August 25: Let The Economic Chaos Begin!

Is the economy in trouble?


Starting today the US economy will gradually slow down to its worst moment in our lifetime. Think that's BS?

I hope so, but it's hard to believe considering that the bubbles are all reaching their peak pretty much at the same time.

So how can we invest in a new bubble, such as in 2001 when people started investing in the real estate bubble, when they saw the tech bubble reach its peak?

Everyone will just find one bubble bursting after another. There'll be nowhere to run but Asia, as Japan already suffered their worst time in the late 90s and early 2000s. Now it's the US's turn, and Europe...


Why August 25th?


According to Politics Daily:

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the White House's Office of Management and Budget are releasing new deficit projections Tuesday morning.

The good news expected from OMB: Apparently the federal deficit will be $1.58 trillion, instead of $1.8 trillion, for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.

The bad news: That's still really, really terrible. The worse news: Over the next 10 years, we thought the government was on track to spend $7.1 trillion more than it takes in. But now OMB thinks it's looking more like $9 trillion.

That would practically double the total U.S. debt, which stood at $11.7 trillion as of Friday (to watch the inexorable rise, check in once in a while at this Web site). Last month alone, the government paid $19.8 billion in interest on the national debt.

According to Reuters:

Unless Washington tackles a core problem: rising long-term costs of Social Security and Medicare, the experts see no significant improvement in the deficit picture, and ultimately, the economic picture.

Obama has promised to cut the deficit in half by the beginning of 2013. But doing so still leaves the United States with a deficit that year of around $650 billion, which many describe as "off the charts."

Days Away from Economic Chaos?


A recent article with the title Days Away From Economic Chaos expresses concern about the coming collapse of our banks.

The most detailed and credible description of our economic situation is given in expert Bill Sardi's article "Days Away From Economic Chaos?".

He starts off his article claiming the following:

"America is just a few days away from a possible day of reckoning. I again call attention to this day, August 25, when the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issues its 2nd Quarter report for 2009 on the state of health of American banks.

There are roughly 8400 American banks that set aside a small portion of their profits to aggregately insure bank depositors should their local bank fail. A plethora of bank failures has depleted the FDIC reserve fund from $52.8 billion in 2008 to $13 billion in the 1st Quarter of 2009.

56 bank failures since March 31 have cost the FDIC an estimated $16 billion. (For comparison, in the 1st Quarter, bank failures only cost the FDIC $2.2 billion.) That $16 billion bank rescue would fully deplete the FDIC fund as it only had $13 billion at the close of the 1stQuarter."

Outside of the hard-to-understand financial and economic discussions, the following excerpts further explain the crisis we are facing. Feel free to read the full article:

So just how much liability does the FDIC bear aggregately for its "problem banks?"

At the end of the 1st Quarter in 2009 the FDIC said that figure was $220 billion. Remember now, the FDIC had only about $13 billion to over these institutions at the time.

How do American banks make profit today?

So how to American banks make any money today? In the recent past American banks derived most of their profits (45%) from residential and commercial property loans. These income sources are obviously crashing.

Banks valued by goodwill and bailout funds

So there, you can see that in addition to goodwill, the bank's capital was largely increased by bailout funds. So a dose of reality therapy will lead one to conclude that nearly all American banks are essentially insolvent.

If this leaves you feeling a bit queasy, well, you may need to reach for Dramamine when you realize the FDIC is not only broke, but it will probably announce it is tapping into its line of credit at the US Treasury Department, which is also insolvent (America is spending $1.58 trillion more than it collects in taxes this year).

How will American banks ever pay back the treasury while facing years of write-offs from home mortgages? The banks do not have sufficient profits to offset their losses.

Now if just a small portion of American bank depositors hear that the FDIC had to tap into the US Treasury for funds, and these depositors feel their banked money is at risk and want to withdraw some of it, the mother of all bank runs could ensue. This could create the day of reckoning that many have predicted.

A short banking holiday would have to be declared and who knows what happens from there – troops in the streets, issuance of new currency, martial law? Don’t think those in the Federal government haven’t made plans for such an occurrence.

[edit on 25-8-2009 by MightyAl]

Star and Flag.

Nice mashup. The next couple of days could be interesting. I wouldn't be surprised however that an FDIC Bailout be announced.

reply to post by MightyAl


I counted 112 bank closures about 110 of those in the last two months.
Hope this link works.
FDIC Failed Bank List
www.fdic.gov...


