The impending economic collapse is hidden from most. People only see a rising stock market, not the negative underlying factors that will cause the whole system to crash.
The only other times in our history when stock prices have been this high relative to earnings, a horrifying stock market crash and economic collapse has always followed. Will things be different for us this time? We shall see, but without a doubt this is what a pre-crash market looks like.
This current bubble has been based on irrational euphoria that has been fueled by relentless central bank intervention, but now global central banks are removing the artificial life support in unison. Meanwhile, the real economy continues to stumble along very unevenly.
This is the longest that the U.S. has ever gone without a year in which the economy grew by at least 3 percent, and many believe that the next recession is very close and economic collapse imminent. Stock prices cannot stay completely disconnected from economic reality forever, and once the bubble bursts the pain is going to be unlike anything that we have ever seen before.
If you think that these ridiculously absurd stock prices are sustainable, there is something that I would like for you to consider. The only times in our history when the cyclically-adjusted return on stocks has been lower, a nightmarish economic collapse and stock market crash happened soon thereafter…
Ron Paul, who has for years been predicting an economic collapse and stock market crash worse than 2008, says that disaster is coming soon.
The Economic Doomsday is here. The second financial bubble is going to soon burst, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. The Federal Reserve has set up the American economy for financial collapse for printing trillions of dollars back in 2008 and 2009.
“The Federal Reserve’s policies of printing trillions of dollars back in ’08-09 have locked into place a serious economic crisis at some point in our future,” Going so far as to intimate the financial collapse and market crash will occur at least some time in the next two years, “It’s unavoidable, and even Donald Trump can’t stop it.”
Top economists predict that within the next 18-24 months, the imminent economic collapse will happen. The Federal Reserve has set up the American economy for financial collapse and market crash for printing trillions of dollars back in 2008 and 2009.
The Federal Reserve’s policies of printing trillions of dollars back in ’08-09 have locked into place a serious financial crisis….
Economic Collapse Might Look Like
An economic collapse could be a complete breakdown of society, or it could be like the great depression, although because we are a more dependent society these days it is likely to be much worse.
A Run on the Banks: One of the first things you will see is a run on the banks. People are going to be panicking, and they will be doing everything they can to get their hands on cash to buy extra supplies.
Chaos in the Streets: Once the banks run dry, you will see people turn desperate. The moment they realize the money is gone is the moment you will see widespread chaos sweep throughout the country. Riots, looting and widespread violence will break out, making self-defense one of your primary concerns.
Martial Law: When things start to go bad, I believe you will see the government declare a state of emergency or Martial Law. When this happens you will see things like travel restrictions, mandatory curfews, and the suspension of Constitutional rights.
Self-Sufficiency
When SHTF, systems that we depend on now will cease to exist. Survival won’t be a matter of going to the grocery store to buy food or turning on a faucet to get a drink of water. In no time at all, the services we count on to survive now will disappear and that includes things like doctors, pharmacies, and public utilities.
Start Stockpiling Supplies including non-perishable food, adequate fuel for your vehicle, firearms and ammunition, anything that you currently use every day to survive.
Make Sure you Have a Reliable Water Supply including not only bottled water but also a plan to get water if public utility systems or your electric powered pump fails.
Learn to Grow your Own Food. Start practicing your gardening skills now while you have time, so that you can master them and immediately begin bartering your crops post-collapse.
Keep medical and personal hygiene supplies on hand. Things like bandages, antibiotics, and toilet paper will be the first things to disappear from store shelves.
Bartering Might Become Common Place
Even if an economic collapse is not a complete collapse we will probably revert back to some sort of bartering system. If money becomes worthless our skills and our supplies will become our currency. Good bartering items include first aid supplies, alcohol, clothing and even small items like lighters.
Bartering could also include your skills. If someone has no idea how to garden, and you do, that will be very valuable to that person and you could possibly take a portion of the harvest for teaching them. I have a couple of articles here and here about valuable post collapse skills to have or learn.
Food Shortages Will Be Prevalent
Food shortages are inevitable in an economic meltdown. The food industry operates on very small profit margins and can only survive when invoices are paid quickly. As extreme inflation cripples marginal businesses, including suppliers, wholesalers, and retailers, payments will cease. As inflation persists, more businesses will fail, and food will become a scarce commodity.
Grocery stores only stock about three days’ worth of food at a time. If currency still holds some value, people will stampede to the local supermarkets and buy as much as they can. After that, shelves will be raided by looters in no time.
Start stockpiling early. Make sufficient space to store freeze-dried meals, canned items, and dry goods and check that the temperature and humidity requirements on your preps match the climate of your storage space.
Keep a balanced stockpile of nutritious, mineral, and energy-rich foodstuffs. You’ll need to ensure that your food contains enough protein, vitamins, fats, minerals, and carbohydrates to keep your immune system strong and your energy levels up.
Your body cannot afford to suffer a deficiency, so ensure that your stockpile contains enough iron, magnesium, calcium, and vitamins.
Carbohydrates are essential to survival because they contain valuable energy needed to keep you physically resilient. Rice, flour, grains, pasta, and nuts have long shelf-lives and are very versatile.
Salt is a wonder-ingredient for curing beef, preserving fish, and adding flavor to otherwise bland dishes. Plus, it never goes bad!
Maybe you do have some food stockpiled and a way to cook without power. So imagine you’re home and getting ready to sit down to eat during a SHTF scenario. Suddenly someone bursts in through your front door, waving a gun and demanding that you give him all your money and your supplies. What would happen? How would you make it if you gave away your supplies?
Self-Defense is Important
Like it or not, self-defense is going to be very important. People are going to want what we have and if the only way to get it is through force they will justify it. During an economic collapse the crime rate will skyrocket, and who knows how much help the police will be.
Self-defense ranges from firearms, to non-lethal weapons, to physically being able to defend yourself. Some people are not comfortable owning firearms and I wrote this post about non-lethal weapons if that is the case for you. I personally believe that everyone should own and be educated about gun safety even if you never plan on using it.
In an economic collapse those who are either rich but lack these skills will be looking to hire. Others who will have prepper/survival groups will be recruiting people with these certain skill sets. If you are neither of the two then you need to start developing those skills now because you sure as hell won’t have the opportunity to learn and develop them in a collapse.
Thanks to technology a lot of these skills are easy to learn for free. There are also other free options to help you learn these skills. For example, you could join a non-profit organization called Habitat for Humanity where they actually teach you how to build homes for free. You could also find a family member or friend to help teach you how to fish or hunt. The opportunities are there you just have to go look for them.
When considering how to prepare for economic collapse with no money you should realize the importance of relationship. Have you heard the expression “it’s not about what you know but who you know.” I learned that reality quickly after high school where I had to go work in the real world and pay my own bills. I began to see myself being overlooked by people because their friends or family worked for them. Naturally people will always look out for the people that they really care about especially in a collapse.
Books can be your best pre-collapse investment.
Easy Cellar(Info about building and managing your root cellar, plus printable plans. The book on building and using root cellars – The Complete Root Cellar Book.)
The Lost Ways (Learn the long forgotten secrets that helped our forefathers survive famines,wars,economic crisis and anything else life threw at them)
LOST WAYS 2 ( Word of the day: Prepare! And do it the old fashion way, like our fore-fathers did it and succeed long before us, because what lies ahead of us will require all the help we can get. Watch this video and learn the 3 skills that ensured our ancestors survival in hard times of famine and war.)