Most people don't see the significance of the Detroit bankruptcy. Their default on their debt. The talks with the state for more funding have failed so they've gone public.
There are a hell of a lot more cities in deep trouble and they'll have no choice but to do the same. All these former employees will go from a nice cushy retirement to 1/4 of that - or less.
Then entire states will be warning of their problems.
When the first state goes under things will fall apart very fast for the US.

Hey Perfessor
Are you saying a whole state could go bankrupt or are you just talking general break down of finance
I don't understand how it really works on that large of a scale
Can ya put it in red neck for me

Cities work like you and me except they can borrow more. They have income from taxes and parking tickets and whatever else.
Most governments, (from cities on up) have huge debt to begin with. When they talk about balancing the budget they mean to erase the deficit (the difference between what they spend and what they bring in). The US Federal deficit is about 50% more than what they bring in with revenues.
So anytime you run a deficit the debt keeps growing along with a higher interest payment.
But they can "borrow" money too. I'm sure you've heard of municipal bonds.
These are issued by cities and states to raise money. They're considered to be very safe and a lot of pension plans will buy them to hold money at reasonable return rates for short or long terms. These are the equivalent of you or me getting a loan or a credit card. They're traded, bought and sold on a stock market.
The whole thing works as long as people have the confidence the bonds will be honoured, usually by borrowing more money. As soon as people don't trust that the bonds will be repaid they stop buying them and the money dries up. That is just like you and me spending more than we make and suddenly the bank saying "no more credit, no more borrowing".
Now all our creditors that we owe money to say "pay up". For you and me, the bank takes everything, calculates value, calculates what everyone is owed and they get a certain percentage of what you're worth.

This is Detroit today. Can't borrow any more and they don't have the money to pay their daily bills so they declare bankruptcy. They want to "restructure" their debt. The pension funds that are full of these bonds will get less. Maybe a lot less.
The state of Michigan is not willing(or unable) to bail out this city(give them more credit). This is just the people the city owes money to today. Unfunded liabilities are long term debts that they have no idea (today) where the money will come from when they come due at some future date- like pension plans. These are usually 10x the current, "on the books" debt. So the people counting on the pensions they've paid into for x years are screwed. So sorry, money all gone.

States are in just the same kind of trouble.
Michigan:
Debt-77,323,000,000

Revenues (money in) - 72,700,000,000
Spending (money out)- 83,723,000,000
http://www.usdebtclock.org/state-debt-clocks/state-of-michigan-debt-clock.html
Farther in the whole every minute - their debt is already so high they'll NEVER be able to pay it off, certainly not while spending more than they bring in.

Federal governments can get away with it longer because they can print money. That only works till other countries get tired of you owing them a pile of dollars and you just printing them off like mad with inflation making their dollars worth less and less all the time.

Right now though, it's mathematically impossible for the US Federal government to pay off it's almost 17 trillion debt. Their interest payments are higher than their income. And they're still SPENDING 30% more than they bring in.
Not to mention the unfunded liabilities that are about 8x their actual debt. 120 trillion or so.
http://www.usdebtclock.org/index.html

Canada's numbers are the same but about 1/10th that of the US to reflect our 1/10th population. In short - we're just as screwed as they are.
Our debt goes up about $1200 per second, 500 of that is interest alone.

For those who watch precious metal indicators, in the past year Gold went from a high of $1900 down to a low of $1180. Silver has lost half of its valve. Certain caliber of bullets are in high demand and hard to find. Can you say Hmmmmm 👿

Looking at the headlines of today and trying to predict what will happen in the long term seems like a recipe for a lot of sleepless nights and perhaps unneeded fear?

Hell no.
The economic problems are a sure thing you can plan for.
Not at all like something like an EMP, meteor strike or hurricane.

Hell no.
The economic problems are a sure thing you can plan for.
Not at all like something like an EMP, meteor strike or hurricane.

