I'm going to say the collapse will happen in late summer or fall. There may be a nose dive when the Christmas season numbers are released, but the
income tax refunds in the US will pump some more spending money into the economy temporarily.... it always does. Once that runs out, things could
really get ugly.
I am seeing an inordinate number of predictions for economic chaos in 2011, much more than I normally see each year. And the indicators are accurate
as far as I can tell, even if the site stating them is trying to sell gold via fear. I hope everyone can stock up on necessities this spring/early
summer, because you just might need them.
I am also going to say that I am fully expecting an Israel-Iran war this year or next, probably around or just after the time when the economy goes
belly-up. The reason is that Iran's depeg from the dollar (and the subsequent similar actions by other OPEC countries) is the root cause of the
dollar's decline. As long as oil was pegged to the dollar, the US could get away with printing money... now that it is not, the dollar is as weak and
vulnerable as any other currency. And the steps taken by the Fed while the dollar was the International Reserve Currency will not stand otherwise.
War creates jobs, supplying arms, ammo, and equipment, as well as reducing the living expense of the country since so many of the young men are out
dying somewhere else. This war was attempted a few years back under Bush to try and quell the rising sentiment against oil pegged to dollars (no, it
was not over nuclear proliferation; that was an excuse), but there was not enough political will to make it happen after the sad mess we made in Iraq.
So it will be Israel, our ally, doing the dirty work so we can come to their rescue.
World War II ended the Great Depression. World War III will be to end the next Greater Depression.
I have to state that I am not bashing Israel by any means... just stating what I see happening. I think the time frame is going to possibly be in
2012, possibly the second half, when all the world becomes involved in what will initially be a contained area of unrest or limited war.
Please fasten your seatbelts and make sure to keep arms and legs inside the safety cage. We're going for a ride and the operator has his finger over
the start button.
My $0.02 (now worth a whopping 1/574 yen!
)
TheRedneck