I think that might be from the first of the year.

[edit on 25-8-2009 by Iseekthetruth!!!!!!!!]

As of March 20, 2009, our deficit was reported to be around $1.7 trillion (ARTICLE LINK).

In 2001, Rumsfeld stated they misplaced / lost $2.3 trillion dollars (VIDEO LINK).

More recently (July / August 2009) the Federal Reserve was reported to have misplaced / lost somewhere around $9 trillion (who's counting?) - VIDEO LINK -- ARTICLE LINK-- ARTICLE LINK2).

So, what are we really talking about here? It's a f'ng joke.

There's no bubble. F*** that.

What there is, is a criminal enterprise robbing this country blind, all of us and those we care for who struggle, toil and fight to survive, in broad daylight and smirking while they do so with impunity.

This country is in no more financial trouble than Ben Bernanke is - and that is "not at all."

What we have is a nationwide tragedy. We are seeing the absolute depths of greed and lust for power played out by those people we entrusted with our very lives.

We really are powerless to affect any sort of change to this situation, but can only dig in deeper under even more extremely burdensome circumstances and proceed forward. And we proceed forward secure in the knowledge that we are, and have been financially raped and exploited by folks who continue to do so. Makes our toil all the more pleasant, doesn't it?

My friends, family, and associates lost half of their investments and life savings, what little they had. And these people struggled a lifetime to get where they are - in an honest manner. We can barely stay ahead of the game.

Am I angry? What do you think? When I reflect on this enough it's almost too much to bear. Good, hard working people - families are suffering while these people laugh and play their games.

In the final analysis, if these folks' avarice brings the whole thing down one can only hope that our blood will be all over their hands and bank accounts. What a cost...

Unfortunately, nothing's going to happen. These are just financial games. These folks play game with lives, and this is just another day; business as usual.

Someone may have gotten caught with their hand in the cookie jar, so big deal. They're all involved. They just act coy, perhaps a little confused, and $9 trillion dollars just gets passed over like a missing dry cleaning receipt, "Oops. We just don't know..."

The truth is our system can't fail, because we are their slaves; their bread and butter. One couldn't imagine the lengths they would go to to ensure this system's survival.

It's been suggested that this so-called crisis was orchestrated (for reasons unknown), or was a consequence criminals dipping in the till to pay off their debts.

The latter seems highly unlikely as it’s become clear they can move trillions of dollars around without so much as causing a hiccup in the system.

Either way it doesn’t matter, because there’s plenty to go around. Not to worry, their “business” will be back at full operating power soon enough.

We will struggle during these dark times, but the system will correct itself, and in ten years we will be seeing these same smug faces with their hands outstretched come tax time.

Proud to be an American, yeah right (sorry, Lee Greenwood’s lyrics don’t apply anymore)!







[edit on 25-8-2009 by atswheat]

[edit on 25-8-2009 by atswheat]

reply to post by HiranMaya


That's all I've been thinking about also - an FDIC bailout. If the government can throw their billions and trillions into meaningless wars and a controversial health plan, then surely they can give the FDIC half a trillion for bailouts...it's no big deal...I'm sure Goldman Sachs can help out (being sarcastic here)

After all, Bernanke and his team were very kind to the banks that own the Fed...how much money disappeared suddenly, and they don't know where to? As if...

Another thought I had is that maybe the major banks are not enjoying the existence of 8395 other banks in the US, so they have a party for every bank that ends up in the gutter...

reply to post by Iseekthetruth!!!!!!!!


Thanks for the link. So since the year 2000, only 27 banks closed before the crash of 2008/2009.

In 2008, 26 banks closed down - only one less than in the 7-8 years before that.

So far in 2009, 81 banks have closed (incl. 12 this month and 24 in July, making the last two months the worst thus far).

This is alarming, and it's just the beginning...the crash of 2008-2009 was just an appetizer...if they can't or pretend that they can't bail out the FDIC, then the list will grow tremendously starting this year.

Remember that these are conglomerated operations... not like the individual banks of 1929.

George Ure's perspective:

One reality is that with the FDIC announcement of Guaranty Financial Group running onto the rocks, along with three others this week, the number of bank branches closed since IndyMac really got things going last year, is up to 3,610. Since this doesn't count the ATM's involved, nor does it count online banking use, a direct comparison the 1930's Depression (1) and the Second Depression (SD) may be elusive.

