By Michael, on August 26th, 2010 
Have you got your emergency food supply prepared? An economic collapse is coming, and now is the time to prepare - not after things have completely fallen apart. Already, the price of food is going up significantly at places like Wal-Mart. When the economy does finally collapse, the things that are going to be at a premium are necessities like food. The truth is that we are not always going to be able to run down to the local supermarket and fill up our carts with all of the inexpensive food that we want. When the U.S. economy implodes and the U.S. dollar enters a period of rampant inflation things are going to be much, much different.
A Well Stocked Emergency Food Pantry
Picture Credit- The Wonderful Lust Journal
It is important to prepare while we can. Time is quickly running out. The following are 10 signs that the U.S. economy is already starting to fall apart….
1 - Unemployment in the United States is completely out of control. According to one recent survey, 28% of all U.S. households have at least one person that is looking for a full-time job. Not only that, the number of Americans receiving long-term unemployment benefits has risen over 60 percent in just the past year. To get an idea of just how rapidly unemployment in the U.S. is spreading, take 38 seconds to watch the absolutely amazing video posted below….
2- Personal bankruptcies continue to soar. Nationwide, bankruptcy filings rose 20 percent in the 12 month period ending June 30th.
3 - The U.S. housing market is coming apart at the seams. In July, existing home sales in the U.S. plummeted 27 percent, and sales of new homes dropped to the lowest level ever recorded. Meanwhile, foreclosures continue to spiral out of control. One out of every seven U.S. mortgages was either delinquent or in foreclosure during the first quarter of 2010.
4 - Poverty is spreading like a plague in the United States. The number of Americans on food stamps rose to a new all-time record of 40.8 million in May. In fact, the number of Americans receiving food stamps has set a new all-time record for 18 consecutive months.
5 - The Social Security system is melting down much faster than anticipated. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Social Security system will pay out more in benefits than it receives in payroll taxes in 2010. That was not supposed to happen until at least 2016.
6 - Our financial system has developed a derivatives bubble that is so gigantic that it is hard to find the words to even describe it. Nobody knows exactly how big the derivatives bubble is, but low estimates place it at around 600 trillion dollars and high estimates put it at around 1.5 quadrillion dollars. Once the derivatives bubble pops there simply will not be enough money in the entire world to fix it.
7 - The trade deficit is bleeding the U.S. economy dry. Every single month, tens of billions of dollars more leaves the United States than enters it. This represents an almost unbelievable transfer of wealth. At the end of every single month, the United States is poorer than when the month began.
8 - American consumers have accumulated an astounding amount of debt. The total amount of consumer debt that Americans consumers owe now stands at a total of approximately 11 trillion dollars.
9 - State and local governments across the United States are literally drowning in debt. Some state and local governments are in such a financial mess that they have actually starting cutting off even the most essential services.
10 - U.S. government debt is completely and totally out of control. The U.S. government has accumulated a national debt that will soon surpass the 14 trillion dollar mark. Things are deteriorating so fast that according to one member of Barack Obama’s national debt commission, the U.S. government will be paying 2 trillion dollars just in interest on the national debt by the year 2020 if nothing changes.
Are you starting to get the picture?
It is time to prepare for the very hard times that are coming. When the U.S. economy implodes a lot of people are suddenly going to be scrambling for survival. You do not want to be one of them.
For much more on building an emergency food supply and preparing for hard economic times we recommend the following resources….
#1) Thriving During Challenging Times: The Energy, Food and Financial Independence Handbook
#2) The Ultimate Suburban Survivalist Guide: The Smartest Money Moves to Prepare for Any Crisis
#3) Starting A New Life In Rural America: 21 Things You Need to Know Before You Make Your Move
