by
Chris Martenson
Here is another gem from the archives – a podcast called Subscriber Questions. This early podcast contains a lot of information that is still relevant months later, and it is well worth a listen. I am making this podcast available free to all registered users. In this podcast from February 2009, reader questions are addressed, including the following topics and more:
- Investing in foreign currencies
- A potential dollar collapse and what that would mean
- Inflation vs deflation
- What to do in your community about foreclosures
- Investing in gold (why and when to get out)
- The risk of having loved ones far away in these times
Consider it my Midsummer’s gift to you. I am enjoying my summer vacation tremendously and hope you will have a similar opportunity for rest and rejuvenation in your own life. Take some time out soon to visit with and value your relationships with friends and loved ones. Near or far, they are an important part of our individual support systems and far-reaching personal communities.
Summer gatherings are a great time to talk about the Crash Course with friends, neighbors, relatives, and other people you care about. The easiest way I know to do that is to use the latest DVD version of the Crash Course, which breaks the material down into more bite-sized units, with additional framing at the beginning and end of each disc and an accompanying booklet which can help guide you in hosting a viewing.
If you don’t think people will be receptive to the whole message, go gently in conversation with them. Encourage them to take personal actions toward increased self-sufficiency. Encourage them to trust themselves and follow their inner compass, even when the experts would have us do otherwise. Encourage them to reconsider their financial choices and investigate the truth behind the fuzzy numbers they might have encountered. Encourage them to share their own expertise and skills with each other. Encourage them to change their expectations to accommodate a changing world. And most of all, build those relationships now, so that you can rely on them in future times of need.
Free Podcast
by Chris MartensonHere is another gem from the archives – a podcast called Subscriber Questions. This early podcast contains a lot of information that is still relevant months later, and it is well worth a listen. I am making this podcast available free to all registered users. In this podcast from February 2009, reader questions are addressed, including the following topics and more:
- Investing in foreign currencies
- A potential dollar collapse and what that would mean
- Inflation vs deflation
- What to do in your community about foreclosures
- Investing in gold (why and when to get out)
- The risk of having loved ones far away in these times
Consider it my Midsummer’s gift to you. I am enjoying my summer vacation tremendously and hope you will have a similar opportunity for rest and rejuvenation in your own life. Take some time out soon to visit with and value your relationships with friends and loved ones. Near or far, they are an important part of our individual support systems and far-reaching personal communities.
Summer gatherings are a great time to talk about the Crash Course with friends, neighbors, relatives, and other people you care about. The easiest way I know to do that is to use the latest DVD version of the Crash Course, which breaks the material down into more bite-sized units, with additional framing at the beginning and end of each disc and an accompanying booklet which can help guide you in hosting a viewing.
If you don’t think people will be receptive to the whole message, go gently in conversation with them. Encourage them to take personal actions toward increased self-sufficiency. Encourage them to trust themselves and follow their inner compass, even when the experts would have us do otherwise. Encourage them to reconsider their financial choices and investigate the truth behind the fuzzy numbers they might have encountered. Encourage them to share their own expertise and skills with each other. Encourage them to change their expectations to accommodate a changing world. And most of all, build those relationships now, so that you can rely on them in future times of need.
by
Chris Martenson
I’ll be on vacation with my family for the next two weeks, but rest assured that I will still have my finger on what is happening in the market (via the wonders of technology). I will make sure you have plenty to keep you busy while I am away. To start things off, here is a past Martenson Report that I am now making available for free to all registered users.
Charting a Course Through the Recession
This Martenson Report was written on May 27, 2008, almost exactly one year ago. We were already calling it a recession at that point. Now I would go so far as to call it a depression. But regardless of the word you use, the concepts in this report remain true to this day. It’s a good one to review. Grab a cup of coffee and a chart of the stock market that encompasses May of 2008 (try to remember where we were then), and see how this advice – all of it – turned out.
I missed a couple of calls here; that goes with the territory, but I am more than satisfied that my framework a year ago was essentially correct and therefore predictive.
“I’d rather be a year early than a day late…”
by Chris MartensonI’ll be on vacation with my family for the next two weeks, but rest assured that I will still have my finger on what is happening in the market (via the wonders of technology). I will make sure you have plenty to keep you busy while I am away. To start things off, here is a past Martenson Report that I am now making available for free to all registered users.