There will always be economic problems...this isn't the first recession. And economic responsibility is just prudent...it doesn't mean the total collapse of the system...

it just seems everything is always doom and gloom....all the time...every headline pulled from the newspaper is extrapolated into a larger picture of the end of the system..end of society as we know it....I get prepping..I just don't get the continued pessimism and doomsday approach that the end is nigh...I can only imagine the wet dreams some preppers were having during the cuban missile crisis, umpteen other cold war actions, the last major recession in the 80's with a long slow recovery and how they were signs the end of the world was here....lets even put all the conspiracy theories aside and just look at major world events. Sometimes a bad farming season is just a bad farming season...not the precursor to worldwide famine...Sometimes a drop in gold is the market balancing itself out after a run to precious metals after a recession..not the devaluation of the world economy....gold fell through the floor in the late 80's....even at 1300 now its still over priced....i wonder what the predictions in the 80's were...arnt' we all supposed to be living in a post apocolyptic world right now?

I'm not trying to be rude about it...just saying that all these "signs of the times" are taking a very narrow view of without the whole picture and in turn draw an unfair conclusion. I can see this driving people nuts with paranoia and fear... Not saying to bury our heads in the sand and pretend life is a bowl of cherries...but wow....it kind of reminds me of those "prophets" every couple of years you hear about in the news predicting the end of the world....you hear it so much...and it never comes to fruition that people just start to ignore it..like chicken little.

I can see this driving people nuts with paranoia and fear.

so that is why I am nuts

Thanks perfesser that made it a bit easier for me to understand and your rite this is something tangible to plan for its rite there in front of me
It wont change the way I prep though cause I prep for the human factor that will result from any thing . Economic colapse or earthquake EMP probably not so much for zombies I find those hard to believe.

From ReliefWeb:

"The total number of food-insecure people is estimated at 707 million in 2013, up 3 million from 2012. Over the longer term, the food security situation is projected to deteriorate.

"Food-insecure people are defined as those consuming less than the nutritional target of roughly 2,100 calories per day per person. By 2023, the number of food-insecure people is projected to increase nearly 23 percent to 868 million, slightly faster than population growth. As a result, the share of the population that is food insecure is projected to increase from 20.4 percent to 21.5 percent. The distribution gap—the amount of additional food needed to bring people in all income deciles up to the nutritional target—is projected to increase 28 percent by 2023, meaning that food insecurity in these countries is expected to intensify over the next 10 years. Despite improvements over the years, Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to remain the most food-insecure region in the world."

In the event of a deep famine in Africa, there is no 'world surplus' to draw upon. Food production is at capacity.

Modern Doomsayers have been around for quite a while, predicting an event.

The difference today is that, unlike in the 1970's, the world population is pushing 8 billion. Back then it was only 4 billion.

We are overextended population-wise, financially insolvent, and not very shock resistant in our food security.

Interesting article from my neck of the woods on honey bee loses this year /// not good...

http://www.steinbachonline.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=37841&Itemid=100413

Keep Safe / 23rd

One eye on what is going on with our neighbors to the south.
I think I spend more time on their news then ours!!!!

Modern Doomsayers have been around for quite a while, predicting an event.

The difference today is that, unlike in the 1970's, the world population is pushing 8 billion. Back then it was only 4 billion.

We are overextended population-wise, financially insolvent, and not very shock resistant in our food security.

My understanding is we are better off today than at any point in modern history. Food production outstrips consumption by literally billions of bushels according to the UN. Food distribution....thats our weak point.

Population is starting to taper off, so it looks like we are closing in on our max sustainable population. I think if countries get there fiscal books in order, and we continue to tackle climate change....we r in good shape. 🙂

hey thecrownsown if we are in such a good position why in last 15 to 20 years cancer is up 40 %, diabetes is up 80 % , autism is up 600% ,?
why after corn seeding in spring thousands of bees die?
why if I feed my animals with fresh veggies from stores for few day in row they all get sick ?
All I can say just keep feeding the food to your family we grow our own.
Henry