A hypothetical. The date is now December 4, 2012, President Obama is addressing the nation. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Part 1 9:10 Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Part 2 8:11 Do you have enough cash on hand to last you a week? What if you can't even have access to grocery store for a week, or any store? What if you can't have access to any services, like even medical services? Are you prepared for martial law? What if it's longer than a week? Could you get to your job with a bike? Do you have a bike? Would your industry operate under martial law?
Isn't a major flaw in the basics of this thinking that the dollar will stop being a major currency used, such as for OPEC or other international industries? What would take its place? The Euro is not healthy, and China is dependent on us as a purchaser, plus much of their past economy has been artificially supported by the gov't, like building whole cities that aren't being used. This is just as non-sustaining as anything else going on. In other words...if the US economy goes to hell, what economy won't? And visa versa, the EU mess isn't going to help the US or others either. It's a global problem. So there's no better one to take over. Also, a small nitpick. Doesn't the stock market have tools now to prevent a sudden crash, where it would automatically cease trading at a certain point of decline? (referring to the 37% loss in the video)
Couldn't OPEC go to something like a SDR currency basket or even conduct trade in a series of bi-lateral trade currency agreements like the ones China/Brazil/Russia etc have made? The falling of the US dollar will affect everyone for sure, but it will affect the US/EU the most dramatically, with a long term (i.e. +20 year plus) depression. The other countries of the world will have recessions, but not nearly as bad and not nearly as long. To answer Esotericist's questions: For most Americans, the answer to the above question is NO. If such a thing should occur most American are completely unprepared and will most likely starve or resort to stealing (highest gun concentration per capita).
The idea that foreign bond investors will call their bonds out of fear of the ability of the US to pay the interest on the bond is, to me, a fallacy. The US continues to soar above every economy in the world. The perception that we are weak and crashing is largely based on the shock of the world disaster caused by the unregulated mortgage fiasco. Something like a 13 trillion dollars evaporated out of the world economy in a short time during that crisis. Yet there does not seem to be collective memory of it in these kinds of ads. Instead, there always seems to be an almost religious conviction in prophecy that says that the foreign investors will doom us. I don't see that happening for the reasons in the post above. It's a global economy now. They can't afford to crash us just like we can't afford to crash even a little guy like Greece, who, you would think, has such little investment here. Of course that's not the issue. The issue is global stability. As far as the gold standard is concerned, that issue is a carryover from way before Nixon's time, as the debate was raging in the 1930s. The Wizard of Oz - the story - arose out of that debate. Emerald City was the currency based system and the yellow brick road was the gold standard. It is a common misunderstanding that printing currency dilutes the value of the dollar. In practice however, on any given day the amount of currency in circulation represents the amount of barter that is estimated to be taking place. You offer me a coke for $1, I present the bill, and you have a promise, the same promise I had which I exchanged for my coke. The fallacy in the reasoning I think is that this promise will break down very suddenly. So just after I gave you the bill, an alarm goes off in the Treasury Dept and the bill becomes worthless. This is sort of what the video is saying. It is not likely to happen that way, in my opinion. A lot of bad things can happen, certainly panics are the things most obvious. Those generally don't affect the currency, just the securities. In fact, they are liquidating stock to get currency. So I disagree with the premise.
We're Americans. We collectively pick up heavy burning cars and pull unconscious motorcyclists from underneath. We work on the spur of the moment. Much of the problems with the current stagnant economy is that the most wealthy want supreme domination. Once they are easily eliminated, a flood of economic boom never witnessed before, will spread world-wide. True, it has been a long exit, but we are leaving the age of potentates and their sheepish, low-intellect enablers.
your joking right? you are the LEAST co-operative nation in the world, you cant even provide a national health care system or a decent system to help the poor, hell your unemployment benefits have a time limit for Christ sake and all your university students are coming out burdened with massive debts. I don't even think most Americans understand what community MEANS
We live in a region of the country that is no stranger to highway closure and power outages, hence many of us have alternate heat and water sources and transportation. In the past, I have lived 200 air miles from any aid for many months. One learns to be very resourceful and very careful. Until just a few years ago, we only went to town weekly in the summer and biweekly in the winter. My answer to most of the questions above is yes. I work in a corporate grocery store, so not certain of how my employment or the supply line would be affected under martial law.
i'm ready , let it crash , got the reloader and plenty of gun power. Casing galore . Cupboard of non perishables and a hand pump on the well . 150 gallons of diesel and 50 pounds of salt . Coffee and sugar for barter, plus a good sharp buck knife for cutting meat lets hope it happens in summer so i don't have to chop wood for heat barbed wire around the perimeter and a look out tower so i can see you sons -a-bitches coming . just joking . you know i would not shoot any Me Sciency friendosas halitosis I love you girls . You make me happy
You said mouth full there sport . Community is a dirty word in free markets like America . I will show you why Community< Communist < You get my drift < we would much rather fuck each other out of the last dollar than to give folly to community mindedness of communicating in a communistic way . So yeah in order to preserve our American way we want nothing to do with communing . It is amazing we ever make love except with our personal hand . I love you hand . Talk to the hand
Cash on hand would be hard to judge. I would expect prices to rise dramatically within 24 hours of the announcement. Right now based on current pricing, Yes, I have plenty of cash in my pocket to get me through. 3 days ago, nope, I would have been hurting. But in the last couple of months, I have tried to pay for everything I use via cash (except monthly bills). I usually have 2 weeks worth of money, but that gets thin at the 10 day mark. Food is always stocked up. I always have a couple of weeks worth on hand. I keep my tank full. Seldom less than 1/2 tank of gas. My job would evaporate. It is mail dependent for one thing and its non-critical. I have a bike, but am so out of shape it wouldnt be much faster than walking... If the electrical grid went down, I would be hurting in about 4 days. I have enough gas on hand (without syphoning vehicles) to run the generator for a few days, but I couldnt run my water. At least two of my neighbors are generator wired for water. Worse case scenario, I could trade gas/fuel for water, but that would be if I didnt feel like getting water from the creek below the hill (less than 1000 feet).
