20 Signs That The Next Great Economic Depression Has Already Started In Europe

Posted on April 30, 2013 by raptureimminent

By Michael, on April 29th, 2013

The next Great Depression is already happening – it just hasn’t reached the United States yet. Things in Europe just continue to get worse and worse, and yet most people in the United States still don’t get it. All the time I have people ask me when the “economic collapse” is going to happen. Well, for ages I have been warning that the next major wave of the ongoing economic collapse would begin in Europe, and that is exactly what is happening. In fact, both Greece and Spain already have levels of unemployment that are greater than anything the U.S. experienced during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Pay close attention to what is happening over there, because it is coming here too. You see, the truth is that Europe is a lot like the United States. We are both drowning in unprecedented levels of debt, and we both have overleveraged banking systems that resemble a house of cards. The reason why the U.S. does not look like Europe yet is because we have thrown all caution to the wind. The Federal Reserve is printing money as if there is no tomorrow and the U.S. government is savagely destroying the future that our children and our grandchildren were supposed to have by stealing more than 100 million dollars from them every single hour of every single day. We have gone “all in” on kicking the can down the road even though it means destroying the future of America. But the alternative scares the living daylights out of our politicians. When nations such as Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy tried to slow down the rate at which their debts were rising, the results were absolutely devastating. A full-blown economic depression is raging across southern Europe and it is rapidly spreading into northern Europe. Eventually it will spread to the rest of the globe as well.

The following are 20 signs that the next Great Depression has already started in Europe…

#1 The unemployment rate in France has surged to 10.6 percent, and the number of jobless claims in that country recently set a new all-time record.

#2 Unemployment in the eurozone as a whole is sitting at an all-time record of 12 percent.

#3 Two years ago, Portugal’s unemployment rate was about 12 percent. Today, it is about 17 percent.

#4 The unemployment rate in Spain has set a new all-time record of 27 percent. Even during the Great Depression of the 1930s the United States never had unemployment that high.

#5 The unemployment rate among those under the age of 25 in Spain is an astounding 57.2 percent.

#6 The unemployment rate in Greece has set a new all-time record of 27.2 percent. Even during the Great Depression of the 1930s the United States never had unemployment that high.

#7 The unemployment rate among those under the age of 25 in Greece is a whopping 59.3 percent.

#8 French car sales in March were 16 percent lower than they were one year earlier.

#9 German car sales in March were 17 percent lower than they were one year earlier.

#10 In the Netherlands, consumer debt is now up to about 250 percent of available income.

#11 Industrial production in Italy has fallen by an astounding 25 percent over the past five years.

#12 The number of Spanish firms filing for bankruptcy is 45 percent higher than it was a year ago.

#13 Since 2007, the value of non-performing loans in Europe has increased by 150 percent.

#14 Bank withdrawals in Cyprus during the month of March were double what they were in February even though the banks were closed for half the month.

#15 Due to an absolutely crippling housing crash, there are approximately 3 million vacant homes in Spain today.

#16 Things have gotten so bad in Spain that entire apartment buildings are being overwhelmed by squatters…

A 285-unit apartment complex in Parla, less than half an hour’s drive from Madrid, should be an ideal target for investors seeking cheap property in Spain. Unfortunately, two thirds of the building generates zero revenue because it’s overrun by squatters.

“This is happening all over the country,” said Jose Maria Fraile, the town’s mayor, who estimates only 100 apartments in the block built for the council have rental contracts, and not all of those tenants are paying either. “People lost their jobs, they can’t pay mortgages or rent so they lost their homes and this has produced a tide of squatters.”

#17 As I wrote about the other day, child hunger has become so rampant in Greece that teachers are reporting that hungry children are begging their classmates for food.

#18 The debt to GDP ratio in Italy is now up to 136 percent.

#19 25 percent of all banking assets in the UK are in banks that are leveraged at least 40 to 1.

#20 German banking giant Deutsche Bank has more than 55 trillion euros (which is more than 72 trillion dollars) of exposure to derivatives. But the GDP of Germany for an entire year is only about 2.7 trillion euros.

