Very Real Danger of Collapse: “Could Be So Severe I Don’t Think Our Civilization Could Survive It”

The single most important factor responsible for fueling the last several decades of economic growth has been credit expansion. Whether it’s central banks lending money to large financial institutions, or private banks dispersing funds to businesses and individuals, our lifestyles simply would not have been made possible without it – builders couldn’t build homes, manufacturers couldn’t acquire raw materials, and consumers wouldn’t be able to consume. Living in a country whose currency happens to be the reserve trade instrument for the entire globe has had its benefits. We’ve built huge homes, enjoyed healthy diets, taken luxurious vacations; we’ve even exported menial jobs that no civilized members of society would ever engage in to third world labor camps.

In the process we’ve expanded our national debt to unprecedented levels, with some estimates suggesting that our total liabilities and commitments are approaching nearly $200 trillion in the next twenty five years.

By all accounts, we live in a system built on nothing more than a promise to repay what we’ve borrowed. This reverse trickle-down economics has left everyone bloated with debt, including the government as a whole, as well as the individual American who has bought his house, car, furnishings and overall lifestyle by taking on insurmountable levels of debt.

In 2007 we began to see cracks in this supposedly stable economic model. By late 2008 the entire world was in crisis as credit lending on all levels came to a standstill. Stock markets crashed, governments panicked, and the people grasped on to promises of hope and change. Read more.....