BIDEN WATCH: 8.6.22 - A Storm of Indicators Show the US Consumer Is Tapped Out

This Is What Will Happen To The U.S. Economy If We Go To War With China- by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/this-is-what-will-happen-to-the-u-s-economy-when-we-go-to-war-with-china/ Nancy Pelosi knows exactly what she is doing. She knows that going to Taiwan without China�s permission will create a major international incident, but she is doing it anyway. Itis being reported that Pelosi will arrive in Taiwan on Tuesday, spend the night in downtown Taipei on Tuesday night, and then potentially meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday. If she does meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, thatwill infuriate the Chinese even more. Pelosi is directly challenging China�s sovereignty over the island, and that is something that the Chinese will simply not tolerate. Chinese President Xi Jinping is on the verge of a third term in office, and so he cannot afford to show any weakness right now. The following comes from Bloomberg� Her travels come before China�s leadership usually heads to the seaside town of Beidaihe for an annual summer gathering. President Xi Jinping is just months away from a twice-a-decadeCommunist Party leadership reshuffle where he�s expected to secure a third term in office, increasing the political stakes. The timing means Xi can�t afford to look weak in response to what Beijing views as foreign interference in its affairs. China held live-fire military drills over the weekendoff the coast of Fujian province, which is opposite Taiwan. In recent days Chinese authorities have been warning us over and over again that China will respond very strongly if Pelosi goes ahead with her visit. On Monday, yet another very ominous warning was issued� �We would like to tell the US once again that China is standing by, and the Chinese People�s Liberation Army will never sit idly by. China will take resolute responses andstrong countermeasures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity,� Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters, when asked about the fallout from Pelosi leading a congressional delegation to Taipei. �As for what measures, if she dares to go, then let�s wait and see,� Zhao added. This is a threat that isn�t veiled at all. The Chinese are openly telling us that the People�s Liberation Army will take action if Pelosi goes through with her visit. And a video was just released on social media which definitely appears to have been intended to send a message� A video by the People�s Liberation Army�s Eastern Theater Command, which showed scenes of military exercises and preparations and was posted on state media sites on Mondayevening, urged troops to �stand by in battle formation, be ready to fight upon command, bury all incoming enemies.� If you have not seen it yet, you can find the video right here. If you have an understanding of Chinese culture, then you know that things like this are never done lightly. Here in the United States, we are being told to disregard such �propaganda� and the �empty threats� that the Chinese are supposedly making. But are they really �empty threats�? What if they aren�t? What if the Chinese really mean what they say? I think that something that Caitlin Johnstone tweeted sums things up quite well� Russia: Don�t cross our red lines in Ukraine or we�ll take action. US politicians: They�re bluffing. Cross those red lines. *Russia invades.* China: Don�t cross our red lines in Taiwan or we�ll take action. US politicians: They�re bluffing. Cross those red lines. Ultimately, the Chinese were probably planning to invade Taiwan fairly soon anyway, but Pelosi�s visit certainly has the potential to greatly accelerate matters. And even though Taiwanese officials are welcoming Pelosi�s visit, they are also preparing for war at the same time� Taiwanese defense officials have canceled the leave of some soldiers and officers �to immediately prepare� for the chance of war in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi�svisit to Asia this week, according to local reports. Sadly, war with China is coming. It is just a matter of time. So what would such a conflict do to the U.S. economy? Well, for one thing it would absolutely devastate the pharmaceutical industry� Consider that Chinese firms are said to supply more than 90 percent of US antibiotics, 70 percent of acetaminophen (that�s Tylenol), and almost half of the anti-coagulantheparin. �Are said to� because we struggle even to gather information on this because of the opacity of the Chinese market and state-dominated record keeping. Some studies suggest up to 80 percent of the basic ingredients in US drugs come from the PRC. Chinais also the second largest exporter of biologics and the prime source of medical devices per the FDA. In some cases, it appears that India is a prime source of a key import � generics, for example � but that masks the fact that India sources up to 75 percentof its own pharma ingredients from China. The food industry would also be turned upside down. In fact, it is being reported that �it is almost impossible to have a diet with foods that were not produced in China�� According