Yes, U.S. stocks have been doing great so far this year, but the truth is that the stock market has become completely and totally divorced from economic reality. When it does catch up with the economic fundamentals, it will probably happen very rapidly like we saw back in 2008.

Our politicians can try to kick the can down the road for as long as they can, but at some point the consequences of our foolish decisions will hunt us down and overtake us. The following is what Peter Schiff had to say about this coming crisis the other day…

“The crisis is imminent,” Schiff said. ”I don’t think Obama is going to finish his second term without the bottom dropping out. And stock market investors are oblivious to the problems.”

“We’re broke, Schiff added. ”We owe trillions. Look at our budget deficit; look at the debt to GDP ratio, the unfunded liabilities. If we were in the Eurozone, they would kick us out.”

Schiff points out that the market gains experienced recently, with the Dow first topping 14,000 on its way to setting record highs, are giving investors a false sense of security.

“It’s not that the stock market is gaining value… it’s that our money is losing value. And so if you have a debased currency… a devalued currency, the price of everything goes up. Stocks are no exception,” he said.

“The Fed knows that the U.S. economy is not recovering,” he noted. “It simply is being kept from collapse by artificially low interest rates and quantitative easing. As that support goes, the economy will implode.”

So please don’t think that we are any different from Europe.

If the United States government started only spending the money that it brings in, we would descend into an economic depression tomorrow.

The only way that we can continue to live out the economic fantasy that we see all around us is by financially abusing our children and our grandchildren.

The U.S. economy has become a miserable junkie that is completely and totally addicted to reckless money printing and gigantic mountains of debt.

If we stop printing money and going into unprecedented amounts of debt we are finished.

If we continue printing money and going into unprecedented amounts of debt we are finished.

Either way, this is all going to end very, very badly.

The Economic Collapse

This week on ‘The Hal Lindsey Report’ April 5th, 2013 {Video}

Posted on April 5, 2013 by raptureimminent

By Hal Lindsey

Cyprus is a small island in the Mediterranean Sea. It lies just 200 miles off the coast of Israel. According to scripture, Barnabas hailed from Cyprus. It was there that Paul began his first missionary journey.

At various times, Cyprus has been in the news because it is claimed by both the Greeks and the Turks. In fact, the Turkish Cypriots live in the northern part of the island and the Greek Cypriots in the south. They even have a UN-supervised line of demarcation that separates the two.

In the last few years, large gas and oil reserves have been discovered off the coast of Cyprus. This has focused international attention on the tiny republic and caused a great deal of internal strife over the distribution of the new found revenues.

Recently, Cyprus has been in the news for quite another reason. One that will have repercussions that may one day be felt here in America.

As a nation, Cyprus, and more particularly its banking sector, have fallen on hard times. So hard, in fact, that without a bailout loan of many billions, the nation faces bankruptcy.

To make a long and painful story short, a group of money powers known as “The Troika,” which consists of the European Union, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, agreed to help the island nation.

But, unlike their bailouts of other European nations like Spain or Greece, this time the Troika demanded more than a tightening of the belt or an increase in income tax revenues or the addition of a national value-added tax. This time, they demanded that Cyprus arbitrarily invade the bank accounts of ordinary citizens and confiscate 7 to 10% in order to help repay the debt.

Cyprus is as an offshore financial shelter for many Russians, like the Caymans for many Americans. Russian president Vladimir Putin was furious over the demand. He protested loudly and angrily. So did the Cypriots themselves.

In fact, their House of Representatives voted to reject the imposition of a tax on smaller accounts, but faced with impending default, acquiesced to a tax on larger accounts. Strangely, so did Putin. In fact, for some reason he agreed to keep his mouth shut when the dust settled and up to 60% of savings accounts in excess of 100,000 Euros was confiscated by the government.

To prevent a run on the banks that would collapse the system, the government abruptly closed Cyprus’s banks. What was supposed to be 24 hours turned into two weeks!

What if — without warning — you were told you couldn’t withdraw money from your bank for two weeks?

Can you think of any action the world powers could take that would send a greater chill through the world banking and financial sectors than arbitrary confiscation of private funds to pay debts run up by socialist politicians? And we’ve all seen what can happen when there are crises in the banking and financial markets!

