The “Super-rich” Of Wall St. Are Preparing For A SHTF Collapse

Ever wonder if the “super-rich” of Wall St. are preparing for a SHTF collapse?

I promise you they most definitely ARE!

I have very close friends who own multi-million dollar companies and I can tell you that they’re also the most concerned people I know when it comes to what lies ahead for our country.

Maybe it’s because they have “more to lose”?  Or maybe they have their ear to the ground and know something you and I don’t?

The answer is “BOTH”, and…

Attention: The US is Facing The BIGGEST Threat Of The Century!

So pay chose attention because this video will change your life forever for the good!

Here’s How One Wall St. Giant Is Prepping For Financial Collapse (Steal Their 3 Survival Tips Now…)

Jonathon Johnson, the Board Chairman of Overstock.com (a company with over $1.5 billion in annual revenue and 1,500 employees), gave a talk in 2015 at a precious metals conference about the company’s insights into where the economy is going and what they’re doing about it.

The No B.S. Truth Straight From The Mouths Of Financial Insiders

Here are some highlights from Johnson’s speech and what you can do to follow their lead on preparing for what lies ahead…

“We are not big fans of Wall Street and we don’t trust them. We foresaw the [2008] financial crisis.  We don’t trust the banks still and we foresee that with QE3, and QE4 and QE ‘N’ that at some point there is going to be ANOTHER significant financial crisis.

We expect that when there is a financial crisis there will be a banking holiday. I don’t know if it will be 2 days, or 2 weeks, or 2 months.”

What That Means For You:

A “banking holiday” is a Presidential Order (passed in 1933) used to completely shut down banks – without warning – to avoid everyone panicking, pulling their money out and causing a complete financial apocalypse.

The entire banking world suddenly goes “black” and you won’t be able to view your balance… withdraw or deposit money… write checks… or even access your bank’s web page.

For how long?

Like Overstock Chairman said, it could be “2 days, or 2 weeks, or 2 MONTHS”!

So what can you do?

Immediately after a collapse and a federal “banking blackout”, cash is still going to be king (for a little while).

But if you don’t have it in your wallet, you’re NOT going to be able to go out and get it from your bank or ATM.

That’s why the super-wealthy always keep a stash of cold, hard cashola at home (in a safe) for emergencies.

If you have a fire-proof gun safe, that will work too (NOT a bank safe deposit box!)… and you should consider moving some of your savings into primarily $1 and $5 bills (stores won’t be able to make change as easily) rather than sitting in a no-interest checking account that you may never get access to once the SHTF.

Just stack those duckies up right next to your bricks of 9mm and get used to paying for groceries and other expenses with cash now as good practice.

Should You Consider “Alternative Currency”
During A Financial Collapse Meltdown?

Overstock has a very unique look on “money” when preparing for the “death of the dollar”…

“One thing that we do that is fairly unique: we have about $10 million in gold [and silver], mostly the small button-sized coins, that we keep outside of the banking system….  in denominations small enough that we can use for payroll.

We want to be able to keep our employees paid, safe and our site up and running during a financial crisis.”

What That Means For You:

I was late to the game on gold and silver because I found it hard to believe that anyone following a collapse would ever be out there trading.

Then I learned that the life-expectancy of a paper dollar is only 18 months in circulation – which makes gold and silver better for a long-term crisis.

Besides, if mega-banks and corporations are going to be using gold and silver for currency, that’s going to immediately put these small “buttons” into circulation and I think the education level of the average consumer is going to catch up quickly.

You can be sure that stores will begin accepting them in order to stay in business.

When I was in financial planning, we always recommended people take 10% of their weekly paycheck and put it into savings before paying for anything else.

I think that’s a good way to save and I’d split that 10% in half between cash in your safe and silver (and some gold) in small coins from an online bullion outlet.

But a word of warning here…

Don’t go crazy and start sinking all of your hard-earned dough into currency because there’s something even more important (and more valuable) that Overstock is also planning for.

Thinking Outside The Box For A Financial Collapse…

Here’s the continuation of Overstock Chairman’s speech…

“We also happen to have 3 months of food supply for every employee [+ 1 additional family member] to live on during the crisis.”

First of all, how cool is it that a corporation – who sees the writing on the wall that out dollar is about to come crashing down – is preparing to even FEED their 1,500 employees and their families for at least 3 months?

Crazy, right?  (And pretty damn smart!)

What That Means For You:

Overstock understands that when the economy collapses, food resupply lines will be severed and most people will be out of food within a matter of a few short days – as little as 3.

Grocery stores that haven’t been completely looted or sold out will skyrocket their prices and be forced to work on a “cash-only” basis.

The very best investment you can make right now is in long-term survival food – which is even more valuable than silver and gold coins in an economic crisis.

Not only will you be able to feed yourself and your family while others are starving, but it will be the most valuable barter tool you’ll be able to use when no one else around you has a single dollar to their name.

But this isn’t something you should wait and slowly save up for.

Overstock already has their food in long-term storage RIGHT NOW because they know that the “death of the dollar” could come at any time and it’s too late to build up your stockpile once the government initiates an “instant shut-down”.

I highly suggest you plan for at least 3 months of “survival food kits” for your entire family right away.

The cheapest (and best) resource I personally use is right here…

I have a full year for my family, but start with at least 3 months if you can.

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail, right?

Take Overstock’s (and other Wall St. insiders’) warnings to heart and follow their lead.

You don’t want to be one of the masses unable to protect those you love.

The United States of America, is on the verge of war…

Knowing About This Coming Apocalypse Is The Key To Your Family’s Survival And It’s Only Revealed In This Presentation

All Americans  Will Lose Their Home, Income And Power By March 17, 2026

I want to present you one of the most interesting sites, where you will see new articles daily! www.321gold.com

If China cut off all trade with the USA, what would …

First take a look at one of the most shocking videos in the world! This video actually shows us what the secret of the Trump family is related to their expressive health!!! –FULL VIDEO HERE

For decades, the economic relationship between China and the United States has been one of deep interdependence. China has served as the world’s manufacturing hub, while the U.S. has been one of its largest consumers. From smartphones and medical supplies to industrial components and rare earth materials, Chinese goods are woven into the fabric of American daily life.

But what would happen if China suddenly stopped supplying the United States?

Donald Trump was the first modern U.S. president to openly challenge this consensus.

Rather than treating China as a benign trading partner, Trump framed the relationship as a strategic risk. He argued, often against fierce political and media opposition, that America had become dangerously dependent on a geopolitical rival for its essential goods.

The video below will shock you because you will be among the first to watching this secret!

America’s Dangerous Dependence on China

China is not simply another trading partner. It is the central node of global manufacturing, controlling production or processing in industries that underpin modern life. The United States relies heavily on China for:

  • Consumer electronics and components.
  • Pharmaceuticals and active drug ingredients.
  • Medical supplies and personal protective equipment.
  • Rare earth minerals used in defense systems.
  • Lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicle components.
  • Solar panels and renewable energy hardware.
  • Industrial machinery and electrical equipment.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans saw firsthand what happens when Chinese factories shut down and their exports slow down. Hospitals scrambled for protective gear, supply chains collapsed and inflation surged. But that crisis was accidental, so a deliberate cutoff would be far more severe.

President Trump consistently argued that no serious nation should outsource its industrial backbone to a strategic competitor. Most of his supporters understood this and the Republican Party is fully on his side in this endeavor. 

The Immediate Shock

If China were to significantly reduce or halt exports to the US, whether through sanctions, or export controls, the effects would be swift and would mainly affect the day-to-day consumer.

Actually, American factories would not suddenly switch suppliers. Even many products labeled “Made in America” rely on Chinese subcomponents at some stage of production. If those products were suddenly unavailable, manufacturing would slow across multiple sectors, with assembly lines forced to reduce output or shut down altogether. 

Moreover, automotive production would likely stall, while electronics manufacturers could struggle to meet delivery schedules as key components disappear from supply chains. Defense contractors, particularly those dependent on specialized materials, may face growing shortages that raise serious national security concerns. 

Retailers would also begin to feel the impact within weeks, as store shelves thin, backorders grow, and shipping delays extend from days into months.

The assumption that the United States could simply “buy elsewhere” overlooks a basic reality of modern manufacturing: China’s dominance in scale, speed, and production capacity across multiple industries cannot be replaced quickly or without significant cost.

When this happens, there will be a transition period until our country gets back on track. In such a scenario, the most important thing you can do is learn to be self-reliant, no matter your age. You can learn new skills, return to traditional methods or learn the Amish lifestyle, or take advantage of today’s technology to make life easier.

This is one way to do it:

Inflation and the Cost to American Families

The most immediate consequence for ordinary Americans would be a surge in inflation, driven by a familiar but unforgiving dynamic: when supply collapses while demand remains, prices rise.

The aftermath would be that electronics, appliances, vehicles, clothing, and everyday household goods would become more expensive in a matter of weeks. At the same time, pharmaceutical shortages could push healthcare costs higher and energy prices may climb as batteries and grid components grow harder to obtain.