to CNN.com, experts believe that it is almost impossible to have a diet with foods that were not produced in China. Products such as chips and garlic are producedin China. Spices and herbs such as ginger and garlic are grown in China and exported to foreign markets. Chinese factories make vegetarian meat products. Many canned foods on market shelves were manufactured in China. Our ability to produce our own food would also be greatly affected, because China produces so much of our farm machinery� Farm machinery such as tractors, egg incubators and harvesters are manufactured in China. Chain saws, wood chippers and shredders are also produced in the country. Elevatorsand bulldozers are also assembled in China. Are you starting to get the picture? We should have never become so dependent on Chinese production, because it really is a major national security threat. Of course the Chinese also produce a lot of our clothes� Chinese factories manufacture winter coats, gloves, mittens and hats for consumers around the world. These factories also produce maternity clothes and infant clothes as wellas wedding dresses and tuxedos. Underwear, T-shirts and slips are among the items exported from China to consumers around the world. Sports caps are also produced in China as are belts and bras. And it turns out that 70 percent of our shoes come from China too� The United States sources 99 percent of shoes sold from overseas, with 70 percent of those coming from the PRC. Same with 72 percent of smartphones. The artificial sweetenersin Diet Coke. Toys, furniture, sports equipment � what you buy every time you go to Target. The moment we go to war with them, the flow of cheap goods from China completely stops. In addition, once the Chinese invade Taiwan there will be an absolutely excruciating computer chip shortage. It was recently being projected that chipmakers in Taiwan would have a 66 percent share of the total global market by the end of 2023� Taiwan�s contract chipmakers will expand their global market share to 66% by revenue this year, cementing the island�s dominant position in the chip supply chain, a new industryforecast shows. As I have discussed previously, just about every industry in the United States relies on equipment that contains computer chips. If the flow of chips from Taiwan is eliminated, the entire global economy would come to a crashing halt. I am not just talking about a recession or a depression. I am talking about an economic collapse on a scale that most people would not be able to comprehend right now. This is why I am so horrified by what Nancy Pelosi is doing. In a book that I published two years ago, I specifically warned that war with China would be coming. Now Nancy Pelosi has us right on the brink of such a conflict. I don�t even have the words to describe how reckless our leaders are being. Let us hope that cooler heads will prevail, because once war with China starts nothing in this country will ever be the same again. ----------------------------- A Storm of Indicators Show the US Consumer Is Tapped Out – TylerDurden - https://www.prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=5496 The US economy is a 70% retail and service economy, which means it is entirely reliant on continued growth in domestic consumption in order to maintain all other elementsof the system. With manufacturing only a small part of overall employment (8%) and agriculture also limited (10%), our country is overly dependent on spending habits and ultimately consumer debt. If we produced more goods domestically and exported more overseas, then stagflation might not be as big a concern. However, as it stands now, the stability of the entire machinerests on people's faith in the economy and their willingness to continue spending in the hopes that a return to normalcy is "right around the corner." In order to measure when our system will break, it's important to track the health of the average consumer as well as their concerns for the future. Sadly, as soon as Americansstop spending and start saving, our economy goes down. That is the way the system has been designed. The mainstream media was quick to jump on news this month of "increased" retail spending - overall retail sales climbed 1% for June. Of course, what they don't mention isthat official inflation is at 9.1% and REAL inflation is closer to 17%. OF COURSE retail sales are climbing, everything costs far more than it did a year ago. But if we look at this data closer some alarms should go off. Why did retail only climb 1% when official inflation is at 9%? Sales should be much higher, but they are not. The1% increase in retail in the midst of 40-year highs in price inflation is a sign of a sales implosion, not an improvement. A year ago in 2021, retail sales spiked by 7.73% in the middle of the inflation chaos. Inflation didn't go away in the past year, itonly got worse, and now the increase is only 1% in 2022. What about consumer sentiment? Well, it has plunged 37% since last year, indicating that faith in the economy is rapidly devolving and that Americans are more likely to cuttheir expenses in order to protect themselves from potential fiscal shocks in the months ahead. What