Get ready for the second Great Depression...

[kentuck]

They have used hte same playbook they used in the First Depression. "The business of America is business", they said back in the 1920's. A chicken in every pot. Business had never done so well. The stock market was booming. Then it all came tumbling down.

Do not think it cannot happen again. Just like in the 1920's, the Repubs want to do away with the Federal income tax. They want to put Social Security in the stock market. We are in a new "ownership society".

But we have more toys than we are willing to pay for. It's just a matter of time until our credit will be no good. When China and Japan refuse to back the ever-shriniking dollar, the party is over. We cannot go on and on spending and spending and not having to pay for it. The Repubs are operating under a deep delusion and have taken the country with them on their little acid trip. The question is not "if" but "when"...

[holiday]

1. I agree

Bush and his agenda will not be good for America.. not one bit. The problem is they are not enough democrats to balance the repubs out and I really feel like we are going to go thru some bad things here in America.

[drdtroit]

2. What can one do to protect themselves

from the inevitable crash?

[Mister K]

10. Invest in foreign currencys

Simply, get a hold of an overseas back and move your savings there. But Obviously, not a bank in an unstable country. UK and France work well. You might even try the Cayman Islands.

[Dora]

3. I second that notion.

It's time for everyone who can see the probability of this happening to gird their girdables.

[theorist]

4. Who will be the second coming of FDR? n/t

[davsand]

5. I don't see people standing in Bread Lines this time.

Our nation is NO WAY as mild mannered and law abiding as we were back then. There will be complete anarchy, and the GOP will let it go on for a bit--that way there is less unwashed rabble to deal with.

If you can move to a more sustainable lifestyle, do it NOW--it might save your life later.


Laura

[peacetalksforall]

6. Whenever I bring this up - people scoff, even Dems...I think all the

indicators are there for misery.

What is in it for China or Japan or any other country to invest in us when our regime doesn't CARE about debt?

It's time for me to learn something about economics - what I learned was too traditional.

Will there be bread lines? WPA type job projects? Reverse immigration to avoid hunger?

[Dogmudgeon]

7. You're WAY off

We won't have a "Second Great Depression".

What we will have, starting in about ten years (maybe less if we're not lucky) will be a permanent economic depression as we exhaust all the easily-recovered oil, coal, and uranium.

Within 50 years of that, the world's population should be around 500 million people, living a neo-feudal existence. Kind of like a permanent game of D&D but a lot less fun.

Unless we "get our sh*t together" real soon and start planning an orderly transition RIGHT NOW. And with the Bush White House, there's a better chance of monkeys flying out of my butt.

--bkl

[American Renaissance]

8. it will be worse this go around...

This go around the Europeans and Chinese will be holding our heads under water

[Elwood P Dowd]

9. This is what they want.

A depression will allow them to tear down the federal government, eliminate all social programs, re-write the constitution to their liking, and install the repukes as permanent rulers.

Bush will declare martial law. A draft will be implemented to fight the wars. The rich can buy up the country for pennies on the dollar like they did in the 1930s. Gays and abortionists will be locked up. HIEL BUSHLER!

[Coyote_Bandit]

11. The 'pukes don't understand leverage

It can be very good for business because despite the cost it artifically creats more capital to earn greater present returns.

But a leveraged debt ridden government is both borrower and lender. The effect is to simply shift future positive cash flows to the present and thus restrict the ability to make future expenditures. A government cannot be run under the same financial principles as a corporation.

I fear our economic problems go far beyond the issues of unemployment and deficit spending. And the flu vaccine shortage offers proof of that. Production at one company was halted which resulted in a fifty percent production shortage. That alone is not particularly indicative of the competition associated with a capitalist economy. Furthermore, that production was being undertaken abroad. I would suggest that perhaps some of our economic woes should be re-cast and defined as issues of national security. Dare I suggest that if we had another major world war we would be unable to re-tool and provide even out own necessities - much less supply our troops. We probably couldn't even buy new underwear.

Government policies that foster wealth concentration also foster increasing levels of poverty. Consumers within the society become
unable to support businesses. Businesses in turn must be supported by international consumers. Eventually it collapses.

[AndyTiedye]

12. We Can Pay for Our Toys Just Fine -- It's These Wars that Break the Bank!

We were paying for our toys just fine when Clinton was in office,
thank you very much. Even running up a surplus. Peace and prosperity.
The dollar was strong, so was the stock market, though that was in a
bit of a correction that everyone expected
It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty damn good, and a hell of a lot
better than what we have now.

[barb162]

13. "The question is not "if" but "when"..." It has already started n/t