[funzone36]

$1 trillion is actually just an optimistic forecast. Who knows how big this "2nd Great Depression" will look like.

[Valdemar]

Over $500 trillion in potentially bad derivatives. One trillion dollars is merely the US' housing exposure. We're not counting anything beyond that.

[Rabbit]

Ok this marks the second time the US has started a "Great Depression". Why are we always the one that starts this kind of thing?

[roccman]

And we always thought that peak oil would have been the end of it all.

I have always believed that PO would be defined by an economic meltdown.

As the dieoff will be defined by PO.

[sicophiliac]

Nah PO will be the icing on the cake, the housing/credit problems alone are enough to tip us into a recession and maybe a depression. Now peak oil on top of that combined with the feds rampant devaluing of the dollar combined will set us up for at the very least, severe inflation then later a severe depression and possibly the eventual collapse of the union as we know it today.

[Micki]

This is still a long way away from any MadMax.
Fed Reserve and Treasury will cook up a lot of things before there is even a collapse of the financial system.
For a long time I have been expecting hyper stagflation but I have to say inflation would probably been nicer as it keeps more people in work and gives impression of things still working. I think stagflation will suck big time as it combines the worst of high unemployment, low pay, hight prices etc.

To go from there to MadMax, you would require several things to happen;
1) financial systems collapsing
2) government more or less losing or giving up control of crime etc.
3) no invasion by foreign forces(i.e. they are in same strife)

These are more likely trigger points for usherig in the NWO.
i.e. let things spiral out of control in the US, send in the UN troops, NATO forces and private mercenaries and let FEMA take control.
Who is going to protest? Most people just wouldn't as they would welcome order. There are more then enough camps to house those who dare to voice against.

Based on audio recording I heard with Jim Sinclair (who I just recently learnt was a precious metals advisor to Volcker) he mentioned that the Rotschilds were on the other side of Barricks large gold hedge positions al the way since mid-90's.
If this is true, it means they have been surperring price whilst buying up big time on the discount.

[Armageddon]

It is not a coincidence that a financial collapse and PO are happening at the same time. It is also not a coincidence that the US is in Iraq at this same time. Many people predicted a US invasion of Iraq prior to 911. 911 was just the "pearl Harbor" type of event that was needed for justification.

[Micki]

Absolutely correct.
TPTB aren't stupid. They have been planning for a long time.
The question is if the russsians, asians and arabs are going to ruin their plans or not or just run along.
For most of these nations dictatorial governments would be nothing new and some of the richer nations may even welcome the emergence of a new low cost working class.
The end result will no doubt be the fall from grace into banana republic state for several western nations.

This re-awoke my thinking that nations that play smart, at some point can/will strengthen their currenies and import oil cheaply compared to say US. The impact will through this hit some developed nations harder than others. As overall oil consumption could fall (especially if you get a large consumer like US to go on it's knee's) this would allow strong currencies uninterrupted or even increased import (for time being.)

[Gandalf_the_White]

It seems like we say this every year, but this summer looks set to be pretty bad for the US. I'm still hoping someone in politics will get honest and start telling us how desparately we need to get off oil. Oh, wait GW already did that and we cocked our heads sideways and went 'Ha. U R statin' to soun' like that peanut farmer. Whar is Ronnie Reagan?'

[Gandalf_the_White]

Ok this marks the second time the US has started a "Great Depression". Why are we always the one that starts this kind of thing?

Because equal opportunity and the American Dream are the lyrics of a song sung for the masses. The elites one way or another all eventually succumb to the power of the Ring. Although to be fair I do know of some who are willing to lead the charge against Sauron, and I am proud even to have heard their names.

[ColossalContrarian]

Absolutely correct.
TPTB aren't stupid. They have been planning for a long time.

Yep, at some point they realized “if we don't do this now, someone else will”

Which is the absolute truth. If the US weren't starting the wars in the ME and preparing for PO some other country would.

[Armageddon]

Absolutely correct.
TPTB aren't stupid. They have been planning for a long time.

Yep, at some point they realized “if we don't do this now, someone else will”

Which is the absolute truth. If the US weren't starting the wars in the ME and preparing for PO some other country would.

The early bird gets the oil ? Kidding aside, you are right.

[Micki]

Although to be fair I do know of some who are willing to lead the charge against Sauron, and I am proud even to have heard their names.

Yeah, me too. Many names......most of them spend time complaining in Internet forums and writing blogs. Other just get ignored by media so noone hears them.

We probably need a broad grass-root rising before the ones that have any power now can or will step forward and demand changes that actually lead to something good.

"I will take the Ring," he said,
"though I do not know the way."
Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him.........
"This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise
from their quiet fields,
to shake the towers and counsels of the Great.
Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it?"