is causing this consumer decline? There are numerous factors. First, the $6 trillion-plus in covid stimulus funds from 2020 has cycled through the retail chain and well out of people's pockets. It's gone, and the huge increase in economicactivity that it triggered is gone also. We are finally feeling the effects that naturally occur at the end of helicopter money. Around 43% of all Americans are falling into debt this year. Around 23% say they have no savings at all, while 28% say they have savings but only enough for three months ofexpenses should they lose their jobs. Half of Americans said inflation was the primary cause of their financial struggles, and 64% classify themselves as "financially unhealthy." What does this translate to in the near term? Far less spending. US credit card debt peaked at $856 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021 and has started to decline, hitting $841 billion in the first quarter of 2022. Once again, with risinginflation you might assume that credit spending would continue to climb, but this is not the case. This is yet another signal that consumers are tapped out and simply can't spend the way they were a year ago. Unemployment dropped to incredible lows as retailers frantically hired as many people as possible to keep up with the wave of consumer spending fed by covid checks and PPPloans. As is the case with most economic trends, it takes time for the system to realize that the money has disappeared. This is building up to mass layoffs in the final quarter of 2022. Rising job losses in tandem with rising prices is the last technical indicator of stagflation along with falling GDP. With GDP well in decline recession has essentially alreadyarrived, but the Biden Administration continues to tout the high employment rate as proof that all is well in the economy. They consistently ignore all other important factors including GDP, rising prices, rising debt and loss of consumer spending power. An avalanche of job losses this year goinginto 2023 is so predictable it hurts, yet the White House acts as if it is oblivious. Perhaps Joe Biden is oblivious (as his mind continues to degrade into dementia), but his economic advisers are not. They are well aware of what is about to happen and theyare trying to keep the American people in the dark. Some might consider this tantamount to treason, but that's a discussion for another time. Needless to say, a considerable downturn is about to take place going into 2023 and hopefully people are preparingfor the inevitable consequences. -------------------------- Severe Economic Desperation Rises Rapidly All Over America As Nearly Half The Nation Cuts Back Spending On Food- by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/severe-economic-desperation-rises-rapidly-all-over-america-as-nearly-half-the-nation-cuts-back-spending-on-food/ It is starting to look a lot like 2008. Extremely long lines are forming at food banks all over the country, job losses and layoffs are starting to spike, countless smallbusinesses are right on the brink of going under, a housing crash that could be even worse than what we witnessed in 2008 has begun, and large numbers of Americans are actually moving into sheds in a desperate attempt to save money. This new economic downturnis still only in the very early stages, and yet the economic suffering that we are already seeing all over the country is truly frightening. If people are struggling this much now, what will conditions be like six months down the road? If you find yourself cutting back spending on groceries and gasoline these days, you are definitely not alone. According to a Suffolk University/USA TODAY survey that was just released, about half the nation is in the same boat… According to the survey, 45.3 percent of Americans have had to cut back their spending on groceries, and 59.4 percent said they are now going out to eat less often as theresult of inflation. Another 48 percent said they are driving less, and 45.4 percent said they are postponing or canceling vacations/travel plans due to rising costs. Inflation is absolutely eviscerating our standard of living, and millions upon millions of Americans are deeply hurting right now. And when people are deeply hurting, they often become quite desperate. There has been a very alarming rise in shoplifting all over the United States, and food and other essentials have become prime targets. In New York City, things have gotten so bad that one store has actually decided to start “locking up cases of Spam”… With robberies up nearly 40 percent in New York City, it’s perhaps no surprise that a local pharmacy has taken the extreme steps of locking up cases of Spam. Twitter user Willy Staley noticed the tins of $3.99 processed meat sealed in a theft-proof plastic container at the Duane Reade inside the Port Authority bus depot in MidtownManhattan – known as one of New York’s grimiest areas. Staley also found a $3.49 tin of Celebrity ham, which retails for a similar price, protected with the same measure. I have a couple of reactions to this. First of all, who in the world would pay $3.99 for a can of Spam? It is absolutely disgusting and I wouldn’t eat it under any circumstances