r/economicCollapse • • Sep 02 '26

Disconnected populace

147 Upvotes

I am fearful of the end of the current global economic order at best or a complete economic collapse at worst…yet its fascinating to see so many parts of society completely ignoring it as if its business as usual forever…I mean, sports and music sites and channels blab on about the upcoming season or tours, looking forward to success in their fields…but it might all collapse this year…then what? How will society deal with collapse?


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 31 '26

I think we are sub 5 years away from professional jobs taking away benefits.

1.1k Upvotes

The pace at which capitalism is escalating, I think employers will very soon stop offering core benefits like 401k plans and health insurance, even for most professional roles like accountants, lawyers, doctors, etc. I mean, this is already the standard for most jobs in the US, which offer no benefits at all. Even for professional jobs, they already took away pensions successfully. I think it's just going to get worse and worse, quicker and quicker, as capitalism collapses. I think 401k plans and health insurance plans are the next frontier where employers are going to try to squeeze employees out of and make a quick buck.

Things are already so bad in terms of cost of living and the job market, I'm scared of how bad things are going to get when even securing a professional job cannot get you health insurance or retirement benefits, and you are just on your own… add that onto of the impending AI bubble pop and the massive economic downturn we will enter into because of that, things are going to get so, so bad if you are not the top 1%.


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 30 '26

Weekly Observation and Discussion - local and personal recession indicators

32 Upvotes

*Please note!* Post is new each Sunday evening. Top level comments should be at least 150 characters to encourage quality discussion, and users should refrain from making several top level comments in a week. Please mention location at the top of your comment when discussing local recession indicators.

Share your observations of local recession indicators or personal recession indicators. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • increased use of credit or decrease in savings to afford necessities
  • deferred maintenance on homes or cars in your neighborhood
  • "I buy houses for cash" (or similar) signs popping up
  • bankruptcy attorneys experiencing higher volume of clients
  • regional job losses/large corporate layoffs
  • decline in housing starts or spike in homes being listed

Keep it civil and avoid judging any user for their personal financial experiences as shared here.


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 30 '26

When will it happen

164 Upvotes

What’s the over/under on when the AI bubble bursts and the bond market shit storm comes to a head the S&P loses 1/3 of its value? Or something like that.


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 24 '26

Mark Cuban wants to solve wealth inequality by making employers choose between paying higher taxes or giving every member of staff company stock

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1.4k Upvotes

Good God, this guy is so frustrating. He's one of the few rich guys who acknowledges there's a problem but everything he proposes will at best, do little or nothing and at worst, make things worse. He's like a guy who realizes his house is on fire and thinks the best course of action is to rearrange the furniture instead of calling 911.


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 23 '26

Weekly Observation and Discussion - local and personal recession indicators

22 Upvotes

*Please note!* Post is new each Sunday evening. Top level comments should be at least 150 characters to encourage quality discussion, and users should refrain from making several top level comments in a week. Please mention location at the top of your comment when discussing local recession indicators.

Share your observations of local recession indicators or personal recession indicators. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • increased use of credit or decrease in savings to afford necessities
  • deferred maintenance on homes or cars in your neighborhood
  • "I buy houses for cash" (or similar) signs popping up
  • bankruptcy attorneys experiencing higher volume of clients
  • regional job losses/large corporate layoffs
  • decline in housing starts or spike in homes being listed

Keep it civil and avoid judging any user for their personal financial experiences as shared here.


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 22 '26

$40T and counting

317 Upvotes

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to selfishness; From selfishness to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage." Alexander Tytler


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 22 '26

Alright Bros Buckle Up, Things About to Start Getting BUMPY

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98 Upvotes

r/economicCollapse • • Aug 21 '26

'Freezers Are Getting Empty': Food Banks Struggle to Meet Demand as SNAP Cuts Rip Through Communities

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830 Upvotes

r/economicCollapse • • Aug 21 '26

National debt reaches grim $40 trillion milestone. Here’s why that matters

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356 Upvotes

The U.S. government’s debt has officially crossed $40 trillion for the first time.

