Dateline: 9 October 2013
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| This is the logo for Chris Martenson's Peak Prosperity web site |
Back in January of 2008, when I posted An Agrarian-Style Economic Self-Defense Plan, I had a strong feeling that a significant economic downturn was imminent. The crash of 2008 came a few months later. Well, I'm getting that feeling again.
America dodged the proverbial bullet after 2008 when the Federal Reserve responded by creating and pumping enormous sums of fiat money into the economy. But that was only a temporary dodge, not a fix or solution to the economic mess we find ourselves in. Any recovery we've seen is not solid or lasting—it is all based on enormous increased debt. More trouble, and worse trouble, is surely coming.
I haven't listened to mainstream radio or television, or been on the internet news sites, for a few months now, so I don't know what the talking heads there are saying. But I have been tuning in to a few different web sites, like the the McAlvany Weekly Commentary, and listening to a variety of podcast interviews.
For example, This Interview With John Williams was particularly interesting to me. Mr. Williams is the founder of ShadowStats.com, a company that looks at actual economic numbers and statistics, not the carefully crafted lies presented to the American public by government and media. In that interview Mr. Williams lays out the case for serious concern about our economy, and explains why he expects that hyperinflation is inevitable.
That interview resonated with me because, for one thing, I think John Williams is a very intelligent man; he hasn't bought into the government disinformation. Besides that, I happened to be reading the book, When Money Dies: The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany. I don't recommend the book because it was a difficult read, but I'll be posting a blog about what I learned (and what we can expect) from it in the near future.
What I do recommend, however, to everyone who wants to learn the truth about our economic situation is Chris Martenson's Peak Prosperity Crash Course. This free, step-by-step, online course is presented in 20 lessons and is the absolutely best real-world, Economics 101 teaching that I've yet to see. I dare say, if you pay attention to this 3.5 hour class, you'll probably end up knowing more about basic economics than you'd learn if you paid the big money for a college course and sat through months of classroom teaching.
Chris Martenson's Crash Course explains why the next 20 years will not be like the past 20 years when it comes to the economy. He recognizes that we are entering a whole new economic paradigm. What I like about the course is that it's not a gloom-and-doom presentation. Chris is upbeat, but he's upbeat because he's properly informed. We face harsh realities, but those who see and face the realities will be better prepared than those who never see the realities coming.
If you have a lot of financial resources, you need to take the Crash Course. If you are barely making ends meet, you need to take the Crash Course. After listening to Chris Marten's presentation you will be more informed than 99.9% of Americans. Regardless of your financial condition, ignorance is not bliss when it comes to economics, especially these days.
Looking forward to checking out these resources...thanks so much for sharing this info!
ReplyDelete~Lin
Thank you very much for the links you provided. I have been feeling a lot of pressure lately on whether to put in more hours at my day job vs working on the 10 acres the wife and I bought a year and a half ago. I am thinking I need to re-double my efforts on the land. I know our country is in trouble, but I hadn't thought about all the dollars outside of this country coming home to roost and what that would do to us.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the links.... important stuff.
ReplyDeleteI am half way through the course, it makes a lot of sense mainly because I had an economics professor in the 70s who had to write his own book as he had a lot of this stuff figured out. So I have seen a lot of this happening but nobody believes me, this fellow really has a good handle on it and so far it is really good. My old teacher kept telling us how 1965 was a pivotal year for just about everything.
ReplyDeleteSunnybrook Farm,
ReplyDeleteSome people have an ability to see the economic consequences of actions taken better than others, and your teacher must have been one of them. The problem is that the consequences often come many years later.
And one of the problems is, as Chris Martenson says, people (even the so-called experts) think, "this time it's different."
So the same mistakes are repeated as far as fiat money goes. But we face a completely new economic consequence with the indisputable factor of resource depletion. Martenson's teaching dovetails perfectly with Professor Walter Prescott Webb's Boom Hypothesis of Modern History. Perhaps your professor was aware of professor Webb's 1952 book, "The Great Frontier."
I'm glad to hear that you have stuck with the course to about half way. I think the first half is a little dry but what he teaches gets better as the course proceeds.
I am 3/4 through it and it is an eye opener. He has really done a good job on researching this. I feel like I should pass this along after I complete the course but sadly I don't know anyone off line who would take their head out of the sand long enough to take the course. Everyone seems to be rearranging the deck chairs and listening to the band on the Titanic.
ReplyDeleteQuiet here. Lot's of chips flying in the woodshop!
ReplyDeleteMuns
Hi Muns,
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm making sawdust. Lots of it. The clothespin project is progressing. My 2nd production run should be done by Saturday. I'll be back to blogging here soon.
Hi Herrick,
ReplyDeleteWe've subscribed to the McAlvany report since the mid 90's I hear people complaining about not having money, yet when I ask if they have cell phones, they share of course the newest version, do you have cable or satellite TV, of course is the reply with the biggest package too, also internet, WII's and all the technical innovations, of course the largest TV out there. *sigh* I ask them how much they pay for all of this stuff, and it never ceases to amaze me that even when the waste is staring them straight in the eyes, they still don't see it, why because it's an entitlement, they deserve to have those things. Maybe when they don't have the simple luxuries they will then see just how foolish they are, maybe not because there is always the blame game* double sigh* Missing your blogs, but understand all too well. I'm not blogging at all, have to elderly parents with many health issues, a farm( small as it may be) and my family to keep be busy. Blessings to you and yours, keep posting maybe someone will see the light!
Kelle on The Never Done Farm
Hi Kelle,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. The "phone thing" is something I've thought about a lot. People used to have one phone and it lasted for decades. My kids have the little phones and are continually getting new ones, along with changing to different phone services. It adds up to a LOT of money.
I asked my now-19 year old son if he can remember how many phones he has bought and owned in his life and he had to think about that awhile. It's the same with his friends. I refuse to own one, though I guess I do own one via my wife's, (but I don't know how to use it). She is only on her 2nd or 3rd one. :-)
And I can relate to being busy with parents that have health problems.
Best wishes.
I've never owned own a cell phone. We have one workstation with standard DSL. We use Magicjack for phone and a TV tuner card to periodically watch free over-the-air digital stations. We watch a little PBS and a lot of MeTv (vintage 50-70 TV shows). For movies we stream Netflix. Total bill for communications per month:
ReplyDeleteDSL: $52/month
MagicJack: $1.66/month
Netflix: $7.50/month
$61.19
Not bad - if necessary, we'd dump it all and get a track phone.
Regards,
Muns
Herrick, are you referring to the "free" part of the Crash Course or the part a reader would need to subscribe to? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteJulie-Anne,
ReplyDeleteI listened to the free one. Free is good. :-)