I'm With You, Chicken Little

You've probably heard that old proverb...or is it a curse..."May you live in interesting times."

This is it, kids. It doesn't get much more interesting than this.

Lehmann is kaputski. The USA is now in charge of the alphabet gang...AIG, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. It's propping up Bear Stearns. And Bank of America is taking over the planet, since it's one of the few institutions left that can afford to.

I wonder where the federal government's getting all this bailout money. We're already trillions in debt. We're spending billions every month on a war that doesn't show any signs of concluding. Common sense tells you you can't keep spending what you don't have.

Gerald Celente is an economic forecaster who works out of a quaint old building that used to be my dad's favorite grocery store. He's been called a hack, a quack and a doom and gloomer...and now he's being called a genius. How come? He predicted this. I spoke with him months ago and he assured me we were in for the worst economic time this country's seen since the so-called Great Depression. (What was great about it I couldn't say.) He was vilified by some in the press for his extreme views. The acid dripping off the newsprint sounded suspiciously like it was written by someone who was very afraid of hearing something they didn't want to hear. Now Oprah wants to hear what he has to say. Celente's website is a bit over the top, but what he has to say has the uncomfortable ring of unwelcome fact. Read for yourself.

http://www.trendsresearch.com/

In case you want to paint Celente as some kind of alarmist renegade, meet Nouriel Roubini. He's a professor at NYU who, until this week, was known as Dr. Doom. Now he's known as a pundit.

http://bucknakedpolitics.typepad.com/buck_naked_politics/2008/08/how-reality-v-1.html

http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini/

United Socialist State Republic of America. Oh my.

I mentioned Roubini to Celente. Celente's not one to give compliments lightly.

"Oh, him," he said. "I like him."

So two economic forecasters who were considered sensationalist Chicken Littles are now being hailed as economic Edgar Cayce's. Funny place, funny race, as HSO often says.

But if we're now going to credit these guys with some smarts, what do they say is next?

Celente pulls no punches.

"This is no recession. It's a depression. And it's going to get a lot worse."

What does he suggest? Cut back. Economize. Stay close to home. Buy local. Work close to home.

"Support your community. The only way we're going to get through this is by building our communities and supporting each other."