even if someone gave it to me forfree. Secondly, why would anyone ever steal a can of Spam when they are so many other options that are actually edible? I just don’t understand. Of course it isn’t just Spam that is being locked up these days. According to CNN, at this point a lot of retailers have been transformed into “fortresses” due to rapidlyrising theft… These days, it feels like many stores are fortresses. Most of the products on the drug store shelf are behind lock and key, even everyday items such as deodorant, toothpaste, candy, dish detergent, soap and aluminum foil. Manufacturersthat supply lock cases and devices to chain stores have seen their businesses boom. The reason why this is happening on such a widespread basis is because “organized retail crime” has become a really big thing here in the United States… Walgreens and Rite Aid have said that the problem of organized retail crime — rings of criminals that steal products from stores and then often resell them on online marketplaces — is causing them to lock more products up and close some stores. If this is taking place while the U.S. economy is still at least somewhat relatively stable, what will it be like once we officially plunge into a full-blown economic depression? Another very troubling sign is the massive lines that we are starting to see at food banks all over the country. According to Zero Hedge, food banks from coast to coast are reporting “record high demand and record low supply”… In the past month there has been a steady stream of reports from pantries across the US stating that they are now hitting record high demand and record low supply. From NewYork to Wisconsin to Ohio to Missouri to Florida to Arkansas to California and beyond, pantries are running out. On top of that, it’s the middle of summer – The busiest time for food banks and the Salvation Army is during the winter holidays. The majority of pantries indicate that they are most in need of cash donations and that these have started to fade out. When it comes to necessities, most people will notor cannot reduce the frequency of their purchases. Food, gas, housing, utilities, etc. are fixed income costs, and when these costs rise workers must cut costs elsewhere. Charities are usually the first to see the chopping block. The level of demand at our food banks is only going to increase during the months ahead. At some point there simply will not be enough food for everyone. I really hope that you are getting prepared for the very difficult times that are coming, because there will be a limit to what charitable organizations are able to do foryou. Some Americans are attempting to radically reduce their expenses by literally moving into a shed. One woman in Texas that was interviewed by Newsweek really regretted spending all of her money on a shed because the living conditions turned out to not be pleasant at all… A woman’s account of her life in a $2,000 shed during the Texas heatwave has sparked an anguished debate about affordable housing. Elizabeth Rishforth, posting on TikTok under the username @a_nobody_goodbye, shared a video of herself red-faced and sweating on June 23. She was living in a shed withoutelectricity or running water in Houston, Texas, she said. “Me and my boyfriend [used] all the savings we had to get the shed,” Rishforth told Newsweek. But others have found “shed life” to be quite nice. A mother of four named Jessica Taylor is actually loving “shed life” even though her family uses a “composting bathroom”… “One of the things people find really weird about us living in a shed is that we use a composting bathroom rather than a traditional toilet,” Taylor, 30, who now resides ina lofted shed in western Tennessee, told The Post. “It’s a bucket system,” the former bartender-turned-home-schooler (or shed-schooler) explained of her hut’s outhouse. “And [when] you [urinate or defecate], you cover it withwood chips each time. After two days, whether the bucket is full or not, we dump [the waste] into a composting bin in the woods, and then after a couple of years, [the waste] turns into soil for ornamental plants.“ In recent months, housing has become the most unaffordable that it has ever been in the United States, and so “shed life” has absolutely exploded in popularity. In fact, the “#ShedLife” hashtag has now been shared on TikTok more than 22 million times… On TikTok, shed dwellers have stamped videos of their hovels-turned-homes with the hashtag #ShedLife over 22.2 million times. “More and more people are breaking free from the mindset that you have to have the big expensive, fancy house to feel like they’re making it,” said Taylor of the allure ofshed life. “There’s value in living modestly. We’re able to spend more time together gardening and enjoying nature rather than working to afford lavish accommodations.” What about you? Would you like to live in a shed? As the economy continues to deteriorate, more and more Americans will be forced to choose “alternative lifestyles” in the months ahead. But of course the elite are going to continue to insist that everything is just fine. If you can believe it, the definition of “recession” on Wikipedia was just changed toreflect the narrative