British economic collapse rivals Great Depression

24 Jul 2009
By Edmund Conway
Telegraph

Economic output shrank by 5.6pc in the 12 months to the middle of the year, according to official figures which shattered hopes that the recovery has already begun.

The Office for National Statistics said that Britain's gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 0.8pc in the second quarter, following the unprecedented 2.4pc fall in the first three months of the year. Economists had expected GDP – the broadest measure of the country's economic performance – to shrink by 0.3pc.

According to calculations by Martin Weale of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research the profile of the current recession is now almost identical to the decline in Britain's output between 1929 and 1931. The 5.6pc contraction over the past year almost matches the 5.8pc fall in the year preceding the second quarter of 1931, during which Credit Anstalt in Austria collapsed, triggering a second wave of economic seizure across Europe.

The recession is far deeper and more severe than those of the early 1980s and 1990s, Mr Weale added.

[...]

Michael Saunders, UK economist at Citigroup, said although he expects growth to return in the third quarter, the recovery will feel subdued.

"As well as a deep recession, we expect a slow recovery, held back by high private debts and (with inadequate bank capital) poor credit availability," he said, adding that it would take until 2013 for the economy to reach the pre-recession peaks of 2008.

He added: "It will be many years before the UK returns to a well-balanced and sustainable mix of low unemployment, low fiscal deficit and low public debts, decent economic growth and low inflation."

[...]

And with the real unemployment rate at around 20%, we're approaching the Great Depression numbers (~25%) in that area as well.

True unemployment rate already at 20%

Jul 06 2009
by Anthony Mirhaydari
MSN Money

Really, how hard is it to find a job? Was June's horrid numbers, in which 467,000 people lost their jobs compared to 345,000 in May, a one-time fluke? Or does it mean that all those Wall Street economists who believe the economic recovery is starting are dead wrong?

Not to scare you, but the situation is actually worse than it seems. Over the years, the government has changed the way it counts the unemployed. An example of this is the criticized Birth-Death Model which was added in 2000. The model is designed to account for the birth and death of businesses and the resultant lag in survey data. Unfortunately, the model doesn't work that well during economic contractions (like we have now) and consistently overstates the number of jobs being created each month.

John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics specializes in removing these questionable tweaks to the government's statistical data to better align current numbers with the methodology used to gather historical data. After reviewing the data, Williams believes that "the June jobs loss likely exceeded 700,000." David Rosenberg of Gluskin Sheff notes that the fall in the number of hours worked in June (to a record low of 33 per week) is equivalent to a loss of more than 800,000 jobs.

There are similar issues with the way the unemployment rate is measured. The headline rate only jumped from 9.4% to 9.5% because of a drop in the number of people in the workforce. The more inclusive "U-6" measure of unemployment, which includes discouraged workers, jumped from 16.4% to 16.5%. But even this doesn't adequately capture the situation on the ground: Back in the Clinton Administration, the definition of discouraged worker was changed to only include those that had given up looking for work because there were no jobs to be had within the last year.

By adding these folks back in, William's SGS-Alternate Unemployment Measure rose to a jaw-dropping 20.6%. Separately, the Center for Labor Market Studies in Boston puts U.S. unemployment at 18.2%. Any way you cut the numbers, the situation is very bad. According to David Rosenberg, one-in-three among the unemployed have been looking for a job for more than six months and still can't find one.

This brings us to another issue: expiring unemployment benefits. Continuing unemployment claims fell 53,000 to 6.7 million last week, but Deutsche Bank's chief U.S. economist Joseph LaVorgna wonders how much of this decline is due people exhausting their standard 26-week benefit. He says: "We are concerned about what will happen when a significant share of out-of-work individuals' benefits completely expire, because this could lead consumer spending to re-weaken, hence jeopardizing a fragile recovery."

Unless the economy starts getting traction here in the third quarter, we could face a situation where people find that they have no job and no unemployment benefits. For these people, 2009 will feel an awful lot like 1932. As a result, spending cuts will be deep and dramatic.

