Submitted by ChrisMartenson.com
ZeroHedge, 21 December 2011
There are clear signs of a liquidity crunch in the asset markets right now, and the question I keep hearing is, Is this 2008 all over again?
No, it’s worse. Much worse.
In 2008 there was a lot more faith and optimism upon which to draw. But both have been squandered to significant degrees by feckless regulators and authorities who failed to properly address any of the root causes of the first crisis even as they slathered layer after layer of thin-air money over many of the symptoms.
Anyone who has paid attention knows that those “magic potions” proved to be anything but. Not only are the root causes still with us (too much debt, vast regional financial imbalances, and high energy prices), but they have actually grown worse the entire time.
As always, we have no idea exactly what is going to happen and when, but we can track the various stresses and strains, noting that more and wider fingers of instability increase the risk of a major event. Heading into 2012, there's enough data to warrant maintaining an extremely cautious stance regarding holding onto one's wealth and increasing one's preparations towards resilience.
Here’s the evidence:
- Oil prices higher now than in 2009
- Derivatives up more than $100 trillion since 2009
- Government debts exploding
- Weak GDP growth
- Europe in trouble
- Small investors leaving the market
- China hitting a wall
One of the most important things we need to track is simply untrackable, and that is market perception. When faith in a faith-based money system vanishes, the game is pretty much over.
Phi Beta Iota: The incumbent Administration and incumbent Congress will do everything in their power to keep a lid on this powder keg, so as to be re-elected. 2013 should be the darkest year in American history, when everything implodes, what's left of the middle class drops into poverty, and the National Guard has to be mobilized to contain, detain, and disappear activists who continue to believe that government can change for the better. NEWSFLASH: A two-party tyranny is a two-party tyranny. It will not change. There is ONE CHANCE for a non-violent legal ethical resurrection of America the Beautiful: a combination of the ideas inherent in We the People Reform Coalition, and the money behind Americans Elect that is buying ballot access across the land. Unless Obama is prepared to flush Goldman Sachs out of our government, and create a Coalition Cabinet that puts people first, he is not likely to be re-elected, nor are of those running to replace him likely to be any better.