Inflation, however, functions as a hidden tax on groups with the fewest options to shield themselves from rising costs: working families, retirees, and small businesses. Republicans have long warned that inflation hits hardest at the bottom and middle of the income ladder, a reality that becomes impossible to ignore during a supply shock.

For years, Trump’s critics argued that tariffs and trade pressure would raise prices, but they ignored the much bigger risk of depending so heavily on a geopolitical rival. Paying a little more today to rely on domestic or allied production is far less costly than being forced to absorb sharp price increases later, when alternatives are limited and control is lost.

Manufacturing Decline and Economic Contraction

As shortages spread through the supply chain, the broader economy would begin to slow down. Manufacturing output would fall, but not because Americans stop spending, but because companies could no longer produce what consumers were trying to buy. This kind of slowdown, called a supply-driven contraction, is especially difficult to reverse, since it cannot be fixed simply by stimulating demand.

Industries most exposed would include:

  • Automotive and aerospace.
  • Defense and national security manufacturing.
  • Healthcare equipment and pharmaceuticals.
  • Energy and infrastructure.
  • Advanced electronics and semiconductors.

When production declines, financial markets would likely react with sharp selloffs, driven by uncertainty and weaker corporate earnings. The damage may also extend into areas you wouldn’t expect. Retirement accounts and pension funds would take hits, while smaller manufacturers dependent on imported components could be pushed to the brink of bankruptcy.

But the consequences may hit much closer to home than you expect and you could feel them as soon as 2026:

President Trump’s Strategy

Unlike previous administrations that treated economic dependence as an acceptable tradeoff, President Trump confronted the issue directly. His approach rested mainly on preparation and leverage.

Trade Pressure as Strategic Leverage

Trump’s 2025 tariff strategy was aimed at correcting a long-standing imbalance in the U.S. – China trade and reducing concentrated supply-chain risk.

The tariffs increased the cost of importing certain Chinese goods, particularly in sectors where China held overwhelming dominance. This did not stop trade, but it changed the cost calculations companies used when deciding where to manufacture and source components.

For many firms, higher tariffs made it less attractive to keep all production in China and encouraged them to explore alternatives, including moving parts of their supply chain to Mexico, Southeast Asia, or back to the US. In some industries, companies began splitting production across multiple countries to avoid over-reliance on a single supplier, even if that meant slightly higher short-term costs.

Although Trump’s tariff strategy faced strong criticism when it was introduced, many of the tariffs on Chinese imports remain a central part of US trade policy. Our country has maintained historically high tariff rates on Chinese goods throughout 2025, even after periods of negotiation and temporary truce agreements.

Supply Chain Diversification and Reshoring

Trump openly encouraged American companies to leave China. He promoted manufacturing shifts to Mexico, Southeast Asia, and back to the United States. His main goal was to reduce single-point failure. This “friend-shoring” concept is now widely accepted, but was ridiculed when Trump first proposed it.

But the consequences may hit much closer to home than you expect and you could feel them as soon as 2026:

FEMA Emergency Alert! Hidden Terrible Situations Exposed- Watch the video below to find out the most shocking details!!!

With a whopping 1.03 million home invasions occurring every year in just the U.S. alone, there’s no reason you shouldn’t have a plan of action ready to utilize in case you become one of these unfortunate victims.

So pay chose attention because this video will change your life forever for the good!

Securing Critical Materials

Another major focus of the President’s approach was to make sure the USA is not dependent on foreign rivals for materials it cannot function without.

Government reviews during his administration showed clear weaknesses in areas such as medical care, military equipment, energy systems, and everyday technology.

To address this, the administration used executive orders and federal reviews to push for more production at home and to reduce reliance on suppliers tied to adversarial countries.

This included steps to support rare earth mining and processing in the US, encourage domestic drug manufacturing, and secure supply chains that directly affect military readiness. The goal was not to shut down global trade, but to make sure the country would not be left exposed during a crisis.

The thinking behind this was simple: cheaper sourcing may work in normal times, but it becomes a liability when access is disrupted. Trump’s strategy treated these materials as strategic necessities, not just another line item in a corporate supply chain.

Market-Driven Industrial Revival

Instead of heavy government control, Trump focused on tax cuts, deregulation, and incentives to bring investment back to the United States. The idea was straightforward: once companies understood that rebuilding supply chains was a national priority, the market would respond.

With more time and consistency, this approach would have left the U.S. in a much stronger position to handle a major supply disruption from China.

How Likely Is a Supply Cutoff?

A complete and immediate cutoff is unlikely without a major conflict, such as a war over Taiwan. However, partial and targeted restrictions are highly plausible.

China could restrict exports of:

  • Rare earth minerals, such as neodymium and dysprosium, used in missile guidance systems, fighter jets, radar, and advanced electronics.
  • Battery components, most importantly lithium compounds and graphite, are essential for electric vehicle batteries, drones, military equipment, and grid-scale energy storage.
  • Medical supplies – including active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) for antibiotics and painkillers, as well as PPE like masks, gloves, and syringes, which U.S. hospitals still source heavily from China.
  • Defense-related materials – rare-earth magnets, tungsten, and specialty alloys, used in missiles, aircraft, armor-piercing munitions, and military electronics.

These actions would be difficult to counter quickly and would test our country. The most likely scenario is not a single dramatic rupture, but a slow escalation – export controls and strategic pressure. As a matter of fact, this is already happening through export licenses and material controls.

If China were to significantly reduce or stop supplying the U.S., it could directly affect you and your family’s well-being. That’s why, before this happens, it’s important to make sure your stockpile includes these essential products:

Making America Great Again

 Even in a worst-case situation with China cutting off supply, the US will not collapse, but daily life may become tougher and more expensive. The adjustment might be uncomfortable at first, but it can also push the country to face a problem that has been ignored for too long.

So, replacing what China supplies today will take time and steady effort. New factories need to be built, domestic production expanded, and supply chains rebuilt step by step. That kind of change does not come from government statements alone. Actually, it comes from people who are willing to work, learn new skills, and produce real goods again.

A more independent country can only exist if hard-working Americans step up. Machinists, electricians, welders, engineers, truck drivers, and factory workers will all have a role to play. Rebuilding the industrial base means valuing skilled labor and restoring pride in making essential products at home instead of relying on cheap imports.

For most American folks, this shift may open the door to more stable jobs and real opportunities to earn a living. Instead of shipping work overseas, the country can invest in its own people and skills. Over time, better wages and steady employment may help offset some of the higher costs.

Final Thoughts

The era of ultra-cheap globalization was convenient, but it left the country exposed. What replaces it might cost more, but it offers something far more valuable: control. An economy built on reliability and domestic production will demand effort and discipline, but it can also reward those who are willing to contribute to something lasting.

President Donald Trump argued that a nation stays strong when it works, produces, and stands on its own feet. Relying on rivals may bring short-term comfort, but it weakens a country over time. Therefore, higher costs and harder work are the price of rebuilding American industry and securing our future.

The latest news is shocking!!!

Experts predict that an EMP strike that wipes out electricity across the nation would ultimately lead to the demise of up to 90% of the population.

I want to present you one of the most interesting sites, where you will see new articles daily! www.321gold.com

The Recession Could Come in the Coming Years

Recent world crises and the resultant weakening of the global economy has left many fearing the worst. There is talk of a global recession, or worse yet, a complete collapse of the economy.

While it is impossible to say whether such a severe economic downturn is upon us, understanding how to survive a potential economic collapse (whether now or in the future) could save you and your family when the times get tough. 

WHAT IS AN ECONOMIC COLLAPSE?

An economic collapse is defined as a severe breakdown of the economy at a national, regional, or territorial level. It is a broad term used to describe bad economic conditions that are not part of the ordinary business cycle of expansion and contraction.

An economic collapse usually signals the start of a significant economic contraction, recession, or depression, which can last months or even many years.

WHAT CAUSES AN ECONOMIC COLLAPSE?

There are various events and circumstances that can trigger an economic collapse, which makes it difficult to attribute it to a single cause. An economic collapse can happen suddenly as a result of an unexpected crisis such as the onset of a war, natural disaster, political unrest, and various other events.

It can also be the culmination of a series of events or ongoing circumstances which signal a weakening and fragility of the economy. 

WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF AN ECONOMIC COLLAPSE?

The results of an economic collapse are equally difficult to predict, as the ripple effects of a severe economic downturn are widespread and impossible to accurately track. Some general and obvious results of an economic collapse are:

  • A rise in job loss and unemployment. 
  • Loss of value of investment markets which results in the average investor losing significant value in their portfolio.
  • Slowing of production, and therefore less new innovation, fewer startups, and so forth. 
  • A potential hyperinflationary environment in extreme cases where the cost of basic items increases dramatically.
  • An increase in poverty which can also lead to crime, civil unrest, and various other social issues.
  • Widespread business failures leading to shutting down of companies and laying off of staff. 

HOW TO PREPARE FOR AN ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

Preparation is key in order to successfully survive an economic collapse. It is important to not become too complacent when the good times are rolling, as you never know when the situation may change for the worse.