Sterling collapse? - Jews using staged economic crisis to pressure Britain to adopt Euro

Financial Times

Euro could ‘anchor’ economy, says CleggBy Alex Barker and George Parker January 20 2009 Britain must prepare to ditch the pound and join the euro in order to salvage the public finances and prevent the “permanent decline” of the City, Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat leader, said on Tuesday.Predicting that debate over the euro could soon return with a vengeance, Mr Clegg argued that joining a “major reserve currency” would protect Britain from its “extremely dangerous” exposure to volatile global capital flows.In an interview with the Financial Times, he said public opinion could “turn on its head” and swing against the pound as the “sheer brutality” of the crisis prompted the public to yearn for the stability offered by the eurozone. “In that context of people just longing for clearer rules, for reliability, for stability, for certainty, you might just find that becoming part of the reserve currency on our doorstep might become part of the recipe . . . by which we put the British economy back together on a more sustainable footing.”The Lib Dem leader’s attempt to put the euro back on the Westminster agenda is likely to be seen as a nuisance by nominally pro-European ministers and as a red rag to eurosceptic Conservatives. Polls still show the public staunchly against joining the single currency, in spite of the recent plunge of the pound.[...]

The Independent

Jim Rogers: 'Sell any sterling you might have. It's finished' By Sean O'Grady, Economics EditorWednesday, 21 January 2009 Fresh concerns about the British economy and fears for the stability of the UK's financial system pushed sterling to new record lows against the dollar, euro and yen yesterday. One of the world's leading investors voiced the markets' concerns. Jim Rogers, of the Singapore-based Rogers Holdings and co-founder of the Quantum fund with George Soros, told Bloomberg Television: "I would urge you to sell any sterling you might have. It's finished. I hate to say it, but I would not put any money in the UK."[...]

Economic Outlook in Great Britain Very Grim - Companies going out of business, jobs vanishing, home prices collapsing

600,000 jobs could go in 2009 - 3 million unemployed by end of year

Mon Dec 29, 2008 By Kate KellandLONDON (Reuters) - As many as 600,000 people could lose their jobs in Britain next year, making 2009 the worst year for unemployment since 1991, personnel experts warned on Monday.The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said a widely-expected recession would bite hard in Britain next year and could push unemployment close to the three million mark before the economy begins to recover."By the end of 2009 the number of people unemployed and actively seeking work will have increased to 2.8 million, one million above the autumn 2008 figure," John Philpott, the CIPD's chief economist, said in its annual Barometer Report.[...]

Traders predict house prices will fall by 50% in four years

Phillip Inman The GuardianMonday 9 June 2008 The slide in house prices will continue for at least three years and crush the value of a home by almost 50% in real terms, according to a key index of property price futures. Indications from futures trading on long term property prices shows that the average UK home will recover its current value only in 2017.By the end of this year prices will be down by 10% and by a further 10.5% in 2009, according to the index. Prices will keep dropping through 2010 and cut values by 23.5% when they hit rock bottom in 2011. House prices will then begin a slow climb back to current market values over a period of about six years.If an average retail price inflation rate of 4% is included in the calculation and in addition the 8% drop in prices over the last eight months already registered by the Halifax index, the fall in values over almost four years will reach 47.5% in real terms.[...]

Half of middle class home owners fear their properties could be repossessed next year

Nearly half of middle-class home owners fear that they could lose their properties next year because they are struggling to pay their mortgages, research shows. By Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor 30 Dec 2008The news comes after the Council for Mortgage Lenders forecast that the number of repossessions is likely nearly to double to 75,000 next year.A YouGov poll, carried out for a new report from Tory MP Grant Shapps, found that 44 per cent of mortgage holders are worried that lenders could force them out of their properties next year.A similar proportion were worried about not being able to meet mortgage payments between now and the end of 2010.The study - The New Homeless - found that the concern among homeowners about losing the roof over their heads in the economic downturn stretched across society.It found that 42 per cent of middle class professionals were worried about not paying the mortgage over the next year, compared with 46 per cent of blue collar households.[...]

