The US is the New Offshore

From The Dollar Vigilante:

The US is the New Offshore

TUESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2012 AT 5:10PM

Whether by design or by endless error, the US is fast declining by almost any economic statistic.  Many question whether it was by design or ignorance.  There is plenty of evidence that this wholesale destruction of what was once America (and is now just the US) was both.

On the "design" side are all of the attempts at moving the world toward some sort of "new world order" - a socialistic one world government.  These plans have been in place going on decades and even centuries and have certainly played their part.  These plans often have included environmental agendas which look to institute global carbon taxes and restrict industrial activity - and this despite the fact that we now appear to be headed for a "mini ice-age".

On the "ignorance" side are the seemingly millions of examples of outright stupidity by US politicians.

Take as example this recent quote by Mitt Romney:

"I know we didn’t all agree on TARP. I believe that it was necessary to prevent a cascade of bank collapses. For free markets to work, there has to be a currency and a functioning financial system."

To some, that statement may seem innocuous.  But, the statement shows a massively profound misunderstanding of what free markets are.  Here, in essence, is the translation of the last sentence of what Romney said:

"For free markets to work there has to be a fiat, unbacked government enforced currency issued by a monopolistic banking cartel held up by legal tender laws and a fractionally reserved banking system enabled and made legal by the force of the government."

Sadly, after decades of public brainwashing, called the "education system", not only can people like Romney make those statements but hardly a person in the crowd will find anything wrong with his assertion.

ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE

And there is no reason to hope anything will be getting any better.  All indicators point to things only accelerating.  US Government debt is now expanding at a rate that can only be described as exponential.  At the current rate, the total amount of US Government debt added during the Obama administration will be more than $6 trillion by the time his first term is up.  The TOTAL amount of US Government debt in 2002 was $6 trillion.  Therefore, total debt will have doubled in just the past decade.

This massive amount of government debt is completely washing out private enterprise and now takes up 30% of all debt "investments" in the US.  As the cartoon below shows, it is much the same tact that occurred in 1932 which made the depression last from months to over a decade.

So, what could be worse?  How about increasing taxes in the US by more than 30 percent between 2012 and 2014.  The Congressional Budget Office released a report which shows a  jump in taxes from 15.4 percent of GDP in fiscal 2011 to 20.0 percent of GDP in fiscal 2014 - a 29.8 percent increase.

The US has already been in a depression since 2001, as can be seen by most real (not nominal or government massaged) stats such as food stamp usage and employment as a percentage of the population (see below).

Don't let the "Shaded areas indicate US recessions" fool you either.  It's been a depression since 2000... only most people don't know because it's been an inflationary one.

Increasing debt, declining employment and rising taxes... not a recipe for success.

ESCAPE FROM AMERICA

The financial and economic landscape in the US has left anyone with the ability wanting to run.  Corporations have been heading for the exits for years.  And now, according to our sources, the wait list to renounce US citizenship has increased from six months to over two years.

Investments and entrepreneurs have been looking the world over for better places for their capital and business ventures.  This led one fund manager and banker we recently spoke with to state that whenever someone tells him they are actually moving investments or employment opportunities to the US (something he considers highly risky), he responds by saying, "Oh, you re going offshore."

So much of the world has gained on and surpassed the US in almost every conceivable economic statistic and the US has lost so many freedoms that once made it special that any movement of funds away from the rest of the world into the US is now seen as moving away from the key economies.  The US, thanks either to design or ignorance, is the new offshore.