Follow these practical guidelines to ensure you are well prepared :

1. KEEP AN EMERGENCY FUND

Having liquid cash safely deposited in a savings account with your bank can be a lifesaver in times of economic crisis. First of it all, it will retain its value while market linked assets such as equities deteriorate.

Secondly, it will provide you with the best liquidity so that you can quickly access your money during a time of extreme need. It is recommended to keep at least 3 – 6 months’ worth of expenses in an emergency fund.  

2. BECOME DEBT FREE

The additional pressure of carrying debt if there is an economic collapse can put you in an extremely difficult situation. You should start working towards becoming debt free today.

This will reduce your monthly expenditure and will keep you from landing up in a precarious position should you lose your job in the future. Begin by paying off your highest interest debt such as credit cards and other short-term loans, and then move onto lower interest debts such as house mortgages. 

3. CREATE ADDITIONAL INCOME SOURCES

The risk of losing your primary job is elevated during an economic recession or collapse. You can mitigate the negative consequences of this by creating additional sources of income now before the bad times are afoot.

We live in an age of boundless opportunities to make money on the side remotely. You can start your own web business or do freelance consulting work.

Even if you have a great job, it is well worth diversifying your income sources and establishing other ways to sustain yourself. Even a few hundred dollars a month can make a big difference in a time of need. 

4. REDUCE UNNECESSARY SPENDING

Most people tend to spend recklessly when times are good and then suddenly try to adjust when there is a downturn or they lose their job. This is a big mistake for two reasons: 

  • Firstly, if you make overspending a habit in your regular life, it becomes extremely difficult to adjust your spending habits when you need to do so. If you practice living with less even during the good times, it will be much easier during a financial squeeze. 
  • Secondly, wasting unnecessary money on a regular basis means you have less to put into savings each month. We spoke about the importance of having an emergency fund, and living off less now can help you keep that fund growing for when the rainy day comes.  

5. MAINTAIN A DIVERSIFIED INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO

Entire markets and industries can deteriorate during an economic collapse, while others might be more protected. Maintaining a diversified investment portfolio will ensure that you are not overexposed to one specific asset class, sector of the economy, or graphical region.

While your overall asset value might still decline significantly, you will be more protected from the risk of complete financial ruin if you keep your eggs in different baskets. 

6. STOCKPILE FOOD AND OTHER SUPPLIES

During severe economic collapses, like the one experienced by Venezuela in current times, or the Great Depression of the 1930s, even things like basic food and other supplies can be in shortage.

Even if supplies are available, a hyperinflationary environment can make basic necessities completely unaffordable. It is always a good idea to keep a stockpile of food and other essential supplies (e.g., medicines, toiletries, paper supplies, tools, etc.) that can last you more than a year in tough times. This may also protect you from other crises such as natural disasters, war, etc. 

One step further is to learn to grow your own food. If you have a small garden in which you could plant a few crops, start learning how to prepare the soil and grow some basic fruit and vegetables. Not only will it make you less reliant on a potentially failing economic system, but will be an extremely rewarding process too. 

7. LEARN BASIC SKILLS

Basic DIY skills are invaluable during an economic crisis. Instead of paying someone to repair your car or fix your house, you can do it yourself for free. You could even earn some additional income by providing these services to others. Examples of basic skills that can save you money and bring great fulfilment during difficult times include things like:

  • Baking bread and making other foot items from scratch (e.g., pickles, jams, fermented vegetables, yoghurt, etc.)
  • Growing your own vegetables and herbs
  • Sewing
  • First aid and caring for a sick child
  • Mechanic work such as fixing cars, motorbikes, bicycles, etc.
  • Building and repairing household items such as furniture and shelves
  • Basic electrical and plumbing work
economic slump in usa

8. ESTABLISH STRONG CONNECTIONS

One of your most valuable resources are the people who are close to you. When times are difficult, it is important to work together with close friends and family to overcome the challenges.

You will have a much better chance of making it through compared to trying to tough it out alone. Start building strong relationships with those who are close to you, like neighbours, friends, and family. Having the mutual understanding that you can depend on each other in difficult times is a great comfort. 

You can also practice the habit of mutual exchange (i.e., bartering), where you offer your skills in exchange for something that the other can give. This can help you circumvent the traditional economy and help you move more towards the “sharing economy”. This also reminds us of the importance of learning as many basic skills as possible, so that you may help others in need and receive their support in kind. 

HOW TO SURVIVE DURING AN ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

Hopefully you will be well prepared to deal with an economic collapse when it comes having followed the above steps. However, it is impossible to perfectly predict how a collapse in the economy will play out, and you will need to deal with the situation that is presented to you at the time. Here are a few additional steps you may need to take when you are actually faced with an economic collapse:

1. DISCUSS THE SITUATION WITH YOUR HOUSEHOLD 

The very first thing you should do is sit down with the members of your household and discuss the situation with them. Go over your finances together and work together to come up with a plan of how you will navigate these difficult times together.

It is important that you are all on the same page, but also to know that everyone has their own approach and attitude to dealing with money. How you resolve these differences and work together will have a big impact on your ability to deal with the challenging times, and strengthen your relationships in the process. 

2. FURTHER REDUCE EXPENSES AS NEEDED

In preparation for a recession, you would have practiced living off less. When you are faced with an actual economic collapse, you may have to further adjust your spending habits to be able to cover your monthly expenses. In most cases, it is quite possible to maintain a good quality of life while cutting out unnecessary expenditures. Start by cutting out spending on all the things which are not necessary for you to live on, and finding ways to reduce the costs of the things you do need. Some ways that you may be able to reduce your spending include:

  • Cut out discretionary spending (i.e., stop buying things you can do without) like luxury items, new clothes that you don’t need, new gadgets, etc.) 
  • Reduce transportation costs by carpooling, using public transport, walking or cycling, etc.
  • Reduce housing costs by moving to a cheaper area, subletting out part of your house, or even moving in with family until your financial situation improves. 
  • Reduce food costs by cooking at home instead of going out to eat. Also refrain from buying too many luxury food items that you don’t really need and instead buy simple, healthy food. 

3. GET MUTUAL SUPPORT FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY

We spoke about the importance of building strong relationships when preparing for an economic collapse. Well, here is the time to lean on the solid bonds you have created by not being afraid to ask for support. You should also help and share your skills and resources with others who are in need. 

4. PROTECT YOUR HOME AND FAMILY

Extreme economic collapses and recessions can lead to social degradation such as more violent crime, petty theft, scams, and so on. This has been clearly demonstrated in Venezuela and is one of the reasons why so many citizens have fled the country. You may need to take action to safeguard your home and protect your family from criminals and other dangers during a severe recession. 

barter for goods

5. KEEP EARNING

If at all possible, make sure to keep the money flowing in. If you have a job, go the extra mile to prove that you are a valuable employee. You should be seen as the last person to be laid off in your employer’s eyes.

In the meantime, keep networking and working on generating alternative income streams so that you are not left stranded without any income if your employer does need to shut down. 

6. DON’T STOP ENJOYING LIFE

Finally, and most importantly, don’t allow yourself to be ruled by fear and sadness. There is no reason to stop enjoying and appreciating life just because you are faced with economic difficulties.

Be grateful for the things you do still have and keep having fun in the ways you can with those you hold dear. You should try to see the situation as a challenge on your creativity and flexibility, and encourage friends and family to come up with inventive ways to have fun without spending money all the time. 

CONCLUSION

Of all the disasters which can face a society, an economic collapse is one of the most challenging to deal with. Due to its nebulous nature and widespread impacts, it is very difficult to escape its effects. Being adequately prepared to deal with a sever economic downturn before it arises, and knowing how to respond when you are faced with it, is vital in order to make it through intact.

You will probably have to accept that you will be impacted one way or another, but the severity can be greatly reduced with the right approach. Most important of all is to continue living with joy and hope in the midst of the difficult times, and not get sucked into needless fear and anxiety. 

The Gold Standard During the Great Depression

More specifically, gold is a useful investment during times of inflation of paper currency or, paradoxically, deflation caused by either industrialization or a shrinking money supply.

For example, the paper currencies of the North and South in the U.S. Civil war had vastly different “gold premiums,” which refers to the differential value between a gold dollar and a paper dollar when the two were both in circulation. The South started printing paper currency which, basically, was to be convertible to gold dollars once they won the war. The South also was confiscating supplies with what amounted to paper IOU’s which, due to their defeat, proved to be ultimately useless. As you can imagine, the longer the war went on, the less faith people had in Confederate paper money. Confederate dollars eventually reached approximately 1/50th of their worth and, then, nothing, compared to real gold dollars.

In the North, the gold premium reached about 250% at its maximum, but every greenback was eventually fully convertible into a gold dollar, and the two fully equalized in the late 1870s. Paper money, after all, is far more cost effective logistically than bags of gold dollars. If you, hypothetically, spent the war charging $1.50 on average for your wares or services for every $1.00 you charged in gold dollars, then everything you got paid for in greenbacks would have been far more profitable for you if you held onto the money till 1880.