Charting a Course Through the Recession
This Martenson Report was written on May 27, 2008, almost exactly one year ago. We were already calling it a recession at that point. Now I would go so far as to call it a depression. But regardless of the word you use, the concepts in this report remain true to this day. It’s a good one to review. Grab a cup of coffee and a chart of the stock market that encompasses May of 2008 (try to remember where we were then), and see how this advice – all of it – turned out.
I missed a couple of calls here; that goes with the territory, but I am more than satisfied that my framework a year ago was essentially correct and therefore predictive.
by
Chris Martenson
There’s a new Martenson Report ready for enrolled members.
Link to: Inflation vs. Deflation – What Comes Next?
Here’s a snippet:
One of the key questions of our day, especially for those who have wealth to protect, is, “What’s going to happen to the dollar?” More specifically, do we foresee an increase in the value of money going forward (deflation), or a decrease in the value of money (inflation)? Should we reserve a small amount of concern for the possibility of hyperinflation, which means the rapid and often total destruction of a currency?
There happens to be a lot of discussion around this topic these days. Unfortunately, much of it is confusing and contradictory, because far too much misinformation is included in the mix. So let’s begin by getting ourselves on firm footing before we look at the data.
(…)
Inflation correlates poorly with growth in the monetary base, making that statistic relatively useless as a predictor of inflation. However, inflation correlates extremely well with growth in government spending, meaning that we’d do well to track that statistic closely.
The current economic crisis is being fought tooth and nail by a determined Federal Reserve (in the role of the "enabler") and an equally-determined US government (in the role of the heavy-lifter, assuming all the lion’s share of the long-term debt and risk). Together, these institutions have virtually consigned future generations to the enormous challenge of wrestling with bloated budgets in desperate need of trimming, further compounded by coinciding with periods of high inflation.
Martenson Report – Inflation vs. Deflation – What Comes Next?
by Chris MartensonThere’s a new Martenson Report ready for enrolled members.
Link to: Inflation vs. Deflation – What Comes Next?
Here’s a snippet:
One of the key questions of our day, especially for those who have wealth to protect, is, “What’s going to happen to the dollar?” More specifically, do we foresee an increase in the value of money going forward (deflation), or a decrease in the value of money (inflation)? Should we reserve a small amount of concern for the possibility of hyperinflation, which means the rapid and often total destruction of a currency?
There happens to be a lot of discussion around this topic these days. Unfortunately, much of it is confusing and contradictory, because far too much misinformation is included in the mix. So let’s begin by getting ourselves on firm footing before we look at the data.
(…)
Inflation correlates poorly with growth in the monetary base, making that statistic relatively useless as a predictor of inflation. However, inflation correlates extremely well with growth in government spending, meaning that we’d do well to track that statistic closely.
The current economic crisis is being fought tooth and nail by a determined Federal Reserve (in the role of the "enabler") and an equally-determined US government (in the role of the heavy-lifter, assuming all the lion’s share of the long-term debt and risk). Together, these institutions have virtually consigned future generations to the enormous challenge of wrestling with bloated budgets in desperate need of trimming, further compounded by coinciding with periods of high inflation.
by
Chris Martenson
One of my greatest joys in this line of work is getting to meet people who are actively engaged in creating the change they wish to see. This blog post is a guest contribution by Morgan Giddings and is the first of a two-part series that will address the ins, outs, hows, and whys of using bicycles for transportation.
Morgan is not only knowledgeable but experienced in actually using a bicycle as a primary means of transportation. Her full-time job and young children are part of that equation. As a father, I am quite impressed with all that this implies, and as someone who also actively translates what needs doing into real action, I am pleased to be on the same team with Morgan.
Please join me in welcoming her important contribution to our awareness of what is possible, as she shares her knowledge about the practical insertion of a bicycle into one’s daily routine.
Please note: I have started "The Definitive Bicycle Thread" in the Forums for ongoing discussion on this topic. Comments related to this blog post should be posted there.
Best,
Chris Martenson
Introduction
Bicycles were invented over 200 years ago and were used for many years as significant and efficient means of human transport. But over the past 40 years, bicycles lost their status in the US as human transportation vehicles, due to inexpensive oil and far-flung suburban development. Since both of those factors favored automobile usage, the bicycle industry responded by refocusing their marketing strategy to promote bikes as recreational objects, only to be carted out on weekends and vacation time.
