Is the US economy about to collapse?

By Julian Beltrame, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - North American markets roiled and the Canadian dollar tumbled Monday in the wake of the sale of New York investment bank Bear Stearns for a fraction of its former value, with some economists tentatively drawing comparison to the 1929 stock market crash.

The volatility began overseas after the U.S. Federal Reserve held an emergency meeting on Sunday and cut its key rate by one-quarter of a point and said it was willing to back-stop institutions with urgent loans.

In Canada, banking stocks took it on the chin as concerns spread about their level of exposure to the U.S. subprime fiasco, with the sector dropping 2.8 per cent in early afternoon trading, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSX: CM.TO) stock tumbled nearly five per cent.

http://ca.news.finance.yahoo.com/s/17032...

Is the US economy about to collapse?bridge loan

We are witnessing it before our eyes. We are in worse shape then in any of the previous economic downturns, including the Great Depression, because we have an all-time-record national debt, we are continuing to add to that debt with record budget deficits, we have record levels of personal debt, and we are borrowing record amounts from abroad. These countries abroad are tired of keeping our economy afloat. We have reached the point where we cannot borrow any more, and we can%26#039;t pay back what we owe. The country is essentially at the point where it must declare bankruptcy. We are in much worse shape then during the Carter Administration. Sure, we had double-digit inflation, but we had a very low national debt. That debt started to skyrocket during and after the Reagan Administration. We were able to pull ourselves out of the Great Depression with deficit spending in order to finance public works, and infrastructure projects, but we wont have that option, because we wont be able to borrow any money. Also, the cost of fuel and food is going to become a problem because of increase in global demand, and, apparently, declining supplies of fuel. Global oil production has probably already peaked, and is on its way down. Food production, and delivery is entirely dependent on oil. There is no way we are going to just pull ourselves out of this one. There is going to be a lot of suffering. That is the unfortunate truth. Hopefully, we will regain our sense of what is really important in life. Not money, not things, not going through life without a care in the world, except how to get around that butt who is only going 5 miles over the speed limit, and is in our way, while we%26#039;[re headed to the mall. I%26#039;m not religious, but, God save our souls!

Is the US economy about to collapse? loan

Where have you been? It%26#039;s already collapsed...|||No. We have had worst economies before, like the economy under Jimmy Carter. Stephen Harper is another one of those gloomy alarmists who are always speaking of end-day scenarios to try to scare people.

I have not even noticed the effects of the economy. Gas is a little higher, but other than that, I am living my normal life as usual.|||NO.~~|||No. Stock markets, currency markets, real estate markets, etc. fluctuate. This is a natural fluctuation. Everyone just needs to calm down.|||No.

I love Canadian humor!|||Not if you watch Fox News. Then again, according to them, WMDs were found in Iraq.|||no but i heard the territory of canada was denied statehood again|||If it does, it won%26#039;t be for a while.|||The article deals with what is happening in Canada. Don%26#039;t be fearmongering about the economy.|||It%26#039;s not that catastrophic. You are using Canadian reports. The Canadian economy is very dependent on the US economy. While 70% of the US economy is dependent on the US consumer. 75% of the Canadian economy is dependent on the US economy.

As the old saying goes, if the US sneezes Canada catches Pneumonia.|||Can I get bacon and beans from a gold pan?|||It depends on what you mean by %26quot;collapse.%26quot; The fed just proved they%26#039;re not letting the socialism program go anywhere anytime soon, so for the upper classes, it%26#039;ll bleed out a little but no big deal. For working class and lower things have been dropping since the mid-seventies and this is just a continuation of the trend.|||Jeez guys!

Recession in 91 and we survived...

Recession in 93 and we survived...

MONSTER recession in 2001 and we survived...

The economy GREW last quarter and yet...

DOOM AND GLOOM!

Yes, it is quite possible that when the Q1 numbers come out that the economy will have receded! In fact, it is a likelihood... But I will still get up every morning and go to work... I will still pick my kids up from school in the evenings and have dinner with them... I will probably still bbq with the neighbors on the weekends...

