United States

A growing number of US cities are declaring states of emergency as the number of people becoming homeless continues to rise Portland, Oregon; Denver, Colorado; and Seattle, Washington as well as the entire state of Hawaii have become the latest to take drastic measures to fight the growing crisis. Press TV reports: Los Angeles has yet to declare its own state of emergency, but campaigners describe its current condition as “the worst man-made disaster in the US.” The 50-block area of downtown LA, called Skid Row, has been a national emblem of homelessness for over a decade.

Authored by Pepe Escobar, Op-Ed via RT.com,

In his seminal 'Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization,' Bryan Ward-Perkins writes, "Romans before the fall were as certain as we are today that their world would continue forever... They were wrong. We would be wise not to repeat their complacency.”

With 29% of young Americans having lost faith in 'The American Dream' (for good reason as we detailed here), it is hardly surprising that a new poll by The Associated Press finds that just 10% of people believe 2015 was a better year for the world than 2014. That is half the number from 2013 and appears to confirm what we already tongue-in-cheek noted  - that 2015 was perhaps the worst year ever.

Via ConvergEx's Nick Colas,

Our quarterly survey of “Off the Grid” economic indicators finds that the U.S. economy is still growing, but the pace seems to be slowing from Q3 2015.

 

On the plus side, used car prices remain robust and dealer inventories of new cars are in good shape.  Americans are driving more, with the growth rate for miles driven (and gas consumed) running at levels not seen in +10 years.  Lastly, workers are still quitting their jobs at a healthy clip.