As Lending Standards Fall, Worries of a New Bust Rise | Mises Wire

With more than a decade having passed since the financial crisis of 2007/8, the mainstream economics profession still seems to be almost as far from agreeing on the ultimate causes of that crisis as they were from being able to foresee its arrival back in the mid-2000’s.
— Read on mises.org/wire/lending-standards-fall-worries-new-bust-rise

The debt plays a larger role than most could ever imagine.

Chicago – Where More People are Retired than Paying into Government Pensions | Armstrong Economics

Over 80% of government pension funds are completely funded by the government with no employees paying into the funds. This reflects why governments are coming after the people and extorting more taxes under the threat of seizing your home and throwing you in prison. For 169 governmental bodies in Chicago, the numbers reveal the crisis. In Chicago, there are thousands of more retired state employees collecting pensions than active workers who are paying into it the pension funds. As reported, in a small suburban district known as the Arlington Heights Park District, there are 432 retirees collecting from that district’s pension fund with only 103 active employees paying into it. These shortfalls are expected to be funded by taxpayers. What is happening in Chicago is indicative of the crisis engulfing Western governments as a whole. These people always counted on an increasing supply of taxpayers. But the birthrate has dropped as well as the marriage rate. The Democrats handed students to the bankers, removing all their rights to bankruptcy, and universities kept raising prices because funding for students would always be there. With over 60% of students now unable to find employment with the degrees they paid so dearly for, the future looks very bleak. They cannot buy homes because of their chronic debts. Marriage is declining and the under-30 generation has a majority that is not interested in even having children. There is a huge rise in VEGANISM as well. The number of babies born in the United States continues to fall dramatically. The birth rate made a new record low during 2017, dropping 7% in a single year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preliminary numbers for 2018 show that the decline has continued. The 1950s were called the “Baby Boom” when women had an average of 4.7 children in their lifetime. That has collapsed on a worldwide basis to 2.4 children per woman last year, and this decade is being called the great “Baby Bust.” The global warming crowd should be ecstatic. They have reduced the human population growth by about 50%. The crisis now is there will be a shortage of taxpayers to fund their grand projects along with governments. Socialism cannot possibly survive when we exist to feed those in government who particularly never contributed to their own pensions.
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/pension-crisis/chicago-more-people-retired-than-paying-into-government-pensions/

This is not just Chicago

US debt hits record under Trump, Republicans mum

More massive than the US economy, the national debt hit a new record of $22 trillion under President Donald Trump but Republicans who traditionally rail against debt and deficits have remained mum. The sum of borrowing to cover chronic deficits as well as growing interest payments, this mountain of
— Read on news.yahoo.com/us-debt-hits-record-under-trump-republicans-mum-020620122.html

Of course, this is the plan.

The Netflix Tax | Armstrong Economics

I have warned that once one state taxes something, the idea spreads like a contagion. Illinois and California wanted to tax movies or anything you stream. Now, Georgia is looking at the same thing. This is all part of the economic decline. The states are broke. Their pensions are consuming everything. It is no longer about servicing the people, it is all about exploiting the people to fund themselves. There is no rationale behind this. It is all about needing more to cover this year’s budget. What about next year? They basically simply say they will deal with that when it comes. With every new tax, they simply reduce disposable net income, which in turn lowers living standards. This process is not sustainable. A child with a simple calculator can easily figure out that everything will come crashing down. We have politicians who are career people and have rarely ever been on the side of people. It is beyond comprehension, for the bottom line is always the same. NO POLITICIAN WILL VOTE AGAINST THEIR SELF
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/taxes/the-netflix-tax/