Depression among the young at alarming level - Young people expected to bear the brunt of job losses over the coming year

Mary O'Hara The Guardian Monday 5 January 2009 A significant number of young people are depressed or struggling to cope and the situation is likely to worsen as recession takes hold, according to a report by the Prince's Trust. One in 10 16- to 25-year-olds polled by the charity for its Youth Index study said they felt that life was meaningless, and more than a quarter (27%) said they were always or often down or depressed. Almost half of all those surveyed (47%) said they were regularly stressed.The trust, which interviewed more than 2,000 young people across Britain, said the results were "alarming". Young people not in work, training or education were worst affected, the research found. Some 37% of those outside paid employment or education admitted to being frequently down or depressed, while 27% said their lives had no purpose. With young people expected to bear the brunt of job losses over the coming year, the findings are likely to raise concerns among policymakers.[...]

Welcome to 2009. Heads we lose, tails we're all doomed

07th January 2009Richard Littlejohn[...]Mind you, it's not surprising that most people enter 2009 with a sense of foreboding. Unemployment is heading for three million and Gordon Brown's brilliant plan for saving the world at our expense has fallen flat on its face. The banks still won't lend, even to each other, and home repossessions are expected to set a new record. Even if you are fortunate enough to hold on to your house, you won't be able to sell it - which is just as well since it will be worth about 50 per cent less than you paid for it. That won't stop the Government charging you ever higher taxes for the privilege of living in it. Over the Christmas holidays, it was confirmed that those of us lucky to live in a pleasant area, with a nice view and a low crime rate, are to be punished through big increases in council tax. [...]Over 'ere son, on me 'ead! And don't imagine you're going to make ends meet by selling your car, either, even though you probably can't afford to run it any more. The bottom has fallen out of the used-car market, thanks to the Government's excise duty hikes. Parking penalties, petrol taxes and speeding fines are going up, too. The only reason Labour doesn't make driving illegal altogether is because it needs all the money raised through motoring taxes to bail out Jaguar and Land Rover, which are going down the gurgler because of, you guessed, sky-high petrol prices and punitive taxes on 'gas guzzlers'. What was that about 'joined-up' government? Yet despite all this - and saddling future generations with a trillion pounds of debt - Gordon has just embarked on a tour of the country, boasting about what a genius he is. Nurse! Meanwhile, forget drowning your sorrows. Plans by a pub chain to lower the price of a pint to 99p have been condemned by 'alcohol awareness' campaigners, who are demanding the Government takes immediate action to stop it. Yesterday may have been the most stressful day of the year - so far. But, believe me, there's worse to come. It's being so cheerful as keeps me going.[...]

Depression hits Detroit - Average home price $18,513 - Unemployment rate 21%

http://www.tribbleagency.com/?p=3598

Average home price $18,513 - Unemployment rate 21%December 21, 2008The Great Depression has reached Detroit. The average price of a home is now $18,513 and unemployment has reached 21%, and it’s expected to get worse. Detroit is facing a crisis of epic proportions that officially puts Detroit statistically (and real term) on par with the great depression. Many readers of Tribble Ad Agency are advertising centric.. and due to the rash of layoffs within all Detroit Advertising firms has put the city on the map for the wrong reasons. It has become the center of all that is wrong with America… and nothing of what is right.For example, the crime rate has fallen…. because of lack of targets within the city. Meaning there is nothing left to steal. In fact, even the criminals don’t want to leave jail.Heard confirmed that some offenders, notably those without homes of their own, were now expressing reluctance to leave jail when their sentences were done.Home values have plummeted to levels not seen in 1/2 a century… and the 21% unemployment has in some cases been projected to double within 12 months if the auto industry totally collapses.To make matters even worse, Detroit has superseded New Orleans as the “worst city” in America…. but New Orleans had a Hurricane they could assign blame to… Detroit has no such natural disaster crutch.“It’s a depression — not a recession,” McDuell said, with the authority of someone who has lived through both. “It will get worse before it gets better.”It’s a man-made disaster. Regarding a local food bank in Detroit that has seen record numbers of individuals entering the system:“Many people are first-timers — they have no idea how to navigate the system, how to qualify for food stamps,” Wells said. “Last year, some were donors — now they’re clients.”In short, last year they donated money into the system… now they are feeding from it because they themselves are in hard financial times.Detroit needs a miracle, the chances of it showing a resurgence is slim to none in the current economic outlook.

