Fuel, Social Programs and Debt

[ben]

I have been watching the dollar fall as of late and as a consequence I have watched stainless steel prices rise dramatically in the last few months. Some stock is up as much as 50%, ouch!

I was poking around CNBC and found a slideshow of the biggest debtor nations. I was sure it would be the U.S. and some African countries, but I was SHOCKED to see who made up the top 20. Here is a list:
These numbers are a percentage of debt to annual GDP

20) United States 94.3%
19) Hungary 105%
18) Australia 113%
17) Italy 126.7%
16) Greece 161.1%
15) Spain 171.7%
14) Germany 178.5%
13) Finland 188.5%
12) Sweden 194.3%
11) Norway 199%
10) Hong Kong 205.8%
9) Portugul 214.4%
8) France 236%
7) Austria 252.6%
6) Denmark 298.3%
5) Belgium 320.2%
4) Netherlands 365%
3) UK 408.3%
2) Switzerland 422.7%
1) Ireland 1267%

What do all of these countries have in common? Well, they are all Western countries. Most are oil importers. And most, if not all, have massive social programs.

What catalyst is going to grow these economies and help pay off this debt? None. Green energy had a chance, but the Chinese are picking up the ball and running with it.

On occasion I point out these economic facts, not to scare, but to inform. Big Daddy government will not always be there for you, wiping your ass with your own money and telling you that you are free and "equal". Equality that the government strives for is "equally broke". Look at the social programs that these countries have. They are completely dependent on government and the government can't possible squeeze any more tax dollars out of these citizens.

Another round of mass inflation is coming in our rosy economic rebound and then another crash, larger than the last. This will keep happening with ever bigger booms and busts, until it can't.

Our world view in the West is so dependent on assumptions of peace, availability of products and produce, but those assumptions will be wrong at some point and you had better have a garden and a power source and something to protect yourself from the mass of idiots that didn't prepare.

The true light and power in the world isn't in the "collective" or the "masses" it's in the individual. The U.S. was founded by individuals for individuals and that worldview has been compromised by the "needs" of people unfit to compete in natures game of survival of the fittest.

All the clues are there if you follow the money. Just remember that money is only a way of talking about value. Things that have value like food, fuel and materials only go up when money goes down. Own them. This place is called Victory Gasworks for a reason. It's about being victorious in the face of change and uncertainty.

[Marcos Buenijo]

More on the usdebtclock.org web site... I can't speak to the accuracy of the numbers that are presented, but anyone who checks out the web site should note the rate at which the numbers are increasing. The total unfunded liabilities entry is shown as increasing at a rate greater than $5 trillion annually. The funded debt ("US National Debt") is increasing at a rate well in excess of $1 trillion annually.

The unfunded liabilites of the U.S. Gov't was $5 trillion during the mid 1970's. According to this web site it is now 21 times greater. The funded debt ("US National Debt") was $500 billion during the mid 70's. It has increased 24 fold. This nonsense simply cannot continue much longer. It's going to crash, and it's gonna be ugly.

[Marcos Buenijo]

Check this out: http://usdebtclock.org/

Please note the last row of entries that include the unfunded liabilities of the U.S. gov't. This is most telling. The real debt is nearly 10 times greater than most believe, and far greater than the net worth of the country.

[Marcos Buenijo]

Ben, I'm happy that you are discussing economics. The ignorance on this topic is monumental... and most detrimental is that the universities have been peddling a false doctrine on this subject for many decades now. Worse than pure ignorance is dedication to a false ideology.

Without getting into specifics, I only wish to emphasize that the debt load of the United States is greater than most believe. According to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles the debt load of the U.S. is somewhere between 5 and 8 times GDP. The difference is accounted for in the many "entitlement" obligations of the U.S. gov't including Medicare and Social Security. The lower figure considers only the funded debt. But we should be far more concerned about these unfunded gov't liabilities. We should all be particularly concerned about the increasing deficit spending, likely loss of reserve currency status of the dollar, and exponentially increasing gov't deficit spending. Expect much price inflation in the near future.

[mike hartsgrove]

And what if all these people recieving government assistance,(which are your tax dollars )were required to work for local government ,or charity ...

[mike hartsgrove]

Well said steve......!

[Lloyd McCready]

Let's all remember that the key to bringing us out of this recession is not goverment funding (eventhough it's nice), but buying American products. Buy American and put the money back into America. I could go on and on about how this will efect our economy, but I think you all can get the point. Just put a little thought from those economy classes in high school into it and you will come up with the answer yourself. And being self reliant isn't a bad idea either. The more prepared we are the better off we are.

[Steve Unruh]

Gentlemen and Ladies
One of the eternal truths is: figures don't lie, but liars figure (scheme).
Another is the more you play their game, the the house (government, party, union, church,) always wins.
So for your peace of mind - just opt out. Tune them all out. They will ALL spin (lie to) you until you are dizzy.
I raise chickens for eggs and meat not because it is cheaper, it is not, 'cause we can.
Grow and stock up from a garden, 'cause we can.
Heat with solar energy falling on and stored on our property in our trees, 'cause we can.
Want to now self-power with this same stored solar energy, not because it will be cheaper in my 0.0765 cent per kWH hydro-land - it certainly will not be cheaper.
Do what you can without putting yourself in prison to provide your own shelter, clothing, heating, food and entertainment because this is to celebrate being being a free, independent, human being.
The more you depend on others for the necessities because they are cheaper, shinier, newer the less healthy, happy, long lived you will be.
Quit buying into the spin masters. Do something today, bake some bread, sew on a button, plan and make a window ledge herb garden; anything to free yourself and celebrate being alive. Don't wait for tomorrow, the latest messiah, your stars to line up, start becoming human now. "Just do it"

Regards
SteveU.

[BioEnergyman]

Ron Paul has a bill HR 1207. Support it!!! Good luck!!!

[chris seymour]

Excellent post Ben! These reasons are exactly why I became interested in gasification (possible major economic calamity to come) It can almost feel like a race against time to get prepared.
I bet a major portion of members on this site have a similar world view, in where the outlook for the future is not so bright at the second.

pricing is up on raw materials not because of rising economic activity and demand but because of a printing press running non stop (to cover insured derivatives from ING and tons of other scam bull). don't buy into another stock market sucker rally. sell now, and stock up on essentials. Also get or make a gasifier! Just in case :)

Cheers, Chris

[Radam]

http://www.ssb.no/en/brutgjeld/tab-2009-09-11-01-en.html
Norways gross external debt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Income_Taxes_By_Country.svg
Ireland has lowest corporate tax all around.

http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/economy/current/externaldebt.pdf

At least in my country there have been quite some instances where, for example, management of one firm bought the firm over with loans on companys stocks and assets they themselves managed. So if that bank was from abroad, the whole value of the company would be shown as external debt.

As I think of it, the whole financial sector is in fact just to speed up the economy. Which isnt helping anyone but itself.

Even GDP, whatever you make yourself in your back yard doesnt contribute to thr figure.

Time magazine mentioned in an article that Chinese actually tried to count in pollution and other such factors. They of course quiletly dropped the attempt as GDP figure even went into negative in some areas...