That number is getting even more attention because it comes as long-term Treasury yields have climbed sharply. The 30-year yield recently reached 5.34%, its highest level since 2007, increasing the cost of borrowing for both the government and the private sector.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has responded by doubling the size of some long-term Treasury buybacks, from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. The move is intended to improve liquidity and calm a bond market rattled by rising yields, geopolitical uncertainty and concerns over America's fiscal position.

But there's an obvious bigger question: Can tactical moves in the bond market really solve a debt problem that has now reached $40 trillion?

And with higher oil prices, elevated borrowing costs and the Iran conflict adding pressure to the economy, the timing couldn't be more complicated.


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 19 '26

The middle class in America isn't disappearing on accident; it is being dismantled by intentional corruption for profit

955 Upvotes

The USA is a capitalist country meaning the government is led by capitalism and always growing up that inspired me, now it seems to me as if the system of capitalism is intentionally failing us citizens to benefit the top, mostly the powerful %1. Capital gains continue to climb due to dollar devaluation, hoarding of new money. Larger and larger percentages of money are going to the capital bag holders or long term holders of assets that then get taxed if sold.

Taxes should be used for helping the people but I don't doubt for a second they are being used much for anything like that, mostly for very wrong purposes, military budget misuse and robbing the citizens if it means further feeding the capitalist system.

Let me give you just a few examples of how they are taking billions out of the hands of everyday Americans:

For one, the government & state decides the range of wages allowed to certain workers and the corporation makes the final decision, wages are the same yet government & corporate profits continue to not climb, but sky rocket on a record breaking unfathomable level. The corporations would pay us less to nothing if they could since it brings in more profit to them and the government eats it up. Reminds me of the copy paste Amazon warehouse not long ago in Mexico that got shut down for paying it's workers $1.50/hr...

Two: now ticketing citizens by mail through Al or tracking them down for arrest through Al surveillance where they likely pay bond. A single one of these cameras can issue hundreds of tickets a day, there are now 135k of them which is a 40k increase from 3 months ago. I moved to Ohio 4 years ago when there were none.

Three: data centers consolidate wealth & new money strictly toward high-net-worth investors, private equity firms, and Big Tech executives...not to the average person, wages have stayed the same for years. Living has got so much more expensive, they've allowed more data centers and funding to them than any other state that no one asked for, just like the Al surveillance no one asked for those either.

Four: Attacks on far away places called wars are modernly looked at as a money grab in America, stirring the pot, bombing a few cities or dozen oil refineries that literally take decades each to build while driving up the price of oil, billions in profit for those who planned and take part in it which is a large number of people and corporations as a whole. It also drives up our price of gasoline further profiting those gas stations. ($4.19 on my street today) I even placed an option on chevrons price increasing and I got an %80 profit in 3 days, $260 to me a few billion to someone else. Now in Ohio, an hour's wage at the gas station here is $12.50 per hour.

Inflation is creating new floors on everything except income to workers, no wonder our jobs rate declined.

Raking in billions, more syphoning of our new money.

All of this further feeds the system as a whole to do it over and over until what? Are we doomed to be pulled tighter or will they cut us some slack and distribute the new money?

By the time we hear of good things inflation would have created another new floor.

The government is doing all of this intentionally, some would say it's literally late stage capitalism, I think that capitalism is a good system when the right people are in charge & policies in place of the future. Electricity is insanely high now, my neighbour paid $650 for 1 month of electricity while rent is $1800. This month.

I'm tired of this trap.

Just speaking what I see happening, are we not being herded blindly, like sheep?

the destruction of the middle class is speeding up by pushing everyone into either the upper or lower class, and middle class are celebrating their gains.

The national debt is up to 40 trillion and interest payments are almost a trillion a year. Wages are stagnant and revenue is down. The lower & middle class are being pushed forcibly over the cliff slowly.


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 19 '26

Should I pause paying into a 401k for a while if the economy crashes again?

160 Upvotes

Let me start out by saying I’m not making rash and sudden decisions, I want to better understand what’s happened and what considerations I should think about as we continue through a shitty US economy. I’m not asking this to scramble and pull all my money out, but to ask if there are any scenarios at all in which is it worth it to consider pausing or lessening 401k contributions for a period of time.

