‘This is the worst recession for over 100 years’

‘Surpassing even the Great Depression of the 1930s’

Ed Balls, the PM’s closest ally, warns that downturn is ferocious and says impact will last 15 years

Britain is facing its worst financial crisis for more than a century, surpassing even the Great Depression of the 1930s, one of Gordon Brown’s most senior ministers and confidants has admitted.

In an extraordinary admission about the severity of the economic downturn, Ed Balls even predicted that its effects would still be felt 15 years from now. The Schools Secretary’s comments carry added weight because he is a former chief economic adviser to the Treasury and regarded as one of the Prime Ministers’s closest allies.

Mr Balls said yesterday: “The reality is that this is becoming the most serious global recession for, I’m sure, over 100 years, as it will turn out.”

He warned that events worldwide were moving at a “speed, pace and ferocity which none of us have seen before” and banks were losing cash on a “scale that nobody believed possible”.

The minister stunned his audience at a Labour conference in Yorkshire by forecasting that times could be tougher than in the depression of the 1930s, when male unemployment in some cities reached 70 per cent. He also appeared to hint that the recession could play into the hands of the far right.

Read more‘This is the worst recession for over 100 years’

Paul Craig Roberts: The U.S. economy is imploding; Budget deficit cannot be financed

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury during President Reagan’s first term. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has held numerous academic appointments, including the William E. Simon Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Georgetown University, and Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University.


Added:
Source: YouTube

Flashback:

Asia Needs Deal to Prevent Panic Selling of U.S. Debt, Yu Says

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) — Japan, China and other holders of U.S. government debt must quickly reach an agreement to prevent panic sales leading to a global financial collapse, said Yu Yongding, a former adviser to the Chinese central bank.

“We are in the same boat, we must cooperate,” Yu said in an interview in Beijing on Sept. 23. “If there’s no selling in a panicked way, then China willingly can continue to provide our financial support by continuing to hold U.S. assets.”

An agreement is needed so that no nation rushes to sell, “causing a collapse,” Yu said. Japan is the biggest owner of U.S. Treasury bills, holding $593 billion, and China is second with $519 billion. Asian countries together hold half of the $2.67 trillion total held by foreign nations.

Read morePaul Craig Roberts: The U.S. economy is imploding; Budget deficit cannot be financed

IMF may run out of cash to fight crisis in six months, Strauss-Khan warns

The International Monetary Fund could run out of cash to firefight the economic crisis in as little as six months, its managing director has warned.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn said the Fund needed an urgent cash infusion if it was to continue bailing out troubled economies in the future. Mr Strauss-Kahn also indicated that the world’s advanced economies were now tipping from recession into full-blown depression, cementing fears about the scale of the economic slump in rich nations.

Related article: IMF Says Advanced Economies Already in Depression (Bloomberg)

The IMF head made the comments in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia over the weekend, where he is attending a meeting of central bankers from Southeast Asia. The Fund has bailed out a number of countries including Iceland, Latvia and Pakistan but Mr Strauss-Kahn said there would be many others in need of help in the months ahead.

“Today, the IMF’s resources are enough to face the situation but because we are facing a global crisis, the needs may be much bigger than previously,” he said. “We have to intervene in Asia, Africa and Central Europe, Latin America, and maybe elsewhere. I can’t promise that in six to eight months from now, we will have enough resources.”

Read moreIMF may run out of cash to fight crisis in six months, Strauss-Khan warns

GE chief warns on US depression threat

The US economy is suffering its steepest downturn since at least the 1970s and could descend into a depression, Jeff Immelt, General Electric’s chief executive, warned on Thursday.

He said businesses and consumers alike were struggling to contend with tumultuous markets and a financial-services industry under siege.

“Unlike the other downturns that I’ve been a part of, this one is faced with limited liquidity,” Mr Immelt, GE’s chief since 2001 told a conference. “Once you break through ’74-’75, you don’t stop ’til you get to 1929.”

When asked whether he would call the current slowdown a recession or a depression, Mr Immelt joked that he would need to refer to his college economics text book for a precise answer but said “it is one of those”.

Read moreGE chief warns on US depression threat

Peter Schiff: Stimulus Bill Will Lead to “Unmitigated Disaster”

The fiscal stimulus bill being debated in Congress not only won’t help the economy, it will make the recession much worse, says Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital.

Schiff scoffs at the notion the economic decline is starting to level off and concedes no government action means a “terrible” recession. But the path of increased government intervention will lead to “unmitigated disaster,” says Schiff, who gained notoriety in 2007-08 for his prescient calls on the housing bubble and U.S. stocks.

