Bible Prophecy In The News
Posted by brittgillette on January 12th, 2009
Today begins a new era for BrittGillette.Com. While the site has typically been home to longer, 5 to 7-page bible prophecy articles, I feel an additional need exists to provide regular analysis of news headlines which indicate the nearness of Christ’s return. This does not mean that the longer articles will disappear, although I realize they have been rather sparse lately. I will continue to post more lengthy articles as time allows, but in the meantime, be on the lookout for regular supplemental analysis of current events in relation to bible prophecy.
Feel free to click on the headlines in order to read the referenced articles in their entirety. I hope you like this new edition to the site’s content, and please feel free to email me your thoughts and comments accordingly.
So without further delay, here goes…
Forecast 2009: Deflation and Recession
Financial expert John Mauldin’s recent newsletter predicts 2009 to be a year of deflation:
For a very long time, I have been adamant that deflation is in our future. In the next few pages I outline how inflation might come back, but I doubt it will be this year. For now, deflation is the economic factor that the Fed and central banks will be battling. And believe me, it will be a very large and controversial battle…
For the three months ending last November, the compound annual rate for the CPI was a negative(!) -10.2%, reflecting the almost 70% drop in energy. Annualized core CPI for the last three months ending November was a very low 0.4%. November CPI was a flat 0.0%. It has been falling steadily for the last five months.
December is likely to be negative. There is a trend here, and if you are a central banker it is not one you like. And that trend is being manifested in every part of the developed and much of the developing world. It is a global problem.
Given how high inflation was last summer, how could I credibly maintain that deflation was in our future? For reasons that I wrote about extensively then. Briefly, we were in a recession. Recessions are almost by definition deflationary. We had two massive bubbles bursting: the very visible housing bubble which was massively destroying wealth, and the less visible but even more powerful bursting of the credit bubble, which was accompanied by profound deleveraging and the destruction of what Paul McCulley termed the Shadow Banking System.
It would be a strange, strange world indeed if inflation could get any real traction in such an environment, and it didn’t.
[More…]
This is an excellent newsletter, but I would make one amendment. Mr. Mauldin’s article should be titled “Forecast 2009: Deflation and Depression”. The threat of deflation was underestimated in analyst forecasts in January 2008, and the same failures seem to be taking place in 2009. As outlined in “Hyperinflation?,” a decades long credit bubble has burst, deflating the value of just about asset class on the planet. Central banks are racing toward 0% interest rates, with the United States at the head of the line.
As mounting job losses take their toll, the global economy will see a monumental shift toward the frugality mindset of the Great Depression generation. As a result, more businesses will go under as consumer spending contracts, leading to higher unemployment – and the vicious cycle will repeat itself until we hit bottom.
Don’t believe the financial “experts” who predict a turnaround in late 2009. Did they predict a meltdown in 2008? Instead, prepare yourself for the following: The Great Depression 2.0
On a regional basis, look for 2009 to be a year of greater government control over private businesses and individual civil liberties. On a global basis, look for more and more calls for greater cooperation between national governments and an overall trend toward global government.
All of this is paving the way for the Antichrist.
Mike Shedlock challenges the conventional wisdom:
Think the stock market is cheap? Let’s do the math. The S&P closed at 910. If those earnings estimates hold, the effective PE is 21.53. The historical average PE is about 15. At a PE of 15 the S&P would drop to 634. That is a huge drop of 30% from today’s closing price.
What happens if the stock market over shoots as it typically does in bear markets. Assume a PE of 12. At 12, one might expect to see the S&P at 507. That would be an even bigger decline of 44% from here. [More…]
This is the perfect illustration of why the financial “experts” are wrong. Their forecasts for 2009 and beyond are based on a reality that no longer exists. Consumers are no longer engaged in a “borrow and spend” lifestyle. Due to rising unemployment, a 40% drop in global stock markets, and a tanking housing market, they just can’t afford to – even if they wanted to.
As a result, watch for earnings estimates on Wall Street to be revised downward for quite sometime. The call for a quick recovery in the stock market is well-intentioned, but severely misguided. In similar fashion, the stock market crash in October 1929 was followed by a decent year-end rally, but 1930 led to further declines. And so did 1931. People said it couldn’t get worse, and it did. People are saying the same thing now.
This is people’s Exhibit A as to why the only well-placed faith a person can have is a faith that is placed in Jesus Christ.
European Leaders Call For New Global Order
From the Associated Press:
The leaders of France and Germany appeared to put disagreements over economic policy behind them Thursday, calling on the U.S. to join global efforts to address the financial crisis…
Merkel deplored huge debts that governments are accumulating to spend their way out of the present crisis. But she said she recognized, for the moment, that “there is no other possibility.”
Sarkozy blamed financial speculators for encouraging a system fueled on debt. He called financial capitalism based on speculation “an immoral system” that has “perverted the logic of capitalism.” “It’s a system where wealth goes to the wealthy, where work is devalued, where production is devalued, where entrepreneurial spirit is devalued,” he said. But no more: “In capitalism of the 21st century, there is room for the state,” he said. [More…]
This is a clear sign that world “leaders” are intending to take full advantage of the global financial downturn to consolidate ever greater power for centralized government. I have to question Merkel’s intelligence when she says “there is no other possibility” but profligate and irresponsible government spending. Here’s an alternative – how about people and governments stop spending money they don’t have? Stop going into debt. Lower the tax and regulatory burden, thus allowing individuals to enjoy their God-given freedom. Such policies would never even occur to European “leaders” because they take the world in the opposite direction of greater government control.
Even more confounding are Sarkozy’s remarks, “In capitalism of the 21st century, there is room for the state.” The inference is that capitalism in the 20th Century didn’t have room for the state, but it certainly did – most prominently in National Socialist Germany, and most recently, the People’s Republic of China.
This push toward global government should not be confused with a push toward global freedom. It’s nothing more than a ploy for greater government control.
Blair Reappears on Shortlist to Head EU
From the Financial Times:
Tony Blair, the former UK prime minister, is re-emerging as a possible choice to be the European Union’s first full-time president after four momentous crises reinforced the argument for having a high-profile international personality in the job. According to EU officials and diplomats, the impressive performance of Nicolas Sarkozy, France’s president, during his six-month spell in charge of the EU last year has strengthened the hand of those who say a big name should guide the 27-nation bloc. [More…]
Notice that the emphasis in this article is on creating a position for a single leader of the European Union. European politicians seem to be clamouring not for the correct person to be appointed or the correct office to be created, but for a “big name” and a “high-profile international personality” who can speak on behalf of the European Union. The European nations, whose power and influence on the world stage has remained largely irrelevant since the end of World War II, are eager to start throwing their weight around again.
In due time, they will get their wish for a “big name” office holder, and he will speak in such a way that all the world will hear him:
“This little horn had eyes like human eyes and a mouth that was boasting arrogantly.” Daniel 7:8 (NLT)
Britt
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