This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse Blog. 

How does it feel to be living on the edge of a bubble just before it bursts?  Ever since the days of the Great Recession, our leaders have been going to extremes that we have never seen before as they attempt to keep our failing economy propped up.

The Federal Reserve has created trillions upon trillions of dollars out of thin air and pumped it into the financial system.  Our politicians in Washington have been on the greatest debt binge in the history of the world, and as a result, our national debt has soared to truly horrifying levels.  On Monday, our national debt reached 35 trillion dollars, and even the New York Times is admitting that it is growing “more quickly than many economists had predicted”…

America’s gross national debt topped $35 trillion for the first time on Monday, a reminder of the nation’s grim fiscal predicament as legislative fights over taxes and spending initiatives loom in Washington.

The Treasury Department noted the milestone in its daily report detailing the nation’s balance sheet. The red ink is mounting in the United States more quickly than many economists had predicted as the costs of federal programs enacted in recent years have exceeded initial projections.

To mark this milestone, the House Budget Committee released some numbers about how rapidly our debt has been growing over the last 12 months…

• $196 billion in new debt per month
• $6.4 billion in new debt per day
• $268 million in new debt per hour
• $4.5 million in new debt per minute
• $74,401 in new debt per second

The third number in that list really stands out to me.

268 million dollars is being stolen from future generations of Americans every single hour of every single day, and hardly anyone seems to care.

We are literally committing national suicide.

When a government borrows money that must be paid back later, prosperity in the future is being sacrificed for more prosperity in the present.

We were 10 trillion dollars in debt when Barack Obama entered the White House, and now we are 35 trillion dollars in debt.  We have literally destroyed the bright future that our children and our grandchildren were supposed to have, but all of this borrowing has allowed us to enjoy a standard of living that is far higher than what we actually deserve.

Unfortunately, we have reached a point where economic conditions are steadily getting worse even though our government continues to pile up mountains of new debt.

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, homelessness in the U.S. has been growing by an average of about 10 percent a year since the pandemic ended…

According to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), since the end of the pandemic, we have experienced an average of 10% a year growth in homelessness. By the end of 2023, the U.S. hit its highest reported level in history since they began tracking it in 2007.

That same report says that the four states that have the largest problems with homelessness are California, New York, Florida and Washington…

The largest populations of homeless people are mainly in four states: California, New York, Florida and Washington. New Hampshire and New Mexico saw the largest increases in homeless people, with 52% and 50% respectively. New York came in third, moving up by 39% since the last survey.

In addition to growing homelessness, we are also seeing poverty and hunger rise all over the nation…

Combined data released last month from federal agencies found the U.S. is facing growing rates of poverty and food insecurity. In 2023, more than 12% of the nation was living below the poverty line and nearly 13% said they didn’t have enough to eat. Ann Oliva, CEO of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said, “More people are becoming homeless for the first time.” This increase is due to people becoming un-housed faster. “They have no place to go so they end up on the streets.”

Our national debt has gone from 10 trillion dollars to 35 trillion dollars since Barack Obama first entered the White House, and our economy is still crumbling.

This represents an epic failure of historic proportions.

We have accumulated the largest mountain of debt in the history of the world, and most of the population is still struggling.

But all of this money has created an immensely painful cost of living crisis.

Today, there are six major U.S. cities where you will only be able to live a middle class lifestyle even though you are making $200,000 a year…

Earning $200,000 a year might seem like enough to live a life of luxury.

But in six of the 25 biggest US metros, rampant inflation in the past two years means this six-figure salary is only enough to be middle class.

Of course the vast majority of Americans will never make $200,000 a year.

In fact, most Americans are just barely scraping by.

As I discussed last week, one recent survey discovered that 71 percent of U.S. adults are stressed out about their “ability to afford everyday expenses”…

71% of Americans say they’re stressed by their ability to afford everyday expenses.

Americans most regularly spend money on groceries, phone bills, utilities, gasoline and rent/mortgage payments.

Grocery bills frustrate Americans more than any other regular expense. Utilities, rent/mortgage payments, gasoline and insurance payments round out the top five most annoying expenses.

Are you constantly stressed out about your finances?

If so, you certainly aren’t alone.

Unfortunately, things are only going to get worse from here.

Decades of incredibly foolish decisions have set the stage for a colossal collapse.

The bubble we have been riding will inevitably burst, and once that occurs the consequences will be absolutely excruciating.

Here in 2024, red flags are popping up on an almost daily basis.  For example, shares of Ford Motor Company recently plummeted by 18 percent on a single day due to very disappointing results…

The last time shares of Ford Motor dropped by more than 18% in a day, as they did last week, the U.S. automotive industry was on the brink of bankruptcy during the Great Recession.

Ford, which avoided bankruptcy in 2008-2009, is far from any sort of such disaster, but the freefall in shares after the company missed Wall Street’s earnings expectations is the leading example of the uphill battle automakers face for the remainder of the year.

As conditions get even worse during the second half of this year and beyond, our leaders will attempt to stabilize things by doing even more of what they have already been doing.

But that will just make the cost of living crisis even worse, and it will just make our long-term problems even worse.

Of course, our long-term problems are rapidly becoming our short-term problems.

The entire system is convulsing with tremors, and our bubble economy is slowly but surely heading toward a date with oblivion.

Michael’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Chaos” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written seven other books that are available on Amazon.com including “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream, and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.