of the Biden administration, and it has been locked to prevent any additional editing. Do they actually believe that such heavy-handed measures will be effective? The truth is that most Americans know that we are in a recession, and many have pointed out that even Bill Clinton has publicly acknowledged that a recession happens whenGDP is negative for two quarters in a row. But as I noted earlier, what we have been through so far is just the tip of the iceberg. This economic downturn is going to get a lot worse, and that means that millions upon millions of Americans will soon become even more desperate. ----------------------------- Inflation bait and switch - Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com The news media is saying that Joe Biden had a good week because off his legislative victory in reaching agreement for the Senate and the House to pass what the Democrats havelabeled “The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.” Don’t get your hopes up. This is a bait and switch legislation that does not, nor will it ever, live up to the false moniker it has been given. What it amounts to is spending $369 billion to stimulate the petclimate change, green energy agenda of the left, rewarding non-profits, state and local governments, and Indian tribal governments with government cash payments while increasing taxes on corporations and raising drug prices on Medicare to pay for it. Effecton Inflation? Zero. Zilch. Nada. The Democrats claim the bill would reduce the deficit by some $300 billion, which would lower inflation. Think about this. At the time of this writing, the US federal deficitwas nearly $1.6 TRILLION and the US national debt was $30.6 TRILLION. Applying intelligence and common sense, making a payment of $300 billion against a $31 Trillion debt is hardly going to reduce inflation of any kind, especially when raising taxes and Medicaredrug prices to redistribute taxpayer funds to climate change cronies. This legislation only raises the misery index by cutting benefits to senior citizens and causing corporations to raise prices on goods and services to cover the tax increase. Meanwhile,the IRS will have its boot to every taxpayers’ throat. Oh, but this is the “Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.” The influential Penn-Wharton Budget Model (PWBM) analysis indicates that the legislation will not even live up to the deficit reduction it advertises. The Penn-Wharton takeon the bill is: “The Inflation Reduction Act would reduce non-interest cumulative deficits by $248 billion over the budget window with no impact on GDP in 2031. The impact on inflation is statistically indistinguishable from zero.” In fact, Penn-Wharton saysthe Act “would very slightly increase inflation until 2024” and that “These point estimates are statistically indistinguishable from zero, thereby indicating low confidence that the legislation will have any impact on inflation.” Penn-Wharton projects laborsupply and capital distortions from rising tax rates. The National Law Review writes that the Democrats are even trying to subvert the rules to pass the legislation, “Senate Democrats intend to vote on the Act through the budgetreconciliation process, which would permit the legislation to pass with a bare majority vote in the Senate. If there is no Republican support for the Act, all 50 Democrats in the Senate would need to vote for the measure, and Vice President Kamala Harris wouldbe required to cast the tiebreaking vote.” And because the bill has zero impact on inflation, there is no guarantee that the Senate Parliamentarian will allow certain provisions. This is how the bait and switch works with leftist politicians. As in Jeremiah9:8, “Their tongue is an arrow shot out; It speaks deceit.” Sources: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/summary-inflation-reduction-act-2022 https://usdebtclock.org https://budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu/issues/2022/7/29/inflation-reduction-act-preliminary-estimates ------------------------ The wrong direction - Bill Wilson � www.dailyjot.com A recent poll of 1,000 registered voters conducted by Suffolk University and USA Today indicated that the country is headed in the wrong direction, most of the country doesnot approve of the job Joe Biden is doing, and that the economy, abortion and inflation are the top issues on voters� minds. Now just to prove how the voting public is double-minded, if the elections for Congress were today, 44 percent said they would votefor the Democratic candidate, 40 percent for the Republican candidate and almost 16 percent were undecided. Then almost 47 percent of those very same voters said they wanted a congress that �Stands up to President Biden� rather than cooperates with him. Butwait, there�s more. Some 46% of voters said they were paying a lot or a fair amount of attention to the January 6 special House committee hearings, while 53% said they were not following thehearings very much or none at all. Only 16% said they were more likely to support a congressional candidate who has been endorsed by Donald Trump and campaigns with him, while 44% said they were less likely to support such a candidate. This is an