How bad will it get?

unsung

I do believe it will happen someday. People will realize that the dollar is fiction and the U.S. will default at some point because the dollar isn't backed by anything other than debt/credit. Deficit spending is poor economic policy.

rgambs

unsung said:

I do believe it will happen someday. People will realize that the dollar is fiction and the U.S. will default at some point because the dollar isn't backed by anything other than debt/credit. Deficit spending is poor economic policy.

Is this about the gold standard? Do you really think that gold "backs up" our dollars in any real way? It all sounds good, but what does China care if we have gold behind our currency? You can't eat gold and it doesn't protect you. Currency is only ever backed by confidence. If gold really mattered why have we not tanked yet, 40 years down the road? When the world loses confidence in America it won't have anything to do with one precious metal or another.

oftenreading

rgambs said:

unsung said:

I do believe it will happen someday. People will realize that the dollar is fiction and the U.S. will default at some point because the dollar isn't backed by anything other than debt/credit. Deficit spending is poor economic policy.

Is this about the gold standard? Do you really think that gold "backs up" our dollars in any real way? It all sounds good, but what does China care if we have gold behind our currency? You can't eat gold and it doesn't protect you. Currency is only ever backed by confidence. If gold really mattered why have we not tanked yet, 40 years down the road? When the world loses confidence in America it won't have anything to do with one precious metal or another.

No, it will have to do with gun control.

Just thought I'd tie all these threads together.

rollings

offigo said:

A guy at work and a few reads on the internet are saying that this is it for the US, basically. He suggests that we collect non-perishables, keep any cash we can and get something to protect my self. The idea is that the Banks will collapse by the beginning of next year then all hell will break loose. I thought I was getting paranoid about going through "The great depression" (which of course I am) but these new rumors are freaking me out. Has any one heard these things, do you believe it is possible.

PJ_Soul

All societies collapse eventually. It's just a matter of hoping it doesn't happen in your own lifetime or during those of your kids, grandkids, or great grandkids (if you have any)... beyond that you should probably stop thinking about it.

PJ_Soul

rollings said:

offigo said:

A guy at work and a few reads on the internet are saying that this is it for the US, basically. He suggests that we collect non-perishables, keep any cash we can and get something to protect my self. The idea is that the Banks will collapse by the beginning of next year then all hell will break loose. I thought I was getting paranoid about going through "The great depression" (which of course I am) but these new rumors are freaking me out. Has any one heard these things, do you believe it is possible.

I am transfixed.

brianlux

PJ_Soul said:

rollings said:

offigo said:

A guy at work and a few reads on the internet are saying that this is it for the US, basically. He suggests that we collect non-perishables, keep any cash we can and get something to protect my self. The idea is that the Banks will collapse by the beginning of next year then all hell will break loose. I thought I was getting paranoid about going through "The great depression" (which of course I am) but these new rumors are freaking me out. Has any one heard these things, do you believe it is possible.

I am transfixed.

I know- I stared at that thing for like 5 minutes straight. :-))

audome25

Hadn't been on the boards in a while and had that as one of my last viewed a long time ago. It was very favorable in the mid 2000s to over dramatize everything. Everyone was a fascist, every thing was a conspiracy, etc.

brianlux

audome25 said:

Hadn't been on the boards in a while and had that as one of my last viewed a long time ago. It was very favorable in the mid 2000s to over dramatize everything. Everyone was a fascist, every thing was a conspiracy, etc.

Pretty much sums it up, audome. Only now in the wake of all those conspiracy theories and news feeds run through the Cuisinart, most everything we hear is obfuscated to the point of verifying the saying that "you can't believe half of what you see and none of what you hear" -Lou Reed.

The answers, as we now know, all lie in the minds of those who make lawn mowers fly.

Drowned Out

man it's a trip when these old threads get bumped and I have to read something I said years ago, hoping I didn't make an ass of myself in retrospect )....
Worst part is...Of all the people who commented when this was first posted, I think I'm the only one still posting here at least semi-regularly :(...(driftin graces us once in a while but this place was more fun when he was more involved). I am slowly losing interest myself. This place has lost so many good people. Not that y'all aren't great...but imagine if this place had just continued to grow all along? There were some smart mofo's on this board in the 00's.

