Aftershock: Protect Yourself and Profit In The Next Global Financial Meltdown, Second Edition

The United States Will Suffer the Least

The U.S. economy is by far the most flexible, diverse, and stable economy in the world. We have the biggest, strongest economy, and we are less dependent on exports than most of the rest of the developed world. Therefore, the United States will naturally suffer the least in the current Bubblequake and coming Aftershock. This may seem unfair because we started most of these problems by inflating so many bubbles in the first place. On the other hand, many economies around the world benefited handsomely from our seemingly virtuous upward bubble spiral. They also actively supported it by lending us the money and not complaining when the many bubbles began to rise. So it’s only logical that now, during our vicious downward bubble spiral, the rest of the world will suffer, as well. And, fair or unfair, because other economies were never as strong as our own, even at the height of the bubble party, the rest of the world will suffer more than we will during each stage of the multibubble bust.

After the United States, Western Europe will suffer the second least, followed by Japan, and then Eastern Europe and Russia. Developing nations, such as India and Brazil, will suffer more, and the underdeveloped, poor countries of Africa and elsewhere will do quite badly indeed. China will be hit very hard, and much of the country will be pushed back into rural poverty (more details later in this chapter).