Urban Survival



Edit: spelling

[edit on 26-8-2009 by RoofMonkey]

I'm sorry, but everyone is acting like those calling the shots don't have a choice in the matter.

These banks may not have a choice, but those calling the shots do. This is chump change to them.

This isn't a matter of a situation spinning out of control, it is a simple matter of choice.

And the choice to let the whole thing fail is just not an option, period.

They can allow the whole system to fail, or not - but it is their choice.

Our debt and deficit is a drop in the bucket compared to the money these folks control. This seems to be overlooked in these discussions.

My position is the same, regardless of how many banks go under, the system will remain intact. We may see what are termed "contractions" due to what is happening, but restructuring is already taking place.

And again, for those who really see who is running the show, to allow the system to fail would be tantamount to suicide. Just ain't gonna happen.

There is nothing that would warrant this sort of an uncontrolled restructuring. And I’m referring to a Depression, Martial Law and all of the trimmings.

Besides, I have fairly good reason to believe these things won’t be allowed from “outside,” more benevolent sources.

And it is also worth mentioning that already the Rothschild and Rockefellers families combined should have a greater fortune than the government deficit. Why? They have been ruling the industry for 150-200 years and more (with regards to the Rothschilds).

Under these two names you will find the railroad industry, oil industry, coal industry, gas industry, steel industry, gold industry, diamond industry...and so on...oops, I forgot the BANKING industry!

And...who controls the gold price? The diamonds? Oil? We can definitely say that the cycles that have the strongest affect on the economy are controlled by the ruling elite.

They own the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, The Bank of France, and so on. Who controls the interest rates? Who controls inflation? Who controls the commodity prices, such as oil and gold?

In case you didn't know, Nathan Rothschild got loads of money through the Bank of England in the 18th century by telling everyone that the UK was losing the Battle of Waterloo. The stock market crashed, he bought the stocks, and later sold them! Good job!

What else happened in history...oh yeah, the famous crash of 1917...thanks to J.P. Morgan who faked another crisis and scared the jeepers out of the people..

What correction was made in 1914...oh, the Federal Reserve...who owns it? By the way, the Federal Reserve is a private institution, owned by the Rothschild and Rockefeller controlled banks. The Rothschilds originate from Frankfurt, Germany, so what are they doing investing in the US money maker as foreign investors?

They have their secret ways of getting around it...some U.S. Presidents had to guts to confront them or prevent them from investing in the US. Helas, they ended up in the gallows.

What are the Rothschilds doing today? They are interested in Russia, Libya, Central Asia, Australia etc. Why? They still have lots of oil, gas and railroads for sale!

Finally, I'd like to mention the product life cycles for breakthrough products, such as mobile phones, computers, and many more technological products. How are they controlled by the elite? Some products just naturally go through an innovation cycle, boom cycle and maturity cycle. After all, less people buy the products, causing deflation.

So it is probably fair enough to conclude that products that are used daily by the average Joe go through their own life cycles that no one can control until they invent a new breakthrough technology.

Everyone loved the Game Boy, then they thought it's so so (but getting a little boring), and then they decided it sucks, because now we have the Playstation!!! So technological cycles are affected by us people.

However for commodities such as oil, gas, steel, gold, the life cycle is surely under control by the elite. They decide when these commodities should be expensive and when they shouldn't, no matter the natural factors.

Are we really running out of resources? Turkmenistan is offering so much oil, it is hard to even fathom the amount. Will the eventual drilling in Turkmenistan and other areas of Central Asia therefore lower the oil price? Hah, I doubt it. There will be yet further excuses...

Right now gas is becoming more expensive in Taiwan, but I didn't see the barrel price going up. As long as demand is inelastic, the upper guys can change the price as they wish.

If the baby boomers will soon retire, and drive less, doesn't that mean demand will go down? In that case the price of oil should go down. But we do have the Asian oil consumption skyrocketing, so I guess that'll be enough of an excuse to keep the prices high...

Well... if you remember... the price of diesel used to be significantly lower than gasoline. But China had a penchant for diesel in their preps for the Olympics and the construction of the Three Gorges dam complex. Its about that time that the new ultra low sulfur legislation came on line... and diesel has out paced gasoline ever since.