While getting in the Halloween sprit, I decided to watch an episode of Ghost Hunters. The show was taking place in the town of Goldfield, Nevada. The show sparked memories of my drive through Goldfield years ago when I was driving from California to Nevada and decided to take the scenic tour.
As my friend and I drove through Goldfield, there was a very eerie feeling of driving through a deserted town. I remember making the comment that this is what could happen if the economy would start to take a down-turn. I still could not understand the reasoning behind residents leaving an entire town after working so hard to build hotels, houses, and businesses. In light of the situations that have come to pass over the years, I can now have a much greater understanding of the issues facing the early gold mining towns.
GHOST TOWNS
In a tour of another old mining town ofJerome,Arizona, the guide noted that the economy was driven around mining dried up, so did the economy. One could take the lesson from the economic downturns of the gold and silver mining industries. When the main way for an individual or group to make money falters, so does the economy. The faltering economy not only affects the people involved with the industry, but people all over as well. Groups such as schools, stores, merchants, restaurants, medical facilities, and anyone dealing with monetary transactions in general will be affected.
FORCLOSURES
There is a sad phenonamen of the middle class disintegrating. News pieces on put out on nearly a daily basis in regard to families having to move in together or the endless stories of foreclosures. People whom have paid into mortgages for years and were almost done paying on a thirty year mortgage are facing the possibilities of being foreclosed on when they were in the final stretch. A new problem of American’s being unable to pay their taxes has also become an unfortunate trend.
QUANTATIVE EASING
The real estate market has taken such a great hit that we are now looking at the possibility of nationalized housing. QE I (Quantitative Easing) and QE2 are now giving in to the new QE3. The commercial real estate market has been imploding so fast that strip malls are now virtually empty. The banks now owe over 14 trillion dollars. One of the largest questions in today’s world is how the economies of the world can be fixed. Some groups have already called for economic globalization. In an economic and banking seminar, information was conveyed as to the future of theUnitedStatedollar. The news of the dollar collapsing altogether seemed to be an issue a distant future, not a situation that would have started to take place only a few years later.
US BONDS
In regards to US bonds, they are being dumped at a very fast rate. The global economy is in a tailspin. While the dollar is being devalued, the rate of inflation will be increasing at an extremely fast and steady rate. The Bernie Madoff ponzi schemes almost seem like a thing of the past. One could argue that in retrospect, the Madoff scandal appears to be the tip of the financial iceberg.
THE FATE OF THE US DOLLAR
New pressing issues such as derivatives, inflation, credit ratings, unemployment and governmental economic collapses are coming into play. In a seminar on banking and finance, there was a discussion that the dollar would be devalued to the point of no return. There were talks of the dollar disappearing altogether. Talks about a world currency have taken place to the point that one can only question if this may actually happen. The situation with the housing bubbles was the beginning of the real estate markets collapsing and the foreshadowing of the commercial real estate markets starting to implode.
A “60 MINUTES” WAKE-UP CALL
While driving down a street inLas Vegas, I was reminded of news story on “60 Minutes” where there was a story about homeless families and children inLas Vegas. I was driving right through the area that was mentioned in the piece. As I was looking out the window, the scene was almost surreal. People with entire families were pushing shopping carts down the sidewalk and carrying blankets over their shoulders while they were toting kids with backpacks.
There is a very large misnomer inNevadaalong with other cities that people have problems due to issues such as gambling or substance abuse or laziness. This is not always true, there are many hard working people whom had become laid off and had were forced to deal with foreclosures, etc. Many people have been victims of foreclosure scams where they paid rent to a landlord whom was not paying the banks and finance companies. Unfortunately, scam artists thrive on situations dealing with the unfortunate circumstances of other people.
PERSONAL SOLUTIONS
In dealing with a solution to the problems, there are many proposals. One idea is for people to try to start their own businesses to help stimulate the economy. Other solutions could include getting into a property with a lease option and try to save money to buy properties that are at an all time low. Some people are becoming very resourceful and working two or three part time jobs. Pulling resources and working with other people is a great way to network and find employment.
GLOBAL SOLUTIONS
In regards to a global solution, there are many different theories. Some people would say to stop the wars while others would contend that war stimulates the economy. One could argue that there could be some other ways to stimulate the economy than to go to war. TheUSwars have cost trillions of dollars over the years. Some people would say that national security is at risk. In regards to the economy, other people could counter with the idea that the security of theUSeconomy has been at risk for way too long and the money could get put to better uses and with much better outcomes and lesser costs. There are many sides to an issue and many points and counter-points to be made. There is one point that almost all people would agree on, something drastic needs to be done in order to fix the state of the US and global economies before it is too late.