A Financial Apocalypse
My preference is for doom days that an ancient culture could have predicted, no matter how remote the possibility. But I still leave no stone unturned, so let’s look at the global economy, prompted by this article:
New Agers have been misinterpreting the Mayan calendar for years. The earth will not spin into a black hole or collide with Planet X on Dec. 21, 2012, as popularly predicted.
There won’t be deadly solar flares. There won’t be any more earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes or tornadoes than usual. There won’t even be some fanciful global spiritual awakening, as often imagined. This is not what the Mayans were talking about.
The pre-Columbian, Mesoamerican civilization is renowned for its advanced mathematics.
…Within a year, every major investment bank in the world was blowing up, and the little people all over the planet were forced to fund an unprecedented intervention to save bankers from a Mayan-style extinction.
…these volatile swings aren’t the sign of a recovering global economy. They are a sign that the Mayan prophecy is coming to pass: Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Spain…. The contagion is spreading like a plague, a new recession seems likely, and people everywhere are scared.
I’ve often said that, given nobody really knows if 2012 will turn out to be anything meaningful and nasty, it is still a bloody good excuse to prepare for… whatever. Most of things “predicted” for 2012 could happen any old time, so why not just prepare for them, regardless of 2012?
Major economic collapse in 2012 is looking possible. The global financial crisis is unlike any recession or depression seen before, and nobody knows how it will turn out in the end. It should have mostly occurred in the USA, but then it spread to Europe. If countries like Greece were cooking the books, then perhaps similar shocks are still awaiting us? Some serious commentators are saying that China is being misleading with their financials. Jon Huntsman is talking about breaking up the banks that are too big to fail. And in the UK:
British ministers privately warned that the break-up of the euro, once almost unthinkable, is now increasingly plausible.
The Telegraph article continues:
Diplomats are preparing to help Britons abroad through a banking collapse and even riots arising from the debt crisis.
“When the unemployment consequences are factored in, it is virtually impossible to consider a break-up scenario without some serious social consequences,” UBS said.
The Treasury confirmed earlier this month that contingency planning for a collapse is now under way.
A senior minister has now revealed the extent of the Government’s concern, saying that Britain is now planning on the basis that a euro collapse is now just a matter of time.
…Diplomats have also been told to prepare to help tens of thousands of British citizens in eurozone countries with the consequences of a financial collapse that would leave them unable to access bank accounts or even withdraw cash.
The EU treaties that created the euro and set its membership rules contain no provision for members to leave, meaning any break-up would be disorderly and potentially chaotic.
If eurozone governments defaulted on their debts, the European banks that hold many of their bonds would risk collapse.
Some analysts say the shock waves of such an event would risk the collapse of the entire financial system…
…Some economists believe that at worst, the outright collapse of the euro could reduce GDP in its member-states by up to half and trigger mass unemployment.
Analysts at UBS, an investment bank earlier this year warned that the most extreme consequences of a break-up include risks to basic property rights and the threat of civil disorder.
Sound like a good reason to have some supplies squirreled away in a safe spot?
Economy is a pseudo science !