The Religion of Fear Returns!

I hope to have something more uplifting to post before Christmas. The subject of impending doom has crossed my internet desk several times over the past week or so. So  I feel prompted to comment on it.

Those of you who have been alive for a certain period of time have no doubt gone through several waves 1960s nostalgia. It’s the X anniversary of the Summer of Love, March on Washington, Woodstock, blah, blah, blah. Much of this is tied in with the rise, decline and now retirement of a major demographic group. And some of it can be attributed to the genuinely historic nature of the events of the times. Why some events and times, such as two world wars, are not prone to cycles of fond remembrance whereas others are is a mystery.  Interest in the Civil War and the Gay 90s went on and on. The happier 1920s and 1980s went without reflection. There appears to be no real rhyme nor reason to it, no telling what is going to become the target of a wave of nostalgia nor when the next wave will come in.*

Or very little. What you can predict with some regularity are swings in general fashion—hemlines and necklines plunging, followed by the sudden concealment of flesh. (When times are good, the girls get naked. When life sucks, they mummy up.) When times are actually bleak, predictions of “green shoots” and “recovery around the corner” abound.  And when a recovery is actually in progress, the “snap back into the crap” predictions come out.

It seems as if we are indeed in the midst of an economic recovery, if the two following gems of misanthropy are any clue. This first one is from my Yahoo scroll. The headline was something along the lines of “Billionaire Predicts New Depression On Its Way.”

The United States could soon become a large-scale Spain or Greece, teetering on the edge of financial ruin.

That’s according to Donald Trump, who painted a very ugly picture of where this country is headed. Trump made the comments during a recent appearance on Fox News’ “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren.”

According to Trump, the United States is no longer a rich country. “When you’re not rich, you have to go out and borrow money. We’re borrowing from the Chinese and others. We’re up to $16 trillion in debt.”

He goes on to point out that the downgrade of U.S. debt is inevitable.

“We are going up to $16 trillion [in debt] very soon, and it’s going to be a lot higher than that before he gets finished. When you have [debt] in the $21-$22 trillion, you are talking about a downgrade no matter how you cut it.”

Ballooning debt and a credit downgrade aren’t Trump’s only worries for this country. He says that the official unemployment rate of 8.2 percent “isn’t a real number” and that the real figure is closer to 15 percent to 16 percent. He even mentioned that some believe the unemployment rate to be as high as 21 percent.

“Right now, frankly, the country isn’t doing well,” Trump added, “Recession may be a nice word.”

While 15 percent to 16 percent unemployment, a looming credit downgrade, and ballooning debt are a bleak outlook for the United States, they are hardly as alarming as the scenario laid out by another economist.

Without earning celebrity status or having his own television show, Robert Wiedemer did something else that grabbed headlines across the country: He accurately predicted the economic collapse that almost sank the United States.

In 2006, Wiedemer and a team of economists foresaw the coming collapse of the U.S. housing market, equity markets, private debt, and consumer spending, and published their findings in the book America’s Bubble Economy.

But Wiedemer’s outlook for the U.S. economy today makes Trump’s observations seem almost optimistic.

Where Trump sees ballooning debt and a credit downgrade, Wiedemer sees much more widespread economic destruction.

In a recent interview for his newest book Aftershock, Wiedemer says, “The data is clear, 50% unemployment, a 90% stock market drop, and 100% annual inflation . . . starting in 2012.”

When the host questioned such wild claims, Wiedemer unapologetically displayed shocking charts backing up his allegations, and then ended his argument with, “You see, the medicine will become the poison.”

The interview has become a wake-up call for those unprepared (or unwilling) to acknowledge an ugly truth: The country’s financial “rescue” devised in Washington has failed miserably.

The blame lies squarely on those whose job it was to avoid the exact situation we find ourselves in, including current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Chairman Alan Greenspan, tasked with preventing financial meltdowns and keeping the nation’s economy strong through monetary and credit policies.

At one point, Wiedemer even calls out Bernanke, saying that his “money from heaven will be the path to hell.”

But it’s not just the grim predictions that are causing the sensation; rather, it’s the comprehensive blueprint for economic survival that’s really commanding global attention.

The interview offers realistic, step-by-step solutions that the average hard-working American can easily follow.

The overwhelming amount of feedback to publicize the interview, initially screened for a private audience, came with consequences as various online networks repeatedly shut it down and affiliates refused to house the content.

