SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) Warning, tighten your belts, Americas new Age of Austerity is already here, today. There I said it. I admit it. And you better too. Prepare now. Could be like the 1930s depression austerity.
Youve seen the warnings all across the major newspapers about a global slowdown. But why no warnings of austerity dead ahead? Why? Americas still deep in denial. We prefer happy talk to the truth. No, nobody will get honest about austerity till after the elections. Then itll hit hard.
Unemployed men in February 1931 queued outside a depression soup kitchen opened in Chicago by Al Capone. Wake up. You were warned: Americas new Age of Austerity is already here.
Till the elections, nobody else will tell you the truth about what comes with this slowdown: Plan on classic economic austerity. Maybe not austerity as deep as the euro zones Spain and Greece. Yet maybe deeper than the 1930s as Nobel economist Paul Krugman writes in his new book, End This Depression Now.
Yes, Americas already in a depression. Wake up America, to a long bear market, a recession cycle, to austerity where everything slows down, income, jobs, retail, global trade, and market returns. Listen to the latest warnings just last week:
Wall Street Journal warns New Signs of a Global Slowdown
Weak reports in U.S., Europe and China suggest economies are slipping in sync. Yes, a global economic slowdown is in sync. Not just a typical summer market dip. Not even a double-dip recession. But a dark long scenario weve all been fearing. And with it, deep, dark austerity.
Los Angeles Times warns: Europes woes put drag on world growth
even powerhouse Germany may be faltering. Not just the euro zone, but reports of economic trouble are turning up in China, India, South Africa, Brazil and elsewhere. Austerity is here.
New York Times headline fans the flames of a metastasizing global contagion: Chinas Output Slows Sharply: Ripples Feared. Nationwide real estate downturn, stalling exports and declining consumer confidence. Yet China was totally predictable. A few months ago our headline read: World Bank warns: China is a ticking time bomb. Now, kaboom.
Foreign Policy: Yes, austeritys coming, and maybe with it, a new president: Five World Events That Could Swing the U.S. Election headlined the latest Foreign Policy. And any one could also totally alter the trajectory of a economic slowdown or recovery. Polls show jobs and the economy are the most important issue for them in choosing a president. But those five global events could send the economy and the election careening along a very different path than the one its traveling down today: Iranian showdown; European nose dive; Chinese economic slowdown; domestic terrorist attack; and an Unknown Unknown, an unpredictable Black Swan killer.
read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/warning-americas-new-age-of-austerity-starts-now-2012-05-29
_________________ SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
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