud that reached 12,000 ft (3.7 km) altitude and engulfed the NE half of the Sakurajima peninsula and was followed by several smaller ones within about half an hour.

Biggest Banks’ Debt Holdings to Be Published by EBA
The European Union’s top banking regulator will reveal data on the sovereign debt and types of capital held by the bloc’s biggest lenders as it forgoes a stress test for a second year. The European Banking Authority, set up in 2011 to harmonize banking rules, may publish the data as early as October and include additional information on banks’ cross-border investments across the EU. The agency has previously revealed lenders’ holdings of European sovereign debt as part of annual stress tests.

Kerry obtains Israeli, Palestinian consent to negotiate interim accord, without borders issue
According to the Kerry formula, the forthcoming negotiations would focus on attaining an interim peace accord - without determining final borders - for establishing a Palestinian state in broad areas of the West Bank from which Israeli would withdraw. Those areas would be subject to trilateral US-Israeli-Palestinian consensus on security arrangements and require some Jewish settlements to be removed.

Six Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood highups flee to Gaza, set up command post for uprising
Headed by Mahmud Izzat Ibrahim, a senior deputy of the Supreme Guide, the group has established a command post at the Gaza Beach Hotel, to organize operations against Egyptian military and security targets, in conjunction with Hamas and armed Al Qaeda-linked Salafist Bedouin in Sinai. The ousted Islamist leaders hope their revolt will quickly spread out from Sinai to Egypt proper and topple the provisional rulers in Cairo.

Human-Animal Hybrids: Sick And Twisted Chimeras Are Being Created In Labs All Over The Planet
Did you know that scientists all over the globe are creating extremely bizarre human-animal chimeras? Over the past decade, there have been some absolutely stunning advances in the field of genetic modification. Today, it is literally possible for college students to create new lifeforms in their basements. Unfortunately, laws have not kept pace with these advancements, and in many countries there are very few limits on what scientists are allowed to do.

Rodger Wilson volcano overview of July 22
Another pulse of small earthquakes is occurring at Mount Hood volcano (OR) today. Seismic activity continues on regional faults near Mount Saint Helens volcano (WA). Note activity along the NE-trending zone now predominates with a cluster of events NE of the volcano beginning last week.

Israel at last to choose its next chief rabbis, probably
Arguably the most contentious and bitter rabbinical contest in Israel’s history is supposed to be resolved on Wednesday. A small cadre of Israelis is set to elect two new chief rabbis — one Ashkenazi and one Sephardi — on Wednesday, and for many in this country’s fractured religious inner sphere, the vote cannot come soon enough

U.S. Guarantees Israel’s Pre-1967 Borders Will Be Basis for Renewed Talks with Palestine, Officials Say
Israel's pre-1967 borders will be the basis of renewed peace talks between Palestine and Israel, according to a letter U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry gave to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas which guaranteed the stipulation. After Abbas received the Kerry letter, he agreed to resume peace talks with Israel, two senior Palestinian officials said Saturday.

Video Claims to Show Imam on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount Calling for Caliphate and Destruction of the U.S., France, Britain, Rome
"What happened at the al-Aqsa Mosque during last week's Friday prayers should be sounding alarm bells in the U.S., Britain and France," writes journalist Khaled Abu Toameh who for years has been covering the Palestinian beat for the Jerusalem Post. The Clarion Project translated a video taken at the July 12 gathering atop the holiest site in Judaism in which an imam from the group Hizb ut-Tahrir reportedly "incited a crowd of hundreds of Muslims calling for the destruction of America, France, Britain and Rome."

US military intervention in Syria would create 'unintended consequences'
The top US military officer warned senators on Monday that taking military action to stop the bloodshed in Syria was likely to escalate quickly and result in "unintended consequences", representing the most explicit uniformed opposition to deeper involvement in another war in the Middle East.

