$3.5 Trillion Roundtrip Back to Square One

Join me on my time machine for a short trip to the past … and then into the future.

We begin two and a half years ago,
in early 2008 …

We see the U.S. economy beginning to hit the skids. The housing market is plunging — the worst declines in home sales and the most foreclosures of all time.

Consumer confidence and retail sales are cratering; manufacturing, biting the dust.

Despite sharp intermediate rallies, the stock market begins to sink.

Next, we return to July 25, 2010,
and take a quick look around …

Once again, the economy is hitting the skids, the housing market in trouble. Home sales are falling, foreclosures mounting. Consumer confidence and retail sales are cratering. And despite mini-rallies, the stock market is wobbly, more vulnerable to a decline than at any time since the debt crisis.

There is, however, one significant difference between today and 2008: Thanks to President Bush’s massive bank bailouts (at least $700 billion), President Obama’s giant stimulus program (nearly $800 billion) and the Fed’s money printing (about $2 trillion), we are now trillions of dollars deeper in debt!

All told, this bailout-stimulus-money-printing enterprise has cost America an outrageously expensive $3.5 trillion … and all we’ve bought is a roundtrip back to square one!

Last, we fast-forward to the future
to consider this scenario …

The economy is back down to where it was in March of 2009, before the latest so-called recovery.

The stock market is also near its March 2009 levels.

The credit markets are freezing up again, just like they were during that period.

Our entire nation is again teetering at the edge of the same cliff as it was back then.

In this situation, will the U.S. government try to do the very same crazy things it did last time, while expecting different results? Yes.

Isn’t that a classic symptom of insanity? Yes.

But in this scenario of the future,
there are also some critical differences …

Two massive forces — forces that dwarf Washington in terms of sheer economic power — tie our leaders’ hands well before they have the chance to blow another $3.5 trillion in another doomed attempt to fight this crisis.

The first force is THE PEOPLE. The power of the popular rebellion in the United States — from virtually all parties and movements — is a phenomenon unparalleled in recent history. No seat in Congress is safe. No incumbent in either party is immune from voter anger over Washington’s gross mismanagement of the economy.

For the first time in generations, the American people are ready, willing and able to “throw the bums out” — to replace them with lawmakers who steadfastly refuse to throw good money after bad in a desperate attempt to spend our way out of the crisis.

The second force is GLOBAL INVESTORS. They are fed up with Washington’s massive borrowings to fund its deficits. They are even more fed up with Bernanke, who has already flooded the world with new paper dollars to buy government bonds, government agency bonds and even mortgage bonds.

When they hear that the U.S. government intends to run even BIGGER deficits and trash the currency even further, it’s the last straw.

They turn stark, raving mad, and suddenly, they attack — by refusing to buy, or by actually selling, U.S. bonds.

This force alone instantly kills the U.S. government’s ability to borrow cheaply — just like they did in Greece, Portugal and Spain in 2010.

This scenario is ultimately an even
bigger threat to your wealth than
what we experienced in 2008.

Good luck and God bless!

Martin