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: Fasten Your Seat Belts 
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In this week's Off the Cuff with Mish & Chris podcast, Mish has the week off, so Chris and I sit down to discuss:
- Europe: what will be the implications of the newly elected leadership in France and Greece?
- Gold: will the free fall in price end soon?
- The Markets: will things stabilize soon, or is a bigger correction in the picture?
There is a lot of news afoot this week, including the breaking announcement today from JP Morgan admitting to unexpectedly large trading losses (in the $billions) right after this interview was recorded. We appear to be entering a time in the markets where it's important to make sure your seat belts are securely fastened.
Click the play button below to listen to the first few minutes of the podcast. Enroll to access the entire discussion, as well as all of the premium content this site has to offer.
Alasdair Macleod: All Roads in Europe Lead to Gold
This week we bring back Alasdair Macleod, publisher of FinanceAndEconomics.org, because, as he puts it, "every horror that we discussed last time we spoke is coming about." This is especially scary since our previous conversation with Alisdair was less than three weeks ago...
Today's interview continues building on his excellent synopsis from last month that detailed the origins of the Eurozone crisis. The fundamental shortcomings warned of at the euro's creation in 1997, combined with the excessive sovereign debts run up since then, have finally expressed themselves at a scale too large to be contained any longer.
Today, Alasdair details in depth the huge and serious challenges facing Greece and the major Eurozone countries and the likely impacts of the fast-dwindling options left remaining.
He sees no happy ending to this story, no outcome in which serious pain and permanent behavior change can be avoided. And for those looking for shelter from the unfolding economic storm, he sees few options besides the precious metals (which he believes are severely underpriced at the moment):
- Adam Taggart's blog
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Daily Digest 5/20 - How National Belt-Tightening Goes Awry, LA Learns To Embrace Bikes, Is Insider Trading Endemic To Wall St?
- Here Is the Full Inequality Speech and Slideshow That Was Too Hot for TED
- Dental Abuse Seen Driven By Private Equity Investments
- How National Belt-Tightening Goes Awry
- Is Insider Trading Part Of The Fabric?
- Los Angeles Lives by Car, but Learns to Embrace Bikes
- The age of extreme oil: ‘This Used To Be A Forest?
- With Natural Gas Plentiful and Cheap, Carbon Capture Projects Stumble
Own the Crash Course Special Edition Set with Presenter’s Pack (NTSC or PAL)
- DailyDigest's blog
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Water Storage: An Example of Resiliency Building
[Note: This article has been contributed by Joey Casas, longtime reader at ChrisMartenson.com and fellow resiliency builder.]
On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, the headline "Magnitude 7.0 earthquake shakes Haiti" hit the news. The images of the devastation from this single event (and the aftershocks) were sobering, in the least, and the reccurring theme that impacted me most was the masses of Haitians who were desperate for water.
The basic ingredient of life was being sought after and fought over. Access to clean potable water was now a matter of life and death for so many.
One particular Sunday paper headline and photo shook me for days. I kept this article taped up in my basement as a reminder of why it’s so important to have emergency water available. With it in mind, I decided to design a self-contained system that would allow me to provide water to my family for a minimum of 5 days and many more in a pinch.
- jasonw's blog
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What To Do When the Central Banks Blink 
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by Chris Martenson
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Executive Summary
- Where the gold price is most likely to go from here
- History rhymes: Why today resembles 2008
- How to best deploy your capital once the central banks announce the next round of money printing
- Why prudent actions you can take now are so much more valuable than the options you'll have once the correction is underway
Part I: Get Ready: We’re About To Have Another 2008-Style Crisis
If you have not yet read Part I, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.
Part II: What To Do When the Central Banks Blink
Where Gold Goes From Here
While I personally would not part with my gold these days, and certainly not at these prices, I do expect the price of gold to drop going forward.
The reason is that gold has multiple elements contributing to its price, and some of that is attributable to the speculation and rampant liquidity that is sloshing through the system. Various hedge funds and other speculative funds are holding quite a bit of gold, mainly the paper variety, and when they dump that because the tables have turned and/or their liquidity sources have dried up, they will sell that paper gold and the apparent price will go down.
Further, weak hands holding gold via the GLD ETF will be shaken out during a liquidity crisis, putting physical gold back onto the market.
However, it is my strongest contention that this will represent a very nice buying opportunity. Someday, nobody knows when, the central banks will announce another big round of thin-air money printing and that will be a turning point in the price of gold (and many other things, including stocks and commodities).
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