Great Depression of 2016

[Oliver Douglas]

Negative interest rates would allow the banks to eventually reduce our savings to nothing. It is already happening in Japan. It makes sense to buy a big safe and keep your savings in it.

If interest rates are kept artificially low, why put money into banks? Bank accounts now are considered property of the banks and can be used to solve their own financial problems. Also, the government can seize accounts for its own reasons. https://www.rt.com/usa/199883-irs-structuring-civil-asset-forfeiture/

Worse is the "My IRA" plan floated by the Democrats. http://money.cnn.com/2014/01/29/retirement/myra-accounts/

On the face of it, it looks good. But, take another look and think about it. It looks like another con game to me.

When bank accounts in Greece were seized, cash became king.

This little gem just came out today regarding Japan's negative interest rates:


"The Finance Ministry plans to increase the number of ¥10,000 bills in circulation, amid signs that more people are hoarding cash.
It will print 1.23 billion such notes in fiscal 2016, 180 million more than a year earlier. The number of ¥10,000 bills issued annually leveled off at around 1.05 billion in the fiscal years from 2011 to 2015. Some financial market sources believe it is because more people are keeping their money at home rather than in banks, because interest rates on deposits have fallen to almost zero after the Bank of Japan introduced a negative interest rate in February."

 

[MrsBrooke]

And where is Dennis?

Sorry, who?

MrsB

 

[Oliver Douglas]

Sorry, who?

MrsB

Out gathering eggs, I imagine.

 

[MrsBrooke]

-1% interest rates in Germany for consumer loans up to 24 months.

I wonder if anyone in this thread is filling out a loan app?

https://twitter.com/BarkowConsult/status/718806933076078593

MrsB

 

[Oliver Douglas]

How could I forget coffee?
If things hit the fan, the last thing I'll be doing is flushing precious water. I'll see ya in the woods.

I have a number of generators on hand too.from 2800 watt gas, to 30K propane.

Speaking of having generators on hand....this little gem came out today:

Three months after a Department of Homeland Security intelligence report downplayed the threat of a cyber attack against the U.S. electrical grid, DHS and the FBI began a nationwide program warning of the dangers faced by U.S. utilities from damaging cyber attacks like the recent hacking against Ukraine’s power grid. The nationwide campaign by DHS and the FBI began March 31 and includes 12 briefings and online webinars for electrical power infrastructure companies and others involved in security, with sessions in eight U.S. cities, including a session next week in Washington.

 

[rufus]

That attack against the electrical grid will probably happen the day after I get my freezer filled up with goodies.

I am more concerned with what the Fed is doing right now. What will happen if the Saudis and others dump their US bonds on the market? I am afraid we might find out soon.

 

[rufus]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack

http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/01/israels-electric-grid-hit-by-severe-hack-attack/

http://www.inquisitr.com/1302526/arizona-power-grid-attacked/

http://www.worldreview.info/content/electricity-supplies-are-highly-vulnerable-cyber-attacks

Interesting reading. It might be a good idea to invest in some kerosene lamps.

 

[Oliver Douglas]

No matter who wins this election this year, the country is in for a world of hurt. $20 Trillion in debt, unfunded liabilities at state, local and federal levels, high unemployment, inflation (forget what we are being told, except for gas prices, everything has gone up). I can't see an upside to what our country is facing right now. The mid-east might explode at any minute, the major cities are going to be hotbeds of civil violence...to date, 150 people murdered in Chicago, 802 wounded. My kids aren't prepared for what might lie ahead....as are a lot of young folks, I imagine. My parents, as well as my wife's, knew hardship during the depression (as for my wife's, the invasion of the Philippines by the Japanese during WWII...). I have stocked up on a few necessities, and have good neighbors. There are only three main roads into town, easily patrolled and protected should the need come. I am a realist, not a survivalist...but as yet have not been tested. If it comes to protecting me and mine, someone is going to get the short end of the stick. Some of the people in my town would be considered "rednecks" by the "enlightened" crowd...but never met a more honest, hard-working group of folks in my life. We have never experienced racial discrimination up here in the boonies as a "mixed" couple...we call folks here our friends.

 

[rufus]

They cannot lie the situation away. Eventually, the chickens will come home to roost. Just who they blame for the situation is yet to be decided. It won't be the government that created the problem, you can bet on that.

 

[Oliver Douglas]

Imagine this scenario....power grid goes out, ATM's don't work....credit cards useless....EBT cards, the same. People can't access necessities because the cash registers don't work. Shipments of food and goods impacted, major cities who rely on daily deliveries of said find empty shelves and angry customers. Case in point, local gas station/convenience store recently lost power after a thunderstorm where I live....cashier had to use solar powered calculator to complete each transaction...and wrote down each transaction...and, cash only. Long line at a "CONVENIENCE" store. I read a book in JR. High called "Alas, Babylon." It was about a small society in Florida surviving a nuclear attack and the aftermath....when asked as to WHO won, someone in the book whom I don't remember stated “We won it. We really clobbered ’em! . . . Not that it matters.”