IF YOU'RE WAITING FOR AN "ECONOMIC COLLAPSE", JUST LOOK AT WHAT IS HAPPENING TO EUROPE

"The entire continent is a giant economic mess right now. Unemployment and poverty levels are setting record highs, car sales are setting record lows, and there is an ocean of bad loans and red ink everywhere you look ... The youth unemployment rate in Italy has jumped up to 41.6 percent ... The level of poverty in Italy is now the highest that has ever been recorded ... The President of Italy is openly warning of "widespread social tension and unrest" in his nation in 2014 ... The youth unemployment rate in Spain is now up to 57.7 percent - even higher than in Greece ... The unemployment rate in France has risen for 9 quarters in a row and recently soared to a new 16 year high ... For 2013, car sales in Europe were on pace to hit the lowest yearly level ever recorded ... Deutsche Bank, probably the most important bank in Germany, is the most highly leveraged bank in Europe (60 to 1) and it has approximately 70 trillion dollars worth of exposure to derivatives ... It would be hard to put into words the extreme desperation that unemployed workers throughout Europe are feeling right now. When you can't feed your family and you can't find work no matter how hard you try, it can be absolutely soul crushing ... As global economic conditions continue to deteriorate, things are going to get even tougher for those on the low end of the economic food chain ... The social and regional centrifugal forces, as measured by the spread of incomes, have increased dramatically in Germany since 2006 ... The extreme recklessness of European banks such as Deutsche Bank and U.S. banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and Goldman Sachs is eventually going to cause a financial catastrophe far worse than what we experienced back in 2008. When that crisis arrives, the flow of credit is going to freeze up dramatically and economic activity will grind to a standstill. Unemployment, poverty and all of our current economic problems will become much, much worse. So as bad as things are right now, the truth is that this is nothing compared to what is coming."

Zum Artikel von Michael Snyder im Economic Collapse Blog (8. Januar 2014) »