Central bankers and governments around the world are attempting to stem the economic disaster that has resulted due to the lock-downs caused by the Coronavirus outbreak, which to this date has resulted in the one of the most prolific expansions of debt this world has ever seen.
We have seen countries engage in such money expansions in the past, most notably when countries are circling down the drain, heading towards economic ruin, however, never before have we seen the entirety of the world engage in a massive fiat money printing fiesta all at once, in such a voracious manner.
Even though this may be the correct course of action in helping stop the spread of COVID-19, it is going to come with dire consequences down the road in the form of wealth destruction on a monstrous scale, for those who do not prepare accordingly and begin to protect themselves from the coming fallout.
The day for this occurring is unknown, as it is going to take some time for this historic fiat money expansion to work its way through the system, as at the current time of writing, spending across the globe has taking a massive nose dive lower, due to people not being able to engage in everyday normal life activities and due to the fact that many people have lost significant income.
This however will eventually change and life will return to normal, even if it is a "new normal", meaning that spending will resume, life will go on and sadly the debt that was accumulated by so many countries around the world will remain, like a bad scar reminding us of this crisis.
A Debt Bomb is Being Set, But When Will it Go Off?
Unfortunately, the grim reality is that we are months away from this crisis being over, in the very least, if not even longer, as most medical experts now agree that we are almost certainly guaranteed to be a second wave in the fall of this year.
This means that countries are going to be forced to engage in more Quantitative Easing, more money printing and more debt accumulation.
(Source, commodity.com/debt-clock)
The above image shows the current estimated world debt level of governments. What is truly scary, is that if you click that image above, it will take you to the updated numbers, which are drastically increasing with each and every passing second, meaning that the picture you see above is already horribly out of date.
The most indebted of these countries is Japan, with approximately $9,814,408,995,324 USD worth of debt, however they are far from alone, with the additional following countries suffering from the worst debt to GDP levels;
- Japan 236
- Greece 191.4
- Sudan 176.5
- Venezuela 163
- Lebanon 157.4
- Italy 129.8
- Eritrea 129.5
- Barbados 128.8
- Yemen 128.3
- Cabo Verde 124.8
In addition to this, the longer this crisis goes on in its current form, the longer a large percentage of the population is going to be forced out of work, living off the meager handouts and crumbs that government officials throw at them, which is often barely enough to get by.
A Double Whammy: Supply Chain Shortages
Compounding the problem is the fact that shortages are going to become increasingly more and more common place, the longer this situation remains as well, with food shortages in many industries already taking place as we speak.
Both American and Canadian meat processing facilities are reporting issues and are warning of coming shortages, as are farmers on both sides of the border.
Time Magazine reports;
"It’s hard, after all, to protect workers from a highly contagious virus in the frequently tight quarters of a processing plant. At least 20 meatpackers have already died from COVID-19, and more than 5,000 have been hospitalized or are showing symptoms, according to labor union United Food and Commercial Workers."
This is going to have a chain reaction on the food industry, which is going to have a rippling effect on food prices down the line, meaning higher prices at the same time as people are suffering financially, a true double whammy on the pocket book.
Numerous other sectors of the economy are also reporting issues within the supply chain, that are going to have an affect on prices in the short to medium term.
This is going to force individuals to dip either into their savings (which many North Americans have little of as a whole), or more than likely head deeper into debt, just as their government officials are doing the same thing as well.
A debt bomb of epic proportions is thus being set and is only going to grow more explosive as time goes on. The question is, when does it go off and are you going to be prepared when it does?
Stay safe and keep stacking.
- Source, Nathan McDonald via the Sprott Money Blog