interestingfinding since Trump-endorsed congressional candidates have been winning their primaries across the country. This poll was balanced 32% Democrat, 31% Republican, 30% Independent, and 7% other or refused. This ballot question does not bode well for Republicansthis fall, especially when 44% said they would vote for the Democratic candidate. See the trend at this moment? Slightly over 50% of the respondents think the US is in a recession. The impact of the current economy is causing 58% to go out to eat less often; 45% to cut back spendingon groceries; 48% to drive less, and 45% to postpone or cancel vacations/travel. In 2020, 45% voted for Biden and 41% said they voted for Trump. Nearly 33% identify as conservative or very conservative, 25% consider themselves liberal or very liberal, and36% said they were moderate. Some 17% said they trusted FOX NEWS the most, followed by 16% saying they trusted PBS/NPR the most. Then the very next question, 35% of the respondents said they trusted FOX NEWS the least followed by CNN at 21% least trusted. Some 76% felt the country was on the wrong track while 15% felt the country was headed in the right direction. Given all this, the people in the poll which represent a sampleof the American voting public are very confused. They think the country is headed in the wrong direction, perhaps even in a recession, but will vote for the Democratic candidate for congress. The most trusted news network is FOX NEWS and the least trustedis FOX NEWS. There is a failure to recognize that the political party in power is leading the country in the wrong direction. Granted this is just one poll, but it�s indicating a dangerous trend. James 1:8 says, �A double-minded man is unstable in all hisways.� Christ said in Mark 3:24, �If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.� Indeed, this country is headed in the wrong direction. Sources: https://www.suffolk.edu/-/media/suffolk/documents/academics/research-at-suffolk/suprc/polls/national/2022/7_28_2022_embargoed_marginals.pdf?la=en&hash=4F682989707021DD87FA56D227603197F8E43228 ------------------------------ Joe�s COVID rebound � Bill Wilson � www.dailyjot.com There is an old Jim Croce song where the lyrics go something like this: �You don�t tug on Superman�s cape; You don�t spit into the wind; You don�t pull the mask off the oldLone Ranger, and you don�t mess around with Jim.� It�s a song that tells the story of the �baddest man in town� and how anyone with any common sense wouldn�t mess with him. There�s a lot of things in life that way. For example, you don�t quarantine healthypeople; you don�t lockdown entire nations and economies; you don�t mandate or coerce experimental and unproven vaccines; and you don�t lie to people about their health. But the federal government did all these things and more during COVID. And Joe Biden isa living example. Biden, arguably one of the most vaccinated men on earth, caught COVID and went into �isolation.� Most of us didn�t notice he was gone and were likely thankful that his agendamay have been slowed down in his absence�that is yet to be determined. So then the White House doctor declared Biden COVID free after he tested negative four days in a row. But then on the fifth day, he tested positive again and he once again said he wouldgo into isolation �for the safety of everyone around me.� If that were the case, it would be safer for the country if Biden just went into permanent isolation and declared a two-year government holiday. It doesn�t accomplish much good being open under hisleadership as it goes, but I digress. Biden�s doctor said Joe was suffering from COVID rebound. Remember Tony Fauci also suffered the same. Dr. Yuhong Dong, medical doctor and Ph.D in infectious diseases, is the Chief Scientific Officer and co-founder of a Swiss biotech company and former Senior Medical ScientificExpert for Antiviral Drug Development in Novartis Pharma in Switzerland, writes in the Epoch Times that there are two possible reasons why Biden was still infected despite having received four doses of COVID vaccines. She says one is that the vaccine is noteffective against the new BA.5 strain of COVID and the other is that Biden�s natural immunity is not strong. Studies have indicated the vaccine interferes with natural immunity and leaves people less able to fight off COVID because the spike protein causedby the vaccine continues to deplete the natural immunity of the person. That�s why COVID is now an epidemic of the vaccinated. Dr. Dong concludes, �No matter how many doses of vaccines are given or how many antiviral drugs are dosed, they�re only a single type of measure to prevent viruses or a typeof external helper to eradicate the virus. However, all of us have an innate God-given, powerful system to fight against all different types of viruses and mutants. If we maintain them well with adequate protection, they will work for us day and night.� IfBiden wasn�t four-time vaccinated and had also focused on improving his personal immunity, perhaps he wouldn�t have gotten COVID, or had �rebound COVID.� In Luke 4:23, Christ referred to the parable, �Physician heal thyself.