Why We Can't Escape the Euro Crisis

It's a mess over in Greece.  Protesters throwing fire bombs, politicians abdicating their leadership roles to voters and the world watches to see if Greece will spill over into Spain, Portugal, Italy and possibly France.

Some in America say, "Oh well....Greece has an economy the size of New Jersey...who really cares as it will only be a blip in the global economy."

Really?

When is a bailout not a bailout? When the bailor is short of funds. The recently announced debt plan in the European Union comes up short in almost all respects.

The debt crisis is not just an EU problem, but a trans-Atlantic financial crisis. The overwhelming debt problems on either side of the pond are interlinked through the banking system.

First to the EU. The underlying dilemma is that governments have promised their citizens more social programs than can be financed with the tax revenue generated by the private sector. High tax rates choke off the economic growth needed to finance the promises. Economic activity gets driven into the underground economy, where it often escapes taxation.

Nowhere is this truer than in Greece, which has a long history of sovereign defaults in the 19th and 20th centuries. There is a bloated public sector, and competitive private enterprise is hobbled by regulation and government barriers to entry. Successive Greek governments ran chronic budget deficits, and the Greek banks lent to the government. Banks in other EU countries, such as France, lent to the Greek banks.

In Greece and elsewhere in the EU, the banks support the government by purchasing its bonds, and the government guarantees the banks. It is a Ponzi scheme not even Bernie Madoff could have concocted. The banks can no longer afford to fund budget deficits, yet they cannot afford to see governments default. Governments cannot make good on their guarantees of the banks.

There is that word PONZI again.  NOW PAY ATTENTION TO THESE NEXT PARAGRAPHS.

Americans must not be smug about the suffering of Europeans—our financial system is thoroughly integrated with theirs. Moreover, the International Monetary Fund will most likely be involved in the event of future bailouts and will likely need large funds from its members, which ultimately means the taxpayers.

And, of course, the U.S. has its own large and growing public debt burden. We have not gone as far down the road to entitlements, but we are catching up. If you want to know how the debt crisis will play out here, watch the downward spiral in the EU.

Meanwhile, expect more volatility in financial markets. U.S. traders in particular simply have not grasped the enormity of the EU debt crisis.

See it here; http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052970204394804577011721539943012-lMyQjAxMTAxMDAwMjEwNDIyWj.html?mod=wsj_share_email

This article is ripe with foreshadowing.  And of course the IMF is mentioned again as it will be the lender of last resort to keep the Ponzi scheme going when Greece, Spain and others start to default.  Where will the IMF get their money to keep funding these massive bailouts of nations?

It is starting to seem clear to me that the Antichrist is close...and he is soon going to need to come on scene with an answer to fix these enormous problems.  But of course HE CAN'T COME ON SCENE UNTIL AFTER THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH. (2 Thessalonians) 

Can you imagine what is going to happen on earth if the rapture happens today and millions of Christians are gone?  The chaos that will ensue will be epic when thrown on top of already uncertain times.

But MAYBE they will use our money, wealth and real estate that we have left behind to come up with a solution to the financial mess the world is currently in?

Hat tip to Tim H.