Confirmation on housing prices: Detroit Real Estate Listings

Head of IMF Warns of Civil Unrest and Violence if Financial System Benefits Only the Elite

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/16/imf-financial-crisis

IMF chief issues stark warning on economic crisisAngela Balakrishnan guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 16 December 2008 The head of the International Monetary Fund urged governments to step up action to stem the global economic crisis or risk delaying a recovery and sparking violent unrest on the streets.[...]Governments in leading economies have been called upon by the IMF to commit a combined 2% of global GDP, equivalent to £1.075bn, to try combat the dangers of a global recession. But the IMF chief blamed governments, saying they were unwilling or unable to use more public funds to jump-start economic activity."If we are not able to do that, then social unrest may happen in many countries - including advanced economies," Strauss-Kahn said.He added that violent protests could break out in countries worldwide if the financial system was not restructured to benefit everyone rather than a small elite.[...]

"Bailout" Swindle Tops $8.7 Trillion

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/16620

Bailout payout tops $8 trillionJeanne Cummings Tue Dec 16, 2008As the holiday season commences, it’s worth taking stock of the last gift that President George W. Bush and the 110th Congress have left for U.S. taxpayers. It’s a package of about $8.7 trillion dollars’ worth of potential taxpayer commitments for loans, guarantees and other bailout goodies for businesses and distressed homeowners. Amid the tissue paper: • More than $1.5 trillion in Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. loan guarantees, including a $139 billion assist to the lending arm of General Electric Corp. • $1.8 trillion in cash, tax breaks and loan guarantees doled out from the Treasury Department to taxpayers, financial institutions and credit companies. • $300 billion for homeowners from the Federal Housing Authority. • $25 billion in assistance for auto companies from a program overseen by the Energy Department, which is separate from the bailout proposal that tanked last week in the Senate. • And $5 trillion worth of new money, loan guarantees and loosened lending requirements from the Federal Reserve Bank. According to Bianco Research President James Bianco, who crunched these numbers, that amounts to more government aid and assistance than nine other historic bailouts and big government outlays combined. The New Deal, for instance, cost an estimated $32 billion in its day, which would be about $500 billion in today’s dollars. The Marshall Plan cost about $12.7 billion, which is the equivalent of a paltry $115.3 billion. The Louisiana Purchase? The French got $15 million, which would be worth about $217 billion today. If you take those three items, add in the adjusted costs of the Race to the Moon, the savings and loan crisis, the Korean War, the Iraq war, the Vietnam War and assistance for NASA, you still get to just $3.92 trillion — not even half of the taxpayers’ exposure today, according to Bianco. [...]

Based on insider info from an elite oil industry source, Lindsey Williams predicts total collapse of U.S. dollar and financial system in 6-12 months

Pastor Lindsey Williams is an oil industry expert and regular guest on the Alex Jones radio show. On July 28, 2008 when oil was around $130-140/barrel, Williams came on the Alex Jones show and made a startling prediction. He said that he had been informed by an elite oil industry source (from a phone conversation in June 2008) that oil was going to be driven down to around $50/barrel in the next few months. That has now come to pass. On December 1, 2008, Williams came back on to the Alex Jones Show and revealed more (from the same June 2008 phone conversation with the oil industry insider) -- saying that this elite oil industry source had predicted a total collapse of the U.S. dollar and the U.S. financial system in 6-12 months. And as he explains in the video below, he says this collapse in the currency and economy will be the pretext for the North American Union and 'Amero' currency.I'm not endorsing this prediction (ie, the timetable...I agree, of course, that the ruling Jewish Establishment is eventually going to try to collapse the economy and bring in a North American Union). And I'm well knowledgeable that Alex Jones is "kosher" controlled opposition. But he does put out accurate information along with the disinfo. So Williams' prediction may well be good information. But I'm skeptical. For one, why didn't Williams reveal this prediction of the total financial collapse 4 months ago when he revealed the prediction of $50/barrel oil?Pastor Lindsey Williams - The Next 12 Months (part 1 of 6)