� God provided natural immunityfor us to heal. Boosting natural immunity shows intelligence and common sense. Solely depending on multiple doses of a vaccine that doesn�t perform is, say it with me�Stupidocrisy. ------------------------------ It�s Happening: Here Is A List Of 11 Big Companies That Have Announced Layoffs Within The Last 2 Weeks- by Michael Snyder - http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/its-happening-here-is-a-list-of-11-big-companies-that-have-announced-layoffs-within-the-last-2-weeks/ When the economy slows down, layoffs inevitably happen. We witnessed this on a very large scale in 2008 and 2009, and now it is happening again. U.S. economic numbers arerapidly getting worse, and companies all across America don�t want to get caught with bloated payrolls as we plunge into a recession. As you will see below, many of the firms that are laying off workers are either in the real estate industry or the tech industry. Thoseare two industries that were on the leading edge of the �boom times�, and now it appears that they will also be on the bleeding edge as the economy crashes. It is always a tragedy whenever any hard working American is forced out of a job. Unfortunately, what we are witnessing right now is just the beginning. The following is alist of 11 big companies that have announced layoffs within the last 2 weeks� #1 Ultratec Inc. says that it will be laying off more than 600workers. #2 Electric truck maker Rivian will be laying off approximately840 workers. #3 7-Eleven has announced that it will be eliminating 880 corporatejobs. #4 Shopify is laying off about 1,000 people. #5 Vimeo says that it will be eliminating 6 percent of its currentworkforce. #6 Redfin will be reducing the size of its workforce by 8 percent. #7 Compass will be reducing the size of its workforce by 10 percent. #8 RE/MAX will be reducing the size of its workforce by 17 percent. #9 Robinhood will be reducing the size of its workforce by 23percent. #10 It is being reported that Ford �is preparing to cut as manyas 8,000 jobs in the coming weeks�. #11 Geico has closed every single one of their offices in thestate of California, and that will result in vast numbers of workers losing their jobs� GEICO, one of the largest insurance companies in the United States, reportedly closed all 38 of it�s California offices on Monday, resulting in hundreds of workers being laidoff. According to the company, GEICO would not be leaving outright, and will still be offering policies directly online, with all insurance functions continuing as normal. Buyingdirectly through agents by phone, however, will not be possible. �We continue to write policies in California, and we remain available through our direct channels for the more than 2.18 million California customers presently insured withus,� said GEICO in a statement on Monday. On top of everything else, Amazon has announced that it reduced the size of its workforce by approximately 100,000 workers in just one quarter� With recession fears mounting � and inflation, the war in Ukraine and the lingering pandemic taking a toll � many tech companies are rethinking their staffing needs, withsome of them instituting hiring freezes, rescinding offers and making rounds of layoffs. Amazon.com Inc. was one of the latest companies to discuss its belt-tightening efforts this week. During its quarterly earnings call Thursday, the e-commerce giant said it�sbeen adding jobs at the slowest rate since 2019. After relying on attrition to winnow its staff, Amazon now has about 100,000 fewer employees than in the previous quarter. You could fill up two very large football stadiums with 100,000 workers. Eventually, this wave of job losses will become a tsunami, and millions of Americans will suddenly find that they are unable to continue paying their bills. Meanwhile, our new housing crash is starting to pick up speed as well. In fact, we just witnessed an absolutely massive spike in the number of Americans that are searching for the term �sell my home fast� on Google� Within hours of the latest GDP report on Thursday, which raised fears that the United States could be entering a recession, online search volume for �sell my home fast� spikeda whopping 2,750%. Shortly after the Commerce Department released the report on July 28, revealing that the economy showed negative growth for a second straight quarter � shrinking by an annualpace of 0.9% � home sellers hoping for higher housing prices to continue are now concerned. Just like in 2008 and 2009, a lot of Americans that bought near the peak of the market are going to end up underwater on their homes. We didn�t learn from history, and so now we are repeating it. And things are going to get worse and worse for the housing market as the Federal Reserve continues to raise interest rates. Of course it isn�t just the U.S. that is going to be suffering in the months ahead. The whole planet appears to be heading for a major downturn, and one of the largest shipping companies in the entire world has just confirmed that global economic activityis really starting to slow down� AP Moller-Maersk on Wednesday predicted a slowdown in global shipping container demand this year amid weakening consumer confidence and supply chain congestion. The Danish