20 Signs That The U.S. Economy Is Heading For Big Trouble In The Months Ahead
Economic Collapse
Feb 21, 2013
Is the U.S. economy about to experience a major downturn? Unfortunately, there are a whole bunch of signs that economic activity in the United States is really slowing down right now. Freight volumes and freight expenditures are way down, consumer confidence has declined sharply, major retail chains all over America are closing hundreds of stores, and the “sequester” threatens to give the American people their first significant opportunity to experience what “austerity” tastes like.
Gas prices are going up rapidly, corporate insiders are dumping massive amounts of stock and there are high profile corporate bankruptcies in the news almost every single day now. In many ways, what we are going through right now feels very similar to 2008 before the crash happened. Back then the warning signs of economic trouble were very obvious, but our politicians and the mainstream media insisted that everything was just fine, and the stock market was very much detached from reality. When the stock market did finally catch up with reality, it happened very, very rapidly. Sadly, most people do not appear to have learned any lessons from the crisis of 2008.
Americans continue to rack upstaggering amounts of debt, and Wall Street is more reckless than ever. As a society, we seem to have concluded that 2008 was just a temporary malfunction rather than an indication that our entire system was fundamentally flawed. In the end, we will pay a great price for our overconfidence and our recklessness.
So what will the rest of 2013 bring?
Hopefully the economy will remain stable for as long as possible, but right now things do not look particularly promising.
The following are 20 signs that the U.S. economy is heading for big trouble in the months ahead…
#1 Freight shipment volumes have hit their lowest level in two years, and freight expenditures have gone negative for the first time since the last recession.
#2 The average price of a gallon of gasoline has risen by more than 50 cents over the past two months. This is making things tougher on our economy, because nearly every form of economic activity involves moving people or goods around.
#3 Reader’s Digest, once one of the most popular magazines in the world, has filed for bankruptcy.
#4 Atlantic City’s newest casino, Revel, has just filed for bankruptcy. It had been hoped that Revel would help lead a turnaround for Atlantic City.
#5 A state-appointed review board has determined that there is “no satisfactory plan” to solve Detroit’s financial emergency, and many believe that bankruptcy is imminent. If Detroit does declare bankruptcy, it will be the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
#6 David Gallagher, the CEO of Town Sports International, recently said that his company is struggling right now because consumers simply do not have as much disposable income anymore…
“As we moved into January membership trends were tracking to expectations in the first half of the month, but fell off track and did not meet our expectations in the second half of the month. We believe the driver of this was the rapid decline in consumer sentiment that has been reported and is connected to the reduction in net pay consumers earn given the changes in tax rates that went into effect in January.“#7 According to the Conference Board, consumer confidence in the U.S. has hit its lowest level in more than a year.
#8 Sales of the Apple iPhone have been slower than projected, and as a result Chinese manufacturing giant FoxConn has instituted a hiring freeze. The following is from a CNET report that was posted on Wednesday…
The Financial Times noted that it was the first time since a 2009 downturn that the company opted to halt hiring in all of its facilities across the country. The publication talked to multiple recruiters.#9 In 2012, global cell phone sales posted their first decline since the end of the last recession.
The actions taken by Foxconn fuel the concern over the perceived weakened demand for the iPhone 5 and slumping sentiment around Apple in general, with production activity a leading indicator of interest in the product.
#10 We appear to be in the midst of a “retail apocalypse“. It is being projected that Sears, J.C. Penney, Best Buy and RadioShack will also close hundreds of stores by the end of 2013. CONTINUE READING
Chávez: Su regreso deja muchas interrogantes
A primeras horas de la mañana del 18 de febrero, el presidente de Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, tuiteaba que estaba de vuelta en Caracas, tras pasar más de dos meses en un hospital de La Habana.
El pasado 11 de diciembre, Chávez se sometió a una cuarta operación quirúrgica para tratar otro cáncer que se le acababa de descubrir. Chávez fue trasladado inmediatamente a un hospital militar envuelto en un gran velo de secretismo. Sin embargo, aún persisten enormes incertidumbres en relación con su estado de salud. ¿Está Chávez, a sus 58 años, realmente en el camino de la recuperación? ¿O está inmerso en las fases terminales de su lucha contra un agresivo cáncer?
Un exembajador venezolano observaba que “Lo único que ha cambiado es la localización de su aislamiento. La incertidumbre es la misma. Nada es seguro”. Desde un punto de vista político, la muerte en Caracas parece preferible a morir en tierra extranjera bajo la supervisión de los Castro, pues muchos venezolanos siguen preocupados por el desmedido papel de Cuba en el futuro político de su nación.
Ciertamente, el sigiloso modo de volver de Chávez, en plena noche, plantea preguntas respecto a su salud. Sin embargo, el gobierno continúa organizando concentraciones masivas para respaldar a su achacoso líder, que están motivadas, quizá de un modo cínico, por el deseo de aferrarse a la esperanza de que vuelva el comandante.
Los venezolanos se encuentran cada vez más molestos por la ausencia de Chávez, que ha dejado a la nación sin la adecuada investidura presidencial y teniéndose que enfrentar a una posible polarización de las elecciones presidenciales, en el caso de que Chávez no consiga recuperar las fuerzas suficientes como para gobernar. Anhelan lo que John Adams describió como un “gobierno de leyes y no de hombres”.
La confianza en el futuro del modelo económico populista de Chávez también ha decaído tras la reciente devaluación de su moneda, que ha hecho aumentar aún más la inquietud en torno a la inflación, los desorbitados precios de los alimentos y el aumento de la escasez de los mismos. Puede que el creciente laberinto de regulaciones, restricciones y controles de precios apacigüe la fuga de capitales, pero no la detendrá, mientras en el país continúa la creciente demanda por hacerse con escasos suministros.
De momento, el retorno de Chávez ha hecho poco por calmar la ansiedad acerca de cuál puede ser realmente el último capítulo de la vida del caudillo bolivariano.
Senators in Immigration Talks Mull Federal IDs for All Workers
By DANNY YADRON
![[image]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/P1-BK393_IDCARD_G_20130220200429.jpg)
Bloomberg News
A worker harvests bok choy at a California farm earlier this month.
The idea, signaled only in vaguely worded language from senators crafting a bipartisan immigration bill, has privacy advocates and others concerned that the law would create a national identity card that, in time, could track Americans at airports, hospitals and through other facets of their lives.
Vote
But at least five of the eight senators writing the bill have backed biometric ID cards in the past. At least three of them—Sens. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.), John McCain (R., Ariz.) and Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.)—have said they support requiring the cards under the new law but are open to other options, aides say.
The goal is to ensure that employers can learn the legal status of all new hires quickly, part of the effort to dissuade illegal immigrants from entering the country or seeking jobs. A system now in place, called E-Verify, matches prospective hires to a database of Social Security numbers and other data, but it can be foiled at times when illegal immigrants give stolen names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers.
The Senate group, in a statement guiding their work on a new law, called for workers to prove their legal status and identities through "non-forgeable electronic means." Senate aides said the language was intentionally broad because of the sensitivity of the issue. It leaves open several possibilities for how new hires would be required to prove they can legally work.
Mr. Graham, in an interview, said that in his mind the language refers to a requirement for biometric ID cards. "This is the public's way of contributing to solving the problem" of illegal immigration, Mr. Graham said. CONTINUE READING
