There is an argument to be made that Donald Trump and Republicans would be better off losing this upcoming election, largely because the nation is poised on the brink of what likely will be economic and financial collapse.
You don’t have to be Nostradamus to predict this sort of thing. In fact, I’ve made similar predictions in the past.
In 2000, it was clear George W. Bush was inheriting a NASDAQ tech bubble that had burst in March of that year and would lead to tough sledding for the nation. Little did we know that the seeds already had been sowed for the 911 terror attacks that would come months after Bush finally had been certified as the winner.
It was rough going for the United States, but we bounced back, in part because the nation was not in nearly as bad fiscal shape back then. The 2000 national debt was listed at $6 trillion. Fast-forward to 2024 and it’s an admitted $36 trillion, but some argue it actually is in the $200-plus trillion range if the unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare are included.
By the end of Bush’s second term, we were mired in the so-called Great Financial Crisis of 2007-08 and Barack Obama was swept into office.
As bad as they were, that 2000 tech bust, and the housing/real estate bust that inspired the 2007-08 financial collapse, were mere preludes to what we now face.
You probably are not aware, but gold, a canary in the coal mine of economic and financial distress, hit an all-time high above $2,700 an ounce Friday on the spot market. It’s little brother in the precious metals area, silver, was up more than $2 an ounce just Friday alone, to the $33.75 or so an ounce mark. This is well below the all-time highs of $50 give or take in 1980 and 2011, but it’s trending strongly.
You might hear the term BRICS being tossed around. This is a economic bloc named for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, but others have joined. They are trying to get out from under the yoke of the U.S. dollar, which sees this nation shutting out some nations from world trade and also arbitrarily seizing their assets.
There is talk that this coming week’s BRICS confab will produce a gold-backed currency to compete with the dollar. I think this is premature and expect to see gold and silver sell off this week. But, long term, both precious metals should have great upside.
The high-flying stock market might continue its surge for a time, too, but it is on borrowed time, as it was in 2000 and 2007-08.
We got out of those previous collapses. But, to stress again our debt situation, this nation and the world were in much stronger financial shape back then.
China is having economic distress, with the tried-and-true measure of government stimulus being tried to pull that nation out of its spiral. Germany’s economy is struggling, Japan is having a crisis with its currency, the Yen.
And on. And on. And on.
Things are on the bleak side and easily could fall apart quickly.
And that means the candidate and party that win this election could come up big-time losers in the long run.
Sam Ross Jr's site 