Bernanke and Greenspan were not about to support Wiedemer publicly, nor were the mainstream media.

“People were sitting up and taking notice, and they begged us to make the interview public so they could easily share it,” said Newsmax Financial Publisher Aaron DeHoog, “but unfortunately, it kept getting pulled.”

“Our real concern,” DeHoog added, “is what if only half of Wiedemer’s predictions come true?

“That’s a scary thought for sure. But we want the average American to be prepared, and that is why we will continue to push this video to as many outlets as we can. We want the word to spread.”

You will note the somewhat stilted syntax of the above. I have not so much edited it as I have removed the links which were seeded into various “boom points” within the story. The intention of this form of copy writing is for the reader to stop reading it and click away to whatever our presenter is hawking. Like all news scrolls offered by free portals, the Yahoo feed is loaded with a number of disguised ads.

This one has a bit of hair on it. When first run it probably mentioned Donald Trump prominently in the headline. Trump’s a curious bird amongst the rich boy set. He seems willing to endorse all sorts of dubious deals. He even plays a game show host on television.

The ad is, of course, for Aftershock, a seemingly new book by the prominently mentioned Robert Wiedemer. If you read the dated text closely, Wiedemer is already wrong. 2012 turned out to be a fine year, as did 2013 and 2014. So if none of the crap Wiedemer predicted as starting to happen in 2012 came true, what possible predictive value could Aftershock have? Trust me, a book explaining why Aftershock was wrong is not forthcoming. Once remaindered editions of Aftershock are sold, Wiedemer will simply write another book.

Or Newsmax will find another fraud to promote. Sadly Newsmax has been peddling a lot of these junk survivalist economic schemes of late. And the Motley Fool bunch isn’t much better. I would be tempted to cover them both as Frauds The News if their appeals weren’t so entirely repetitive. When it comes to claims like this, always keep in mind two things: (1) No one has supernatural powers. No one can predict the future of anything, much less markets and (2) If they could, the last thing they would do is publicize it. When it comes to Newsmax and others, beyond books, what they are out to sell are vastly overpriced (and under sourced) tip sheets. For the price of even one of these dubious publications, you can subscribe to all of the major business magazines.

By the way,  Robert Wiedemer did not predict anything sensational in his last book. Instead he threw spaghetti at the wall, claiming the entire world was coming to an end, largely during the time the crisis was actually going on. That’s not prediction. That’s not even good commentary.

(Aftershock is a take off on Future Shock, the title of the only predictive book on the near future ever written. That book was accurate, although more in describing the end game of trends which were already evident than it was in predicting the emergence of anything new. The whole racket was started by Thomas Malthus, who was also wrong on a rather spectacular level.)

Next up on our parade of the woefully fantastic is my pen pal Bruce Porteous. I got my start in blogging responding to Bruce’s love bombing of various newsgroups. The following is his latest missive:

  

THE COMING GLOBAL ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

The global economy survived the crisis of 2008 by governments printing and borrowing money to prevent the collapse of the global banking system.  While this has temporary saved the world from economic collapse at the time, nothing has been done to correct the problems that caused the crisis in the first place.  As a consequences the world is now about to experience a far worse economic disaster than what caused the 2008 crisis.

The causes of the previous crisis were:

1.       Governments operating on large deficits financed with borrowed money.

2.       Large consumer debts financed by a highly liquid banking system.

3.       A shift of capital from investment in goods and services into speculative activities.

4.       An insolvent banking system

5.       A growing welfare budget to support an ageing population

6.       Governments draining the productive sectors of the economy to support regulatory environment to support their socialistic agendas, subsidies and military adventurism.

WHAT IS THE CURRENT SITUATION

As a result of governments printing money since the last crisis to purchase government debt and prop up an insolvent banking system, the world is now awash with liquidity.  Yet this newly created money has not restored the global economy to health. Rather it created an economic time-bomb, waiting for the fuse to be lit. Many governments around the world are still suffering from:

1.       High unemployment

2.       Budget and current account deficits

3.       Low economic growth.

4.       Growing gulf between rich and poor.

5.       Unsustainable Government debt.

6.       Rising property prices

7.       Over investment into production, causing a collapse in commodity prices.

WHAT IS EXPECTED TO HAPPEN NEXT?

Sadly it will take another crisis to bring about the necessary changes.

Changes necessary will not be made unless governments are forced to give up their independence - they would rather resort to military conflict than give up their sovereignty to preserve the benefits of a privileged few in power than care for the welfare of their citizens.  

