ICG: Economic Bad News

Last night, ICG’s Mark Armstrong reported:

Another shoe drops almost daily in the economic calamity that grips the United States and reverberates around the world. Bailout fever reigns in our nation’s capitol as our leaders pursue one “emergency remedy” after another that undermine the very basis of America’s economic integrity. The logic we’ve all heard time and again is that these initiatives that break every rule of our free capitalist society must be enacted on an emergency basis to keep the United States and the rest of the developed world from descending into a ruinous depression. More distressing yet is the projection that the depression we hope to avoid will only be made worse by the unprecedented government economic interventions. As bad as the situation facing U.S. finance and industry seems, it may be only the tip of the iceberg as cities, states, and other sectors as yet unidentified slide toward bankruptcy.

But what the USA is facing is worse than bankruptcy:

3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry…
6 “Will not all these take up a proverb against him, And a taunting riddle against him, and say, ‘Woe to him who increases What is not his–how long? And to him who loads himself with many pledges’? 7 Will not your creditors rise up suddenly? Will they not awaken who oppress you? And you will become their booty. 8 Because you have plundered many nations, All the remnant of the people shall plunder you (Habakkuk 2:3,6-8).

Notice the above is for the above time of the end. Recall that the USA is the largest debtor nation now in the history of the world–it is plundering the world through borrowing that which it really never expects to pay back in full. Thus the destruction of the USA is prophesied and is tied to its debt accumulation–which is something that is accelerating right now.

Of course, it is not just the USA that will suffer or that is accumulating debt. Notice the German finance minister views the United Kingdom and its debt:

German ridicule for UK policies

BBC – Dec 10, 2008

The German finance minister has launched an outspoken attack on the UK government’s plans to help pull Britain out of the economic downturn.

In an unusual breach of standard diplomacy, Peer Steinbruck attacked the UK’s decision to cut VAT and raise the national debt to record levels. Mr Steinbruck said the UK’s switch from financial prudence to heavy borrowing was both “crass” and “breathtaking“.

His comments came in an interview with Newsweek magazine. No-one at the UK Treasury was immediately available to comment.

Saying the UK government was now “tossing around billions”, Mr Steinbruck questioned why Britain was now closely following the high public spending model put forward by 20th Century economist John Maynard Keynes.

“The switch from decades of supply-side politics all the way to a crass Keynesianism is breathtaking,” he said.

“When I ask about the origins of the [financial] crisis, economists I respect tell me it is the credit-financed growth of recent years and decades. “Isn’t this the same mistake everyone is suddenly making again, under all the public pressure?”

German spending

Chancellor Alistair Darling announced in last month’s pre-Budget report that the government would inject an extra £20bn into the UK economy in a bid to get it moving again.

At least £15bn of this total will come from increased government borrowing, which is expected to take the UK national debt to £118bn next year. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7776462.stm.

Notice that Germany is lending the United Kingdom some of their money. And I strongly suspect that somehow or the other, Germany will want to be repaid.

Continental Europe is starting to take the lead as the upcoming major financial player on the world scene. It is happening right now before our very eyes.

Several articles of possibly related interest may include:

Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, British, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?
Barack Obama, Prophecy, and the Destruction of the United States Some claim that Barack Obama is the prophesied “son of Kenya”. Might Bible prophecy be fulfilled since he is to be the USA president?
Prophecies of Barack Obama? Are there biblical and non-biblical prophecies about Barack Obama. Did Nostradamus predict Barack Obama dealing with the Antichrist? This is my longest article on biblical and non-biblical prophecies that may involve Barack Obama.
End of Mayan Calendar 2012–Might 2012 Mean Something? There is a Mayan calendar prediction for change in 2012. 2012 changes were also centuries ago predicted by the Hopi Native Americans (the Hindus may have some predictions for the next decade as well). Do these Mayan/Hindu/Hopi prophecies have any value? Why might Satan have inspired this date? Does the Dresden codex show destruction of the earth by flood? Can the great tribulation start before 2012?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? When does the six thousand years of human rule end?
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? What is ahead for Europe?