My name is Chris Martenson. I think the next twenty years are going to look very different from the last twenty. I want you to understand why.
New here? Start with the Crash Course. This series of videos clearly explains how our economy, energy systems and environment face increasing challenges, and explores likely implications for the future.
My primary goal is to position you for a positive tomorrow by taking appropriate action today. I built this site to help you stay informed, protect wealth, build resilience into your life and community, and connect with other concerned citizens. Hope to see you back here often.
Off The Cuff: It's a Mad, Mad World 
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In this week's Off the Cuff with Mish & Chris podcast, Chris and Mish set their sights on:
The Fed
- 0% interest rates through 2014 (at least!). There's not even a pretense left now about who its policies are really directed at helping.
- Europe
- In the words of Shakespeare, the latest proposals are simply "sound and fury, signifying nothing". At this point, a deep and prolonged recession is a certainty.
- Japan
- Decades of can-kicking are coming to their limit. 2012 could well be the year Japan topples into crisis.
Recorded on Wednesday, this podcast features Chris and Mish tackling the parade of head-scratching news announced by various governments and central banks this week. It's almost as if these entities are competing with each other for the Darwin award.
The Price of Growth
Growth. It's what every economist and politician wants. If we get 'back to growth,' servicing debts both private and sovereign becomes much easier. And life will return to normal (for a few more years).
There is growing evidence that a major US policy shift is underway to boost growth. Growth that will create millions of new jobs and raise real GDP.
While that's welcome news to just about everyone, the story is much less appealing when one understands the cost that come with such growth. Are we better off if a near-term recovery comes at the expense of our future security? The prudent among us would disagree.
Resurrecting American Export Strength
It’s easy to be skeptical that America could once again be a titan of global exports.
For a very long time, that role has mostly been relegated to countries in the developing world. America as an export economy? Somewhere along the 50-year transition from industrial manufacturer to voracious consumer, Americans have lost touch with such a remote possibility. Indeed, this phase of America's economic history is now quite settled. read more »
- Gregor Macdonald's blog
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Daily Digest 1/30 - Greece Plans Orderly Eurozone Exit, Between Iran And A Hard Place, TX's Electrical Predicament
- Greece plans orderly exit of the Eurozone
- Anxiety Mounts Over Maturing Real Estate Loans
- With Focus on Income Inequality, Albany Bill Will Seek $8.50 Minimum Wage
- U.S. Banks Tally Their Exposure to Europe’s Debt Maelstrom
- Greece - Between Iran and a Hard Place
- Transmission Line Under the Mediterranean to Supply Italy with Clean Power
- Texas's Electrical Power Predicament - Part 1
- Monsanto & Cancer Milk: Fox News Kills Story And Fires Reporters
Own the Crash Course Special Edition Set with Presenter’s Pack (NTSC or PAL)
- DailyDigest's blog
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Special Offer - GoalZero Solar Power Kits
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GoalZero offers portable, expandable, and affordable backup and off-grid power solutions for lighting, communications and small 12V coolers. It's also great for powering smaller electronic devices when traveling, camping and backpacking. The GoalZero product line offers entry-level resilience building opportunities for your backup power needs.
Specifically, PrepareDirect is offering us:
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Click here to take advantage of this offer and use Coupon Code: CHRISGOAL5, exclusive to ChrisMartenson.com readers. Offer will be valid through the month of February, 2012. read more »
- jasonw's blog
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Prepare for the Collapse of the Dollar 
For enrolled members only. Enroll now to gain full access to all Martenson Reports.
by Gregor Macdonald, contributing editor
Monday, January 30, 2012
Executive Summary
- The decision whether to export its commodities will become increasingly strategic to the US
- Understanding why Washington has decided to kill the dollar
- What's driving the dollar now
- What to expect from a coming secular decline of the dollar
- Why the deflation risk is ending and grand quantitative easing (QE) is now underway
Part I: The Price of Growth
If you have not yet read Part I, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
Part II: Prepare for the Collapse of the Dollar
The just-released GDP report, which wraps up the 2011 performance of the US economy, made for unhappy reading.
While the headline number was stronger in the fourth quarter, after adjusting for inflation, the reading for the entire year came in at 1.7%. As Business Insider’s Joe Weisenthal put it, that is the "final, pathetic growth number for 2011."
Many writers over the past year, including me, have hammered away at the idea that the performance of the US economy in real terms was statistically indistinguishable from a flatline in the aggregate.
No one disputes that some sectors of the economy, like exports and shipping, are growing. At issue is whether the economy as a whole is operating for the majority and not just segments of the populace. (Again, in real terms.) At a growth rate of 1.7%, we can at least conclude that no meaningful headway can be made in employment. Since the 2008 crisis, the US has been building a multi-million sub-population of people who are unemployed long-term. Only monthly job growth that first utilizes all new workers coming into the labor force will be able to eventually cut into this labor pool. Hence the revelations from the Federal Reserve this week related to targeting inflation, maintaining a zero-interest rate policy through late 2014, and conducting further quantitative easing (QE).
Before we dissect this week’s Fed meeting, let’s take a look at the recent trend in exports.
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The Coming Rout
For enrolled members only. Enroll now to gain full access to all Martenson Reports.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Executive Summary
- Further evidence that a Fed quantitative easing stoppage in June is likely
- Implications such a stoppage will have on stocks, commodities, bonds, and precious metals
- Why this will be more damaging to the economy than the 2008 correction
- Will the Fed eventually resume quantitative easing?
- Three alternatives to watch for that could prevent the coming rout
- How to hedge against the predicted rout
Part I: Why Things Are About To Get Turned Upside Down
If you have not yet read Part I, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
Part II: The Coming Rout
There are a few things that make the prospect of a Fed quantitative easing (QE) stoppage more likely.
The Fed Notices Inflation
Using a flashlight, a map, and both hands, the Fed managed to find something:
Fed Finds Climbing Costs Hit Shoppers
March 3, 2011
Many manufacturers are passing along higher input costs to their customers, a sign that rising prices for wheat, cotton, iron, and other commodities could increasingly reach consumers in coming months, according to the Federal Reserve's beige book survey.
The report, a summary of economic conditions across the central bank's 12 regional districts, said manufacturers "in a number of districts reported having greater ability" to pass through higher costs. "Retailers in some districts mentioned they had implemented price increases or were anticipating such action in the next few months," the Fed said.
It's good to see that the Fed is at least dimly aware that price inflation is in the pipe and coming soon to a market near you. The rest of the world has had no such difficulties in detecting inflation, especially on news like this:
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