AuH20
07-02-2010, 10:21 AM
Brilliant!!!!!
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/2469-The-Clock-Is-Running-Out.html
Nearly three years ago I recommended that the government fund and put aside $200 billion in actual cash to provide emergency shelter and food for up to 25% of the population for as long as 12-24 months. I was entirely serious, although I'm sure that many Congressmen and women who got my faxed letter perceived me to be absolutely insane. My recommendation was to be prepared to provide "three hots and a cot" on closed military bases or unused parts of active facilities for this purpose. These would not be "luxury accommodations" or even trailers - we're talking literally "three hots, a cot, hot water to shower with and flush toilets." That's all.
The simple fact of the matter is that huge swaths of America literally have saved nothing. They have been goaded into borrowing amounts that in some cases exceed their annual earnings. Most of these people are literally one hiccup in their income stream away from utter destitution.
Yes, much of it (if not all of it) is their own fault. They have saved nothing. They run $100 cable TV and Internet bills, and another $100 for "smart" cellphone service - each and every month. They have their financed car(s) on which they must maintain full coverage insurance (instead of a "moving jalopy" that is paid for, worth little, and on which one only needs liability insurance at 1/4 the cost.) They're entitled to a 75 degree house in the winter or summer, even if it generates a $300 electric bill. They believe they're entitled to student loans to go to college (instead of refusing to attend until the colleges get costs in check) further damaging their economic futures.
This state of affairs did not come about in an afternoon and it can't be fixed in one either. We cannot allow people to starve, but we also cannot continue to fund handouts as we have. The money simply is not there.
We need to figure out how to live in a nation with a forty percent smaller GDP than we now have. Yes, 40%. That means you, I, everyone else. The "living large" game is over. All Ponzi Schemes ultimately collapse - they do not go quietly into the night. The collapse is brutal, it's quick, it's efficient and it's devastating to anyone caught in it.
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/2469-The-Clock-Is-Running-Out.html
Nearly three years ago I recommended that the government fund and put aside $200 billion in actual cash to provide emergency shelter and food for up to 25% of the population for as long as 12-24 months. I was entirely serious, although I'm sure that many Congressmen and women who got my faxed letter perceived me to be absolutely insane. My recommendation was to be prepared to provide "three hots and a cot" on closed military bases or unused parts of active facilities for this purpose. These would not be "luxury accommodations" or even trailers - we're talking literally "three hots, a cot, hot water to shower with and flush toilets." That's all.
The simple fact of the matter is that huge swaths of America literally have saved nothing. They have been goaded into borrowing amounts that in some cases exceed their annual earnings. Most of these people are literally one hiccup in their income stream away from utter destitution.
Yes, much of it (if not all of it) is their own fault. They have saved nothing. They run $100 cable TV and Internet bills, and another $100 for "smart" cellphone service - each and every month. They have their financed car(s) on which they must maintain full coverage insurance (instead of a "moving jalopy" that is paid for, worth little, and on which one only needs liability insurance at 1/4 the cost.) They're entitled to a 75 degree house in the winter or summer, even if it generates a $300 electric bill. They believe they're entitled to student loans to go to college (instead of refusing to attend until the colleges get costs in check) further damaging their economic futures.
This state of affairs did not come about in an afternoon and it can't be fixed in one either. We cannot allow people to starve, but we also cannot continue to fund handouts as we have. The money simply is not there.
We need to figure out how to live in a nation with a forty percent smaller GDP than we now have. Yes, 40%. That means you, I, everyone else. The "living large" game is over. All Ponzi Schemes ultimately collapse - they do not go quietly into the night. The collapse is brutal, it's quick, it's efficient and it's devastating to anyone caught in it.