[Gandalf_the_White]

Although to be fair I do know of some who are willing to lead the charge against Sauron, and I am proud even to have heard their names.

Yeah, me too. Many names......most of them spend time complaining in Internet forums and writing blogs. Other just get ignored by media so noone hears them.

We probably need a broad grass-root rising before the ones that have any power now can or will step forward and demand changes that actually lead to something good.

"I will take the Ring," he said,
"though I do not know the way."
Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him.........
"This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise
from their quiet fields,
to shake the towers and counsels of the Great.
Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it?"

We should try to stage some peak oil sit ins and leaflet campaigns. I mean if we put peak oil in the mind of every consumer and if forces the PTB to speak to the issue, then they will be less likely to lie, they will know that everyone knows and because it is such a big issue there will be a political price to be paid for ignoring it. I like the idea very much, but most POer's are anti-establishment and don't want to see a new fortress of Balador replace the current one. Unfortunately I think soon there will not be many choices left. Those who see it and care will have to take some kind of action, even if it is only trying to encourage a rag-tag group of yippies on the Internet.

[Micki]

I am testing the interest for a grass-roots movement here;
Grassroots action for spreading information

Let's see if we can whip up some interest and idea sharing.

[manu]

Wow, the IMF jumps on the bandwagon! Ha ha ha. Now everyone's on it except GWB. The Prez still thinks his approval rating is high (13%), we are winning the war in Iraq, and the economy is still in good shape. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Just a thought but maybe he should check into rehab.

[TheDude]

The Prez still thinks his approval rating is high (13%)

Bush's approval rating is 28% at the moment. Or are you inferring that Cheney is running the show?

[Micki]

From The Age (Australia)

IMF finally knocks on Uncle Sam's door

Imagine them offering to enter the market and buy shares that would prop up the foolish gambles of the bankers, gambles they had encouraged them, until recently, to take by providing them with cheap money.
On top of that, they told this group they would provide hundreds of billions of dollars in credits to these same profiteers on the grounds they were so big and important to the economy they were indeed too big to fail.
Then, imagine, despite pouring untold taxpayers money into stocks and allowing their cronies access to vast sums, the system continued to fail. So they announced they would need greater power and with it more secrecy.
For its growing band of critics has, perhaps unwittingly and in the interest of public good, this has become the principal function of the US Federal Reserve.

Der Spiegel wrote that the IMF had "informed" Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke of plans that would have been unheard of in the past: a general examination of the US financial system. The IMF's board of directors has ruled that a so-called Financial Sector Assessment Program is to be carried out in the US.
This, Der Spiegel wrote, "is nothing less than an X-ray of the entire US financial system", adding that "no Fed chief in US history has been forced to submit to the kind of humiliation that Ben Bernanke is facing".

The fact that the IMF is knocking on the very doors of its parents and waving legal papers about who lost the house, the car and the kids will, if the past is anything to go by, be buried in the US by pom-pom waving on CNBC telling all what a great time it is to buy. But the news that the US Fed has now lost its last vestige of credibility did not end with the German report.

The Telegraph from London weighed in, following the Royal Bank of Scotland's statement last week (also lost on the US public) that it was time to head for the crags, and reported Barclays Capital's closely watched Global Outlook analysis that said US headline inflation would hit 5.5% by August and the Fed would have to raise interest rates six times by the end of next year to prevent a wage spiral. If the Fed hesitates, the bond markets will take matters into their own hands. "This is the first test for central banks in 30 years and they have fluffed it," the report found. "They have zero credibility, and the Fed is negative if that's possible. It has lost all credibility."

Der Spiegel reports that the IMF is threatening to seriously study the accounts of America, something President George Bush is determined to prevent at least while he is in the White House, informing the IMF that it can begin its investigation but cannot complete it until he leaves office. But the reckoning will come and it will shine a light in places where light has been desperately wanted for all too long.

Part of the problem is the US media, which has for so long pretended that all is or soon will be well, a bottom is near, a recovery awaits in the second half of the financial year that will sweep away all problems, sown over decades, in a new expansion, a cycle that is ordained to come. The latest fantasy is that with the quarter's end, new profit figures will invigorate the bull, which will seed fertility.

Der Spiegel reports: "When the final report on the risks of the US financial system is released in 2010 — and it is likely to cause a stir internationally — only one of the people in positions of responsibility today will still be in office: Ben Bernanke."

Very refreshing considering it is from mainstream media.

[Cashmere]

I wonder how long before the U.S. is taking 25% loans from the IMF.

Poetic justice in that.

[errorist]

Read: Federal Reserve uses IMF to rise confidence.