The Coming Collapse of the US Economy
Posted by Steve Linder on Fri, Jan 22, 2010
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Far Fetched?- Every day I follow the news in the states and I become more concerned about our future. In the third quarter of 2009, 937,840 homes received a foreclosure letter -- whether a default notice, auction notice or bank repossession, RealtyTrac reported. That means one in every 136 U.S. homes were in foreclosure, which is a 5% increase from the second quarter and a 23% jump over the third quarter of 2008. Unemployment rose from 7.7% in January 2009 to 10% by December. Unattached workers (those who have basically given up looking) increased from 632,000 to nearly 1 million people in the US in the past 12 months. Real income continues to fall and the federal deficit now totals nearly $200,000 per person in the US and keeps growing. Our capitalist system rewards cost cutting, sending US jobs to countries like Costa Rica, China and Mexico. What options do we have now? In
Escape Plan- If it makes sense for GE, Gilette, HP and Intel to send our jobs to Costa Rica, it makes sense for me to go with them. If we take our money from a high earning economy and settle down in a low cost economy, we will benefit directly and immediately. Just as our grand parents chose to immigrate in search of better opportunities, so can we. I have spent my entire life earning money, now it is time to defend what I have earned. Moving money out of dollars and into real assets located outside the US is an option that has been gaining appeal.
Now is the Time - You can stay in the states and delay your retirement for who knows how many more years or be proactive now and make your move. The beauty of doing so now is that our options at home are not looking so great at the moment. What better time to look at other options? I remember when I was graduating college in the beginning of 1980, in a worldwide recession. There weren't many jobs around. That was a good time to go to grad school, which is what I did. Costa Rica is not dirt cheap by any means, but their economy is not on the brink of collapse....
In looking back at life it is not what you did that you typically regret, it is what you didn't do.....
On a lighter note:
Although 3G is now in Costa Rica, the new 3G tower being built in Ojochal won't be done until March. I watched our workers huddle by a high point near the guest house last week since that was the only spot where 3G would work, for the moment. Nearly 100 companies applied to offer telecommunications services in Costa Rica, to determine a short list that will be granted telecom concessions at the end of April. Today however, my Verizon phone won't even work as a clock. It needs a signal, any signal, and ICE (the Costa Rican telecom company) isn't willing to partner with any US company until they have to. They hope to saturate the market by November, when the telecom arena opens to the group of international competitors that will be determined this coming April.
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