Finance Blog 22nd February 2009
Well, it’s all happening around the world: governments using “Quantitative Easing” i.e. posh way of saying printing money – to try to solve the financial crisis. Who is going to get bailed out next? How will they decide who to save and who to allow to sink? Who else will be exposed for vast fraudulent activities? It seems to be endless – while the average person is concerned about their job security and their home – the people at the top seem to be in charge of our destiny.
It is time for us to begin to think for ourselves and not to just elect a new government every few years and then sit back and let them do as they wish. They haven’t made a very good job of it have they?
It is vital to begin to deepen your understanding of the issues, to start to help your community and to see a world in which money becomes our slave and not our master.
The next 20 years are going to be completely unlike the last 20 years. There is a sharp corner coming, and those who are well-informed will be better off than those that will undoubtedly be taken by surprise.
Here are a few things that I saw that just didn’t make sense:
- we were consuming way beyond our means
- the gap between incomes and house prices was getting larger and larger
- the decline in credit standards was becoming ridiculous – anyone and everyone had the opportunity to take out a loan
- credit was expanding faster than the economy
All these things alerted me to the fact that there was going to be a huge problem ahead of us.
It’s time now to Trust Yourself. If you see something that doesn’t make sense – trust your instincts. You can avoid much of the pain coming if you listen to your intuitions. Your future is up to you. It’s time to take responsibility. You have a lot more control than you think.
The first step is the awareness, then the understanding and finally you will come up with the solutions.
As I see it at the moment:
- get your money out of the banks or at least spread it around a few financial institutions
- have some cash on hand
- get gold and silver
- get out of debt
- rent rather than buy
- get your health seen to while there is time and resources left
- get your car serviced and running well
- learn how to become self-sufficient
- get off the grid or at least have a backup solution
- reach out to your community and get involved with projects that will make you more self-sustaining.
Have fun!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
What's going to happen next?
What’s going to happen next?
The next big event in the unfolding crisis will be the collapse of the commercial real estate market. Think about it. Huge retailers have gone belly up and who knows how many more will be going to the wall. Starbucks, Macy’s, Home Depot, Walmart?? Who knows? At the very least, they will begin to rationalise their retail outlets and start cutting costs wherever they can. So who is going to rent all that available retail space???
Consider all the collapsed and merged banks and financial institutions: Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Lehman brothers, Lloyds TSB with HBOS in the UK……the list goes on. Who will rent all the commercial office space that these ravaged banks leave behind? The answer is no one.
The consequences must be a huge fall in the commercial real estate market. Remember too that there are huge support industries that are tied up in this too: advertising, marketing, suppliers…..
Did you know that governments keep two sets of books when it comes to unemployment figures? There is one that they publicly give out to make the figure seem lower BUT it does not include the unemployed who are so discouraged that they have given up looking for another job, and it also excludes part-time workers. So for every public figure you hear about, try doubling it to get a more realistic picture.
There will be a tax revolt, especially in the US. Let’s face it, how can governments think about putting taxes up while people are losing everything: having their homes taken away from them, losing their jobs, their pensions?? When people are desperate and fearful and they feel they have nothing left to lose, they revolt. So expect revolutionary activity to take place around the globe.
Where are the future growth areas? In my view there are three huge possibilities:
- Health jobs. This will be a growth industry, particularly in elder care.
- Conservation engineers. People who work out ways of saving and making money will be part of a huge growth economy
- Alternative energies – there are certainly job opportunities in this area.
The next big event in the unfolding crisis will be the collapse of the commercial real estate market. Think about it. Huge retailers have gone belly up and who knows how many more will be going to the wall. Starbucks, Macy’s, Home Depot, Walmart?? Who knows? At the very least, they will begin to rationalise their retail outlets and start cutting costs wherever they can. So who is going to rent all that available retail space???
Consider all the collapsed and merged banks and financial institutions: Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, Lehman brothers, Lloyds TSB with HBOS in the UK……the list goes on. Who will rent all the commercial office space that these ravaged banks leave behind? The answer is no one.
The consequences must be a huge fall in the commercial real estate market. Remember too that there are huge support industries that are tied up in this too: advertising, marketing, suppliers…..
Did you know that governments keep two sets of books when it comes to unemployment figures? There is one that they publicly give out to make the figure seem lower BUT it does not include the unemployed who are so discouraged that they have given up looking for another job, and it also excludes part-time workers. So for every public figure you hear about, try doubling it to get a more realistic picture.
There will be a tax revolt, especially in the US. Let’s face it, how can governments think about putting taxes up while people are losing everything: having their homes taken away from them, losing their jobs, their pensions?? When people are desperate and fearful and they feel they have nothing left to lose, they revolt. So expect revolutionary activity to take place around the globe.
Where are the future growth areas? In my view there are three huge possibilities:
- Health jobs. This will be a growth industry, particularly in elder care.
- Conservation engineers. People who work out ways of saving and making money will be part of a huge growth economy
- Alternative energies – there are certainly job opportunities in this area.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Prepare for the Future - more predictions
I thought I'd share some of my thoughts about future trends. This may be helpful to you in preparing yourself for the future shocks we are all going to experience in one way or another.
Firstly, I see major changes happening in the phone and telecommunications industry which will not necessarily be for the better. They will attempt to streamline their operations, but in doing this, they will eliminate a lot of things that were working just fine. If you are already in this industry, you may want to lobby against sweeping changes, or at least find yourself a niche in which you will be able to offer the services that the large companies will discard.
