Posted by Tina
Some economists and investors think the next big crash is both inevitable and imminent. Others think we have a year or so before it happens. A few think we will weather the crash because we are the strongest weak nation. Though I am an optimist, I have little faith in people who like to pretend big problems aren’t real and everything’s always okay. If tough times are coming Id rather be prepared.
The troubling difference between this period and previous pre-crash periods is that trouble is growing across various sectors:
…is the current oil price collapse really like anything the world economy has ever experienced?
For many market watchers, a confluence of factors – led by oil, but encompassing China, the emerging world, and financial markets – are all brewing to create a perfect storm in a global economy that has barely come to terms with the Great Recession.
“We are in a very unusual situation where market sentiment is of a different nature to anything we’ve seen before,” says Thygesen.
Unlike previous pre-recessionary eras, the current sell-off has seen commodity prices, equities and credit conditions all move in dangerous lockstep.
Average Americans and the big institutions that invest for our retirement funds are taking safer positions and holding on to cash. Even lower gasoline prices have not significantly loosened the wallets of the American people. We seem to be in a giant waiting pattern, fearing the worst and hoping for the best. Hold on to your hats folks; 2016 is looking to be a shaky year at a time when our choice for president has never been more important.
Hopefully before Obama leaves office so you can use that against him, amiriteguys?