Gold in general is also prone to supply and demand as a commodity which, historically, has led to some odd results. In India, during British domination in the age of mercantilism, British taxation and exportation of gold out of India led to a lessening supply a specie in India. This resulted in massive deflation which increased the local value of gold exponentially. Indians who hoarded gold saw its value increasing year after year and decade after decade even as industrialization began reducing the real costs of many imported goods. This phenomenon makes economic data about India’s real GDP during the period and its PPP very contentious, and looking at just how much “money” was in the economy in the form of gold or silver would suggest that everyone alive at the Battle of Calcutta should have been starving to death by the late 1800s.

As far as the Great Depression is concerned, I would first ask you “Where?” The answer for Germany would be different than the United States or France or Argentina because of the complicated implications of monetary theory and policies in different countries with different systems. As a non-perishable good, gold and silver are as good an investment any. On the other hand, it’s not as good an investment as other appreciating assets such as fine art. And like fine art, gold was not used much by individuals for barter, but it was an asset you could sell to get money.

In general, though, had your family invested in gold in 1780 and kept it till now, it would have been one of the worst hypothetical investments you could have made back then. Even recently, countries with histories of high inflation typically will see people keep their savings denominated in one of the world’s major reserve currencies like the U.S. dollar.

I want to present you one of the most interesting sites, where you will see new articles daily! www.321gold.com

15 Countries Highest Risk That Collapse by Next Year

The truth is dark, but it’s something everyone needs to hear.

“Collapse” requires definition. Here it means rapid, large-scale loss of central government control, major state institutions failing, or descent into widespread civil war and state disintegration within ~2–3 years. Predicting exact collapse is impossible; instead, identify countries where credible risk of severe state failure by 2027 is meaningful based on current trajectories of political fragmentation, economic shock, elite fracture, external intervention, and insurgency. Factors considered: weak state capacity, severe economic crisis (inflation, currency collapse, debt default), active or escalating armed insurgencies, elite splits, loss of monopoly on violence, humanitarian breakdown, and major external interference.

High-risk cases (elevated probability of collapse or severe state failure by 2027)

  • Libya: Persistent fragmentation between rival governments, powerful militias, foreign backers, and a stagnant political process. Renewed fighting or collapse of a fragile power-sharing balance could produce rapid state failure.
  • Yemen: Ongoing multi-sided war, collapsing institutions, and chronic humanitarian catastrophe. A political or military shock—renewed large-scale offensives, foreign withdrawal, or fragmentation—could accelerate collapse in the near term.
  • Somalia: Longstanding governance gaps, fragile federal-local relations, and an active al-Shabaab insurgency. Setbacks in international support, internal elite splits, or major military defeats could tip parts of the country into broader loss of state control.
  • South Sudan: Deep elite polarization, recurring localized conflict, weak institutions, and economic distress. Renewed large-scale ethnic fighting or breakdown of power-sharing arrangements can lead to rapid unraveling.
  • Haiti: Severe political vacuum, gang rule in Port-au-Prince, economic collapse, and limited state capacity. Continued inability to restore security or credible governance creates a substantial near-term risk of de facto collapse in major population centers.

Significant risk (not imminent collapse but materially elevated chance of serious state failure)

  • Sudan: Though a major collapse occurred after the 2023 military–militia war, the country remains at high risk of further breakdown, wider fragmentation, or long-term partition depending on conflict dynamics and foreign intervention patterns.
  • Afghanistan: Taliban controls territory but faces economic collapse, governance legitimacy deficits, insurgent pockets, and humanitarian crisis. Renewed insurgency, external shock, or loss of central cohesion could produce deeper state failure in certain regions.
  • Lebanon: Economic collapse, dysfunctional politics, and Hezbollah’s armed autonomy create risk of institutional paralysis, local state-within-state dynamics, and potential escalation into broader collapse under a severe shock.
  • Burkina Faso / Mali / Niger (Sahel states): Military regimes, insurgencies, economic strain, and eroding public services increase the chance of deeper state failure or de facto fragmentation if insurgent gains accelerate or coups produce prolonged delegitimization.
  • Ethiopia: Tigray war and other internal conflicts undermined national cohesion. Broader spread of ethnic violence or renewed large-scale interstate war could precipitate severe loss of central control in regions.

Moderate risk or conditional vulnerability (vulnerable to collapse given severe shocks)

  • Pakistan: Economic crisis, political instability, and tensions between civilian elites and the military create vulnerability; outright collapse remains less likely absent a catastrophic chain of events, but regional destabilization could produce severe governance failures.
  • Venezuela: Deep economic collapse and institutional erosion have created de facto state dysfunction already; full institutional breakdown or fragmentation is possible if supply chains, security structures, or elite bargains break down further.
  • Myanmar: Military junta controls much territory but faces an increasingly effective armed resistance and economic collapse; prolonged insurgency and loss of control in border regions could produce de facto partition or collapse in parts of the country.
  • Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): Chronic localized violence, weak state capacity, and resource-driven armed groups make certain provinces liable to state failure if conflict intensifies or international response weakens.

Argentina / Sri Lanka cases: severe economic crisis combined with weak institutions increases risk of deep instability, though collapse into total state failure is less probable within this timeframe.

Key caveats and framing

  • “Collapse” is a spectrum: full territorial collapse is rarer than regional state failure, institutional paralysis, or prolonged civil war. Many countries slip into de facto fragmentation without formal dissolution.
  • Time horizon matters: 2027 is near-term; most state collapses result from multi-year deterioration plus triggering shocks (civil war spark, elite split, economic default, major external intervention, natural disaster).
  • External actors and international responses matter: foreign military support, sanctions, peacekeeping, or emergency assistance can prevent collapse or, conversely, exacerbate it.
  • Prognostic uncertainty: forecasting political violence is inherently probabilistic. The listed countries are those where existing evidence—ongoing conflict, governance failure, economic collapse, elite fragmentation, and foreign entanglements—produces a meaningful near-term risk profile.

Practical indicators to watch through 2026–2027

  1. Loss of government revenue or hyperinflation/currency collapse.
  2. Major defections in security forces or breakdown in command-and-control.
  3. Large-scale internal displacement and humanitarian access collapse.
  4. Significant territorial gains by non-state armed groups.
  5. Public elite fragmentation (competing governments, rival capitals).
  6. Withdrawal or escalation of foreign backers and peacekeepers.

Examples of typical collapse pathways (illustrative)

  • Rapid military defeat of central forces by insurgents combined with elite flight and international disengagement (e.g., scenarios similar to 1990s state failures).
  • Fragmentation of the capital into gang-controlled enclaves, paralysis of national institutions, and humanitarian breakdown (Haiti-like trajectory).
  • Prolonged siege/war between rival factions with foreign proxies turning the conflict into de facto partition (Libya-like).

Summary judgment
By 2027 the countries with the most credible near-term risk of collapse or severe state failure are Libya, Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan, and Haiti, with Sudan, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Sahel states, and Myanmar carrying significant conditional risk. Many other fragile states remain vulnerable to collapse if compounded by major shocks. Continuous monitoring of the indicators above will give the best short-term signal of accelerating failure.

I want to present you one of the most interesting sites, where you will see new articles daily! www.321gold.com

The Truth Behind U.S Economic Collapse

You have to define “economic collapse”. The Bush Recession of 2008 was a serious economic collapse and came close to being a major catastrophe. The Trump Recession of 2020 was also quite bad and we experienced economic hardships not seen since the Depression.

So, what would be an economic collapse to you? Could those things happen again? Sure. As bad as those times were, it could be worse. I think the economic collapse of 1929 was much worse because we didn’t even have the tools or the knowledge we now have. At the time, Herbert Hoover’s solution was to raise taxes. No one would ever raise taxes in a collapse now.

The US has, through it’s history, suffered many major economic collapses. If not for the war of 1812 it’s possible the US would have dissolved as the result of economic crisis.

In the old days there were absolutely no mechanisms to ease the pain of collapse – no unemployment insurance, no CCC, no food stamps or welfare, no tax breaks or rebates – nothing. When the economy collapsed it stayed broken until it fixed itself, something that took a long time and a great deal of hardship requiring enormous sacrifices.

The first big collapse in 1819 changed the fabric of the nation. It was caused by land speculation, lack of any banking regulation and the crazy inflationary practices of banks that printed their own money. When the crash occurred, they refused to honor their obligation to trade gold for their worthless currency. In addition, the US government defaulted on 19 million dollars of war bonds it issued to pay for the War of 1812. The crash was precipitated by world economic woes after the Napoleonic wars and exacerbated by poor government polices and inaction by President Monroe. The impact was major migrations of people who lost everything, notably to what later became “Texas”. Without the collapse, there would be no Texas. It also created the understanding that the country needed a national school system and began the policy of the “One Room Schoolhouses” as an organized, metered and supervised government activity.