The problem, he says, is the government is trying to perpetuate a “phony economy” based on borrowing and spending. With the U.S. consumer tapped out, the government is “now taking on the mantle” of consumer of last resort, he continues, predicting the bond bubble will soon burst – if it hasn’t already – ultimately leading to a collapse of the dollar and an “inflationary depression worse than anything any of us have ever seen.”

If nothing else, Schiff is an nonpartisan critic of American policymakers, comparing President Bush to Herbert Hoover and President Obama to FDR, and neither in a favorable way.

Read morePeter Schiff: Stimulus Bill Will Lead to “Unmitigated Disaster”

Gordon Brown suggests world heading for a depression

Gordon Brown appeared to acknowledge for the first time today that the world economy was heading for a 1930s-style “depression”.

Mr Brown stumbled slightly over his words at Commons question time, just a week after admitting that Britain was facing a “deep” recession.

As the financial gloom deepens, he told the Tory leader David Cameron today: “We should agree, as a world, on a monetary and fiscal stimulus that will take the world out of depression.”

The comment went unnoticed during rowdy question time exchanges between Mr Cameron and Mr Brown, which centred on protectionism and the Prime Minister’s use of the phrase “British jobs for British workers”. Ironically, the exchange ended with Mr Brown accusing the Tory leader of deliberately “talking Britain down”.

Read moreGordon Brown suggests world heading for a depression

Economist John Williams on Real Unemployment Rate

John Williams, Founder of Shadow Government Statistics, calculates that the jobless rate is a full l0 percent higher than the government is reporting. He also discusses the news Monday morning that American companies (including Sprint, Home Depot) are cutting about 43,000 jobs.


Source: YouTube

For more information: Shadow Government Statistics

Gerald Celente: The Greatest Depression in History

Lew Rockwell interviews Gerald Celente:


Gerald Celente: The Greatest Depression in History (MP3)

[To download this audio file to your computer, right click at this link and select “save”, “save as” or “save file as” (depending upon your browser).]

If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.
– New York Post

When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.
– CNN Headline News

There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about. – CNBC

Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.
– The Wall Street Journal

A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.
– The Economist

Related interviews:
Gerald Celente: The Collapse of 2009; The Greatest Depression
Gerald Celente on The Alex Jones Show: The Coming Revolt

Source: Lew Rockwell

Gerald Celente: The Collapse of 2009; The Greatest Depression

If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.
– New York Post

When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.
– CNN Headline News

There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about. – CNBC

Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.
– The Wall Street Journal

A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.
– The Economist

1 of 4:

17. Januar 2009
Source: YouTube

Read moreGerald Celente: The Collapse of 2009; The Greatest Depression

Britain on the brink of an economic depression, say experts

Britain is heading for economic depression for the first time since the 1930s, economists have warned.

Families must brace themselves for a slump of far greater severity and longevity than the recessions of the 1980s and 1990s, they warned. They said the current crisis will be of a scale to rival the biggest peace-time crisis in modern history – the Great Depression.

The warning was delivered by economists and politicians after the Office for National Statistics revealed that the economy shrank by 1.5 per cent in the final three months of 2008 alone.

The contraction follows a 0.6 per cent fall in gross domestic product (GDP) – the most comprehensive measure of Britain’s wealth generation – during the previous three months. This means Britain fulfils the criteria for a technical recession – two successive quarters of negative output.

Read moreBritain on the brink of an economic depression, say experts

Former chairman of RBS is warning that UK is on brink of depression


Gordon Brown, flanked by the Spanish prime minister, Jose Zapatero, left, and Silvio Berlusconi, prime minister of Italy, broke off talks at the Gaza summit in Sharm el Sheikh. Picture: PA

BRITAIN is facing an economic depression, one of Scotland’s most prominent businessmen has warned, as the government prepares to announce its last-ditch attempt to shore up confidence in the banking industry.

Sir George Mathewson, a former chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland and chairman of the Scottish Government’s economic advisory council, said that economic conditions would worsen.


He also attacked Gordon Brown and Labour for their key policy moves during the crisis: the VAT cut, recapitalisation of the banks and the £20 billion guarantees of loans to small business.

In his bleak assessment, Sir George said: “Right now it’s depression we should be really worried about because that causes real, personal suffering for a lot of people.”

Asked if this was a real risk, he said: “Oh yeah, of course it is.”

He also warned that injecting more capital into banks would not revive the economy.

