Blogs

• Saverin dumps US citizenship ahead of Facebook IPO
• Italy Economy Contracts Most in Three Years on Recession
• IMF head says Greece could leave euro
• New Jersey April Revenue Collections 5.3% Below Budget Goals
• SNAP faces billions of dollars in cuts
• Shelling out to use Sonoma Coast beaches
• Recession hits "pretty grim" EU states in the east
• Metals Thefts Spike 400 Percent In One County
• Half of college grads working full time, with less pay, deep debt
• Greek Banks See Deposit Withdrawals
• In about-face, Greece pays bond swap holdouts
• Foreign holdings of US debt hit record high
• China faces pressure to reverse economic slump
• Why So Many Ph.D.s Are On Food Stamps
• Student fees increase
• KU proposes tuition hike of nearly 5 percent, effective next fall
• MnSCU proposes tuition increases for St. Cloud State, tech college
• Milliman: Healthcare costs for American family exceed $20,000 in 2012
• Over 55 and jobless, Americans face tough hunt
• Financial Troubles Continue for City of Lincoln
• Kuwait risks exhausting oil savings by 2017 - IMF
• Italy's banks shaken as economic slump deepens

Own the Crash Course Special Edition Set with Presenter’s Pack (NTSC or PAL)

 read more »

Well, my hat is off to the global central planners for averting the next stage of the unfolding financial crisis for as long as they have. I guess there’s some solace in having had a nice break between the events of 2008/09 and today, which afforded us all the opportunity to attend to our various preparations and enjoy our lives.

Alas, all good things come to an end, and a crisis rooted in ‘too much debt’ with a nice undercurrent of ‘persistently high and rising energy costs’ was never going to be solved by providing cheap liquidity to the largest and most reckless financial institutions. And it has not.

Forestalled is Not Foregone

The same sorts of signals that we had in 2008 are once again traipsing across my market monitors. Not precisely the same, of course, but with enough similarities that they rhyme loudly. Whereas in 2008 we saw breakdowns in the credit spreads of major financial institutions, this time we are seeing the same dynamic in the sovereign debt of the weaker European nation states.

 read more »

• JP Morgan's Loss: The Explainer
• Montco Mortgage Giant Bankrupt
• More And More Recessionary Market Signs
• The Financial World's Worst Nightmare
• Obama: JPMorgan Is ‘One of the Best-Managed Banks’
• Marc Faber Fears Stock Market Crash
• Greece Faces Big Debt Payment Tuesday: Now What?

Own the Crash Course Special Edition Set with Presenter’s Pack (NTSC or PAL)

 read more »

Most informed people are familiar with the concept of Peak Oil, but fewer are aware that we’re also entering the era of Peak Government. The central misconception of Peak Oil -- that it’s not about “running out of oil,” it’s about running out of cheap, easy-to-access oil -- can also be applied to Peak Government: It’s not about government disappearing, it’s about government shrinking.

Central government -- the Central State -- has been in the expansion mode for so long that the process of contracting government is completely alien to the nation, to those who work for the State, and to those who are dependent on the State. Thus we have little recent historical experience of Peak Government and few if any conceptual guideposts to help us understand this contraction.

Peak Government is not a reflection of government services or the millions of individuals who work in government; it is a reflection of four key systemic forces that drove State expansion are now either declining or reversing.

 read more »

• For Many in Greece, Austerity Is a False Choice
• FBI Concerned About Bitcoin Usage Among Cybercriminals
• Amid Signs of Economic Weaknesses, China to Free Cash for Lending
• Shortfall in California’s Budget Swells to $16 Billion
• A Generation Hobbled by the Soaring Cost of College
• Saudi Arabia Plan $109 Billion Solar Energy Project to Reduce Oil Consumption
• Amory Lovins: A 50-year plan for energy
• Dual Fuel Vehicles that can Run on Gasoline or Natural Gas

Follow our steps to prepare for a world after peak oil, such as how to store & filter water

 read more »

• An Effort to Bury a Throwaway Culture One Repair at a Time
• Syriza Says It Won’t Join Greek National Unity Government
• Dow Drops Most in 2012 as Europe Concern Resurfaces
• Cutbacks Hurt a State’s Response to Whooping Cough
• Inter-Regional Trade Movements of Petroleum to and from China: Part 9
• Is That Onions You Smell? Or Battery Juice?
• Rebuilding Rainwater Collection in India

Own the Crash Course Special Edition Set with Presenter’s Pack (NTSC or PAL)

 read more »

•  The Future of Oil: Geology versus Technology
• Data Signals Economic Trouble in China
• In Spain, a Debt Crisis Built on Corporate Borrowing
• Fannie Mae Posts Profit; Seeks No Aid
• A Fish Story
• Chinese Government to Close 1,200 Companies to Help Clear Beijing Smog

Own the Crash Course Special Edition Set with Presenter’s Pack (NTSC or PAL)

 read more »

I want to take the lowest risk approach to the future. So much is riding on it.

Personally I feel that the scientific progress we have made over the last few hundred years is astounding. I don’t want to lose that. I think that is a gift to the future and I don’t want to run the risk of a collapse that could destroy all that we have.

Even if you think the collapse is a low probability -- let’s say it's 5%, 10% probability -- it is an asymmetric risk. The downsides of not treating it seriously are huge.

I mean, you buy fire insurance for your house even if it is a 0.1% probability that your house will burn down in your lifetime. But the consequences are so negative that you do it. And when you are talking about the accomplishments of all civilization, you need to buy insurance and treat that with the respect it deserves.

Tom Murphy -- associate professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego -- has mapped the distance between the earth and the moon to within a millimeter, and built instruments to study colliding galaxies. We feel comfortable saying he's a pretty smart guy, as well as an optimist about what human ingenuity and technology can do for the advancement of society.

In 2004, he became intrigued with the global energy situation and brought his disciplined, empirical approach to bear. He set out to determine which new sources were going to pick up the slack once fossil fuels began becoming scarce. Looking back, he says the theme underlying his findings was "disappointment."

The math showed him that there simply will not be nearly enough BTU yield from alternative energy sources to meet the rising global demand. In fact, if anything, his investigation made him realize how few minds today are truly aware of the extraordinary energy throughput we are getting from fossil fuels.

 read more »

• Michael Hudson and Pierre Rinfret: The Myth of Alan Greenspan
• Charles Lane is Exhibit A: Dishonesty in Media when addressing Economics
• In Libya, the Captors Have Become the Captive
• Postal Service Holds Back On Closings
• Chris Martenson: Peak Oil Will Change Life As You Know It & So Will the Coming Collapse
• Norwegian Crude Oil Reserves and Production as of 12/31/2011

Follow our steps to prepare for a world after peak oil, such as how to store & filter water

 read more »

5% Special Discount for ChrisMartenson.com Readers

We are pleased to announce that PrepareDirect is offering ChrisMartenson.com members a special discount of 5% off all Gourmet Reserves Food Systems (this is an additional 5% off PrepareDirect's low prices). 

Gourmet Reserves, the food reserves division of AlpineAire Foods was introduced in 1989 to address the growing need for high quality, convenient, familiar, and real shelf-stable food products. The emphasis is on nutritious freeze-dried, instant, and specially dehydrated foods that include both a wide variety of exciting complete meal recipes, and many individual items.

 read more »