Other huge collapses happened in 1837 and 1857. In 1837 the lack of a central bank and any bank regulation led once again to runaway inflation and the lack of real gold and silver to back the money. The major banks in the US refused to honor the gold commitments again and there was no regulation of bank of last recourse. The panic was started by a worldwide collapse in the price of cotton, America’s biggest export and resulted in a domino effect of unemployment, stagnation and deflation. In those days, the US was a resource exporter dependent largely on Europe to consume our resources and when a recession hit Europe, it crippled the US. Once the deflation set in, the collapse fed on itself. There were food and flour riots by people who had no money for food and no jobs. However, at the time, the US was undergoing a technological transformation and railroads, steam power, industry, and so on began an explosion that suddenly employed people at good wages and literally saved the United States. At the same time, the Gold Rush began which caused migration and forced a lot of specie into the system that was starved for gold and silver. The sudden need for lumber, coal, steel and so on outstripped the power of cotton on the economy and great fortunes were made. However, no banking regulations or central bank was created to help solve future problems.

In 1857, the first worldwide Depression occurred. The US had rapidly over expanded to meet the needs of local and international needs and when Europe fell onto hard times, the newly invented telegraph sent the news around the world which caused rash financial decisions the were bad for the economy. The telegraph was the main cause for the rapid and massive collapse as all over the US people became immediately aware of the crisis, which allowed it to feed on itself. It was exacerbated by the loss of the SS Central America caused great panic because New York, the financial controller of America, was depending on that gold to pay off its debts and back its specie. The US still had no monetary controls, central bank and all the banks printed their own money, as much as they wanted, resulting in local inflation. The Panic of 1857 was remarkably similar to the crash of 2008. The nations biggest food supplier collapsed, precipitating the collapse of the insurance companies backing it resulting in the collapse of credit and the bankruptcy of many railroads. Midwestern farm communities collapsed as commodity prices fell to pennies. Entire towns went bankrupt, but compared to the North, which was dependent on railroads and supplies coming from the South and Midwest, the Depression was much less felt and helped lead to the Civil War by making southern politicians realize the power of their products and the weakness of the Northern financial system. Some banking regulations were put into place and all paper money 20 dollars and over was ordered destroyed to help quell inflation. There were also limits put on fractional lending. It became among the first time the Federal Government exerted its authority over the banking system, something Lincoln would expand during the Civil War.

One thing we have learned is that nations need strong central banks; there needs to be tight monetary control and that we are all interconnected across the world, moreso than ever now. The US has 3 trillion dollars in exports – 1/8th of the economy. Should exports fail due to world crisis, America would fall into a self-perpetuating collapse of all its interlocked systems. Unemployment would skyrocket. The other thing we’ve learned is that no matter how bad things get, they always seem to recover. People have to eat, they have to live somewhere and they have to move around. This means some minimum level of economic activity will always be supported.

One need only look at Russia in its current circumstances to see how resilient nations are economically. The US could sustain its economy through government intervention alone. There would be hardship but it would be cushioned. So a total collapse of the US is highly unlikely. The US can grow all the food it needs and can produce all the oil it requires. Based on those two factors alone, the US can survive any major economic cataclysm albeit at some seriously reduced circumstances and with enormous hardship, homelessness, migration and pain. In a major economic collapse it would take enormous national will to prevent a dictator from seizing power – will we probably don’t have. A dictator could command the economy with all the pitfalls that entails, but it would also feed the people and in the end, bread and circuses have always served dictators.

I want to present you one of the most interesting sites, where you will see new articles daily! www.321gold.com

Shadow Banks Have Grown in the Form of Hedge Funds and Money Market Funds.

This article was first published in 2024.

According to- abcnews.go.com: Beyond the banking world, a parallel universe of shadow banks has grown in the form of hedge funds and money market funds. They’re outside the reach of conventional financial regulation, prompting authorities to plan introducing new rules to prevent the obscure sector from triggering a new financial crisis. But in doing so they risk drying up an important source of funding to banks and firms. 

In the financial world, there is a narrow divide between heaven and hell. Frenchman Loïc Féry realized this when he was 33. He was a rising star in the banking world, managing the trade in complex loan packages for an investment bank. According to his business card, he was the bank’s “global head of credit markets.” But then one of his employees gambled away about €250 million ($317 million), and suddenly Féry was without a job.

In any alternative media space, you are sure to find much talk about US dollar dominance, as well as optimistic forecasts of its imminent decline. This is also true in the radical right, where nationalists pine after an end to US imperial hegemony and the rise of a more multipolar world.

Often though, this hope is little more than wishful thinking, with unlikely challengers to US power much overhyped. This is especially true concerning US dollar hegemony, a topic that is ripe for misunderstanding at the best of times.

It’s important to keep in mind that people have been forecasting the decline of the dollar ever since it attained its status as global reserve currency. As far back as 1960, the economist Robert Triffin was warning of an “imminent threat to the once-mighty US dollar”. Understanding the reason for Triffin’s pessimism, and why it turned out to be misguided, is crucial to understanding today’s global monetary system and the enduring dominance of the dollar.

Triffin’s concerns were more informed than most: his “Triffin dilemma”, as it came to be known, highlighted an inherent problem with a country’s national currency also serving as the reserve currency of choice for the international system. The country supplying the world with the reserve currency has to produce a surplus of money, thereby creating a trade deficit. In other words, the supplier country needs to be continually losing money to fill up the reserves of other countries and make the currency a low-risk option to hold as a reserve. But if the supplier country becomes too indebted to the rest of the world in this scenario, then its currency ceases to be such a low-risk asset, and that’s the dilemma.

After World War II, the US sent lots of dollars abroad through the Marshall Plan, military spending, and the American middle-class importing lots of foreign goods. So how did the domestic US dollar get around Triffin’s dilemma? It didn’t.

Enter the Eurodollar

Triffin’s dilemma was especially a problem for the US dollar because it was backed by gold. After all, what would happen when the world needed more dollars than US gold reserves could back? Much like the kind of collapse that would happen if everyone tried to withdraw their money from banks at the same time, the whole system faced implosion if the US could not keep its foreign dollars backed up with gold.

The standard story is that this problem was resolved in 1971, when Richard Nixon ended the Bretton Woods international system and finally decoupled the US dollar from gold. But by this point, private banks had already long replaced gold exchange and quietly adopted a new form of exchange, extricated from any reserves or real currency, this was a truly global, offshore economic system outside the purview of central banks. This was the Eurodollar system. In this context, “Euro” is used as a synonym for “offshore” rather than referring to actual euros. So, the Eurodollar system is the shadow, offshore money system denominated in US dollars.

No one is really sure of how the Eurodollar system emerged (more on that later), but by the late 1950s there had been a huge growth in US dollar deposits in European banks, mostly in the City of London. With pre-war practices, these deposits would have been remitted to the central bank or deposited to the banks’ accounts in the U.S., but gradually, banks began to use these dollar deposits to issue loans denominated in US dollars. By 1959, the economist Paul Einzig reported that

The Eurodollar market was for years hidden from economists and other readers of the financial press by a remarkable conspiracy of silence. I stumbled on its existence by sheer accident in October 1959, and when I embarked on an enquiry about it in London banking circles several bankers emphatically asked me not to write about the new practice.

Britain’s economic goal of making London a center for international financial capital manifested in deregulation and comprehensive secrecy protections; this gave the city a competitive edge against other European countries, and put it and its web of British offshore territories at the very centre of this emerging system.

Since the election of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government in 1979, Britain has undergone a great experiment. Economically, the UK became the exemplar of neoliberalism in Europe. Politically, the UK has quietly transitioned to a postnational state, undergoing one of the greatest demographic transformations in the West.

As the Eurodollar market exploded, it became the lifeblood of the global economy, quickly fulfilling a need banks had for an international currency system. Banks could now transact rapidly and efficiently across countries and continents without the need of a physical currency, an innovation that helped unleash economic activity. The Eurodollar system functioned like an early cryptocurrency, existing as a digital ledger and communications network rather than a traditional currency.

Driving the global economy is a kind of bankers virtual currency, created by and used to satisfy the demands of banks, a series of claims and liabilities exchanged between banks to meet their monetary needs. How can you travel to Indonesia and make an instant withdrawal from an ATM, withdrawing from your local bank back home? Only with a vastly complex and efficient communications network connecting the global banking system.

The Eurodollar was the emergence of this system, and central banks have little control over it. For all the scare-mongering from libertarians about “Fed money-printing”, it is international bankers — outside the regulations of the US Federal Reserve — who are the ones in control of creating the US dollar supply on international markets. Big commercial banks create Eurodollars using the offshore system without the backing of the Federal Reserve. This is done through fractional lending, where dollar deposits are used as collateral to loan out a higher amount of dollars.

Again: private banks create money out of thin air by creating debt

Discovering money creation rests with private banks is a revelation that tends to shock people and send them into a state of denial — surely the state would not outsource something this fundamental to private actors.

But don’t take my word for it, a source as good as the Bank of England wrote in a report titled “Money creation in the modern economy” that:

Most of the money in circulation is created, not by the printing presses of the Bank of England, but by the commercial banks themselves: banks create money whenever they lend to someone in the economy or buy an asset from consumers. And, in contrast to descriptions found in some textbooks, the Bank of England does not directly control the quantity of either base, or broad money. Of the two types of broad money, bank deposits make up the vast majority – 97% of the amount currently in circulation. And in the modern economy, those bank deposits are mostly created by commercial banks themselves.