Read moreFormer chairman of RBS is warning that UK is on brink of depression

Peter Schiff: We are the United States of Madoff (1/14/09)

1 of 6:

Source: YouTube

Read morePeter Schiff: We are the United States of Madoff (1/14/09)

Global Economic Crisis Accelerating

Richest apartment block in US becomes a house of horrors (Guardian):
The lavish apartments of 740 Park Avenue are home to 30 of America’s wealthiest and most influential families. At least they were until the historic confluence of financial disasters struck, lopping billions of dollars off their combined net worth. Now the formerly untouchable denizens of this famous apartment building look like they could lose it all.

French aristocrats the Wendels forced to put North Sea assets on the block (Times Online):
THE Wendel family, one of France’s most prominent industrial dynasties – which once made cannons for Louis XIV – has put its North Sea oil company up for sale in a desperate bid to raise cash after debt-fuelled investments soured, threatening to make it one of the most high-profile casualties of the global financial crisis.

State employees stunned by request for $250 million in concessions (Cleveland.com):
COLUMBUS — The state has asked workers in its largest labor union to accept a 5 percent across-the-board pay cut, a shorter work week and unpaid holidays to help balance the state’s troubled budget, according to a document obtained by The Plain Dealer. The list of cuts and changes Gov. Ted Strickland’s administration has asked the workers to accept, which also includes mandatory furloughs and paying more for their health insurance, would amount to $250 million in concessions, according to a members-only e-mail from Ohio Civil Service Employees Association president Eddie L. Parks.

Eastern Europe braced for a violent ‘spring of discontent’ (Guardian):
Riots and street battles are set to spread through Bulgaria, Romania and the Baltic states as inflation, unemployment and racism fuel tension, reports Jason Burke

Obama team weighs government bank to ease crisis (Reuters):
(Obama team weighs government bank to loot taxpayers’ even more.)

Obama Bank Rescue May Make New Effort to Resolve Toxic Assets (Bloomberg)

VeraSun to put 7 plants up for auction (Forbes):
VeraSun Energy Corp., the nation’s second largest ethanol producer, is putting seven of its biorefineries up for auction as part of a bankruptcy court financing agreement.

Brown’s fury at Royal Bank of Scotland’s £2.5bn loan to Russian oligarch (Daily Mail)

Recession drills deep into oil and gas (Independent)

Gulf Shares Fall on Concern That Earnings May Lag Expectations (Bloomberg)

Oil demand to fall again in 2009 (BBC News):
(Oil demand dropped very little … compared to oil prices. This makes no sense whatsoever, unless what Lindsey Williams said is actually happening right now.)

Monetary union has left half of Europe trapped in depression (Telegraph)

Iraq reconstruction’s bottom-line (Asia Times)

UK is in freefall, warns think-tank (Guardian)

Florida’s Nadel Missing as FBI, SEC Investigate Funds (Bloomberg)

Global Economic Crisis Accelerating

“An open, competitive, and liberalized financial market can effectively allocate scarce resources in a manner that promotes stability and prosperity far better than governmental intervention.” Henry Paulson

Banks Need Second Portion Of Bailout Fund: Paulson (CNNMoney)

Sharpest output fall on way, warns bank chief (Independent)

Dow May Fall to 6,000 Should Low Break, Acampora Says (Bloomberg)

Minneapolis’ ‘Star Tribune’ Newspaper Files Chapter 11 (USA Today)

Darling Said to Prepare Guarantee for UK Lending (Bloomberg)

Anglo Irish Bank nationalised (Independent)

Hertz to cut more than 4000 jobs (Reuters)

Citigroup: Mortgage Losses ‘Rapidly Approaching’ Historic Peak (CNN Money):
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Citigroup Inc. said consumer delinquencies and subsequent loan losses accelerated in many parts of the world. Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden said during a conference call with investors, “Loss rates in [credit] cards have now surpassed their historic highs while in first mortgages the rate is rapidly approaching the previous peak.”

Rescue of Banks Hints at Nationalization (New York Times)

Wall Street layoff storm also soaks office landlords (Reuters):
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street’s employment tsunami, most recently swamping Citibank Inc (C.N), is also undermining the island of Manhattan’s 443 million square foot office market, threatening to drag rents down 35 percent from a second quarter 2008 high.

