20 Signs That Europe Is Plunging Into A Full-Blown Economic Depression

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (from The American Dream): “The tax increases and budget cuts that are being implemented right now in Europe will be felt for years to come. The tremendous economic prosperity that was fueled by unprecedented amounts of debt will now give way to tremendous economic suffering.

“The following are 20 signs that Europe is plunging into a full-blown economic depression.

#1 The unemployment rate for those between the ages of 16 and 24 is 28 percent in Italy, 43 percent in Greece and 51 percent in Spain.
#2 Overall, the unemployment rate for those under the age of 25 in the EU is 22.7 percent.
#3 Citigroup is projecting that the economy of Portugal will shrink by 5.7 percent this year.
#4 The total of all forms of debt in Portugal (government, business and consumer) is equivalent to 360 percent of GDP.
#5 The Greek “recession” is now entering a fifth year.
#6 The Greek economy shrank by 6 percent during 2011.
#7 It is being projected that the Greek economy will shrink by another 5 percent during 2012.
#8 The overall unemployment rate in Greece is now 18.5 percent.
#9 In Greece, 20 percent of all retail stores have been permanently shut down.
#10 The number of suicides in Greece rose by 40 percent in just one recent 12 month time period.
#11 According to the IMF, the amount of debt accumulated by the Greek government is equal to approximately 160 percent of GDP.
#12 In total, there are now more than 5 million unemployed workers in Spain.
#13 Bad loans in Spain recently reached a 17-year high.
#14 The overall unemployment rate in Spain is now a whopping 22.8 percent.
#15 The number of property repossessions in Spain has risen by 32 percentover the past year.
#16 When the maturing debt that the Italian government must roll over in 2012 is added to their projected budget deficit, the total comes to approximately 23.1 percent of Italy’s GDP.
#17 Manufacturing activity in the euro z one has fallen for five months in a row.
#18 The UK economy actually contracted during the 4th quarter of 2011.
#19 The German economy actually contracted during the 4th quarter of 2011.
#20 The Baltic Dry Index, often used as a gauge for the health of the world economy, has fallen a staggering 61 percent since October.

“Economic gloom is slowly spreading throughout Europe like a dark cloud. Some of the strongest economies in Europe are only just starting to slow down. Others are already gripped by tremendous economic pain. Much of the EU is already experiencing an economic depression…. As things fall apart in Europe, the political wrangling is going to become even more intense.”

My Comment: The method of correction of man and the world attests to the need for a person to reach complete despair at his inability to correct his situation. Only then does the vision of solution become revealed in him: the transition to a new system of integral social and national relations (the principle of mutual guarantee).

However, the awareness of the trend and natural law of social development towards a unified integral kind and dissemination of this knowledge may accelerate in society the feeling of the need to correct our nature and start changing before the dramatic situation takes place, to “take the medicine at an early stage of the disease.” Just how can we reach people?
 [69026]

Related Material:
Roubini In Davos
Dictatorship In EU Will Lead To Its Collapse
Undeclared “Eurogeddon”

Discussion | Share Feedback | Ask a question




Laitman.com Comments RSS Feed