Societe Generale has issued a report for its customers preparing them for a major world-wide economic collapse.

“Ageing populations will make it harder to erode [enormous world-wide governmental] debt through growth. ‘High public debt looks entirely unsustainable in the long run. We have almost reached a point of no return for government debt,’ it said.  Inflating debt away might be seen by some governments as a lesser of evils.

If so, gold would go ‘up, and up, and up’ as the only safe haven from fiat paper money. Private debt is also crippling. Even if the US savings rate stabilises at 7pc, and all of it is used to pay down debt, it will still take nine years for households to reduce debt/income ratios to the safe levels of the 1980s.

The bank said the current crisis displays ‘compelling similarities’ with Japan during its Lost Decade (or two), with a big difference: Japan was able to stay afloat by exporting into a robust global economy and by letting the yen fall. It is not possible for half the world to pursue this strategy at the same time.”

Here is a link to a lengthy article relating to this report: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/6599281/Societe-Generale-tells-clients-how-to-prepare-for-global-collapse.html

Michael