Governments need to have much more control over the monies that are being used for bailouts. There needs to be greater accountability and the fact that so many busineses and banks are being nationalised, means that CEO's and leaders will have to be responsible and act with integrity. The age of greed and reckless risk-taking is coming to an end. Indeed, the fact that Obama has wisely limited the pay of executives in the banking industry at $500,000 is a step in the right direction. Watch out for the UK to follow suit in the next few weeks.
In the oil industry there will be great unrest. Oilwells will get blown up, there will be huge changes both at the pump and some in production. We will all feel the effects of these disruptions.
There will be a fine line between cooperation between countries and the return of protectionism. As economies begin to shrink, there is a tendency for each country to want to protect its workers and its products. So if there is a great imbalance - for example between the US and Japan at present - the US feels they are losing out as Japan will not import their goods, but the Japanese are exporting their goods to the US. This will need to be brought back into balance or there are going to be serious consequences for us all around the world.
Food will become scarcer. There will have to be more government programmes for the destitute. There will be more tent cities.
There will be more natural disasters than ever before in the history of the world.
There will probably be an increase in infant mortality with more homeless and more orphans globally.
People will go a lot less travelling. The airlines will be hurting a whole lot more than they are at present. Expect to see more consolidation of the industry.
The ones who will suffer the most will be importers and exporters of produce. For example, fish and meats. Getting stuff to market will be harder and transporting perishables great distances will become too costly.
The clothing industry will take a severe cut.
There will be millions more unemployed.
On the positive side, education will improve especially at the higher levels. Health care coverage will also go up. Insurance companies will have to offer more coverage for less money.
For the first time in years, people will hold onto their money rather than spend it.
There will be a lot of want in general.
There will be too many things that will catch us by surprise. I see at least 10 years ahead of us that will involve hardship.
Here are my tips for preparing yourself:
Your Health: get it as good as you can NOW. While there is still access to vitamins and medical care. Get yourself checked out and do whatever needs to be done. Get any dental work done too.
Consolidate and pay off your debts
Choose a career that will not close down and start training for it now: technology, sustainable living, working the land, bookkeeping and accounts.
Get your car fixed up and working well
If you can get a small tract of land that you can farm, grow veggies and have a few chickens, then you will at least have food to eat and maybe to share.
Remember, it's not all bad, but it doesn't cost much to prepare yourself best you can.
Remember too, that I have said all along, that there will be things that come out that we cannot expect at this time. We are all going to be surprised and shocked. So it makes sense to do the simple things to protect yourself now.
Firstly, I see major changes happening in the phone and telecommunications industry which will not necessarily be for the better. They will attempt to streamline their operations, but in doing this, they will eliminate a lot of things that were working just fine. If you are already in this industry, you may want to lobby against sweeping changes, or at least find yourself a niche in which you will be able to offer the services that the large companies will discard.
Governments need to have much more control over the monies that are being used for bailouts. There needs to be greater accountability and the fact that so many busineses and banks are being nationalised, means that CEO's and leaders will have to be responsible and act with integrity. The age of greed and reckless risk-taking is coming to an end. Indeed, the fact that Obama has wisely limited the pay of executives in the banking industry at $500,000 is a step in the right direction. Watch out for the UK to follow suit in the next few weeks.
In the oil industry there will be great unrest. Oilwells will get blown up, there will be huge changes both at the pump and some in production. We will all feel the effects of these disruptions.
There will be a fine line between cooperation between countries and the return of protectionism. As economies begin to shrink, there is a tendency for each country to want to protect its workers and its products. So if there is a great imbalance - for example between the US and Japan at present - the US feels they are losing out as Japan will not import their goods, but the Japanese are exporting their goods to the US. This will need to be brought back into balance or there are going to be serious consequences for us all around the world.
Food will become scarcer. There will have to be more government programmes for the destitute. There will be more tent cities.
There will be more natural disasters than ever before in the history of the world.
There will probably be an increase in infant mortality with more homeless and more orphans globally.
People will go a lot less travelling. The airlines will be hurting a whole lot more than they are at present. Expect to see more consolidation of the industry.
The ones who will suffer the most will be importers and exporters of produce. For example, fish and meats. Getting stuff to market will be harder and transporting perishables great distances will become too costly.
The clothing industry will take a severe cut.
There will be millions more unemployed.
On the positive side, education will improve especially at the higher levels. Health care coverage will also go up. Insurance companies will have to offer more coverage for less money.
For the first time in years, people will hold onto their money rather than spend it.
There will be a lot of want in general.
There will be too many things that will catch us by surprise. I see at least 10 years ahead of us that will involve hardship.
Here are my tips for preparing yourself:
Your Health: get it as good as you can NOW. While there is still access to vitamins and medical care. Get yourself checked out and do whatever needs to be done. Get any dental work done too.
Consolidate and pay off your debts
Choose a career that will not close down and start training for it now: technology, sustainable living, working the land, bookkeeping and accounts.
Get your car fixed up and working well
If you can get a small tract of land that you can farm, grow veggies and have a few chickens, then you will at least have food to eat and maybe to share.
Remember, it's not all bad, but it doesn't cost much to prepare yourself best you can.
Remember too, that I have said all along, that there will be things that come out that we cannot expect at this time. We are all going to be surprised and shocked. So it makes sense to do the simple things to protect yourself now.
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