Juggling Dynamite

Steve Keen is a ‘renegade economist’ who has been debunking classical economic theory for decades. Steve argues that ever-rising levels of private debt are unsustainable in the face of rising interest rates, but that the US Federal Reserve will continue to raise them anyway until the credit cycle implodes – at which point the Fed will turn about and inevitably return to stimulative policies. The economist maintains that until the level of private debt is addressed, the Fed will remain intellectually locked in a neverending cycle of massive asset bubbles and extraordinary busts. Here is a direct video link.

Here he explains why piling on of debt in Canada, Australia, China and South Korea after the 2008 crisis have made these countries likely epicenters of coming financial crisis.

Here is a direct video link.

Toys R Us epitomizes the larger story of the past 20 years of North American consumers buying cheap goods largely on credit, largely produced in Asia, and financialization which attracted indiscriminate investor capital to enable rapid, mindless expansion far beyond what could reasonably be sustained.  Then throw in private equity pirates like Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital who added even more debt to extract riches for themselves as the company drowns and employees and landlords are left in the lurch.

REIT stocks have also taken a beating on news of more empty retail space coming on market. More of this is likely to come.  See:  Toys R Us closures will leave hundreds of vacant stores on the market with few obvious replacements

What to do with the growing acres of superfluous retail space is a question of our time.  Urban vertical farms and passive energy collection sites, community and recycling centers, are all productive ideas.  Other buildings will be revamped into smaller spaces and some will need to be demolished.  After the debt rush…this is our new normal.

This video of the rise and fall of Toys R Us is an interesting review of this history. Here is a direct video link.

The rise and fall of Toys R Us from CNBC.

Sly Stallone and Alex Rodriguez too? Trump University has nothing on these guys. Get ’em in get ’em sold on debt and investing.  Or as the wealth expo organizers boast to their sponsors on the website:

We bring the “A-List” talent! The Real Estate Wealth Expo presents the biggest celebrities and experts that attract the most qualified leads!

The little guy can have all this ‘expertise’ for the low, low price of just $129 a seat thanks to the benevolence of all the usual sales franchise sponsors (shown below) who just love shooting fish in a barrel.