Finance 0

Rig For Stormy Weather

By Kurt Osterberg · On December 4, 2017

What storm? The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW) reached another all-time high. Interest rates in the U.S. are yielding multi-decade lows, some say multi-century lows. Trillions of dollars in global sovereign debt have negative yield and European junk bonds yield less than 10 year U.S. Treasuries. “Official” unemployment is low. Borrowing is inexpensive. Things are good, so they say!

I Doubt It!

Do you believe the above is a fair and accurate representation of our economic world? If so, how do you explain the following?

Global debt exceeds $200 trillion and is rising rapidly. This massive debt will NOT be paid back in currencies with 2017 purchasing power. Debt MUST be rolled over in continually DEVALUING dollars, euros, yen, and pounds.

The financial system rolls over maturing debt, adds more and pretends repayment will not be problematic. Those who hope this will remain true ignore the lessons of history, including sky-high interest rates in the late 1970s, the Asian and Long-Term Capital crises in the late 1990s, many defaults and hyperinflations in the last century and the credit-crunch-recession-market-crash of 2008.

Official inflation statistics show that consumer price inflation is low – supposedly in the two percent range. However, if you pay for health care, hospital bills, prescription drugs, Obamacare, beer, cigarettes, college tuition, fresh vegetables, processed food, auto insurance, and many other necessities, you know better. The Chapwood Index agrees with your experience. Their statistics show consumer price inflation is much higher than official numbers.

National debt – the official debt of the U.S. government exceeds $20.5 trillion – more than the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. The debt has increased exponentially (straight line on a log scale chart) for the past century.

Interest paid on the official national debt is approximately $500 billion per year and climbing. Congress is influenced by the financial elite and will not operate within a balanced budget. Therefore the U.S. will pay more interest each year.