Everybody in the gov knows this, but the message to the unwashed masses is everything under control.  It's a runaway train but the public is being fed a line of sh1t.'

The debt is not possible to pay off even theoretically. Even if all government services were shut down today, all of them, even that would not suffice.  Anybody with an ounce of economic sense can see that. Titanic has hit the ice but hasn't sank yet. We are where Chernobyl nuclear power plant was after it lost control of the reactor but has not exploded yet.

Here is the crux of the matter, every gov in the history of the world that went through hyperinflation collapsed. It doesn't mean collapsed into the Dark Ages Mad Max no electricity type situaiton, no it means another regime emerged from the ashes.

Examples:

The Russian Empire in 1917. Why? Well, they printed the 'money' to finance WWI. Hyperifnlation was well underway before 1917 but after 1914.  They printed Rubles like crazy for the war and to pay off the benefits. 100 rubles was an enormous amount before the war, almost an annual salary and sometime before 1917 it became pocket change. Social unrest, no bread, no coal, trains stopped running, etc. etc. etc. Commies took over.

How about a couple of shining example from right here in the glorious US:

The Confederate government printed money to finance its war and caused massive inflation bordering on hyperinflation and collapsed. Yeah, I get it that correlation is not causation and the case can be made that  it had nothing to do with the collapse but I think people are seriously underestimating the role inflation played in the collapse of the Confederate government.

The Continental Congress. The one that started the war for Independence. It lasted for 13 years. From 1776 to 1789. It hyperinflated its currency, we got the saying "Not worth a Continental" from that era. And collapsed in 1789 when the new Constitution and a fundamentally new form of government was created on top of its ashes. It was no longer a Confederacy of states without a strong central gov. The new government of 1789  was a throwback to the Monarchy and a centralized government they just got rid of. Read the Anti-Federalist papers, many of the original founders were opposed to it.

One of the most glorious examples is of course the Nazi regime. I have no doubt they would not have risen to power had there been no massive hyperinflation of the 1920's.  It was inevitable. Just as the communists would have not risen to power if the czar had more economic understanding.

The money *is* the government. When the money collapses, so does the government.

Then there was Napolen. Remember what happened right before he came to power? Hint: The assignat.

The list goes on and on and on. And on.

Hyperinflation either collapses a government or completely alters it.  There will come a time when we will think, remember the lives we had before the year xxxx? When coke was 75 cents and gasoline 3 "dollars?"

So, do you plan on sharing where you 'cut and paste' from?

LOL

if you think "hyperinflation" caused all those collapses you're not very well versed in history

Just check and see what a dollar was worth when the Fed was created.

That, plus the $250+ trillion in unfunded pension/welfare liabilities.

The only reason we won't have hyperinflation in the foreseeable future is because we're the world's safe harbor. Pick a better place to park your money.

Being the prettiest horse at the glue factory is indeed a  big advantage.

Being the best horse on the ranch will probably keep you out of the glue factory.

Even the best horse on the ranch will end up at the glue factory if every one continually rides in the wagon that horse is pulling, instead of some getting out and helping to push every once in a while.

Never mind.

I think it's unlikely.
It is a scary thought for those that keep cash for emergencies.
Where to convert cash for gold.......
My FA told me years ago to have many years worth of consumables on hand and preferably bought on sale and that has been very good advice.

+1

Result, not cause

We all will die.

We're being chased by a bear.  We don't have to be the fastest guy on the planet, we just have to be faster than the rest of the group.

Right now, we're the best gig going.

Chris

The USA, EU, China, Japan, and England are all doing the same financial suicide pact.  The US is the worst offender because it’s the world’s reserve currency and other countries absorb its inflation.

Therefore, the US will fall the hardest.  The others will also suck severely.  The real place to be is in none of them.

But yes, in the meantime we have the best standard of living because we are making the biggest mistakes and maxing out a bigger credit card.

Concur it's inevitable.  We just don't know when.  Russia, China, Japan, Turkey and many other nations have accelerated the dumping their Treasuries.  Even if China isn't dumping it, they've been depositing some in California banks as collateral to buy real property.  Also consider that the Petro-Yuan in its very short existence is involved in 12% of the oil trade.  Not that the petro-yuan is going to challenge the petro-dollar as the world's reserve currency, the Chinese want the IMF's SDR but that 12% is substantial drop in demand for the dollar.