shipping and logistics company � one of the world�s largest and a broad barometer for global trade � said it loaded 7.4% fewer containers onto ships in the secondquarter when compared to the same period in 2021, prompting it to revise the full-year outlook for its container business. Europe is being hit harder than just about anywhere else. Many of the numbers that are coming out of Europe are surprisingly bad, and now thanks to the war in Ukraine they are bracing for an extremely cold and bitter winter� Germany�s presidential palace in Berlin is no longer lit at night, the city of Hanover is turning off warm water in the showers of its pools and gyms, and municipalities acrossthe country are preparing heating havens to keep people safe from the cold. And that�s just the beginning of a crisis that will ripple across Europe. It might still be the height of summer, but Germany has little time to lose to avert an energy shortage this winter that would be unprecedented for a developed nation. Muchof Europe is feeling the strain from Russia�s squeeze on natural gas deliveries, yet no other country is as exposed as the region�s biggest economy, where nearly half the homes rely on the fuel for heating. We haven�t seen anything like this in Europe since World War II. In Spain, they have already resorted to extreme measures as they desperately attempt to conserve energy� Responding to Europe�s energy crisis, Spain has controversially banned air conditioning from dropping below 27�C (80.6�F) in the summer. The new government decree, which applies to a whole host of public buildings as well as shops, hotels and other venues, will also stop heating from being raised above 19�Cduring the winter. �The rules will be mandatory in all public and commercial buildings, including bars, cinemas, theatres, airports and train stations,� reports EuroNews. I am stunned by many of the things that I see in the news every day. And things are only going to get worse as time rolls along. Decades of incredibly foolish decisions have brought us to this point, and instead of reversing course our leaders continue to take us down the exact same road. So we shall reap what we have sown, and it appears that there is an enormous amount of pain on the horizon. ------------------------------- A recession by any other name - Bill Wilson � www.dailyjot.com The White House, the rest of the Biden Administration, and Democratic Party leaders are all scrambling to redefine the word �recession� because they don�t want to admit theirpolicies have run the titanic American economy into an economic iceberg. On July 28, Biden responded to the worst economic news in a generation by saying the economy is �consistent with the transition to a stable, steady growth and lower inflation�There aregoing to be a lot of chatter today on Wall Street and among pundits about whether we are in a recession, but if you look at our job market, consumer spending, business investment, we see signs of economic progress in the second quarter as well.� This is delusional. The worst inflation since Jimmy Carter. The highest gasoline prices since Barack Obama. The worst economic growth. The lowest consumer confidence. And Biden continues to repeatwith a straight face: �we are on the right path and we will come through this transition stronger and more secure.� This is typical of Biden and his administration. He nominated a Supreme Court Justice that wouldn�t give a definition for a woman. He is supportingthe LGBTQ+ effort to teach school children that they are the gender that they identify with, not necessarily the gender of their birth. And now, when the classic definition of a recession is obvious, how can we expect a guy who doesn�t know where he is whenhe lands in Israel, to understand his policies have thrown the USA into a recession? But that�s probably not the worst of it. During a rally in Arizona, former President Donald Trump warned: �Recession�s a nice word. We�re going to have a much bigger problem than recession. We�ll have a depression.� Founderof the Brownstone Institute and economic columnist for The Epoch Times, Jeffrey A. Tucker, says, �In short, if this were merely a conventional recession, we would be very fortunate. What�s happening in the trendlines of every important metric is shocking.But the real devastation is in the realm of the invisible: the progress and freedom of which we were robbed. We know who did this to us. It�s the very people who made the desolation and now call it transition.� Tucker continues: �We can argue all day about the definition of recession, but it doesn�t take us to the intellectual place we need to be. The bottom line is that what weare experiencing now includes anomalies from previous downturns precisely because it is much worse. Only a few months ago, many worried that we were going back to the 1970s. That box has been checked. Then, we worried we were going back to the 1930s. My fearis that we might wish that were true.� He says it�s �worse than anyone wants to admit.� As 1 Peter 1:13 exhorts, �Therefore prepare your minds for action.� It�s likely going to get worse before it gets better. May the Lord be our refuge and strength. --------------------------------