Guest Post by Monty Pelerin
What Is A Death Rattle?
Wikipedia defines a death rattle as the sound often heard before death:
A death rattle, known clinically as terminal respiratory secretions or simply terminal secretions,[1] is a sound often produced by someone who is near death when fluids such as saliva and bronchial secretions accumulate in the throat and upper chest.[2]
Economies do not utter sounds in any stage of existence. But the health of the economic body can be measured via economic assessment(s). Youthful and vibrant economies grow rapidly, usually producing growth rates in excess of high single digits. Mature economies grow less fast, but do grow at rates fast enough to keep resources fully employed and the living standard increasing. Dying economies stagnate. This last stage is followed by a death rattle.
Economies and countries do not have biological clocks like real living species. Nature is not in control, man is. Man is responsible for all stages of an economy.
How Does an Economy or Country Die?
The last stage of an economy is stagnant or even negative growth. Unemployed and underemployed human and physical resources characterize this stage. So, too does a declining standard of living.
Two factors are always responsible for this stage — economic quackery and political interventions. Any economic slowdown is seen to be solved by additional economic stimulus and political intervention. More government is always the solution, or at least has been since the 1930s. Both economists and politicians are too happy to accommodate because each accommodation improves their condition.
This modern day witchcraft is considered effective because “it has always worked in the past.” Surely it will work again and save us from any pain. What is not seen is that every intervention weakens the economy. While the economy rebounds, mostly as a result of self-corrective price adjustments but also likely sped up by the stimulus, some harm has been inflicted. This harm is cumulative, building up over the years until the economy becomes so distorted and dysfunctional that the price system becomes dysfunctional and capital is so badly misallocated that it becomes unproductive. At this stage no amount of stimulus can restore or save the economy.
An analogy to this process is drug addiction. Early on a hit or high is achieved via the administration of a drug. As the hit wears off, the user feels worse than he did before the drug. To regain the euphoric state, another hit is necessary. It is easy to justify additional hits on the same basis quasi-economists use for more stimulus: “it has always worked in the past.”
The addict doesn’t realize (or care) that each dose weakens the body, making it less capable of functioning. At some point, dosages need to be increased to produce the desired effect (as do economic stimuli). The drugs are not a cure although they may appear so to the junky. Eventually the body itself becomes dysfunctional. End doses are usually massive and eventually kill an already weakened and hollowed-out person.
How Does This Apply?
The US economy has now reached stage three of the process — stagnation. People continue to discuss a “recovery” five years after the recession was declared over. It is possible something can be labeled a recovery eventually, but the issue is the economy is dysfunctional. Seventy years of interventions, regulations and foolish legislation have seriously harmed the economic body in the same manner that drugs have on a junkie. The country has been reduced from the greatest growth and wealth-generating engine in the world to a sick, old man.
It is politically incorrect to point this out because the blame leads back to Washington and their sycophant economists.
Real-Life Example
For many people, the term economics causes their eyes to glaze over. Let me put our condition into terms that they can easily relate to.
My life has been substantially better than my parents. My children, who are approximately fortyish, may or may not be able to make such a claim. It is even less likely for my grandchildren. In America, except for relatively short periods the expectation of a better life than your parents was considered almost a birthright.
Sadly, that is no longer the case. Subsequent generations are likely to be poorer than their parents. They will not do as well. That is what a stage three, stagnant, dying economy means.
One doesn’t have to be an economist to sense that things have changed for the worse. Almost any time series of data loosely associated with progress provides evidence.
Compounding our self-imposed problems, the world has become one big market and our children now must compete against billions instead of millions. Our educational system is a disgrace and has not prepared them for this competition. When your honor student comes up against the twenty countries in the world producing better science, reading and math graduates than us, how is he going to fare?
It is difficult to find data to simply convey our condition. Perhaps the following table provides a good picture :
Is this chart indicative of early murmurs of a death rattle?
4 years ago, 11 of 50 states were technically bankrupt, and the state’s aggregate 3 yr deficit was $280B. Their is no recovery except in the asset values of the super rich, except that those states are now defined as having more takers than makers.