Drowned Out

brianlux said:

audome25 said:

Hadn't been on the boards in a while and had that as one of my last viewed a long time ago. It was very favorable in the mid 2000s to over dramatize everything. Everyone was a fascist, every thing was a conspiracy, etc.

Pretty much sums it up, audome. Only now in the wake of all those conspiracy theories and news feeds run through the Cuisinart, most everything we hear is obfuscated to the point of verifying the saying that "you can't believe half of what you see and none of what you hear" -Lou Reed.

The answers, as we now know, all lie in the minds of those who make lawn mowers fly.

) well done

brianlux

Drowned Out said:

man it's a trip when these old threads get bumped and I have to read something I said years ago, hoping I didn't make an ass of myself in retrospect )....
Worst part is...Of all the people who commented when this was first posted, I think I'm the only one still posting here at least semi-regularly :(...(driftin graces us once in a while but this place was more fun when he was more involved). I am slowly losing interest myself. This place has lost so many good people. Not that y'all aren't great...but imagine if this place had just continued to grow all along? There were some smart mofo's on this board in the 00's.

Your words are always good here, Drowned Out!

We're on a mission my friend, to keep this place propped up until more "oldies" (I can get away with saying that shit, haha!) come back plus some fresh recruits make their way here!

Jason P

Well, it's time to celebrate your birthday, it happens every year
We'll eat a lot of broccoli and drink a lot of beer
You should be good and happy that there's something you can eat
A million people every day are starving in the street

Your daddy's in the gutter with the wretched and the poor
Your mama's in the kitchen with a can of Cycle Four
There's garbage in the water
There's poison in the sky
I guess it won't be long before we're all gonna die

Happy birthday
Happy birthday to you

Well, what's the matter little friend, you think this party is the pits
Enjoy it while you can, we'll soon be blown to bits
The monkeys in the pentagon are gonna cook our goose
Their finger's on the button, all they need it an excuse

It doesn't take a military genius to see
We'll all be crispy critters after World War III
There's nowhere you can run to, nowhere you can hide
When they drop the big one, we all get fried

(Come on boys and girls, sing along, ok?)

Happy birthday
Happy birthday to you

Well there's a punk in the alley and he's looking for a fight
There's an Arab on the corner buying everything in sight
There's a mother in the ghetto with another mouth to feed
Seems that everywhere you look today there's misery and greed

I guess you know the Earth is gonna crash into the sun
But that's no reason why we shouldn't have a little fun
So if you think it's scary, if it's more than you can take
Just blow out the candles and have a piece of cake

(Happy Birthday!)

And a pinch to grow an inch!

- Weird Al

DriftingByTheStorm

I think we are actually a lot closer now to "some serious shit" that a lot of ya'll on here know.
Disconnections in the markets are reaching epic proportions. Some leading indicators have already turned and turned pretty hard. The Fed swears on it's grandmother's grave that it is going to end QE3 tomorrow (yeah, we'll see about that, but probably). Stock market is stupidly high. Bond yields are stupidly low. Metals have been suppressed in an incredible fashion. New and absurd measures are now being used to prop things up ... tail-wagging-the-dog to an infinite degree ... we have things now like more shorts on the VIX than there are shares outstanding ... bascially someone\something betting VERY heavy on a SECOND DERIVATIVE instrument by shorting that instrument ... essentially betting HARD that there will be no serious market volatility in the next month. What they have effectually done is thrown all the HFT algorithms for a loop, since they treat instruments like the VIX as inputs to their algorithm, and by hammering that, they can get much bigger results in the markets.

But all this shit is getting TOO absurd. Stocks are disconnected from just about every other asset class in the world right now. And bonds ... bond rates ... just can't stay this low.

THINGS ARE GOING TO CHANGE.


I CAN FEEL IT.

DriftingByTheStorm

Drowned Out said:

(driftin graces us once in a while but this place was more fun when he was more involved). .

SOMEONE SHONE THE DRIFITNG-LIGHT ???!!!

Im HERE FOR YOU baby!

brianlux

Good to see you back, Drifting!

Yes, I have little or no doubt that weird shit is on the horizon. We seems to have weathered these peaks and valley thus far, but for how long? Major earthquakes are usually followed by after-shocks. I'm guessing in the world of economics it's the other way around.