So international bankers have created a shadow money system, with the Eurodollar system functioning as a kind of “dark energy” of the global economy, ever-present but unseen, something which the US Federal Reserve or any other central bank can do little to control. In fact, no one even knows how much money exists in the Eurodollar system, with estimates measuring it in anything from tens to hundreds of trillions. As the economist Fritz Machlup once told a meeting of his colleagues:

We don’t even know enough about the Eurodollar market to say that it should be controlled. 

If you want to visualise what this shadow money system looks like, this is an attempt at illustrating all the instruments involved in the supply of the US dollar:

Still confused? You’re not alone. If this illustrates anything, it’s that the federal reserve and central banking is just a small part of the story. This enormously complex web developed over decades through private institutions, satisfying the need for a truly global money system unconstrained by national barriers.

But in the process of decoupling the dollar from Federal Reserve reserve control, bankers have given themselves the power to create unsanctioned and unregulated money. This translates to enormous power to override national government’s monetary policy and fulfill many of the roles most people assume central banks and their governments are handling:

Because Eurocurrencies give private financial institutions the unrestricted ability to expand the availability of a particular currency, the country whose currency is the target of the Euroinstrument no longer has exclusive control over its money supply.

Furthermore, the lack of reserve requirements on Eurodollars creates a potentially infinite money multiplier, potentially leading to an infinite degree of inflation, all without the input of the Federal Reserve or the U.S. Treasury. Thus, the power to control the number of dollars (or dollar-equivalent instruments) in the market has been taken out of the exclusive control of U.S. authority and diffused among foreign banking institutions.

Discussion around economics is still heavily focused on central bank monetary policy and government programs like Quantitative Easing, which helps maintain the illusion that it’s still accountable, elected representatives with the final say.

It’s understandable we are biased to focus on government institutions: it has always been understood that monetary sovereignty is a prerequisite for political sovereignty. But it is now clear that governments have quietly surrendered a great degree of monetary sovereignty to the private interests running the international banking system — one of the most significant and revolutionary political changes ever, yet one hardly discussed.

It’s shocking to discover the scope and influence of this system, and to discover everything presented here has been out in the open for years, strangely ignored or overlooked by popular economists, financial analysts and politicians alike. Yet some esteemed economists like Paul Einzig and Milton Friedman did identify and study this system, and both also wrote of a grand “conspiracy of silence” by the global banking cartel to hide its existence. Since most economic analysis still ignores it, we are left with an always partial view of how the economy functions.

Why the dollar isn’t going away

There is another important realisation that comes with understanding the shadow money system: the Eurodollar is the real global reserve currency. The emergence of the Eurodollar system was an emergent innovation, coming from the many players involved in the global financial system seeking the maximally efficient form of money to handle their business. Understanding this helps us understand why it will be so hard to dethrone the dollar from its dominant position.

Imagine a world without the dollar. Suppose a German manufacturer needs to import raw materials from Brazil. The Brazilian exporter prefers to be paid in Brazilian reals, while the German importer has funds in euro. Only, there isn’t much from Europe the Brazilian company is interested in spending its new euro on, and constantly exchanging currencies can be costly and time-consuming.

However, with the Eurodollar system, the German importer can use its euro deposits to create a Eurodollar deposit in a German bank. This Eurodollar deposit can then be transferred to a Brazilian bank, which converts it to Brazilian reals and pays the exporter. The Brazilian bank can hold the Eurodollar deposit or use it to fund its own Eurodollar lending activities. Everybody wins! (Or so it must have seemed to the people inventing this system.)

Now imagine a government or governments trying to replace this. There are decades worth of highly complex and interwoven technological arrangements that have made this system function seamlessly. The dollar retains its strength because there is a constant demand for US Treasury securities backing this system.

Looking at how financiers are treating these securities, the dollar looks more secure than ever: US Treasury data reveals the foreign demand for these securities has massively increased in recent years. Holdings of long-term US Treasuries by private foreign investors jumped about 52% over the past three years to $3.4 trillion, for the first time overtaking the holdings of central banks.

Notice that the story here is not about US aircraft carriers or puppet regimes, but the private interests of the bankers that make up this system. A lot of dollar-doomers make a case that is all about geopolitics. The US is an ailing empire they say; it has a large and growing list of enemies, as well as potential challengers on the world stage like China, and we are entering a multipolar age where the US cannot dominate the world’s affairs like it did in the 20th Century. That may all be true, but it doesn’t make the Eurodollar system any less efficient for the global banking cartel.

China has put much effort trying to make its yuan a viable alternative to the dollar, and for all that, less than 3% of the world’s foreign-exchange reserves are denominated in yuan. By one estimate, the dollar is a part of 88% of all international transactions, the euro 31%, while the yuan is involved in just 7% (more than one currency can be involved in a transaction.)

If China wanted to make the yuan a true global reserve currency, they would need to embrace massive financial deregulation and abolish their currently strict capital controls, in order to allow massive inflows of foreign held currency and yuan into China. But China needs to maintain its strict financial regulation for domestic economic success, and political stability. China is unlikely to ever decide to abandon the statist model it has followed for decades just to make itself a better hub for the international financial system.

Some have touted BRICS, of which China is a member, as potentially leading the way in establishing an alternative monetary system. On paper, this looks more promising: BRICS countries have 42% of the world’s population, and an estimated 37% of the world’s GDP.

Could BRICS go about establishing a currency? Presumably, it would need a central bank, and presumably that would be centered in China, representing an unacceptable loss of sovereignty to other countries in the alliance, especially India, with whom it has ongoing territorial conflicts. The idea of a “BRICS coin” has been floated a lot over the years, either backed by gold or fully digital. But just last year, the head of BRICS’ New Development Bank made it clear there are no immediate plans for the group to create a common currency.

Even if BRICS were willing to put aside their disagreements and commit to a BRICS coin, it’s hard to see what competitive advantage it would have over the current system. A gold-backed currency? Bankers abandoned gold and embraced the Eurodollar system in the first place because gold-backed currency was a hindrance to their activities.

What about the “R” in BRICS? Perhaps Russia’s fortunes point to a potential alternative to dollar dominance. After all, since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US government has weaponised the financial system in ways previously unseen. Is this not a display to the world of the precarity of relying on the good graces of America to sustain your financial system? Many reasoned that if the United States overplayed its hand sanctioning Russia, this is the lesson the rest of the world would take, and then it would only be a matter of time before enough interested parties conspired to take down the mighty dollar.

The most headline grabbing sanction against Russia came when the US and its Western allies invoked what some analysts called “the nuclear option”, and colluded to take Russia off of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication). This was highly significant, as SWIFT is used by banks worldwide as a kind of instant messaging service. President Biden promised that this would “ensure that these banks are disconnected from the international financial system and harm their ability to operate globally.”

With the basic understanding of the US dollar as something strictly under the control of the US government, many assumed they could just deny Russia access to the dollar by cutting them off from the SWIFT system. But despite the high-profile deplatforming, Russian banks suffered little more than an inconvenience from being denied access to SWIFT, because of how effective the Eurodollar system is.

Eurodollar economist Jeffrey Snider summarised the problem with this attempt at deplatforming the Russian economy:

SWIFT constitutes very little insofar as the inner workings of the offshore banking network is concerned.

Deprive some of Russia’s institutions their ability to message to correspondents using SWIFT and they’ll simply communicate (how’s that for more irony!) with them some other way (including just picking up the phone) because the offshore correspondents are still there. They will continue to conduct their monetary business regardless of the method payments requests are sent and received.

Ironically, the very fact the US government could do so little to hinder Russian banks’ access to the Eurodollar market shows why it is so effective, and why the dollar will keep its position for the foreseeable future.

This takes us back to the start of this story, when the Eurodollar market emerged under shady and secretive circumstances in the city of London. I wrote no one is really sure how the Eurodollar emerged, but the most likely theory is that the real origin actually lies with the Soviet Union.

In 1956, the Soviets were also in the position of fearing international sanction for invading a smaller neighbour. After they crushed the 1956 rebellion in Hungary, Soviet officials feared the US would target their holdings of dollar deposits in American banks.

In response, the Soviets withdrew their dollars and moved them to two Russian banks based in Europe: Commercial pour L’Europe du Nord (BCEN) in Paris, and the Moscow Narodny Bank in London. Using those dollar deposits, these Russian banks may have become the first lenders in the global Eurodollar market.

On February 28, 1957, the Moscow Narodny Bank in London lent out $800,000. This modest sum was borrowed and repaid entirely outside the American banking system — or any centralised banking system. Bankers had just discovered an amazing innovation. BCEN in Paris also took some Narodny dollars and lent them out. The Paris bank was known by its telex name EUROBANK, and that, supposedly, is how dollars deposited in banks outside the US came to be known as “Eurodollars”.