Will that happen here? To paraphrase our nation’s founders, what Big Brother gives, Big Brother can take away! Unfortunately, it’s already happening, but through cleverly disguised “fees” and “account charges.” Even more subtly, the same thing is happening to us when the Federal Reserve System prints money backed by nothing and floods the markets. Every dollar printed causes the value of every dollar in your wallet to decrease. The Treasury agents might as well show up at your house and demand that you give them your wallet!

You may be asking yourself, “How does this concern me?” Well, even though the economy of Cyprus is smaller than the smallest state in our union, it’s conceivable that a collapse there could trigger other collapses in the Eurozone and spark a complete meltdown. If nothing else, the whole affair is undermining already shaky confidence in European banks and financial markets.

All it takes is a trigger, a lead domino to fall and start the whole chain collapsing. This crisis illustrates just how close we may be to the final meltdown that will open the door to the Antichrist.

President Obama’s recent trip to the Middle East proved to be nothing more than a PR tour comprised of photo-ops and displays of “feel good” statesmanship. He made some admirable pronouncements about the strength of the friendship between Israel and the United States. He also issued some stern warnings to Iran, but nothing we’ve not heard before.

Probably the most important incidents that occurred during the trip were largely ignored by the media. The President’s visit to a display of the Dead Sea Scrolls seemed to prompt an admission that the Jews’ ties to Israel extend into ancient history. This is something of a significant development for the President. He has previously seemed to believe that the Jews are in Israel as the world’s sympathetic response to the Holocaust.

Second, in a rather awkwardly contrived moment, the President apparently forced Prime Minister Netanyahu into issuing an apology of sorts to Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan for the Mavi Mamara incident during the 2010 Egyptian-Israeli blockade of Gaza. It caused the deaths of nine Turkish militants. But maybe some good will come of it if it eases tensions between the two former allies.

Finally, last week the Supreme Court held hearings on the constitutionality of two cases related to same-sex marriage. Proposition 8 is an amendment to California’s constitution, duly passed by its citizens, that restricts marriage to a man and a woman. The second is a federal statute overwhelmingly passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. It’s known as the Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA. It effectively requires inter-state recognition of marriages only between a man and a woman. It also limits federal benefits only to opposite-sex marriages.

The factor that makes these two cases unique is that both governments who are charged with enforcing these laws — California and the federal government — refuse to defend them in court. And some of the justices on the highest court believe that the citizens themselves have no “standing” to defend them.

Though we probably won’t know the Court’s rulings for several months, this could be a watershed moment in our nation’s history. Obviously, if they strike down both of those laws, it will mean that same-sex marriage will be legal throughout the nation. But even if they decline to rule for “technical” reasons, and allow the current lower court ruling voiding Proposition 8 to stand, it will mean that every law passed by a majority of citizens of any state can be annulled simply by the elected officials refusing to defend them in court.

That means that we may be on the verge of a complete takeover of the legislative and electoral process by the US court system — and unscrupulous politicians. God help us if that happens.

I believe this issue — the obliteration of the divine institution of marriage between a man and a woman (which has been practiced by all civilizations for thousands of years) and the subsequent acceptance and celebration of same-sex marriage — may well be the issue that finally brings physical persecution to Christians in the United States. We are fast approaching the moment when we must decide to stand up and speak the truth of the Bible, and bear the consequences, or pointedly deny God’s Word and accept a concept that is, as Justice Alito noted, “newer than cell phones or the internet.”

Are you ready to stand up and be counted? I’ll begin that discussion this week and continue it in greater depth next week.

Don’t miss this week’s Report on TBN, Daystar, CPM Network, The Word Network, various local stations, www.hallindsey.com or www.hischannel.com. Check your local listings.

God Bless,

Hal Lindsey
mail: HLMM, P.O. Box 470470, Tulsa, OK 74147
email: comments@hallindsey.com
web: http://www.hallindsey.com

Encroaching Times

Posted on February 21, 2013 by raptureimminent

By Ron Graham

“And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.” Revelation 13:1. As planet earth takes on the appearance of what the Word of God plainly teaches us about the days of Noah and Lot, it seems many in the Christian community become more astonished at world events. The Bible gives us every reason to believe there will be an all encompassing world government in place in the last days which will be managed by the antichrist. The book of Daniel and the book of Revelation are our guides in learning what the antichrist has in store for planet earth.