When the federal subsidy checks stop rolling, all hell is going to break loose, which won’t happen until the US Treasury market crashes, which won’t happen unless there is an exogenous blow to global US hegemony. Which will occur first is inconsequential, only the US response to it will be material. The US federal government cannot logistically “occupy” all US territory, so they’ll have to be strategic, if that’s there goal.
At no other time in history has so much information been available to so many, and it brings to light the nefarious dealing of our government, damaging both it’s credibility and legitimacy.
Welp, Kentucky made the list… I am not surprised.
Politics here in the Bluegrass is weird. We elect Republican Senators, but Democratic Governors… makes no damn sense to me.
Of course, Kentucky also has the excuse that the fucking Feds have been on our ass for quite some time, gunning for us… first, they came after tobacco. Damn near killed that off. Then, it was horses. Lots of folks don’t know that we used to have a nice little business selling horses to Mexico. What they did with them ain’t our business. The fucking PETA fags got that shut down. Then the HNIC starts his fucking War on Coal, using the EPA as his enforcers. There’s already been powerplant shutdowns, mine shutdowns, and last I heard at least 5,000 people in Eastern Kentucky have lost their jobs… in a sparsely populated Commonwealth like this one, that is significant.
You take those 5,000 people out of the work force, close their mine, whatever… and it affects all the peripheral industries and businesses as well. Coal Miner Bob loses his job. His mine is closed. All the money Bob would have spent at the grocery store, the mechanic’s, the furniture store, heating oil, etc.. all that is gone. Now multiply that by 5,000. It even affects the railroad. No coal to haul? Then why employ as many folks? And with less need for the railroad, not as many spare parts or fuel is needed, so there’s that…
You just can’t put up a picture of “death spiral” and include us without some type of backstory… Are some of our issues home grown (electing douchebag Dems to run the Commonwealth)? Yep. But a lot of it is also the fucking Feds headhunting the things that we do to make money… if they kill off our economy, ON PURPOSE, then whose fault is it?
That’s all I got…
Billy
That picture of the “death spiral” states shows states that have more people on welfare than have jobs. Once enough parasites are sucking blood, the host dies.
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AWD,
Thanks for the clarification, but my point still stands – if the Feds headhunt the things you do to make money – the engines that drive your economy – then people will lose their jobs. What the fuck else are people supposed to do?
And then there’s the whole push for welfare in Appalachia. I spoke of this before. Folks in Appalachia and the Piedmont were largely resistant to going on Welfare. It’s a pride thing. The Government goons were astounded that folks wouldn’t become members of the Free Shit Army. So, they took out ads in TV and radio for FREE SHIT! That got almost no traction. Then they put up huge billboards offering FREE SHIT and how you could sign up for it. That got no traction. So – get this – the goons employed thousands of little goonlets to go DOOR TO DOOR and try to convince folks to sign up for Free Shit…
I guess it worked… you pound on something long enough, it will crack.
Hell, I’ll be honest with you. As much as I detest the fucking Free Shit Army and the generational parasites and moochers, I’ve given serious thought to hooking up with one of them lawyers on TV that troll for “Social Security Disability”…
I mean, what the fuck, right? A couple 8 years ago or so, I went down to the SS office – on crutches, with my complete medical records and in a great deal of pain – filed my claim and was rejected out of hand by some overweight fucking MAMMY. Was told I “didn’t qualify”… WTF, right?
It’s not like Social inSecurity is gonna be there for when I hit 65 in 20 years, right? I even seriously doubt that the US will be around in its present form by that time… might as well refile a claim and put the fiat toilet paper to good use while I can. It ain’t like I’m gonna be buying boxes of Ho Ho’s and Twinkies, sitting around on the couch getting morbidly obese, watching the Okra Windbag Channel…
White males don’t qualify for free shit, disability, welfare, or free medical.
Only blacks, Mexicans, women, or some combination thereof. You have to be a member of the aggrieved, unfortunate, victimized class.
I have a funny story.