And so, in one of the great ironies of history, the 20th Century’s great communist regime sparked an innovation on the financial markets that greatly expanded the power of capital and moved the activities of bankers beyond the scope of governments.

The Eurodollar system became so dominant because of innovations from people trying to avoid US government control of their dollars, and that’s precisely why the system is so resilient — to alternate currencies, to geopolitical shocks, and to the US government itself.

Nothing lasts forever, but for now, global dollar dominance is on pretty solid ground.

I want to present you one of the most interesting sites, where you will see new articles daily! www.321gold.com

Expect Government Crackdowns In A ‘Global Depression’

This article was first published in 2020.

For those professing a preference for one type of government over another, anugly reality is they all cut from the same cloth. Whether we are talking about Democracy, Communism, Socialism, or Fascism the strong link they share is one of dominance and a desire to control. While seen as vastly different systems with distinct goals, each is rooted in the promise people should sacrifice as needed for “the greater good.” The main flaw in a democracy is that it allows a simple majority to force their desires upon others. This is why our forefathers set checks and balances in the Constitution, however, even these do not guarantee freedom will remain. 

Today, the burden of risk and the amount of “skin in the game” is not equally shared by all of society. Over time our financial system and institutions have been corrupted by crony capitalism and a political system that panders to the masses by exchanging favors for baubles. It could be argued that those in power don’t have to take away our freedom by force if we are willing to surrender it or trade it for a few paid weeks off work. Nor do they have to be fair in how they go about this if they simply get a majority of the populace to go along with their plan.

The suspicion governments are self-serving creatures is apparent in the old school British imperial definition of “commerce” which used free trade as a cover for the military dominance of weak nations. Those put in a position of being exploited often saw this as simply a ruse promoted by those wishing to abuse them. In short, opening borders and turning off protectionism simply makes it easier to rob countries of their wealth. America, a wayward child of England, has been accused of following this same path.

In a 2020 article a case was made that the world was headed towards an economic crisis due to several factors. The problem is that such a scenario encompasses all aspects of life, from food and energy, to supply chains, geopolitics, and possibly even war. This article is an effort to offer up some ideas on how governments might respond to such an event based on current trends and some of the events that have occurred during the covid-19 pandemic. If we accept the idea that governments are self-serving and that a huge majority of the people suffer during an economic depression, we should expect frictions to develop as the populace seeks solutions to ease their pain. 

Sadly, governments across the world have overreached and crushed the rights of individuals during the pandemic. People have been denied the ability to travel, locked in their homes, followed by drones, and even been jailed. This may have been just a taste of what we might expect if governments are put under pressure to perform. Many people have pointed to the fact that in the past “war has been the go-to answer” often used to take our eyes off of problems. Hopefully, that will not be the case, however, many of the other options possible in the age of almost total surveillance do not seem much better. 

It is wise to remember that when all is said and done, those in power will not be kind to us but they will rapidly throw us under the bus without a thought. Silencing dissidents or those that protest or disagree by limiting free speech is only a start. Lock-downs and curfews take on a whole new meaning when harshly enforced. They can include things like house arrest, cutting power, links to the internet and communication, and even water to areas where unrest gets out of hand. You can expect governments to remove anything that gives us the power to control our fate.

The topic of our future and culture always circles back to and is directly linked to the issue of jobs vanishing as automation and an army of robots march into our workplace. This can result in a future that takes on a very grim dystopian appearance. The fear of being replaced by a robot or seeing your job being outsourced or eliminated is on the rise. Do not be surprised if in the end those displaced from the job market are only given enough to ensure they remain docile and behave. If and when this becomes an issue conflict and violence will arise.

While some people credit Rahm Emanuel with the saying, Winston Churchill was the first to say, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” He said it in the mid-1940s as we were approaching the end of World War II, and history indicates those in government have taken heed. The one thing we can count on is that when things crumble, the old, “we should have done more” or the “it would have been far worse” lines always flow forth from those in charge. Under this logic, we should be prepared to be subjected to massive abuse by those with strong agendas.  

Possibly, one of the most dire threats we face flows from the combination of big tech and those in pursuit of the highly touted one-world agenda. This brings together a slew of organizations, governments, companies, wealthy, individuals, and bankers with the goal of expanding their power. The gathering in Davos of the World Economic Forum is not for our benefit but more for plutocrats like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos that desire to “break the world” with their ruthless agendas to bring more political power into their hands. Recently a great deal of attention has been given to some of the ideas and vision the WEF has floated. One of the most powerful became visible when WEF public relations released a video entitled: “8 Predictions for the World in 2030. Its 2030 agenda offers a telling glimpse into what the technocratic elite has in store for the rest of us. It promotes the idea that  by 2030 “You will own nothing. And you’ll be happy. 

How do you begin to fight or turn back a force that has even incorporated and leveraged the ever-present smartphone as an ultra-powerful surveillance device? By developing programs to organize phone data so that it provides real-time intelligence on every citizen, and using it to guide and influence our actions the power of the state has been deeply enhanced. The digital age has made it far easier for government to seize our computers and records to shape a case against anyone by massaging the data as they see fit. The reason we hear so little criticism of these actions from our government may be that we are next in line to have our freedom culled. Governments are not the friend of the average man. Orwell wrote about how governments could take on a life of their own and criticized totalitarianism throughout his writings.

Totalitarianism, the most extreme and complete form of authoritarianism is a political concept that defines a mode of government, which prohibits opposition parties, restricts individual opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high degree of control over public and private life. Political power in totalitarian states is generally pushed by those on the far left or right with strong agendas and an all-encompassing propaganda campaign, which is disseminated through mass media. Signs of its growth are often marked by political repression, growing control over the economy, restriction of speech, and mass surveillance.

Of course, a huge step in individuals losing control over their lives would be the adoption of a single world currency.Those in charge of our financial machinery have indicated to the public their desire for more power. This means creating a truly global centralized economic system and a highly controlled world currency framework dominated by a select cult of banking oligarchs. This would, in effect makes the rest of the human race their slaves. The banking elites are positioning themselves to avoid blame for a disaster in which all fiat currencies fall in value by selling us on an elaborate recovery con-game which includes converting to a new worldwide currency. Remember, this is conceived and perpetuated by those with the most to gain. 

For years the IMF has been discussing replacing the dollar with the SDR as the world reserve currency. It would require governments to borrow from the world central banking authority, rather than printing currency to finance their infrastructure programs. With governments floating the idea of going cashless and to digital currencies, this would give them even greater control over our lives. To be clear, the elites are positioned and merely waiting for a geopolitical disaster or catastrophe so overwhelming that when the time arrives they can portray themselves as our saviors by carrying out this plan. 

This is all part of the New World Order and globalization idea pushed by many of the rich elite and world leaders. It contends that larger, more cooperative governments under one financial unit will benefit us all. The fact is Americans have a great deal to lose if the dollar is dethroned and declines in value. Those who will be crucified are the middle-class Americans whose wealth is locked into or are holding long-term USD bonds thinking they are a safe investment.  To Americans, the fate of dollar-dominated assets and their value when the dust finally settles should be a huge concern but most Americans fail to grasp the implications. 

The transition to a world currency would take a far greater toll on paper assets than tangible goods. While recognizing the flaws of the dollar and our current system I have come to believe the other fiat currencies such as the euro and yen hold even less merit. This includes cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin. Regardless, in the end, we should expect to be told and not given an option as to what is coming. If events unfold in the way those promoting a one-world currency hope, they will be able to portray cleaning up a financial mess as a blessing. The truth is, they will benefit greatly from putting a dagger in the heart of freedom. This is not written to frighten or as a prediction of doom but to dampen any illusions those at the top value those below them.

I want to present you one of the most interesting sites, where you will see new articles daily! www.321gold.com

The 2008 Financial Crisis and Its Aftermath

UNITED WE STAND – THE GOLD STANDARD RETURNS: LIBERTY TOKEN LAUNCHES AMERICA’S GREAT COMEBACK! Claim Your Piece of the Future HERE — A Symbol of Strength, Freedom, and Patriotism for Every True American!

Let’s make one thing clear. Lenders were never required by government programs to lend out more than the house was worth. That’s a myth that keeps being perpetuated.

In fact, by 2006, banks, mortage brokers and investment firms made more money from making sub-prime loans than they did from making traditional loans. That’s where our problem starts.

The modern mortgage bond was developed in the 1980s to take advantage of a market for such securities that was created by the U.S. government but was by 2000 largely operated as a private enterprise. Among these was the Federal Home Mortgage Corporation or “Freddie Mac”. Investment banks like Solomon Brothers would buy bundles of mortgages from a bank for cash, then turn them into a series of securities with various interest rates and risk possibilities and then sell them to pension funds and hedge funds. Mortgage bonds paid slightly higher returns than government bonds but, because they were backed by Freddie Mac, they were seen as the equivalent of government bonds from a risk perspective.

Attention: The US is Facing The BIGGEST Threat Of The Century

War Is Just Around The Corner

You’re about to lose everything you’ve worked so hard for your entire life and it’s even not going to be your fault! – your house, your car, your credit card will be worthless…

So pay chose attention because this video will change your life forever for the good!

