We've got a few years left to dramatically cut government spending or the entire system is going to collapse. The necessary cuts are probably not politically possible, since they require the consent of the majority. Our economic situation is like an oncologist with a patient who won't consent to chemotherapy or surgery.
West in a ‘Colossal Mess’ in Five to 10 Years: Marc Faber
Published: Monday, 22 Oct 2012 | 8:46 AM ET
By:
Antonia van de Velde
CNBC.com Deputy News Editor
The debt burden in the U.S. and other Western countries will continue to increase, Marc Faber, author of the Gloom, Boom and Doom report told CNBC on Monday, leading to a “colossal mess” within the next five to 10 years.
Dr. Marc Faber
“I think the regimes will try to keep the system alive as it is for as long as possible, which means there’s no
“fiscal cliff,” there’s a fiscal grand canyon,” Faber told CNBC’s
“Squawk Box.”
Faber argued that the political systems in place in the West would allow the debt burden to continue to expand. Under such a scenario of never-ending deficits, the Western world would rack up huge deficits.
One day, the system would break, he said.
“Eventually, you have either huge changes occurring in a peaceful fashion through reforms, or, usually, through revolutions,” he said. The U.S. is getting closer to such a revolution, he said, as is Europe.
“I think the timeframe would be within five to ten years you have a colossal mess … everywhere in the Western world,” Faber said. “I think the deficit here (in the U.S.) — irrespective of who is in the White House — will stay above a trillion dollars per annum for at least as far as the eye can see.”
Bureaucracies in the U.S., as well as Europe, are far too big, he said, and are a burden on the economy.
“My medicine for the U.S. is: Reduce government by minimum 50 percent,” he said. “The impact would be immediately an improvement in the economy.”
Continued
http://www.cnbc.com/id/49500213
West in a ‘Colossal Mess’ in Five to 10 Years
