On only one other occasion have I ever pre-empted the regular inspirational column and that was on October 18, 2005 telling readers that real estate was at or near its top and prices would soon fall and keep on falling. Unfortunately, that is what happened and the fall is continuing.
Today, I’m giving you a frightening financial alert, so that you can protect yourself. Whether you live in the U.S. or elsewhere, you will be affected. We’ll return to our regular column next week.
When “How To Protect Yourself From The Coming Financial Crisis” was first published on my other website www.saneramblings.com on November 20, 2007, it predicted the value of the dollar would get cut in half, real estate would lose 1/3 of its value, millions would lose their jobs and the price of gas would go up.
At that time, just 7 months ago, it was hard for people to accept these predictions could happen. But what a 7 months it has been.
At that time, a barrel of oil traded for $99, today (6/30) it trades for $140. The dollar has lost 20% of its value, real estate prices are falling and hundreds of thousands of people are losing their jobs. And our economy has begun an inflationary spiral that will soon be felt by everyone.
In 2009, our economy is going to collapse, the worst since the Great Depression. You will see much higher interest rates and tremendous fallout from the crashing real estate market and from crumbling financial institutions. Gasoline prices and availability are anyone’s guess.
To postpone the impact of this coming financial disaster, cynically U.S. politicians have tried to assure the public and stoke the economy until after the November elections.
The U.S. government told the American people and the world things were fine. When they were proven wrong, they bailed out Bear Stearns, lowered interest rates which snowballed the dollar’s decline, borrowed $168 billion and sent it out as tax rebates and borrowed even more money to expand their military spending, while pursuing tax cuts for the wealthy.
With such convoluted policies, it’s no wonder the U.S. economy is falling apart and it will take global economies with it.
The good news is all of these rapidly growing problems can be fixed, but under new leadership, and as Americans, only with your and my involvement.
If you don’t like high gas and grocery prices, and America’s future being drained by war, you’re going to have to raise your voice and let the government know you mean business. For it is your government, not the Pentagon’s, not the lobbyists’ and not the politicians’.
In the meantime, you and I have each other. If you go to www.saneramblings.com and click on “How To Protect Yourself …” and review the postings since November 20th, you’ll find numerous ways to save money or to take other constructive actions to protect yourself. And I encourage you to share your ideas there as well.
We are headed for tough times but together we will get through them. As a result of the pain we will suffer, we will become more politically active, for if we don’t we’ll be ruled by fanatics and our Constitution will be a memory. We’ll also become much wiser and more compassionate to others in need for we will better understand what it is like to be them.
