What Happen When A Country Goes Bankrupt

This is what happens when a country goes bankrupt

It's uncomfortable to think that the 'richest', most powerful nations in the world-- the United States, most of Western Europe, Japan, etc. are already insolvent.

But if you read the first installment of this Crash Course you know that this statement is based on fact. It's not some attention-seeking end of the world prediction... but merely a presentation of publicly available data and fifth grade arithmetic.

History is full of examples of superpowers buckling under the weight of too much debt and unsustainable finances. The Roman Empire. The Soviet Union. The French Bourbon monarchy. The Ottoman Empire.

This is not the first time in history that it’s happened. And it's foolish to think that 'this time is different'.

Furthermore, history shows that whenever governments enter this 'orbit of insolvency', they almost always rely on the same destructive playbook of tactics. Capital controls. Price controls. Gun controls. And more.

Today we should talk about these steps-- what history demonstrates are the eight steps that bankrupt governments almost always take. You can read today's lesson here:

http://secure.sovereignman.com/cc/eight-steps

You'll also find a riveting video clip with Ron Paul and Jim Rogers from the Offshore Tactics Workshop that we held in Chile earlier this year. Ron thinks that "there's going to be a lot more chaos yet to come."

FIRST IN 17 YEARS

Budget impasse forces US shutdown

MONUMENTS closed, offices fell silent and 800,000 public servants were told to stay at home on Monday as Washington's perennial political crisis forced the first government shutdown in 17 years.

   The effects of the budget battle ranged from the poignant to the symbolic. A social programme that provides food to poor women and children was hit and the Statue of Liberty was closed to visitors.

   Under the Capitol, where rival clans of lawmakers failed overnight to find an eleventh-hour deal to pass a federal budget, the National Mail was sealed off by a sign marked "area closed".

   Prospects of a swift resolution to the crisis were unclear and economists warned that the struggling US economic recovery could suffer if the shutdown drags on for more than just a few days.

   In a zero sum battle typical of the divided US political system, Republicans tied new government funding to attempts to delay or dismantle President Barack Obama's signature health care reform.

   Each time, their effort was killed by Mr Obama's allies in the Democratic-led Senate, leaving the government in limbo when its money ran out at the end of the fiscal year at midnight Monday.

   "This is an unnecessary blow to America," a sombre Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said.

   Some federal agencies deemed non-essential were all but closed. About 97 per cent of National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) staff were sent home, although those supporting the crew of the International Space Station were kept on.

   Other bodies like the military and border patrol were kept at full strength, but the Pentagon was due to stand down almost half of its 800,000 civilian employees.

   A Quinnipiac University poll said the voters oppose the shutdown as a way to derail Obamacare by a margin of 72 per cent to 22 per cent.

   While Obama supporters blamed the deadlock on a relatively small faction of "Tea Party" conservatives in the Republican-led House of Representatives, Congress as a whole has lost prestige. - AFP.