It is not any foreign threat that ruined the dollar but the policies of the government and the Fed itself.   BathHouse Barry policy of denying access to SWIFT to Iran resulted in Iran showing the world how to bypass the dollar in trade.  Fed Chair Osama Ben Ber Nank for quantitative easing or money printing without a corresponding increase in goods; thereby destroying the dollar and alarming the world).  Janet Yellen the Felon for continuing Ber Nank's policy of easy money - at least she said the dollar was not a good store of value.

While America remains distracted by Muh Russia, my libturd rites, illegal immigration, what really matters on the financial markets pass unnoticed.  Perception management in 'murica is great!

Pretty sure you are preaching to the choir here OP.

Do you have a unique insight on living better though an economic collapse? How to profit and live well? Something a bit more than tell us what we already know?

Inflation appears unavoidable. Hyper inflation might be avoided for awhile.

I heard a quote on tv once regarding the 2008 "crisis" that said that "When the US sneezes, other countries get the flu."

I occasionally see an article on Venezuela and I admit, it fascinates me.  Their currency is tanking so they are clamoring for American dollars and bitcoin.  Barter is king there, too.  As fascinating as Venezuela is to read about, I'm not sure that it's a good analogue for what would happen here if the dollar started to hyper-inflate.  Other countries flee to the dollar when their currencies fail...what would Americans flee to in a similar situation?  I personally think that it would be bitcoin.  Everybody has a smart phone and can get a wallet set up in minutes to begin trading with other people, even without an exchange.

Bitcoin has a fatal flaw. Its designed around 2400 transactions every ten minutes.

No world currency is viable if it can only handle 240 transactions per minute.

As long as we have the petrodollar we can quanatative ease without hyper inflation.

The insanely overvalued market is likely to collapse before we experience hyperinflation.

LOL!

How many times has it already in the past 100+ years?

Not MUH MARKET!!!

American's favorite pastime -fooling themselves, one sucker at a time.

[Talk about suckers, man did I get suckered in a recent Estate issue]

Can we get a translation here?

Reads like notes from an Economic History class.

1) it wasn't hyperinflation that brought down the Article of Confederation, it was the state's refusing to pay taxes. The national government couldn't pay debt or grow the country as a result. The "many founding fathers" opposed to it numbered 12. The BoR was the result of their opposition.

2) not worth a continental was not for a lack of banking, but from a lack of central currency. States printed their own and taxed goods crossing their borders. Without a central bank to back it, Continentals had no means of distribution since it would compete against private banks own currency.

3) the confederacy did not collapse as a result of inflation. The Currency acts of 1862 and 1863 did, which, in part, made it illegal to do trade with confederate currency.

Acceptability is a key feature of currency, if nobody can or will use your currency, then it has no value.

I'd go on but my thumbs are tired and it's late. FYI, I love this stuff and have a PhD in Economics. While my concentration is micro based, monetary policy is a blast to teach.

Central banking = fraud and always will.

Paper currency can be sound, like Colonial Scrip, but almost always ends up turning into a fraud too.  Too easy to print too much.

The only constitutional form of money is gold and silver. No paper. Zero. Nada.

Fraudulent socialist Keynesian economics is nothing more than theft and redistribution.  Garbage.

This is the correct answer

Currency used to be in gold and silver. The constitution  specifically authorizes “to coin in gold and silver” because it has intrinsic value. It had intrinsic value because when countries coined gold and silver, whose name was on it didn’t matter much, they all had the same value and if you wanted more, somebody had to mine it, smelt it, pour it, and coin it. It wasn’t made out of dead trees.

With fiat currency, it can be made cheap. With computerized accounts it is made with strokes on a keyboard at will. Nobody ever has to print it. The fed reserve is a private bank. It never gets audited. Nobody knows how much or when they create new dollars. They make dollars at will. If that is not a ripe situation for fraud and theft nothing is.

The fed is privately owned. You can not buy stock in the fed. Nobody even knows who owns it. There are no public names. They buy treasuries but do not need a return on that money because they don’t need to show a profit. They don’t need to show a profit because they don’t get audited and they can make dollars at will. It is a criminal organization with the ability to make dollars at will. Those treasuries they buy never have to see the light of day again. They can just sink into the black hole of the fed giving the US govt all the money it wants.

