Since my latest update (GD 2), I've had several readers comment that it was "too depressing" and asked if things can really get that bad again. Well, for one thing, you've got to remember that the numbers we are getting from the government now cannot be trusted. For example, according to the government, inflation is just 3.5%.These of course are phony numbers because both food and energy were removed from the calculation a few years ago. Adding these two "must haves" back to the formula gives us annual inflation of over 10%. This is what a greatly devalued dollar does to your purchasing power. And, trusting the government for an accurate accounting on just about anything is becoming increasingly difficult.

Now, this is where it gets REALLY interesting. The following chart comes from Shadowstats.com.

The unemployment rate is currently 6.5%, according to U-3 government figures. The broadest U-6 measure, which includes discouraged and marginally attached workers, is 11.8%. If you're s...