Massive inflation ahead - <em>Forbes</em> promotes huge dollar devaluation as way to "save economy"

With the American people defrauded out of ~$8.5 Trillion to the international Jewish banking houses in just the last few months, massive inflation and dollar devaluation is inevitable. And now the Jewish media propaganda outlets are readying us for this reality, even saying that dollar devaluation is "good" and a way to "combat" the economic recession/depression.Forbes: "Dollar Devaluation To Fix The Great Recession"Frank Beck12.09.08A quick dollar devaluation would work wonders for submerged borrowers. Don't kid yourself: It could happen.What began as government social tinkering--with implied threats to banks and mortgage companies to extend home loans to even the most marginal of borrowers--led to a greed-blinded mortgage banking business and the meltdown we are experiencing today. Now we are asked by the same congressional leadership to go along with taxpayer-funded bailouts of the very banksters who, while making millions, created the mess.Despite the trillions of dollars already expended recapitalizing banks, there is very little, if any, progress to show. Will a few trillion more do the trick? That seems to be the consensus among Congress and the banks. "They are simply too big to let fail," or are they really just too big to save? We can go back to "Plan A" and buy the toxic assets. If so, at what price? What if a few trillion does not remove enough toxic waste from the system or doesn't get credit flowing again and the economy bustling?[...]The problem with all these ideas is the money is only directed at those who created or benefited from the problems. Why not attack the situation in a manner that will benefit most everyone, an approach that has been successful before and, when compared to the current course, has little downside?Here it is. Stand back. World currencies should be devalued overnight. It can be done on a country-by-country basis, but a coordinated devaluation would work best. A devaluation of 30% would raise the dollar value of all assets by 43%. A $200,000 home with a $230,000 mortgage would become a $286,000 home with the same mortgage. Presto! The homeowner who was $30,000 upside-down now has $56,000 equity and a good reason to make his payments. Both the homeowner and the bank are immediately better-off.[...]

ADL Concerned: "Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories Spreading Globally" in Response to Economic Crisis

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/ASInt_13/5374_13.htmAnti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories Spread Globally As World Markets Grapple With Financial CrisisNew York, NY, October 16, 2008 … Conspiracy theories linking Jews and Israel to the global financial meltdown are taking on global reach as the financial crisis on Wall Street continues to affect markets around the world.[...]"One disturbing side effect to the global economic meltdown is the resurgence of the Big Lie," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Anti-Jewish invective and conspiracy theories are spreading globally. While it is still early, we know from experience what can happen when anti-Jewish myths gain a foothold and move from the far fringes into the mainstream."[...]"This belief that only Jews could be responsible for something so catastrophic and damaging to the global economy plays directly into some of the worst anti-Semitic stereotypes," said Mr. Foxman. "The idea that there is Jewish control of the banking system and the world economy has its antecedents in the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and Nazi-era propaganda."

On the Current Financial Crisis: Thomas Jefferson a Prophet? Diagnosis of Problem and the Solution

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs." ——Thomas Jefferson, 1802

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The Protocols on Financial Crisis