Many economies are now in deep trouble.  China has unsustainable local government and corporate debt.  Japan’s government debt threatens the survival of theirs and the world’s economy.  North America Government debt is now so large that the USA is technically bankrupt. The Russian economy is in danger of unravelling. Many EU countries are in a similar position.  The world is sitting on a political and economic powder-keg.

Already we are seeing the growing threat in Asia, especially between China and Japan. In Europe the conflict between Russia and the EU could quickly evolve into a much large war. Meanwhile the USA and its allies continue to engage in conflict in the Middle East.  These conflicts can only worsen.

The one nation that has opposed the print and borrow policies is Germany, but Germany cannot save the world alone. Chancellor Angelika Merkel acknowledges that the only solution of reviving the EU economy is by creating a Federal United States of Europe.  The fear that unless Europe can form a Federal European Government, it will be unavoidable to save the EU economy from unravelling. A new Federal EU Government would take over the debts of member states, managed by single Central Bank and with the power to tax similar to the USA today.  It is becoming clear that the UK will no longer be a part on this new EU Government.

This new Federal Europe would be dominated by Germany, the only nation with the economic power to bring about the changes, creating a new super-power that will have the economic muscle to bring out the reforms to restore a shattered global economy.  It will be this new Global Super-Power which will have the capacity to restore a new world order.

CHANGES THAT NEED TO BE MADE TO SAVE A COLLAPSE

Governments cannot continue printing money without inflation eventually causing loss of value in the currency.  No longer can economic growth be achieved with borrowed and printed money. Rather there needs to be drastic changes on how the global economy is managed.  We now live in an inter-connected world where national boundaries are circumnavigated by multi-national corporations and money speculators. There needs to be a world government to oversee the management of the global economy.

The economic and social changes that will need to be made are:

1.       A single global currency

2.       One global taxation system – a flat tax system.

3.       Removal of trade tariffs allowing global free trade.

4.       Reform of the world’s banking system, directing capital into productive enterprises rather than speculation. To be monitored by the IMF.

5.       Land reform – property ownership rights protected.

6.       A common global legal system.

7.       Reform of state welfare system – reduction in the role of the State in providing welfare to what nations can afford.

8.       Management of the planet’s environment to prevent a break-down of the world’s eco-system.

 To cut Bruce some slack, he’s not out to sell anything. Instead, he’s simply deeply disturbed. (Entirely my opinion. I am not a medical doctor.) Bruce has been narrowcasting versions of the above rap since 2001 or so. Twice bankrupt, Bruce is best known for a scheme to sell citizens of South Korea escape visas to a cannibal infested island. (Long story short. I am not making this up.)  Originally Bruce had another contention that he was out to promote and it’s somewhat distressing to see the current direction his philosophy has taken.

He used to be out to tell you that the world was coming to an end, that the intercession of divine justice was in the offing. Now, if I read this correctly, he is advocating global socialism. That is when he’s not slamming socialism as a vice. Frankly, it doesn’t make a lick of sense. If you compare it to the promotion for Robert Wiedemer you will see the same underlying appeal.

Bruce used to belong to a cult which specifically targeted the mentally ill. Like Newsmax, it peddled a number of survivalist schemes. Bruce is a victim of cult think, desperately attempting to salvage failed predictions by grafting on timely notions. Newsmax, by contrast, is just lying.

Both Newsmax and the cult are essentially out to fleece the mentally ill. It’s a sick and evil business, with several well used models. Essentially they take a timely cocktail of everything bad and then shove it in a direction. In the cult business, when a dour economy isn’t present, they literally talk about the weather.

I’ve never been sure of how to handle it here. Is it a branch of fiction or is it a defective consumer product? What the End of The World really is is a bad lie. It gets told. It gets exposed. It gets retold.  And the world moves on.

I am putting Newsmax on our Fraud Watchlist. Given that Robert Wiedemer seems to be beyond his use by date, nothing further need be detailed on his works. We will be covering Newsmax's further antics. As for Bruce, I hope he eventually recovers his sanity. (Again, it is only my opinion that he ever was sane and is now not so.) It’s been a long wait, but where there is life there is hope.

*There probably is a method for determining what may become nostalgia worthy, but I have not come across it.

Note:

The Pulp Today project ran into a bit of a snag. I am currently cataloging the number of genres and subgenres there were in pulp fiction. Once I am through, we will go forward.