A Quiet Revolution in Bicycles: Recapturing a Role as Utilitarian People-Movers (Part I)
by Chris MartensonOne of my greatest joys in this line of work is getting to meet people who are actively engaged in creating the change they wish to see. This blog post is a guest contribution by Morgan Giddings and is the first of a two-part series that will address the ins, outs, hows, and whys of using bicycles for transportation.
Morgan is not only knowledgeable but experienced in actually using a bicycle as a primary means of transportation. Her full-time job and young children are part of that equation. As a father, I am quite impressed with all that this implies, and as someone who also actively translates what needs doing into real action, I am pleased to be on the same team with Morgan.
Please join me in welcoming her important contribution to our awareness of what is possible, as she shares her knowledge about the practical insertion of a bicycle into one’s daily routine.
Please note: I have started "The Definitive Bicycle Thread" in the Forums for ongoing discussion on this topic. Comments related to this blog post should be posted there.
Best,
Chris Martenson
Introduction
Bicycles were invented over 200 years ago and were used for many years as significant and efficient means of human transport. But over the past 40 years, bicycles lost their status in the US as human transportation vehicles, due to inexpensive oil and far-flung suburban development. Since both of those factors favored automobile usage, the bicycle industry responded by refocusing their marketing strategy to promote bikes as recreational objects, only to be carted out on weekends and vacation time.
by
Chris Martenson
There’s a new Martenson Report ready for enrolled members.
This week I take a stroll through the consumer data – after all most of the economy rests with the consumer – to determine if I can find any ‘green shoots.’
Link to Green Shoots? Not Yet.
A snippet:
Executive summary
- No green shoots in the consumer data
- Mortgage Equity Withdrawal (MEW) is negative
- Consumer credit is negative
- Retail sales are negative
- Rail and port traffic is deeply negative
- Unemployment not as positive as presented
- State tax revenues are negative
- Federal tax receipts? Don’t ask.
Again this week I find myself sifting through mountains of data that are telling me one thing, while I read news accounts and official proclamations that suggest another. We do ourselves no favors by shielding ourselves from the hard truth.
There is much that we need to confront with respect to energy, transportation, food production, and living within our economic means. Because I do not yet see any official recognition of the possibility that a blind return to growth might actually be adding fuel to an already hot fire, I continue to do my work of reaching out to individuals and communities in an effort to get them to prepare.
I want to counter the recent incantations by the media, fiscal, and monetary authorities that "things are on the mend" and that there are green shoots sprouting all over the place. There are indeed some encouraging signs, but there are an equal number of discouraging signs. This is a time for caution, not complacency.
Let’s break down the economy into its biggest pieces and see what we can find in each of them.
New Martenson Report – Green Shoots? Not Yet.
by Chris MartensonThere’s a new Martenson Report ready for enrolled members.
This week I take a stroll through the consumer data – after all most of the economy rests with the consumer – to determine if I can find any ‘green shoots.’
Link to Green Shoots? Not Yet.
A snippet:
Executive summary
- No green shoots in the consumer data
- Mortgage Equity Withdrawal (MEW) is negative
- Consumer credit is negative
- Retail sales are negative
- Rail and port traffic is deeply negative
- Unemployment not as positive as presented
- State tax revenues are negative
- Federal tax receipts? Don’t ask.
Again this week I find myself sifting through mountains of data that are telling me one thing, while I read news accounts and official proclamations that suggest another. We do ourselves no favors by shielding ourselves from the hard truth.
There is much that we need to confront with respect to energy, transportation, food production, and living within our economic means. Because I do not yet see any official recognition of the possibility that a blind return to growth might actually be adding fuel to an already hot fire, I continue to do my work of reaching out to individuals and communities in an effort to get them to prepare.
I want to counter the recent incantations by the media, fiscal, and monetary authorities that "things are on the mend" and that there are green shoots sprouting all over the place. There are indeed some encouraging signs, but there are an equal number of discouraging signs. This is a time for caution, not complacency.
Let’s break down the economy into its biggest pieces and see what we can find in each of them.
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