Are Religious Progressives Poised to Outnumber Faithful Conservatives?
Traditionally, the proportion of the faithful with right-of-center views has been much larger than its leftist counterpart, however a new study...shows that there could be growth among religious progressives in years to come. The results found that, currently, 28 percent of Americans are religious conservatives, 19 percent are religious progressives and 38 percent are religious moderates.

Mt Merapi volcano in Indonesia spews ash
Smoke and ash from Mount Merapi volcano in Indonesia today has forced hundreds of people to flee their villages. Indonesian volcano Merapi spewed a column of dark red volcanic material 1,000 meters into the air, disaster mitigation agency said.

Violent protests break out as Pope visits Brazil
Clashes between police and approximately 300 protesters broke out infront of the Guanabara Government Palace less than an hour after Pope Francis left the building.

Report: Anti-Semitic incidents up across New York
Anti-Semitic incidents jumped 27-percent in New York last year, according to a new report. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) says there were 248 incidents statewide in 2012. 172 of those incident were in New York City, according to the statistics released on Monday.

Small bomb found at Brazil shrine Pope Francis was due to visit
A home-made bomb has been found at a Catholic shrine in Brazil which Pope Francis will visit this week.

Syria intervention 'could cost US billions of dollars'
Gen Dempsey outlined five options he said the US military was prepared to undertake: training and advising the opposition, conducting limited stand-off strikes, establishing a no-fly zone, establishing buffer zones and controlling chemical arms.

Obamacare’s Branch of the NSA
...The Department of Health and Human Services is about to hire an army of “patient navigators” to inform Americans about the subsidized insurance promised by Obamacare and assist them in enrolling. These organizers will be guided by the new Federal Data Hub, which will give them access to reams of personal information compiled by federal agencies ranging from the IRS to the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration.

Al Qaeda militants flee Iraq jail in violent mass break-out
Hundreds of convicts, including senior members of al Qaeda, broke out of Iraq's Abu Ghraib jail as comrades launched a military-style assault to free them, authorities said on Monday. The deadly raid on the high-security jail happened as Sunni Muslim militants are gaining momentum in their insurgency against the Shi'ite-led government that came to power after the U.S. invasion to oust Saddam Hussein.

Egypt crisis: Nine killed in Cairo clashes
Nine people have died in Cairo in overnight clashes between supporters and opponents of ousted President Mohammed Morsi, officials say. Most of the victims were killed at a sit-in held by pro-Morsi demonstrators near Cairo University. Mr Morsi's family earlier accused the military of abducting him.

Rescue teams in China's quake-hit Gansu
Rescue efforts are under way following two powerful earthquakes in China that killed at least 94 people. The quakes hit Gansu province on Monday morning, with the majority of casualties in Dingxi city. More than 800 are injured, state media report. Two helicopters and around 3,000 soldiers, police and rescue personnel have been deployed, reports say. Thousands of buildings collapsed or were damaged in the magnitude 5.98 and 5.6 quakes.

Top US brass: Syria no-fly zone would cost $1b a month
Establishing a no-fly zone to protect Syrian rebels would require hundreds of US aircraft at a cost of more than $1 billion per month, with no assurance that it would change the momentum in the civil war there, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said Monday.

Syria accused of gassing Palestinian refugee camp
A camp for Palestinian refugees in Syria has been bombed by chemical weapons, a Syrian opposition group based in Turkey said. The National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces said Sunday that the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus had been gassed by regime forces amid heavy fighting.

U.S. Marriage Rate Drops to New Low
The marriage rate in the United States is continuing its decades-long downward slide, with fewer American women than ever getting married and others waiting longer to wed, LiveScience reports. The marriage rate has fluctuated in the past, with dips in the 1930s and 1960s, but it has been in steady decline since the 1970s. Now, researchers report that the marriage rate has dropped to a new low of 31.1, meaning there are about 31 marriages in the U.S. for every 1,000 unmarried women.

Iran condemns EU's blacklisting of Hezbollah
Iran condemned on Tuesday the European Union's decision to put the armed wing of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on its terrorism blacklist and said the move was "contrary to all political and legal norms, surprising and unacceptable".


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