US Freight Shipments Fall Below 2014 Level. Answers Emerge | Wolf Street
While other industrial segments may be trying to scramble out of the decline, the oil-and-gas drilling industry is forced to cut back on purchasing equipment and machinery as money is drying up. Investors in these companies, which need much higher oil prices to be cash-flow-positive, are grappling with another existential crisis.
In 2019 so far, about three dozen oil-and-gas drillers have filed for bankruptcy. Other drillers, such as Chesapeake Energy, are jostling for position at the filing counter. They’re leaving investors exposed to heavy losses, including billionaires who thought they’d picked the bottom in 2016 […]
via US Freight Shipments Fall Below 2014 Level. Answers Emerge | Wolf Street — AGR Daily News
The Most Revolutionary Act 
Reblogged this on © blogfactory and commented:
Man scary, so little officially written in lamestream as how west is imploding going backwards
LikeLike
I followed the leads to Wolf and saw lots of statistics but no attempt to explain why this is happening, except to blame tariffs. I suspect the “world economy” is slowing down. Could people be buying less, shipping less, and using less oil? Perhaps consumerism is losing its panache? (Would that it were so.)
LikeLike
There is definitely less consumerist hype but I don’t think it’s because people are wising up. I think it has to do with general economic entropy: wages stagnant or dropping, tens of thousands of jobs disappearing, costs of literally everything rising, taxes, staples, health care, education. The West’s economies are dying, soon to be followed by the newcomers to the capitalist BS, particularly some Arab nations, India and of course China. The game is over but people in general have learned nothing at all. They will hang on, picking up scraps and leftovers, blaming each other, never the psychopathic plutocracy that instituted and manipulated a parasitical system that sucked the life out of people and planet. I know that reads like hyperbole but observation says it’s sadly true.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I definitely agree, Sha’Tara. I don’t think it’s hyperbole at all.
LikeLike
I think people are being forced to wise up. I suspect that having no money and maxed out credit requires it, to some extent. Also, there is nothing worth buying, as far as I can tell. I’ve heard hints that a lot of imports are being warehoused because there’s no space on store shelves for them.
With individuals, too, it’s a matter of space. People who have homes don’t have enough space for all the stuff, and it’s often easier to buy than to get rid of it. I know a lot of Boomers who are hoarders, partly because it’s too much trouble to sort through things and make decisions about what to do with them.
LikeLike
I think you are correct and hoarding is a growing mega social problem of the greedy poor who were raised believing that more stuff is a sign of growing wealth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sad, isn”t it, that they have been seduced into believing their material possessions will convey self-worth.
LikeLiked by 1 person
HOLD IT! Are you saying that Tubularsock’s new BX70 wrist watch worth $43,000.00 doesn’t PROVE Tubularsock’s self worth?
Which is now …….$0, after spending ALL of Tubularsock’s wealth on the watch!
SHIT!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, if you know what time it is, that’s worth something.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The perfect definition of capitalism: material possessions convey self worth. Well said.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s really hard to follow exactly what’s going on, Katherine, but it’s my impression that the global economy has been steadily shrinking since 2008 – mainly because most governments are using austerity measures to shrink the money supply. In the US, the number of jobs in the economy has definitely shrunk – and those that remain offer such poor pay that most workers have no disposable income. There’s still a lot of buying on credit cards – statistics show private debt in increasing. According to Australian economist Steve Keen, high private debt levels are a good indicators of economic collapse – which happens when consumers have no more money to spend:
https://stuartbramhall.wordpress.com/2018/12/24/the-science-of-predicting-the-next-financial-crisis/
LikeLiked by 1 person