Are we in or soon to be in a depression? There, I said the dastardly word. Could one be any more politically incorrect? Let’s see where the truth takes us, and let the chips fall where they may.

Once again, here’s a common definition of a depression:

A sustained economic recession in which a nation’s Gross National Product (GNP) is falling and marked by low production and sales and a high rate of business failures and unemployment

Certainly, someone from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will be re-writing this definition as soon as they finish touching up Bush’s economic legacy. That Texas library is gonna need some fancy figures! Reminds me of the saying about the dude described as having a “big hat and no cattle.” Only now there’s a new twist – we get a big hat and a lotta bullcrap.

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this short (I promise) series, you’ve clearly seen we have been in a “sustained economic recession.” The last four years qualify and the entire decade pretty much reeks economically.

At least the real estate bubble brought forth some feel-good endorphins for a spell. Darn it, those 20-percent annual compounded gains were supposed to be endless. Is it too early to try to blow up another high-tech bubble sphere?

The only things falling faster than GNP (GDP) are confidence in government, the U.S. dollar, and reasons to vote.

This essay is pretty much academic from this point forward. Most of you will need no further convincing and you can move on to your next blog. For those of you who, for some strange reason, need to be convinced that “business failures” and “unemployment” are troublesome, please read on.

Let me be really brief about unemployment figures. The feds are lying. They don’t count people who are unemployed but so discouraged that they’ve given up looking. They count a minimum-wage, burger-flipping job the same as a lost manufacturing job. Not that there’s anything wrong with flipping burgers. If that’s what’s required to feed the self and family, so be it.

Globalists have shipped American jobs overseas to enhance their profits. Your standard of living has intentionally been brought down. They plan to merge you into a big happy one-world government.

Are we now experiencing a “high rate of unemployment?” It’s obviously now well over 10 percent in spite of what you’re regularly told. This figure will expand considerably. “Official” unemployment rose at the highest rate in 25 years last December. Another depression definition fit to a tee. Please check out the John Williams’ info on unemployment and government disinformation.

What does all this mean to you? The recession debate is now beginning to appear in the mainstream media, some four years after the fact. Do you think for one second they would warn you about a depression? Hardly. Especially not in the confidence game the Federal Reserve fiat meisters bring your way. If the American populace doesn’t borrow and spend, the system is toast.

My youngest son just informed me, rather excitedly, about his coming tax refund. He didn’t want to wait too long for it and opted for the credit/debit card form of refund. This allows him to spend the refund wherever he wants. It’s not cashable so he can’t conveniently save it or use it to pay down debt. What a country! This is reeking more and more of desperation all the time.

How about the “high rate of business failures” from the definition of depression? Businesses across the U.S. are in extreme stress at the current point. A long-term falling GDP leaves no other conclusion. My expectation is that business failures will be front-page news in the coming months. This domino is falling.

However you look at this scenario, you’re looking at a depression. Only the magnitude is up for discussion. It’s going to be an inflationary depression. Some call it stagflation like in the 1970s. That doesn’t do it justice. The 70s were the good-old days compared to this monstrosity. Central banks across the globe will attempt to print their way out of our current mess. A debt implosion looms.

This one is set to bring comparisons to what is known as the “Great Depression.” Hopefully, it won’t get that severe. Hope trades are for suckers. Nothing coming out of the DC/NY axis tells me we’re going to be able to avoid a major fall. Protect yourself by doing the following:

1. Avoid debt
2. Own tangible assets, especially gold and silver
3. Stay informed
4. Guard your remaining freedoms

Only a return to honest and limited government, credible markets, real money, production, and savings will save the Union at this point.

Invest Resourcefully,

Rusty

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