Going Down

We know we live in a changing world but many of our leaders and those running our economies insist that if we just get a few things fixed we will be on the way up again to a prosperous future and all will be well.  The question is what if it won't?

This bleak view of the future by Paul Craig Roberts of the Institute for Political Economy, hat tip Automatic Earth of 31st October, sets out his view of the nature of the recent real economic decline of the USA and what might be to come.

Much of the illusion of prosperity in a number of countries is owed to the media and those areas where money and wealth does flow round.  One example is the celebrity culture in the Western world which is given so much space and attention.

The other is accepting inflation as a norm.  Many see themselves as wealthy if their property has risen in price.  Perhaps in some cases, but when if selling one they have to buy another and take on more debt to do so to have living space, the bargain may not be a good one and could go bad.

One intricate area is the relative values of currencies and the policies related to them.  At the moment the financial  massaging of the markets may suggest wealth but if something does go wrong then the values might change and the inflation become super charged or even deflation setting in.

Much of the article could be taken to apply to the UK and there are problems enough in the making or already made that could mean our own parallel decline.

Once it happens there may be no way back this time.