However, by the early 2000s the mortgage bond market was pretty saturated – just about everyone who wanted a mortgage had one. Mortgage bonds were very lucrative for investment banks and they made a lot of money off of them, more than they did from corporate bonds or underwriting stock issues. The question was how to grow the market.

Sub-prime lending was the answer, but this posed some problems. Sub-prime loans had a higher default rate and, as such, mortgage bonds based on this type of mortgage was seen as riskier, which made them harder to sell. They did offer higher interest rates, but they were not attractive to institutional investors, which was the big market.

Now, I spoke before about breaking the bonds up into different series of securities, so the investments banks dialed up this practice to 11. Each bundle of mortages would be turned into a series of (usually) three sets of securities called “tranches”. The first tranch would pay the lowest interest rate, but the holders of this tranch got first crack at the cash flow. The second tranch would pay a higher rate, but only after the first tranch was paid. The third tranch would pay the highest rate, but only after the first two were paid out.

The next step was to get the bonds “rated”. There are two “ratings agencies”, Standard & Poors and Moody’s. Long story short, the rating agencies earned fees from the brokers selling the bonds, not the buyers buying them, they would work with brokers to earn the investment grade rating (“A”) and they used a model for risk that assumed each individual mortgage would perform independently of every other mortgage. “A” grade was sold to institutional investors, “B” grade to hedge funds and the investment banks generally kept the “C” grade – no one would buy those.

Gone viral! – Inside the Trump Family: Unraveling the Mystery of Their Unstoppable Energy and Robust Health!

In order to create more mortgage bonds, investment banks would encourage lenders to just get people to sign on the dotted line. These sub-prime mortgages were sold aggresively to people who didn’t have mortgages, either new buyers, investment buyers, or even people who had no mortgage on their existing home and needed some cash. Even if you came in with a request for a regular mortgage, a broker might push you over to a sub-prime product. Say you came in trying to buy a $200,000 house with a 10% down payment. You would instead be sold a $220,000 mortgage with a low “teaser” rate that reset in 2 years but had a lower monthly payment up front. You were told that (1) your property would go up and (2) there would be no problem re-financing your mortgage when the payments went up.

Next, some bond holders knew mortgage bonds were a bit risky so investment banks sold them insurance in case the bonds defaulted, a “credit default swap”. You paid a premium and, if the bond defaulted, you would swap the bond for the insurance amount. These had to be “underwritten” as the investment banks didn’t have the capital to pay off possible losses, so they went to big insurance companies and offered them a large share of the premium income if they would just agree to pay off any bonds that defaulted. As the insurance company saw these bonds as “A” rated, they figured they would never have to pay off.

By 2006, pretty much every possible mortgage had been sold and the market for new mortgages dried up. No problem. The investment banks just sold more credit default swaps and used that cash flow to create new bonds.

But in the second quarter of 2007, many of those mortgages with teaser rates came due. People started defaulting on the loans. The credit rating model figured defaults would be scattered, but instead on most bonds they tended to be concentrated – everyone defaulting at once.

With bonds defaulting, investors became wary of new bonds, so lenders couldn’t sell their mortgages to investment banks. They had used that money to lend out even more money and those loans started defaulting too, only this time the lenders were on the hook.

When the bonds defaulted, the credit default swaps started to be redeemed. Even before this, as the values fell, the insurance companies had to start selling assets at fire sale prices to provide collateral.

Investment banks that had heavily invested in the “C” tranches and had sold more credit default swaps were soon running out of money. Lehman Brothers defaulted on short term loans on money markets, which put money markets into a rare negative equity situation.

So:

  • People defaulting on mortgages they can’t afford and not being able to refinance. Thousands of properties in default.
  • Mortgage bonds defaulting because people aren’t making payment. This means mutual funds are going down and pension funds are in a cash crunch.
  • Bonds being redeemed for credit default swaps and, because banks sold more default swaps than there were mortgage bonds, the insurance companies are now holding more defaulted mortgage bonds than there were mortgages.
  • Property values, which were inflated by easy loans and high liquidity, start to collapse, putting many home owners (even ones with conventional loans) under water.
  • Because of the uncertainty in the money markets due to the bad paper there, legitimate companies like auto makers and credit card companies that borrowed heavily on money markets can’t borrow new money and instead are being asked for cash to cover their existing notes.

As such, the government had to step in and provide money to keep things orderly. They provided money to insurance companies. They took an equity share of auto companies. They set up funds to refinance mortgages in default.

WARNING: Watching The Following Video Will Give You Access To Knowledge The Government Does NOT Want You To Know About

I want to present you one of the most interesting sites, where you will see new articles daily! www.321gold.com

How the Value of Money Will Change After the Apocalypse

Famed French Microbiologist Louis Pasteur once said that “fortune favors the prepared mind”. When the topic of the apocalypse comes up, this quote definitely holds water. If you’re truly wise, you’ll endeavor to build self-sufficient homes, stock up on necessary supplies, and research on potential scenarios to find out what else you may need | 404. One of these scenarios often touches the topic of economics and finances. A common enough question that comes up for a lot of preppers is, what value will money hold when the world, as you know it, comes to an end?

The Present Value of Money

The value of the money or currency that you carry largely affects what you can purchase like groceries or gas. It affects what sort of preparations you can do to your homestead as well. In the world’s present state, money is both goods and a method of exchange that is heavily determined by economic demand. This economical demand is greatly determined by society as a whole on what we deem is valuable like goods and services. The money will only retain its value as long as we collectively decide it is worth what we get for it.

So as of present-day standards, society puts a lot of stock in things that have a high monetary value like oil, valuable currencies (Kuwait Dinar and Bahraini Dinar), and even intangible things like intellectual property and patents. It’s not surprising that the idea that a single moment would render all of these irrelevant terrifies the masses. If you want to prepare for doomsday scenario being able to discern the difference between what’s valuable now and what’s valuable in an SHTF event is crucial.

After a Collapse

In an SHTF scenario, the value of tradable forms like coins, paper, gold, and others will suddenly come into question. Everyone who’s ever laid eyes on a movie like Mad Max or Waterworld will know that everyday things that a taken for granted end up the most valuable. When people are scrambling to grab whatever supplies they can get, no one really stops to think about the current exchange rate, how much they’ve got stowed away in banks | 410, or even the value of any stocks they’ve invested. An end of the world scenario flips the switch on what people will consider valuable and what is acceptable currency.

People who make it a point to review and practice end game scenarios should have a good idea of what things go first. After a collapse of polite society, there are certain items that will disappear in the blink of an eye like bottled water, cooking oil, charcoal, and even the contents of the frozen meat section in groceries. It is during this chaotic time that people tend to panic and grab the things that they think will help them survive.

The New Currency

65.5% of Americans have begun to stockpile what they think they need in the event of a natural or political collapse. If you are one of them, the earlier you realize that money can become completely useless the better. It is generally understood that those who do not have their own supplies will have to consider a trade or barter to obtain goods. So what exactly do you use to trade?

Popular belief would put stock in things that people take for granted like spices, sugar, salt, and even tissue paper. Entertainment will remain to be in demand so things like books, paper, pencils, and even crayons increases in value. Necessities like shoes, gas, and clean water will heighten in value as these can be difficult to come by in an emergency situation. It also stands to reason that certain items that are considered vices, like alcohol or cigarettes, will be highly valuable as well. Other basic things that will skyrocket in value will be candles, sewing kits, socks, and blankets. Things can help build fires like matches and lighters can be viable options for currency–especially if you are able to start fires naturally because of your survival skills.

Items like lumber will be an effective bartering tool as it will be used for staying warm, cooking, and even building shelter. An end of the world scenario will still see certain things maintain their value like livestock. These will continue to be tradable goods–especially ones which breed quickly and are edible like rabbits. The basics are generally considered the best forms of new currency after the endgame event. Methods and items to protect yourself with will also be extremely valuable when the time comes. While guns and ammo are good forms of currency, they’re not exactly something you’ll want to trade. Always remember that while you’re thinking of new forms of currency, there are certain things that should never be let go.

Things you Shouldn’t Treat as Currency

While there is a drive up of things that can be considered new currency, there will be things that are much too important to trade or be used as currency. Things like medicine should be guarded well. In the end days, there is no telling if more pharmaceutical drugs will be produced. Items that can help you obtain intelligence on the developing situation like radios should not be up for trade or sale. Your source of food and clean water should be guarded because your life will quite literally depend on it. When you’re assessing what are non-negotiable and which are acceptable forms of currency, it will all boil down to what you can feasibly survive without. If trading a few pounds of salt or certain pieces of livestock will not affect your survival as a whole, only then will it be considered good forms of currency on your end.

In preparation for the end times, it is important to note that economics will continue to play an integral part in society. When you have what you need, this saves you from being in the position of bartering something truly precious in exchange for basic necessities. Continuously re-evaluating the supposed value of money is always good practice when you want to shore up your survival in difficult times.

I want to present you one of the most interesting sites, where you will see new articles daily! www.321gold.com