I did a rotation at the Cook County hospital ER in Chicago. It’s the free city hospital downtown. Well, I had to stay a month, and booked a room the YMCA, which was all I could afford. They thought I was black or Mexican when I called, so I lied. Then I showed up, wanting my room. I got treated like dogshit from day 1, and several large black ladies that ran the place tried to run me out of my room. They said “you don’t belong here”. They thought I was abusing the system, but I held my ground, finished, and left. I’ve never felt so discriminated against in my life, except of course in Med School in Miami, for not speaking English. The beaners in Miami demand that you speak English, and ran my white ass out of the room many times at the hospital. That really pissed me off, demanding i speak Spanish while learning to be a doctor in Miami, which, as far as I know, is still part of the USSA.
Miami is most definitely NOT part of the USofA. It is a 3rd world shithole that has pretty good weather and is close to the USofA. USofA starts just north of FLL and west of Krome Ave.
White males don’t qualify for free shit, disability, welfare, or free medical. — AWD
I usually agree with you AWD, but in this case?
Fuck you.
Tell you what. When YOU put on a fucking uniform and dedicate the majority of your adult life to service to the Republic and then get tore the fuck up so bad that “normal” life is fucking impossible, THEN I’ll give some credence to your “white males don’t…” spiel…
You want to play the guilt card on me for being a disabled vet? Fine. I’ll trump your Guilt Card with the Disabled Veteran Card.
Your play.
AWD- slight correction.
Women do not qualify for welfare anymore than men do… unless they have out-of-wedlock children. If you are a single man or woman with no kids, there is only disability. Mind you, I’ve met a number of disability scammers of both sexes, but, in main, it is far harder to qualify for it than it is for some hood rat who has 4 kids by 4 fathers by the time she’s 19.
Women on ADFC , known as “welfare”, get the payments because they had a gaggle of brats out of wedlock, not because they’re women. The kids are no excuse, I will agree, and I would support capping ADFC aid at two children, and for a total of 5 years.
Sadly, the welfare mentality is seeping up into the middle class, and into ethic groups to whom it was hardly known previously. I have two former male co-workers, both well educated Chinese men in their thirties, who are not legally married to their “wives” because that would disqualify the women for the SNAP and Section 8 housing benefits they are currently receiving. The guys save a lot of their middle class incomes of $50K a year and more because the taxpayers are picking up the tab for their out-of-wedlock kids. How this goes on, I can’t imagine, because I thought the state required the mother to press for child support before giving her benefits. The guys enjoy living in apartments that are nicer than the condo I just bought, that Section 8 vouchers are paying for. The wife of one is a very bright Chinese MBA who could command a good paycheck, yet she’d rather sit home and collect welfare benefits.
What happened to PRIDE? My mother and the other divorced mothers of kids I grew up with in the 60s would rather have starved than collect welfare. My mother was not the only divorcee I knew who was supporting her kids on a “woman’s” paycheck with no child support- we lived in an apartment complex heavily populated by divorcees with kids about my age or younger, and every damn one of their mothers worked like slaves to keep roofs over their heads and social workers out of their lives.
AWD,
I fear I made a mistake.
I misinterpreted your “white males don’t..” statement as an attack on me instead of a wry comment about how the protected classes automatically qualify for SSD and white males don’t, and might never.
I rescind my previous “fuck you”. Feel free to blow off my previous comment as me stepping on my dick…
Sometimes I’m just a clueless douche…
The Millennials seem to have a clue:
Don’t have kids.
Ach, my darling. So sad you stepped on your dick. Mein dick. Then again,
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What people have told me about how the SS Disability works in Odessa, Texas, is that the first application is automatically turned down Then you get one of these SS lawyers who will take your case to the SS office. THEN you’re approved.
Me being me, I figure that there is some sort of kickback deal going on.
It’s okay, Billy, it’s Monday (with a vengence)
They’re fast tracking Spanish-only speakers for disability.
Disability Policy Reportedly Fast-Tracks Applicants Who Can’t Speak English
http://foxnewsinsider.com/2014/05/03/disability-policy-reportedly-fast-tracks-applicants-who-can%E2%80%99t-speak-english
Of course, if you speak Spanish, you automatically get welfare.
The Xers are really the spoiled lot. Boomers had to endure all the crises of the 1960’s and the generally shitty economy of the 1970’s. Xers on the other hand emerged from school during the 80’s boom years which more or less continued up until the dotcom crash.