Global Manufacturing Has Contracted Spectacularly

While the mainstream financial media tries to put a rosy spin on the economy and make us believe that everything is going well, under the hood things aren’t looking so good. Forget about mainstream employment numbers such as the unemployment rate or the number of jobs created. The real gauge of the economy’s strength is how much is being produced by industry, and those numbers are decreasing.

It appears that global manufacturing activity peaked at the end of 2017 and has been falling ever since. That would be roughly consistent with stock markets, which peaked at the beginning of 2018. Stock markets are often a lagging indicator and reach their peaks just before a recession begins or right as a recession is beginning.

Global automakers are leading the fall, with German automakers leading the way. The drop in demand for automobiles mirrors moves in the commercial trucking market, and is an indicator that the economy is slowing.

Consumers are no longer demanding automobiles because they can no longer afford to purchase them. They have taken on so much debt that they can no longer continue to take on any more, and so the debt-fueled automotive industry is feeling the pinch. And while automakers have seen perhaps the largest decline in manufacturing activity, that decline is being seen across all different sectors.

From technology to manufacturing to chemicals, it’s no secret that the global economy is seeing an economic slowdown. While it may have started in Europe, it has spread to the US, and its effects are only just now becoming more noticeable to the average American. It won’t be long before we’re in a full-blown economic crisis, and this time it could make 2008 look like a cake walk.

Investors need to understand the dire situation they could find themselves in within only a year or two and plan accordingly. By investing in gold they can protect their hard-earned retirement savings from the inevitable downturn in stock markets. But time is of the essence, as the world economy continues its descent into recession.