If one listens to the press, all of a sudden the economic world that was in total free fall all of two months ago is suddenly not that bad. So, which is it? Is the world on the verge of total economic collapse or are we all living in a world where we just might make it out alive.
I don’t know, I’m not an economist, but I will point out a few things and let you decide.
Foreclosures continue to rise while property values continue to plummet. Not fall, plummet. Some areas of the nation are seeing property values falling by nearly half.
Bank or America, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Citibank have all reported better than expected results but there is significant discussion on how and when to release the bank stress test results. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?
Both California and North Carolina have record unemployment
General Growth Properties, the second largest shopping mall operator in the world, declared bankruptcy due to unmanageable debt and a loss of contracts.
Venture Capital investments are at their lowest in 12 years, this means new ideas are now being fueled… new businesses are not starting….
The US has lost 4,197,371 jobs since February 2008 and the layoffs continue in waves
For some reason Ben Bernanke sees positive signs in the economic situation and is “fundamentally optimistic” about where we are doing.
So, what do you think?
Maybe Bernanke and company is looking at information unavailable to the rest of the public but all that I see is negative. I want to see true signs of recovery, I want to see that the nation – and the world – is turning around but I simply don’t. I simply cannot believe that things have turned for the positive. If the banks were strong – truly strong – the stress test results would be released without debate as to how to do so. If things were bottoming – let alone growing – the layoffs would not be continuing at such a large clip.
Bottom line, for me, I think the worst is yet to come. GM and/or Chrysler will go into bankruptcy, major banks will go under or be nationalized, and unemployment will continue to rise – I still believe 10% is going to happen this year.
So, what do you think? Am I missing something?
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