Oil tankers are going nowhere — slowly (Seattle Times)

Shoppers ‘Sidelined’ In Long Retail Slump (Washington Post)

AMD to Cut 1100 Jobs, Lower Salaries (Wall Street Journal)

Ireland Leads Surge in European Government Bond Risk to Records (Bloomberg)

Treasuries Tumble as Stocks Rise on Government Bailout of Bank of America (Bloomberg)

The more black holes D.C. fills, the more open up (Money And Markets)

China’s US bond appetite to slow: economists (AFP)

China’s Economy Faces 2009 ‘Hard Landing,’ Fitch Says (Bloomberg)

Chinese economy imploding amid global depression: analyst (AFP)

Intel profit sinks 90% (CNN Money)

WellPoint cutting 1500 positions (Reuters)

Circuit City to shut down (CNN Money)

Bear in the beer — you know it’s bad when even suds sales slip (Newsday)

No wind in boat show sales (Chicago Tribune)

Pictures: Growing stocks of unsold cars around the world (Guardian)

Depression ahead, prepare for stock rout – Societe Generale

LONDON, Jan 15, 2009 (Reuters via COMTEX) — Societe Generale said on Thursday that the United States’ economy looks likely to enter a depression and China’s could implode.

In a highly bearish note, veteran cross asset strategist Albert Edwards said investors should now cut equity exposure after a turn-of-the-year rally and prepare for a rout.

He predicted that the S&P 500 index of U.S. stocks could be set for a fall of nearly 70 percent from recent levels.

Edwards also raised the danger of a global trade war with China.

“While economic data in developed economies increasingly reflects depression rather than a deep recession, the real surprise in 2009 may lie elsewhere,” Edwards wrote.

“It is becoming clear that the Chinese economy is imploding and this raises the possibility of regime change. To prevent this, the authorities would likely devalue the yuan. A subsequent trade war could see a re-run of the Great Depression.”

Read moreDepression ahead, prepare for stock rout – Societe Generale

Leading economist fears decade of weakness in US


The collapse of the American property market helped to start the downturn

One of the world’s leading economists has given warning that the United States is facing a decade of financial misery, with the number of unemployed Americans set to continue to rise for years.

Robert Shiller, Professor of Economics at Yale University, who predicted the end of the internet bubble seven years ago, said: “We could have many years of a very weak economy. Big recessions are followed by years of weakness and typically unemployment keeps rising.

“To say that this will last years is not a dramatic statement. What is happening now is much worse than 1990. We could be facing a decade of real weakness.

“This is no ordinary recession. There are signs that people see this as a different story. People are talking about a depression, something that we haven’t seen previously.”

Professor Shiller’s comments come as the unemployment rate in America is rising astonishingly fast.

Last week official figures showed that the US lost 524,000 jobs in December, with the overall unemployment rate rising to 7.2 per cent – the highest level for 16 years.

With about 11.1 million people out of a job, the total number of unemployed is about 50 per cent higher than a year ago.

Read moreLeading economist fears decade of weakness in US

Professor Peter Morici: U.S. economy is in a depression

COLLEGE PARK, Md., Jan. 11 (UPI) — The U.S. economy is in a depression, a University of Maryland economics professor contends.

Professor Peter Morici, a former chief economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission, said the American economy is in a worse condition than a recession, Kiplinger reported in its January issue.

Among other factors, Morici noted 2.6 million payroll jobs have been lost since December 2007, the dollar is falling value and the nation has a big trade deficit with China.

“The economy contracted at about a 5 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter. This looks worse than a recession to me,” he said.

Morici said President-elect Barack Obama has clear economic challenges before him when he takes office this month.

“The economy will not recover without fundamental changes in banking and trade policy. A large stimulus package, though necessary, will only give the economy a temporary lift,” he said. “The economy is in a depression, not a recession.”

Read moreProfessor Peter Morici: U.S. economy is in a depression

Paul Craig Roberts On The U.S. Leadership: “They Are Criminals” – The Potential Here Is Far Worse Than The Great Depression

Paul Craig Roberts (born April 3, 1939, in Atlanta, Georgia) is an economist and a nationally syndicated columnist for Creators Syndicate.

He served as an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan Administration earning fame as the “Father of Reaganomics”.

He is a former editor and columnist for the Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and Scripps Howard News Service.

He is a graduate of the Georgia Institute of Technology and he holds a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia.

He was a post-graduate at the University of California, Berkeley, and Oxford University where he was a member of Merton College.

In 1992 he received the Warren Brookes Award for Excellence in Journalism. In 1993 the Forbes Media Guide ranked him as one of the top seven journalists in the United States. (Wikipedia)


Added: January 11, 2009
Source: YouTube

Don’t Miss:

Willem Buiter warns of massive dollar collapse

Peter Schiff: The Fed’s Bubble Trouble

Peter Schiff: We are on the verge of another major crisis

Ron Paul: ‘The Palestinians Are Virtually In Like A Concentration Camp’
(It is important what Dr. Paul has to say about the dollar, debt etc.)