The fed is a scam on the American people. The good news is because it is such a great gig, they will never let the scam collapse as long as the dollar is the world’s reserve currency it can continue. As soon as it is not the worlds reserve currency then the dollar will float in the international market based on how much the fed creates new money, but if that were to ever happen, they will just do it on the sly and since they never get audited it will go unreported and hard to track.

The people that own and control the fed reserve own and control the swamp. They are the plantation masters and we are all the slaves.

Wait I think I hear helicopters.,.,,,,black helicopters matter.,,...

he who controls the spice (monetary system) controls the universe (planet)

Some folks like shiny yellow stuff.

Attached File

That gold chart is deceptive.  We know the Russians and the Chinese both have a lot more gold than those figures show.  A lot of  'stans have been stacking physical too.  Those nations share our view about the fate of fiat.

I know.  Using published figures is surprising enough, the amount undisclosed would probably introduce a change your underwear moment for many.

With a maximum issue of only 21 million,   BITCOIN may turn out to be the RAREST monetary "unit of account" in the universe

In before FerFal!
haha.
Been through somewhat hyperinflation. It sucks really badly. All your savings and tangible assets are basically squashed. You go from being comfortable to barely able to afford rent and in some cases, a loaf of bread.
Saw it happen sort of first hand in Zimbabwe. Family would come over with trunk loads of cash to buy Rands, because the Zim$ wasn't worth anything.

Another fatal flaw with bitcoin is the fact that it will experience "deflation" at some point...

A controlled amount of inflation is good for an economy because it means your money is not getting any more valuable. It can buy more today than tomorrow which encourages you to spend and keep the economy rolling.

BTC has a finite supply (new bitcoins become exponentially more difficult to "mine"). Once bitcoin reaches that point then the scarcity of the bitcoin will make it more valuable to hang onto (it will be more valuable tomorrow).

People look at bit coin as an investment rather than a currency.  That is the opposite of what it was designed to be. Once people have lost faith in its ability to be a currency I can't understand how it will be valuable as an investment either.

@ad_nauseam

if hyperinflation is immediately pending, why don't you just take out a ton of debt?

after all, once hyperinflation happens you can pay all your debt back for next to nothing.

example:

before hyperinflation:
- you have 50K/year salary.
- you take out a 30 year loan for a million dollars.  (that's about $5K/month at 4.5% apr)

after hyperinflation:
- you have 1M/year salary.
- you pay off 1 million dollar loan in one year.

this seems like the easiest method ever to acquire huge tracts of valuable real estate.

so, are you loading up on debt?  what sort of debt?  what kinds of assets are you financing?

So it sounds like you're your saying its time for me to take on as much debt as creditors will allow me?

This suggests to me that creditors will be soaked. And we are all debtors and creditors at the same time.

The realistic scenario, when you go into debt for 1 million, due to hyperinflation, won't be able to pay it off because in an economic collapse, even $50K/year jobs will be impossible.
It might theoretically get that bad.

Kind of like the scenario during the Great Depression where people were losing farms because they could not pay $20 or $50 for the loans.

but I think in an inflationary climate, it's better to be a debtor than creditor.

But it's not really that simple. If everyone buys stuff and goes into debt, it makes things more expensive. Loaning has become easier in the 90's, the real estate prices went up 4 times it seems since the early 90's.  Based on the anecdotal evidence I see around me.

if the creditors get soaked, they will pass this into the rest of us.

I just listened to the Rogan podcast with Peter Schiff. His view is about the same as OP.

I think Trump knows this.  The only hope we have is to get a roaring economy going to try to grow out of the debt.  I know it's a slim, slim chance, and there are a hundred ways it will fail, but it's really the only chance we have.

We have made it so long because we are the firmest patty in the pasture.  As bad as we are, the rest of the world is much worse.

I almost saw it happen firsthand in the 90's with the Ruble -- well almost.  Never lived to see that but people's life savings turned into pocket change.

Any paper currency without any foundation is not immune to that. Not only that, but it's inevitable. I recall the former S.U. had several hyperinflations. The first was during 91 that completely destroyed the ruble or so and there was the second wave in the late 90's -- was it 1997 that destroyed the 1991-1997 ruble, where they changed the currency again.

This is our future:









Here is a 2-week salary in 1986:

Which state pension plan do you consult for?  

 Those don't even look like they're worth a Continental

Or a Confederate dollar.

Old German guy who was a kid when the Allied bombers bombed his city told me that he remember the old marks being used as wallpaper.