COLLAPSE??? The media has really gotten to you people, hasn%26#039;t it???|||The U.S. economy is like a rubber band. When it gets taught, the tendency is to snap things up cheaply, like the Bear Stearns buyout. Then there%26#039;s relief. The thing preventing a serious recovery from happening this time is the huge national debt, made worse by looming future deficits because of the war. Withdraw the troops and you%26#039;ll see a real recovery.|||yes if Obama or Hillary win|||No, as far as I am concerned, the economy is great. Fuel and food have increased slightly, but overall the economy is good.

I do wish the Fed would stop interfering with the market. We need to allow any corrections to occur and then move on.|||Yes.

Recently I had the opportunity to question Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke when he appeared before the congressional Joint Economic committee. The topic that morning was the state of the American economy, and many of my colleagues raised questions about how the Fed might better %26quot;regulate%26quot; things to ease fears of an economic downturn. The tenor of my colleagues%26#039; questions suggested that Mr. Bernanke%26#039;s job is nothing less than to run the U.S. economy, like some kind of Soviet central planner.

Certainly it鈥檚 true that Mr. Bernanke can drastically affect the economy at the drop of a hat, simply by making decisions about the money supply and interest rates. But why do members of Congress assume this is good? Why do we accept without objection that a small group of people on the Federal Reserve Board wields so much power over our economic well-being? Is centralized, monopoly control over our money even compatible with a supposedly free-market economy?

Few Americans give much thought to the Federal Reserve System or monetary policy in general. But even as they strive to earn a living, and hopefully save or invest for the future, Congress and the Federal Reserve Bank are working insidiously against them. Day by day, every dollar you have is being devalued.

The greatest threat facing America today is not terrorism, or foreign economic competition, or illegal immigration. The greatest threat facing America today is the disastrous fiscal policies of our own government, marked by shameless deficit spending and Federal Reserve currency devaluation. It is this one-two punch 鈥?Congress spending more than it can tax or borrow, and the Fed printing money to make up the difference 鈥?that threatens to impoverish us by further destroying the value of our dollars.

The Fed鈥檚 inflationary policies hurt older people the most. Older people generally rely on fixed incomes from pensions and Social Security, along with their savings. Inflation destroys the buying power of their fixed incomes, while low interest rates reduce any income from savings. So while Fed policies encourage younger people to overborrow because interest rates are so low, they also punish thrifty older people who saved for retirement.

The financial press sometimes criticizes Federal Reserve policy, but the validity of the fiat system itself is never challenged. Both political parties want the Fed to print more money, either to support social spending or military adventurism. Politicians want the printing presses to run faster and create more credit, so that the economy will be healed like magic 鈥?or so they believe.

Fiat dollars allow us to live beyond our means, but only for so long. History shows that when the destruction of monetary value becomes rampant, nearly everyone suffers and the economic and political structure becomes unstable. Spendthrift politicians may love a system that generates more and more money for their special interest projects, but the rest of us have good reason to be concerned about our monetary system and the future value of our dollars.

Ron Paul - April 10th, 2007

Ron Paul has been saying this for decades. Allowing the Federal Reserve to control interest rates (instead of the market itself), and having a dollar backed by NOTHING, by definition causes inflation.

Inflation is a TAX on the middle class and the poor. Low interest rates helps the people at the top of the %26quot;money pyramid%26quot; at the expense of the people at the bottom. Imagine how it would be to save all your life for retirement, and suddenly, in less than 5 years, the value of your savings is 1/2 of what it used to be.

More info...

www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul53.html

www.lewrockwell.com/hornberger/hornber...

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul436....|||Did you really have to copy and paste that? DUH, America%26#039;s economy is collapsing quicker than a 1,000 ft tower made of sugar in a fat camp.|||the majority (so far) responses here are a demonstration of the power of denial of the general public. Is it any wonder they elect %26quot;leaders%26quot; who sell them false simple %26quot;visions%26quot; .

denial never solved anything folks.|||yes, the Zionist bankers like the Rothschilds have broken all the rules that safeguarded a crash that were put in place since the 1930s and as a result the crash already happened last august.|||No, the economy is actually doing well. Fuel prices are high but other than that I%26#039;m doing well thanks!