Lindsey Williams: The Dollar And The US Will Collapse; Saudi Arabia And Dubai Will Fall; US Will Be Third World Country; The Greatest Depression Is Coming

Peter Schiff: US Dollar is on the verge of collapse; This is hyperinflation; This is Zimbabwe (12/17/2008)

Gerald Celente: The Coming Revolt

The US Government is Going to Default

China Losing Taste for Debt From the U.S.

Once Booming Dubai Goes Bust

CBS Evening News: Following Wave Of Speculation, Real Estate Collapses In Middle East’s Capital Of The Ultra-Rich


Downturn In Dubai: The worldwide economic crisis has even struck the once-booming oil city of Dubai. As Sheila MacVicar reports, developers and investors are now facing a financial standstill due to mass overexpansion.


The Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, the world’s biggest artificial island. Home prices there are down 40 percent in the last year.
Photo: ThePalmJumeirah.

(CBS) Over the years, booming oil prices helped turn Dubai into a land of opportunity and playground for the ultra rich.

But that was then and this is now. And as CBS News correspondent Sheila MacVicar reports, even Dubai is feeling the pinch of the worldwide economic crisis.

Related articles:
Dubai dream turns sour (The Straits Times)
Owner of Dubai landmarks eyes float (The Telegraph)
Dubai Bonds Signal Economic “Depression,” ING Says (Bloomberg)

The gulf city state’s property prices went up as fast and as high as the towering buildings. But reality has suddenly intruded.

One investor said it was as if someone had thrown a switch, as the global credit crunch slammed a city that was, in effect, the world’s biggest construction site

It took just 20 years for Dubai to go from a desert outpost with a handful of office towers to a world metropolis, where one fifth of the world’s cranes operate, and property became a very hot commodity, with some people playing real estate the way others play poker.

Read moreOnce Booming Dubai Goes Bust

Gerald Celente on The Alex Jones Show: The Coming Revolt

If Nostradamus were alive today, he’d have a hard time keeping up with Gerald Celente.
– New York Post

When CNN wants to know about the Top Trends, we ask Gerald Celente.
– CNN Headline News

There’s not a better trend forecaster than Gerald Celente. The man knows what he’s talking about. – CNBC

Those who take their predictions seriously … consider the Trends Research Institute.
– The Wall Street Journal

A network of 25 experts whose range of specialties would rival many university faculties.
– The Economist


Alex welcomes back to the show Gerald Celente, the world’s number one trends forecaster, who has predicted a severe depression and riots in the streets.

Part 1 of 7 (Part 1 is not uploaded on YouTube. All the others are there and a must-see.)

Part 2 of 7

December 18, 2008
Source: YouTube

Read moreGerald Celente on The Alex Jones Show: The Coming Revolt

Peter Schiff: US Dollar is on the verge of collapse; This is hyperinflation; This is Zimbabwe (12/17/2008)

Peter Schiff: “I am a 100% convinced that anybody who has their wealth in US Dollars will be just as broke as the people who had their money with Madoff.”

(All 6 parts are a must-see.)

Part 1 of 6

Source: YouTube

Read morePeter Schiff: US Dollar is on the verge of collapse; This is hyperinflation; This is Zimbabwe (12/17/2008)

Peter Schiff on CNBC: The government is pouring gasoline on a fire that it set (12/29/08)

“We are in the process of creating another Great Depression.” (Peter Schiff)

Part 1

Source: YouTube

Part 2

Source: YouTube

Lindsey Williams: The Dollar And The US Will Collapse; Saudi Arabia And Dubai Will Fall; US Will Be Third World Country; The Greatest Depression Is Coming

Part 1: Lindsey Williams on The Alex Jones Show

Source: YouTube

Part 2: Lindsey Williams on The Alex Jones Show

Source: YouTube

Part 3: Lindsey Williams on The Alex Jones Show ‘Update’

Source: YouTube

Related video: The Energy Non-Crisis by Lindsey Williams
Lindsey Williams talks about his first hand knowledge of Alaskan oil reserves larger than any on earth. And he talks about how the oil companies and U.S. government won’t send it through the pipeline for U.S. citizens to use.

Gerald Celente: The Greatest Depression

Mr. Celente long ago warned of the economic malaise that is gripping the planet – but he does have some good news.

Gerald Celente

The Greatest Depression *AUDIO*

To download this audio file to your computer, right click this link and select “save”, “save as” or “save file as” (depending upon your browser).

Source: HoweStreet