by Michael
Large businesses are declaring bankruptcy at a staggering rate, and yet we are being told over and over again that the economy is just fine. Needless to say, most of the country isn’t buying it. Survey after survey has shown that most Americans believe that the economy is on the wrong track. But those that are running things continue to push their “booming economy” narrative anyway, and I suppose that will continue all the way through the election in November. Of course anyone with half a brain should be able to see the truth, because day after day we just continue to get more troubling economic numbers. For example, it is being reported that U.S. corporate bankruptcies “spiked” during the month of August…
U.S. bankruptcy filings spiked in August after a slowdown in July, propelling the total for the first eight months of the year to the highest level since 2020 and second-highest since 2010, S&P Global Market Intelligence said Monday.
There were 452 filings in the year through end August, which compares with 466 in the same period in 2020, when the pandemic was still in full swing, and 604 in the same period in 2010.
In August alone, the tally comes to 63, up from a revised 49 in July. That was the third-highest monthly total this year, behind 72 in June and 68 in April.
You can see a list of corporations that filed for bankruptcy in August right here.
It is a very long list.
The last time that corporate bankruptcies were this high was during the early days of the pandemic in 2020.
But this time around, we don’t have lockdowns to blame for the tsunami of corporate bankruptcies that we are witnessing.
Prior to 2020, we have to go all the way back to 2010 to find a time when corporate bankruptcies were this high.
Needless to say, we were just coming out of the Great Recession in 2010.
Sadly, it appears that September will be another banner month for bankruptcies. BurgerFi is hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, and it just filed for Chapter 11 protection on Wednesday…
An upmarket US burger chain is the latest restaurant business to file for bankruptcy – as casualties in the industry mount up.
BurgerFi – which also owns Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza – sought Chapter 11 protection at a Delaware court on Wednesday. It has as much as $500 million of debts.
Across the two brands, the company has 162 locations – including a flagship BurgerFi in New York that only opened a few months ago. All are under threat.
So many restaurant chains are in very serious trouble these days.
If you have a favorite eatery that you really enjoy, you might want to visit it now while you still can, because a lot more restaurants are going to close in the months ahead.
Meanwhile, small business confidence was way down last month…
Small business confidence fell in August and reversed the prior month’s gains amid growing uncertainty ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election and expectations that sales will be sluggish.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said Tuesday that its Small Business Optimism Index dropped 2.5 points to 91.2 last month.
In this economic environment, small businesses are hurting even more than large businesses are.
Of course there is more than enough pain to go around. At this point, most U.S. consumers are really struggling because the cost of living crisis never seems to end.
Since Joe Biden entered the White House, the cost of just about everything is way up…
Gas: +46.1%
Electricity: +30.7%
Fuel oil: +43.4%
Airfare: +21%
Hotels: +49.4%
Groceries: +21.5%
Baby food: +29.5%
K-12 food: +66.2%
Rent: +22.5%
Transportation: +32%
Car insurance: +54.9%
Overall inflation: +20.3%
Real average weekly earnings: -3.4%
I am glad that car insurance was included on that list.
Over the past few years, car insurance premiums have risen to absolutely absurd levels…
A new report published by Insurify, an insurance comparison shopping site, shows the average U.S. rate for full auto insurance surged to $2,329 in the first half of 2024. That marks a 15% increase from 2023 and a stunning 48% spike when compared with 2021.
By the end of 2024, the cost of coverage is expected to rise even further, to $2,469, according to the report.
The problem is even worse in some states, where prices are projected to rise more than 50% this year.
What a disaster.
We are facing 1970s-style inflation at the same time that we are facing 2008-style layoffs.
Earlier today, I was saddened to learn that UPS has decided to conduct another round of layoffs…
Sandy Springs-based UPS is laying off more of its employees, after earlier this year announcing it was cutting 12,000 jobs in its management ranks.
The company did not specify how many employees are losing their jobs in the latest round of cuts, but said Monday night that the layoffs are part of ongoing efforts since the January announcement of reductions. It was not clear which departments were affected and how many of the cuts might be in the Atlanta area.
And apparently close to a third of all Samsung employees in some divisions of the company are about to get the boot…
Samsung is starting to lay off staff globally, impacting up to 30% of employees in some divisions by the end of this year, according to three sources familiar with the scope of the layoffs, Reuters reports Wednesday.
Sales and marketing departments are reportedly being reduced by 15%, while up to 30% of administrative staff are expected to be laid off. Samsung has about 25,000 sales and marketing staff, according to the report, meaning over 3,700 employees may be included in the layoffs.
Our economy has been declining for years.
Our standard of living has just kept going down, bankruptcies have been surging to frightening levels, and large businesses have been conducting mass layoffs.
But the elite just keep putting on a happy face and telling us that everything is going to be okay.
Unfortunately, nothing that they can do is going to stop the chaos that has already started to erupt all around us.
Bad decisions inevitably lead to bad consequences, and we have been making bad decisions for a really, really long time.