Money

It's becoming increasingly clear that 2008 will be a catastrophic year for the US economy, and therefore probably for that of the world as a whole. The reasons boil down to two: continuing and snowballing fallout from the subprime mortgage fiasco (exacerbated by an orgy of debt-leveraging), and record-high, continuously advancing oil prices. This brief portion of the February Museletter is so topical it bears immediate posting.

In early November, 2007, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) announced the United States had achieved a third quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 3.9 percent. That number was later updated to 4.9 percent. Those numbers set off my “reasonable test” alarm. How, I wondered, with an accelerating rate of inflation and declining economic activity, could the United States turn in such a stellar performance? The BEA’s report flunked the reasonable test.

Is institutional deception embedded in public policy? With an accelerating rate of inflation and declining economic activity, how could the economy of the United States manage to achieve a high growth, low inflation, performance?

Community and monetary economist Thomas H. Greco, Jr. gives a presentation in Sebastopol, California about creating alternative currency and exchange systems.

CBC Radio in Canada covers Chinese central banker Wu Xiaoling's fears about depreciation of the U.S. dollar.

Economist, author and founder of the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability, Richard Douthwaite explains how complimentary money systems stabilize economies and foster efforts to cope with peak oil and climate change.

A round up of recent relevant stories collected from CBC Radio in Canada.

Exploring the Terrain of Peak Oil: Michael Ruppert, publisher of From the Wilderness.com, has made connections between money, Peak Oil, and geopolitics for years. He discusses his move to Ashland and offers specific to-do's around money and investment "in light of the imminent collapse of the U.S. economy": invest locally.

Michael Ruppert has made connections between money, Peak Oil, and geopolitics for years. In what may be his last videotaped interview before leaving the U.S. "forever," Ruppert reflects on his move to Ashland, interest in Latin America. Around money and investment "in light of the imminent collapse of the U.S. economy," he advises to invest locally. Episode 28.

Michael Ruppert of From The Wilderness talks with GPM correspondent Jamey Hecht about the US economy, the price of gold, politics, war, peak oil, relocalization and more.