Commerce has so fully connected all the nations of this planet, that what is emerging is a massive blending of earth’s cultures – for better or for worse. Most people don’t see the significant prophetic ramifications of such merging and blending. This mergence is all the design of the evil one to set up his all encompassing government. As we here in America watch our leaders reframe our nation into a Marxist socialistic society we can be assured these are the plans set down by Satan himself. Take a look around the nations of this world and you will see this same phenomenon occurring simultaneously wherever you set your gaze.

Many today are concerned about America’s economy yet see little to no significance that the worldwide economy is actually what’s in the enemy’s crosshairs. A huge majority of folks simply won’t see the big picture. They refuse to believe that one foreign nation’s economic downfall could bring chaos to the shores of America. Since many people these days have no use for God and scoff at His word they won’t know what’s coming until it hits them head on. That fact alone should give the rest of us cause to pause and reflect on biblical prophecy. Many simply shrug off the fact that Greece’s economy has flat lined. Greece’s economic problems have begun a ripple affect across Europe. What’s that all about? What does Greece have to do with the economy in the rest of Europe’s capitals? Or America for that matter? It’s simple really. We are now so connected financially to each other that as a world community every time a nation’s economy collapses the entire world economy will be adversely affected. Just as Greece has begun to scrape rock bottom, many other nations have begun their own decent into financial ruin. This, of course, will be miniscule in comparison to what will happen when the US economy finally gives way to all the false prosperity in which we have been immersed, especially within just the last four years. Certainly humanity is experiencing very strange times, some are quite fearful at what they see approaching.

If you are a Christian and you are fearful of the events currently shaping this world then you are falling for the enemy’s deceptive antics. Fear mongering is a goal of the evil one (Satan) as he attempts to gear up in his anticipation of the Rapture. Satan’s most debilitating tool is fear and he uses it quite efficiently. Many people fall for Satan’s lies, even Christians. This allows Satan to build strongholds that become huge stumbling blocks in a person’s life. When a Christian becomes overwhelmed with the fearful situations confronting them, it means they’ve lost sight of God. Who is it that gets us through our day by day struggles? Here’s a clue, His name is Jesus and He is our God and Saviour.

For many years contentment has been very high here in America. For the most part we’ve placated ourselves with a sense of false prosperity which led to a false security. This all occurred when we as a nation decided to leave behind the God of all creation and His precepts. In our world today many have journeyed into the realm of self-importance, self-reliance, self, self, self, which ultimately leads to self-destruction. When “self” becomes the overwhelming factor, thus power in a person’s life, they stop helping others as they stop relying on others for help. Here in America the majority of people now believe it is the government’s responsibility to take care of them, such as a parent would take care of their little child. In many of those cases these Americans believe it’s their right to live off the government dole – self-impotence.

Apparently some folks are waking up to the fact that America is not immune to the upheavals which occur in other nations. It has become obvious to some that we are no longer separated from the chaos that occurs on the other side of the globe. This is becoming a frightening fact that the self-absorbed in America have no concept of how to face. There are more than a few who have shrugged off America’s impending financial collapse, not to mention the very obvious truth that America herself has been transformed while moving “FORWARD” into the realm of the one world government/currency/ecumenical system which will be headed up by Satan himself.

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;” Luke 21:25. Now that we can see the one world everything gathering steam we’ll begin to move into the arena Luke speaks about, that of distress of nations – perplexity. It’s the idea that we might actually feel some heat from all the current distress of nations that perplexes American’s. We can see the US is being destroyed from within and yet we are clueless and helpless as to how to stop the approaching disaster. A large number of manufacturing jobs have been relocated to other nations around the world leaving the American worker to try and survive on minimum wage incomes and/or handouts from the Federal and State governments. In the meantime, the cost of everything soars. Perplexing? Most assuredly.

