I've written many times about inflation and the threat it poses to our economy. Just this past month, my articles on the subject include:
I'm far from alone in seeing what's coming. It's monetary inflation rather than price inflation that is the problem, as we discussed in my article titled "One of the scariest financial graphs I've ever seen".
Peter Schiff agrees. I strongly urge you to watch his sub-two-minute video below. He puts things in a nutshell.
He confirms my earlier article in almost every respect. So do recent articles from other authoritative sources (i.e. within the past week) concerning the problem. Click on any of these headlines for a sobering education in reality.
I'm not posting these headlines to scare you (although they scare me!), but to warn you: hard times are coming our way. Most of us, including yours truly, don't have very deep financial reserves, and our income is not sufficient to cope with soaring prices, particularly if they continue for years rather than months. Nevertheless, that's the reality we're facing, and we need to prepare as best we can right now if we're to cope with it.
I've written in the past about steps one can take to prepare for economic hard times. Those steps are still valid, and still useful. Above all else, however, I urge you to keep informed. As Jim Lovell famously said:
"There are people who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen, and there are people who wonder what happened."
If we allow ourselves to fall into the latter category, we're basically going to be economic roadkill. Most of us don't fall into the first category, either: we don't have sufficient influence (or money) to make things happen. However, if we watch things happening and take warning from them, we might be able to get out of the way of falling debris, or seize opportunities when they arise because we're watching for them, rather than just sitting around waiting for someone else to point them out. Make more money? Buy cheaper essential supplies? Move to an area where economic competition is less and chances to succeed are greater? If we're watchful, we can jump on those opportunities before others are aware of them.
Also, beware everybody who tries to sell you something because it's an "opportunity" in an inflationary era. Generally, they'll be wrong - but you don't want to be the experimental guinea-pig who proves that the hard way. Common sense remains as important as ever. In particular, beware those who'll try to tell you that taking on debt in an inflationary environment is a good thing, because you can pay off the debt in inflated dollars that are worth much less than the dollars you borrowed to buy something. That's a great idea - if, and only if, you're going to earn more of those inflated dollars. If you earn roughly the same amount, you're still saddled with crippling debt and not enough dollars to pay it off. I fear many of us will be in that position.
Our current Administration isn't helping. It intends to spend trillions of dollars on stimulus, infrastructure, and reshaping America in the progressive, left-wing, socialist image it prefers - but those dollars do not exist. They have to be created out of nothing by the Federal Reserve through bureaucratic handwavium. We've already looked at the catastrophic consequences that will probably cause.
Batten down the economic hatches, folks. It's going to be a long, hard ride.
Peter
I recently bought some emergency food for my Dad and I. And now they're predicting gas shortages this summer because so many of our effeminized males are majoring in Gender Studies and there's a shortage of truck drivers.
ReplyDeleteMan, I'm tired.
You've been predicting that MASSIVE inflation is coming SOON for the last decade. How are things different now? What does Hal Lindsey say?
ReplyDelete@plocb: Please see the linked articles above, and examine your own grocery bills over the past couple of years.
ReplyDeleteI rest my case.
My husband works in finance and has been warning about this for awhile. He says the fed is actively pursuing a strategy of higher inflation and I think he’s right. They’ve deliberately and artificially kept rates low for a long time and they are now trying to control the rebound. But it’s gained steam so quickly I don’t think they’ll be able to keep it under control.
ReplyDelete