SGM Metals: US Falls Heavily Down the List of Prosperous Nations in Recent Survey

Nov. 13, 2012 - PRLog -- Bloomberg (citing the Legatum Prosperity Index) reports: [ The U.S. slid from the top ten most prosperous nations for the first time in a league table which ranked three Scandinavian nations the best for wealth and wellbeing.

The U.S. fell to 12th position from 10th in the Legatum Institute’s annual prosperity index amid increased doubts about the health of its economy & ability of politicians. Norway, Denmark & Sweden were declared the most prosperous in the index, published in London today.

With the presidential election just a week away, the research group said the standing of the U.S. economy has deteriorated to beneath that of 19 rivals. The report also showed that respect for the government has fallen, fewer Americans perceive working hard gets you ahead, while companies face higher startup costs and the export of high-technology products is dropping.

The six-year-old Legatum Prosperity Index is a study of wealth and wellbeing in 142 countries, based on eight categories such as economic strength, education and governance. Covering 96 percent of the world’s population, it is an attempt to broaden measurement of a nation’s economic health beyond indicators such as gross domestic product.

With President Barack Obama & Republican challenger Mitt Romney tussling for the White House, Legatum said the U.S. economy declined two places from last year to 20th. It found that 89 percent of Americans believe hard work produces results, up from 88 percent last year, & the government’s approval rate dropped to 39 percent from 42 percent.

Canadians, New Zealanders and Australians enjoy the most freedom and social tolerance, Legatum said. Norway, Denmark and Australia had the highest scores for social capital as monitored by social cohesion and family and community networks. ]

If nobody will listen to those who are warning of the economic consequences of the route America has pursued since the housing crash began, will they finally listen to a well respected survey that compiles data on economies & politics of the world? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean we won’t keep attempting to warn the public & hopefully shake these people into finally realizing that the same rules (eventually) of mathematics & economics that apply to you balancing your checkbook also apply to the FED & the government just the same. The difference being that you get served a dose of reality immediately when you bounce a check & run the risk of jail time & the govt. can get away with bouncing a check until the people finally wake up. The consequences for the govt. bouncing a check is a far greater event as it carries with it the withdrawal of participation of those participating countries who we do business with as they no longer have faith in the medium of exchange. The real problem here is that every single person who depends upon the dollar & holds them in their bank accounts, business accounts, IRAs, 401Ks, stock & bond portfolios and so on will be dealt a harsh dose of reality when the world stops playing along with the FEDs dollar devaluation schemes to give the illusion of US banks being solvent when they are hanging by a thread & refuse to participate in commerce with the US dollar as the medium of exchange. This could very well happen overnight & come without warning.

Ironically that statement is not 100% true as we have had fair warning for years now regarding the illusion of the recovery that has been magically fashioned like a fairy tale movie set in Hollywood with special effects & all. This alternate reality, in my opinion, has been fashioned in a vane effort to create an “all is well” illusion simply to artificially engineer a status quo at home in order to keep the voting public calm so that the past 5 decades of political science could be applied to the now concluded election cycle. Those 5 decades of political science is used to fashion the campaign strategies as far as where they need to focus their efforts & where they statistically need not make appearances because they traditionally carry those states. If the nation was aware of the declining health of the US economy & were focused upon an honest assessment of how bad things are becoming, they would vote differently. If the conversations at dinner tables across the country were about ‘how bad the future of the American economy was going to be’ it would turn the decades of political science into useless numbers which would put the political campaigns in a pickle since they would be reduced to then actually having to talk directly to the American people about real things like our economy & they don’t want that. Instead they want to use scientifically tested, politically correct, hot button social topics such as abortion, gay rights, & legalizing illegal aliens to steer the voters into the convenient little groups they want them.

Wake up to the fact that the United States has fallen in global scoring for education behind some emerging economies & nations I’m embarrassed to mention. At the same time the US has been awarded the distinction of being considered one of the politically corrupted nations while also moving down the scale of those nations who have justice & freedoms. US healthcare system, which used to be the highest rated & most sought after healthcare systems in the world, has been moved down the list & now resides below countries that would blow your mind. Now we find out that the ratings of the US economically speaking takes us out of the top 10 nations & this will be the cherry on top of the America is going down the tubes sundae. This wont be a good tasting treat as it will bring with it the realization that we have lost everything that made America what it once was. The real issue is that we need an honest assessment of just where we are as nation or else we will be unable to do anything about it as we will be unaware of just how bad things are. How can you fix a problem if you are constantly reassured that nothing is wrong? You can’t, but the rest of the world will eventually hold us accountable & this will be when things go horribly wrong, really quickly.

How many more warning signs do you need to make your move to a more defensive posture? As I type this, Obama has secured re-election to the highest office of the land & the markets are telling the world how they feel about it. The DOW opened down almost 100 points & is now down over 220 point and we are one hour into the trading day, I waited till lunch to finish this post & its now down 300 points! The markets are freaking out after the remarks from Europe as well. There will be a moment where soon enough the truth will be forced out & even the politicos believe it or not will be forced to truth tell as well. That will be a crowning moment as the true nature of our crisis will be revealed but with it will come panic & anger when everyone realizes they have been lied to for a long while. The panic will lead to sell offs like we are seeing today but much more profound as I believe these are simply Romney supporters who thought their guy was going to win & are now running for cover & creating a bigger path of destruction than ordinarily would come from a retreat of this type. Establish your “Weak Dollar Insurance Policy” in physical gold & silver bullion NOW because the unlimited money printing QE3 schemes are about to go into high gear now that his biggest cheerleader has secured another 4 years to give him room to run, & run he will. Inflation runs the risk of turning into hyperinflation while the current recession now has a serious chance of becoming a depression. Currency wars like that waged by the FED & China currently run the risk of degrading into trade wars that can eventually morph into a real war & we don’t need that. Remember that it is a far better strategy to PREPARE your portfolio than to attempt to REPAIR it once the damage has begun. We now know where we are going over the next four years so you have NO EXCUSE to not prepare yourself financially. Tick, tock.