Tag Archive | "recession"
Demise of the dollar
The U.S. dollar continues its journey from Brobdingnagian to Lilliputian stature, and the latest trade report is a prelude to the dollar as microbe. The Prime Mover in this case is King Ben, who has the helicopter on track for a one-way trip to Zimbabwe with every American along for the ride. Death of the [...]
Continue reading...Techno-optimism meets its match
Monday, November 15, 2010
According to the extremely conservative International Energy Agency (IEA), we’ve passed the world peak for conventional oil (in 2006, they say). In a stunning nod to reality, even the New York Times agrees. In a bizarre case of committee-style cognitive dissonance, the IEA follows up on the admission that peak oil has come and gone [...]
Continue reading...Balloon seeks pin
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
I speak openly about myriad ongoing collapses, regardless how others respond. Among the costs: Rumors of my insanity have spread beyond the institution I departed and throughout the nation’s hallowed halls. Apparently I’ve contracted a rare disease, which explains the insanity. I can only hope (i.e., wish) it’s not fatal. Further evidence I’ve lost my [...]
Continue reading...Surveying the field and charting a course
Friday, April 16, 2010
It’s all the rage to talk about a double-dip in the industrial economy. That would be an economic trend in the shape of a W. I think an M is far more likely. The assumption of never-ending growth underlies all neoclassical economic assessments, but I think that assumption is about to break up on the [...]
Continue reading...Throwing off the shackles of debt
Monday, March 1, 2010
by Guy R. McPherson, Keith Farnish, Dave Pollard, and Sharon Astyk Indebtedness is a form of servitude, usually involuntary, and, in extreme cases imprisonment. Consider, for example, current rates of interest, usurious compared to what savers earn on their savings in the same banks that charge that interest. Many religious organizations loath interest rates as [...]
Continue reading...Fear and loathing in the blogosphere: doom, gloom, and controlling the message
Saturday, December 12, 2009
I spend quite a bit of time reading the work of other bloggers. Believe it or not, I’ve read a few books, too. This post follows my usual approach of being an equal opportunity offender as I comment on the philosophy of James Howard Kunstler, Dmitry Orlov, and John Michael Greer, along with a few [...]
Continue reading...Can we handle the truth?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The International Energy Agency (IEA) released World Energy Outlook 2009 today. Even before the sham was shipped, it was exposed as a big 'ol bucket of lies. Seems the current administration thinks Americans can't handle the truth, so we need to apply some pressure to keep the lid on the facts. If this country's paragon of transparency (i.e., world's leading liar) and master of hope (i.e., wishful thinking) actually trusted the American people, perhaps we could avert chaos.
Continue reading...The recession is dead … long live the recession!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
The world's first peak-oil recession has come to a close, according to third-quarter numbers invented by the federal government. Apparently flooding big banks, insurance companies, and automobile manufacturers with fiat currency interrupted the plummeting descent of American Empire. The stock markets skyrocketed expectedly. Predictably, so did the commodities markets.
Continue reading...Economic dominoes continue to fall
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The property of rich folks has always been more important than the lives of the poor, a fact that will continue to create misery for the "other" 99% of us until the entire industrial economy fails. Personally, I can hardly wait.
Continue reading...Theory and practice
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
I used to believe the bankruptcy of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation would have substantial implications. The FDIC officially ran out of money last Friday when they shuttered the usual handful of banks. When they close another handful this Friday -- conveniently out of the media's not-so-watchful eye -- they'll have exactly nothing with which to back up the deposits. Since backing up deposits in failed banks is the FDIC's entire mission, this should cause the financial system to fail overnight.
Continue reading...
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
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