"Great Depression" just around the corner? (updated at bottom)

If this guy's data and assumptions are correct, it looks really bad for Europe's economy, at minimum, but I fear and expect for the US and the world:

May 23 2011: Right. Italy. Serious.

If you don't have the patience for all of it, go down to what a Greek default would spell for them and Europe.

What happens when Greece defaults

He's not saying "if Greece defaults", but "when..."

Yikes.

Scary and getting scarier.

The sky might well be falling.

Chinese Rating Agency Downgrades UK Sovereign Debt

Roller coaster ride ahead?

If this guy knows what he's talking about, we could be in for one wild, financial roller coaster ride:

May 23 2011: Right. Italy. Serious.

Maybe the EU can do what we can't

I've written here a bit on how corrupt Goldman Sachs has been in the last few years--at least--and how they're at least partly culpable for the financial crash of the last few years, the mess we're in now and for the collapse of AIG and the taking of millions (billions?) of government tax dollars over that collapse. (See Andrew Ross Sorkin's "Too Big to Fail" , among others).

If you haven't read anything about it, it makes terrific, though depressing, important information and reading. You should check it out.

Now, word comes out of Europe just today that "former IMF man Simon Johnson wrote that he thinks the EU will indeed ban Goldman."

According to Mr. Johnson: "Goldman made some $300 million over a short period of time setting up swaps constructions intended to fool Europe -and investors- about Greece's real financial situation, and it continued such efforts as late in the game as three months ago. It's all certainly immoral, if not downright illegal.

This on top of the wholescale theft they've made of the US markets in the last few years, at minimum.

So this is great. Maybe something can come from all this. Perhaps the EU can and will do what we haven't done on this and that is do an in-depth study of their actions, see if anything was blatantly illegal and then, if so, pursue legal action against them and, as the article states, maybe throw them out of the EU.

As I so frequently say, here's hoping.

But what really galls me is the Goldman Sachs people have been in--and still are--our own government for years, writing policy and policies that directly benefit them and the entire banking community.

And the American people stand for it.

Remember Hank Paulson, the guy who originally came up with the $700 billion TARP fund to save the banker's backsides?

Straight out of Goldman.

Current Secretary of the Treasury Tim Geithner?

Same thing.

The simple fact is, we need to get and keep Goldman Sachs--and other company and people like them--out of the White House and our government.

We need to get these foxes out of our chicken coops.

What does he know?

There's a report out just now that President Obama (God, I love to see that) has warned anew, this morning, that unless his economic stimulus package is put through, the recession will turn into "a catastrophe":

"A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery, and a more uncertain future," he said. "That's why I feel such a sense of urgency about the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan."

Now, supposedly Mr. Obama is a cool, calm decision-maker and not prone to exaggeration.

Wouldn't you love to know just exactly what he's seeing and what he knows?

There are bloggers all over the internet predicting some awfully bad futures for the United States and the world.

One of them, "Automatic Earth", is particularly good at giving simply raw data and statistics on the US' and world financial and economic situations:

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/

If you go there and read very long, it makes you think it's this kind of data the President is must be getting and reacting to.

And it doesn't sound good, by any stretch of imagination.

When I read and think about this current economic situation of America and the world, I begin to feel as though I'm on a roller coaster in utter darkness--and it's scary, getting bad and I fear what's coming up ahead will be much worse.

Link to original story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090204/ap_on_bi_ge/congress_stimulus