it is, partly. however that's not a number i'm severely critical of, the fibbing in the unemployment stats is roughly equal to what other industrial nations are doing.
i'm not sure how you arrived at your conclusion regarding GDP? one thing's for certain, GDP has been VASTLY overstated in recent years, and inflation vastly understated. why hasn't everything been collapsing long ago i hear you ask? the answer is CREDIT. credit has been expanding at geometrical rates, supporting both the asset bubble and consumption. and that's the crux: in order to continue the expansion/bubble, it has to expand ever faster, as we are by now deeply into Ponzi finance territory, whereby the weaker borrowers already have to incur new debt to not only pay the principal, but the INTEREST on their old debt.
the Fed knows of this dilemma, i am certain of it. their chosen path is now the complete destruction of the currency,in a final effort to keep the credit and asset bubble afloat.
i know all of this sounds extreme and fatalistic - but the figures don't lie. we have the financial sector expanding its balance sheets at an over 30% rate last year...the economy needs to support over $27 trillion in debt, a debt that is growing at a rate of 4,55 to 1 versus the (overstated) growth of the GDP. meanwhile the savings rate has collapsed into negative territory at warp speed.
never before in history has there been a larger private sector debt mountain versus GDP and disposable income - combined with the biggest current account deficit the world has ever seen. and the solution to this ever more dire problem is to print more and more money.
ask yourself this: can Greenspan print oil? can he print production capacity? can he print savings?
this bubble will end like all similar bubbles before it have ended: in debt deflation, and a grueling period of sharp recessions interrupted by anemic recoveries, with the financial system in tatters.
remember: the debt will have to be paid...either by the borrowers or the lenders.... |