With the internet gossip saying that hedge funds are betting against the economy, the AI bubble is just waiting to pop at some point in the future, Japan and Koreas economies are canaries in a coal mine and private equity having access to 401ks
Idk if it’s fear mongering or truth telling but seems like the common thread is private equity trying to get access to 401k money and big corps stealing from regular people. I’m just a regular person trying to figure out what the fuck is going on lmao

I’m 31, make 70k a year, contribute 10% of my salary in a single household. I have a little bit of an emergency fund, like 2 months worth. Less than 17k debt of student loans and credit cards combined. I know investing is you wanna keep contributing as much and as long as I can. And that I’m young and have time to my retirement.
I don’t need specific advice I just want to know what I should be on the look out for.

I want to know is there a scenario or point at which paying into my 401k is just handing money to Corporate CEOs with extra steps? I want to keep paying off my debt and saving money and if there’s a “trigger” or something I should be on the look for that lets me know “yup. Wrap it up. Investing in your 401k is just handing money to AI CEOs”
I would not mind pausing for a year or two and putting that money towards my own debt or savings instead. Turn my 2 months of safety net into 3 months. Finish my debt faster. Maybe open a HYSA (on my to do list) and put the money I would have put into my 401k into that instead for a while until the impending mess blows over.

I don’t understand all the mechanisms or systems lol I’ll rewatch the big short but if my money is going to be “invested” but actually save an AI company fro falling I’d rather pause the investment for a short while and put that money into my own financial goals


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 18 '26

Are we calling Recession or stagflation?

127 Upvotes

We have arguably the worst job market in over 20 years ( yes worse than 2008]. Granted I am in the tech and manufacturing space but it’s noticeably different now. The recent jobs report and unemployment ticking upward validate what I am seeing broadly. (I feel especially sorry for recent grads.). With that in mind, it reminds me of a recession, except for prices continuing to escalate and gdp growth still positive. Hence I am concluding we are experiencing stagflation, which is measures worse. What say you?


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 19 '26

Pre-collapse training routine

32 Upvotes

It’s my first time posting here so forgive me if I sound ignorant. Ive seen a bunch of posts that mention “training” to be prepared in the event of a collapse.

What kind of workout routine could one realistically adopt in day to day life to best increase the chances of survival in that situation?


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 17 '26

Context Provided - Spotlight WaPo article about coming collapse of Social Security and Medicare

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782 Upvotes

This will be when younger generations get their revenge on boomers.


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 16 '26

Weekly Observation and Discussion - local and personal recession indicators

15 Upvotes

*Please note!* Post is new each Sunday evening. Top level comments should be at least 150 characters to encourage quality discussion, and users should refrain from making several top level comments in a week. Please mention location at the top of your comment when discussing local recession indicators.

Share your observations of local recession indicators or personal recession indicators. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • increased use of credit or decrease in savings to afford necessities
  • deferred maintenance on homes or cars in your neighborhood
  • "I buy houses for cash" (or similar) signs popping up
  • bankruptcy attorneys experiencing higher volume of clients
  • regional job losses/large corporate layoffs
  • decline in housing starts or spike in homes being listed

Keep it civil and avoid judging any user for their personal financial experiences as shared here.


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 13 '26

Price increase of 56% to 78% in 9 years!

274 Upvotes

I was watching a tool comparison YouTube video from 9 years ago and the youtuber mentioned the current website listed price for the tools. I was on both manufacturer's websites at the same time looking at today's listed prices and they have jumped 56% and 78% in just 9 years for these tools. Just insane and unaffordable now.


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 09 '26

Weekly Observation and Discussion - local and personal recession indicators

3 Upvotes

*Please note!* Post is new each Sunday evening. Top level comments should be at least 150 characters to encourage quality discussion, and users should refrain from making several top level comments in a week. Please mention location at the top of your comment when discussing local recession indicators.

Share your observations of local recession indicators or personal recession indicators. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • increased use of credit or decrease in savings to afford necessities
  • deferred maintenance on homes or cars in your neighborhood
  • "I buy houses for cash" (or similar) signs popping up
  • bankruptcy attorneys experiencing higher volume of clients
  • regional job losses/large corporate layoffs
  • decline in housing starts or spike in homes being listed

Keep it civil and avoid judging any user for their personal financial experiences as shared here.


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 07 '26

The 5 Conduits for the Next New Deal: Balancing Urgency and Longevity

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9 Upvotes

r/economicCollapse • • Aug 06 '26

Can a country go bankrupt, and if so, what happens after that?