"THIS HATRED WILL BE STILL FURTHER MAGNIFIED BY THE EFFECTS of an ECONOMIC CRISES, which will stop dealing on the exchanges and bring industry to a standstill. We shall create by all the secret subterranean methods open to us and with the aid of gold, which is all in our hands, A UNIVERSAL ECONOMIC CRISES WHEREBY WE SHALL THROW UPON THE STREETS WHOLE MOBS OF WORKERS SIMULTANEOUSLY IN ALL THE COUNTRIES OF EUROPE. These mobs will rush delightedly to shed the blood of those whom, in the simplicity of their ignorance, they have envied from their cradles, and whose property they will then be able to loot. "OURS" THEY WILL NOT TOUCH, BECAUSE THE MOMENT OF ATTACK WILL BE KNOWN TO US AND WE SHALL TAKE MEASURES TO PROTECT OUR OWN."-Protocol 3"IT IS FROM US THAT THE ALL-ENGULFING TERROR PROCEEDS. WE HAVE IN OUR SERVICE PERSONS OF ALL OPINIONS, OF ALL DOCTRINES, RESTORATING MONARCHISTS, DEMAGOGUES, SOCIALISTS, COMMUNISTS, AND UTOPIAN DREAMERS OF EVERY KIND. We have harnessed them all to the task: EACH ONE OF THEM ON HIS OWN ACCOUNT IS BORING AWAY AT THE LAST REMNANTS OF AUTHORITY, IS STRIVING TO OVERTHROW ALL ESTABLISHED FORM OF ORDER. By these acts all States are in torture; they exhort to tranquility, are ready to sacrifice everything for peace: BUT WE WILL NOT GIVE THEM PEACE UNTIL THEY OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGE OUR INTERNATIONAL SUPER-GOVERNMENT, AND WITH SUBMISSIVENESS."-Protocol 9Most everyone of any intelligence now knows that it is elite ogranized Jewry connected to internaional Jewish banking who are the cause of the current world financial crisis. It's out in the open, and the ruling Jewish Establishment does not seem to try to hide that fact. The question is what are we going to do about it. The Jews, in extreme audacity, simply believe they are too powerful to be stopped. And they will keep terrorizing us -- financially and otherwise -- until we submit and accept what they want -- "global government", ie World Jewish Rule.--------------------------------------------------------------------Related Articles:An introduction to the 'Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion' - Blueprint for Jewish World ConquestEuropean Union President calls for "global governance" in response to engineered economic crisisJewish banks masterminded financial crisis - Message from "hate sites" going mainstreamVIDEO - Glenn Beck: Global currency, One World Financial System, and a New World Order is the Endgame

Glenn Beck: Global currency, One World Financial System, and a New World Order is the Endgame

When an establishment stooge like Beck goes on national television and says this, isn't it sort of like they are announcing it? At the very least, it's testing the public's reaction to the end plan.

“There is a global meltdown coming. It is global depression. And one world currency and one world financial system is the endgame.” Glen Beck Says, “China said last week they want one global currency. France said yesterday … they want one world order - a new world order at the end of this event.

--------------------------------------------------------------------Related Articles:The Protocols on Financial CrisisEuropean Union President calls for "global governance" in response to engineered economic crisisAn introduction to the 'Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion' - Blueprint for Jewish World ConquestJewish banks masterminded financial crisis - Message from "hate sites" going mainstream

ADL: Financial crisis causing upsurge in 'anti-semitism'

Now I can't imagine why a financial crisis would cause people to become angry with the precious khazar jews? Surely it couldn't be their blatantly obvious monopoly power in the banking and financial sphere?http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1025970.html

ADL: Financial crisis sparking anti-Semitic upsurge on Internet By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent October 3, 2008 The Anti-Defamation League reported Thursday a major upsurge in the number of anti-Semitic postings on the Internet relating to the financial crisis engulfing the United States. The Jewish-American organization cited hundreds of posts regarding the bankrupt investment bank Lehman Brothers and other institutions affected by the subprime mortgage crisis. The messages railed against Jews in general, with some charging that Jews control the U.S. government and finance as part of a "Jew world order" and therefore are to blame for the economic turmoil. Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, said: "We know from modern history that whenever there is a downturn in the global economy, there will be an upturn in the level of anti-Semitism and bigotry, and that is what we are seeing now." The ADL reported that Anti-Jewish invective had also surfaced on a wide variety of blogs and conspiracy Web sites. It said similar messages have also appeared on neo-Nazi and white supremacist Web sites and Internet forums, adding that such groups frequently seek to exploit current issues in an effort to spread anti-Semitism to potential recruits.