Will another economic collapse happen in the US within our lifetime?

[neoteric lefty]

Will we experience another Great Depression in the United States within our lives? I do not mean a recession, a correction, or a an "economic downturn"; I am talking about massive unemployment, inflation above 20%, destruction of the middle class, an so on. Has our size and place as the sole superpower in the world made immune from such a crisis or is it allowing the seeds of such an economic collapse to grow underneath the surface?

If so, then what will be the spark that leads to it? Will it be a massive terrorist attack, our over-dependence on fossil fuels, the erosion of the middle class, all out was with Asia? I wonder what you all think...

[dave123williams]

1. Our lifetime? I'm thinking 'this week'.

[MissWaverly]

2. By the end of the year

if GWB does not get the massive privatizing money to prop up Wall Street, look for a mega crash by end of year.
You don't think that he's beating the drum for social security reform because he is worried about his grandkids retirement.

[datasuspect]

3. i certainly hope so

we need a "great leveller of men."

something just fucking majestic in abysmal grandeur.

[datasuspect]

4. dupe

sorry

[toymachines]

5. soon enough

so that i, being 19, in college, with very little to my name, will keep very little to my name for quite a while. an economic collapse is what we need. it will bring about social changes. much needed changes.

[pstans]

6. I would have to say yes

I am in my mid 20's and know that Oil will run out in my lifetime. At this time we are sleepwalking into the future when it comes to Peak Oil. The next 5 years will tell a lot about how the future will play out. If we keep doing nothing like we are now then we surely will be seeing a Depression.

[The Whiskey Priest]

7. Three things are building to the "perfect storm"

First is the trade imbalance
Second is the deficit
Third is price of fossil fuel

Couple this will a continuing drumbeat by Bush that the government is not to be trusted to live up to its word....and you have the makings of a colossal economic downturn.


The firs sign will be a sharp up-tick in interest rates, followed by the long anticipated burst in the real estate bubble. That is why the congress is working hard to dig trenches around the wealthy of this country...We are in the age of "gate community" economics....let all those outside the gate starve.

[mcscajun]

8. Our lifetime? How about "any time now"?

The convergence of offshoring, outsourcing, the cuts in the social safety net, all of which have hurt working people across the board but certainly help to erode the middle class; peak oil, Bush MISAdministration, and the continuing drop in the dollar, concurrent with the movements of governments away from pegging their currencies to the US Dollar and our massive, staggering, nearly inconceivable debt, will in all likelihood result in a crash here that will make the Great Depression of the 30's look like an outdoor picnic.

We don't need a terrorist attack to precipitate this. All we need is for a few of our big creditors to stop lending us money; we need a new influx every week! There's already been noises in the central banking systems around the world worrying about how we begin to look like another Argentinian collapse scenario.

I recall from Mother Earth News about 30 years ago...admittedly a dated source in this regard...many comments about the 'coming collapse', easily dismissed as it didn't come in all the intervening years. But this comment always hangs in my mind: The longer it takes to get here, the worse it's going to be when it happens.

It's been a long, long time coming.

[AlienGirl]

9. Yes, and soon, IMO

So many investors are dumping dollars for euros that I cannot believe there *isn't* something in the works. My wild guess is that oil will soon be traded in euros rather than dollars, and the dollar will be massively devalued.

Add to that the likelihood that the oil peak is already over, combine with the real-estate bubble bursting and all those people who paid credit-card debt with home equity loans, and you can see where it's going...

Tucker