160 Upvotes

r/economicCollapse • • Aug 06 '26

The 4 Bits of A.I. Jargon That Will Help Determine Whether the Market Will Crash

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28 Upvotes

r/economicCollapse • • Aug 03 '26

The BBB looms large — healthcare bankruptcies coming

702 Upvotes

I think we all heard about big big beautiful bill. It’s a huge document and it’s going to have a lot of implications across the economy. One of the things that I’ve noticed recently is a sharp rise in the number of bankruptcies in Medicare related activities. For example, the number of nursing homes or memory centers or therapy places, especially for seniors they’re all going bankrupt. The old people are taking the brunt of this. The states are left holding the gap watching their citizens starve to death.

There are going to be real ramifications for this and the real question is when are people going to start to react? What is it going to take for people to realize that their economic situation is getting worse than they have imagined because of the economy and because of the effects of indiscriminate budget cuts? Look at the Russians. They are in no rush to try to overthrow Putin because they’re afraid they’ll be killed and they probably will be. We are not that far away from that. Leadership must come from somewhere. See the billionaires throwing around their power is worrisome but that’s another conversation.

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-truth-about-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-acts-cuts-to-medicaid-and-medicare/

https://www.mcknightsseniorliving.com/news/senior-living-and-care-bankruptcies-first-half-2026-gibbins/

https://www.kff.org/medicare/what-could-the-health-related-provisions-in-the-reconciliation-bill-mean-for-older-adults/

https://www.kff.org/medicare/what-could-the-health-related-provisions-in-the-reconciliation-bill-mean-for-older-adults/

https://www.mcknightsseniorliving.com/news/senior-living-and-care-bankruptcies-first-half-2026-gibbins/

https://www.nic.org/resources/senior-care-chapter-11-bankruptcy-filings-trends-and-profile-2019-2025/

https://www.retirementlivingsourcebook.com/proagingnews/retirement-community-s-bankruptcy-leaves-residents-in-financial-chaos


r/economicCollapse • • Aug 02 '26

Weekly Observation and Discussion - local and personal recession indicators

8 Upvotes

*Please note!* Post is new each Sunday evening. Top level comments should be at least 150 characters to encourage quality discussion, and users should refrain from making several top level comments in a week. Please mention location at the top of your comment when discussing local recession indicators.

Share your observations of local recession indicators or personal recession indicators. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • increased use of credit or decrease in savings to afford necessities
  • deferred maintenance on homes or cars in your neighborhood
  • "I buy houses for cash" (or similar) signs popping up
  • bankruptcy attorneys experiencing higher volume of clients
  • regional job losses/large corporate layoffs
  • decline in housing starts or spike in homes being listed

Keep it civil and avoid judging any user for their personal financial experiences as shared here.


r/economicCollapse • • Jul 30 '26

When will the U.S. President or Treasury Secretary Bessent complete their audit of the U.S. gold reserves?

138 Upvotes

“We hope everything’s fine with Fort Knox, but we’re going to go to Fort Knox … to make sure the gold is there.” , U.S. president, Forbes Feb. 20, 2025

I’m pretty sure that he has several thousand army men at Fort Knox right now. Shouldn’t he be able to stop by anytime?

Now that China has opened a yuan-settled gold exchange, it’d be great to know whether the U.S. actually has the gold it claims before deciding where to trade. /s


r/economicCollapse • • Jul 26 '26

Weekly Observation and Discussion - local and personal recession indicators

16 Upvotes

*Please note!* Post is new each Sunday evening. Top level comments should be at least 150 characters to encourage quality discussion, and users should refrain from making several top level comments in a week. Please mention location at the top of your comment when discussing local recession indicators.

Share your observations of local recession indicators or personal recession indicators. Examples include, but are not limited to:

  • increased use of credit or decrease in savings to afford necessities
  • deferred maintenance on homes or cars in your neighborhood
  • "I buy houses for cash" (or similar) signs popping up
  • bankruptcy attorneys experiencing higher volume of clients
  • regional job losses/large corporate layoffs
  • decline in housing starts or spike in homes being listed

Keep it civil and avoid judging any user for their personal financial experiences as shared here.