“…there shall come in the last days scoffers…” 2 Peter 3:3. The Greek word “eschatos” is translated into our English word “last” and it actually means extreme or uttermost. I believe we are living in those extreme last days of which the Apostle Peter speaks. Being one who is continually confronted by scoffers I can tell you they have become quite common in these last days. Surely we must be very close to that “uttermost” time. If so, should we be all that surprised in regards to the strange even extreme worldwide events currently unfolding before us? Bible prophecy is God’s way of telling us what will occur in the future. Are we not now moving into exciting times in regards to how close the Rapture must be? Certainly to those who are lost the future that is approaching is one which will cause much anxiety and perplexity. Yet Christians should be comforted by the current state of worldwide affairs.

The conclusion we come to as we view our current state of worldwide events (nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom – wars, and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, pestilence – in divers places) is that the birth pangs Jesus speaks of in Matthew 24 are obviously upon us. Sadly, as this world moves ever closer to destruction, the majority of folks will turn to someone who has already convinced them that he can bring about a utopian existence to this crazy, seemingly out of control world.

I’ve read that many people are beginning to emigrate from the US in search of greener pastures. This is an exercise in futility. This world is going to be equally and adversely affected by the severity of a major economic, thus societal, collapse; no one nation will be better off than any other. You can run but you can’t hide.

Numerous websites are promoting preparedness in regards to what they see as an approaching collapse of our economy and the possibility of civil unrest. Preparedness is not a bad thing, in many cases being prepared for calamities, unforeseen circumstances, or even impending droughts will help those who are prepared make it through such events. Remember, the most important preparedness is being prepared for eternity. At this “eschatos” (extreme) point in time our eternal destiny should already be settled.

Being prepared for an eventual economic collapse will take a lot more than just a little food set aside. Preparing for civil unrest is going to be even more difficult, especially if the Feds are allowed to confiscate all the guns. Don’t forget about the Homeland Security and their recent purchase of enough hollow point ammo to shoot every American at least six times. Something evil this way comes – and he is the destroyer.

“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.” Revelation 6:5-6. In the last days a full day’s wages will be necessary to purchase one meal, not everyone will be blessed with work and wages. Many see usefulness in stocking up on silver and gold as a solid and reliable form of currency in these last days. There is a line in the old song, “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” by the late Larry Norman, which says “a piece of bread will buy a bag of gold”. Well, that certainly sums up the usefulness of gold in the last days. No, what we should be stocking up on is treasures that will last for an eternity. What are those treasures? They are whatever the Holy Spirit leads you to be involved in during your life on earth.

The republic on which the US was founded is gone, probably forever. But the born again see a glorious future with the King of kings at the helm. Those who remain lost will never understand what awesome godly living is all about. Those who are born again will see glorious times on earth when the Lord returns with His saints and His Kingdom is ultimately established.

“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” James 1:22. As we, the followers of Jesus Christ allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives He moves us into the realm of establishing ourselves as doers of the word and not just hearers. As we are focused on doing God’s will for our lives, the many antics of the enemy cannot overcome us, and fear will not take seed in us. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7. Therefore, fear not my brethren, Jesus is at the door.

God bless you all,

Ron Graham

twotug@embarqmail.com

http://www.straitandnarrowministry.com

ron@straitandnarrowministry.com

All original scripture is “theopneustos” God breathed

Many of you have inquired as to the state of my health, therefore I feel I must maintain this little running commentary to keep everyone up to date. My eyesight has become a major problem, and the Myasthenia is worsening, none of the treatments have been successful. I’m in stage 2 diabetes which is caused by the steroids I’m taking as a treatment for the Myasthenia. The prostate cancer has made a comeback and I have begun the hormone treatments again. Through all this “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13. Your prayers and comments are most welcome and appreciated.

I’m very grateful to those of you who have been led by the Holy Spirit to send gifts of support. I know that God is the giver of all good gifts. I’m very grateful that He has placed you folks in my life. I’ve placed this little acknowledgement here at the bottom of my commentary because some of you ask if you can send a gift. My response as always is: When God leads you to send a gift of support who am I to refuse.

Please send your gift to:

Ron Graham

96 County Road 5480

Salem, MO, 65560.

For those of you who have suggested it, I have set up a PayPal account using my email address twotug@embarqmail.com as my account access number. Thank you my brethren, God bless you all.

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Economic collapseWikipedia: There is no precise definition of an economic collapse. →