Martin Armstrong Explains Why '2017 is the Threshold to Chaos'

Submitted by Martin Armstrong via ArmstrongEconomics.com / ZeroHedge.co

I have been warning that 2017 was the Year of Political Hell with four major referendums/elections that would undermine the confidence in government – BREXIT, US Presidential Elections, French Elections, and Germany Elections. These four events hold the potential to overturn the expectations of the future. Whatever the general public felt about government would flip. The key to a shift from Public confidence to Private lies within the scope of these four elections. This is what our computer has been forecasting – political instability on the rise. This is the age of anti-establishment (3rd party) rising globally.

However, I have also warned that Social Security and Medicare go NEGATIVE next year in the United States, which of course mainstream media is not bothering to report for fear that would add fuel to the bonfire of political corruption. But what is also not explained by mainstream media, is that Obamacare is crumbling from within. The entire structural design of Obamacare was the perpetual Ponzi Scheme they used for Social Security.

The theory behind Obamacare was to force the youth to buy health insurance and since they rarely need it as a group, they would be paying-in more than they received. Thus, the idea would be Obamacare would exploit the youth to pay for those who could not afford healthcare because of preconditions. The theory failed because the youth did not buy the insurance.

For tax year 2015, the penalty for not buying healthcare was 2% of your total household adjusted gross income, or $325 per adult and $162.50 per child, to a maximum of $975.

For tax year 2016, the penalty jumped to 2.5% of your total household adjusted gross income, or $695 per adult and $347.50 per child, to a maximum of $2,085.

The penalties are still less than insurance, which is often charged at $300 per month+. Even at $695, this is less than $58 per month, which is impossible to find health insurance that cheap. Because the scheme has utterly failed, insurers are abandoning Obamacare. There was not a significant enrollment among the youth they could charge premiums to with no expense so they really saw more money go out than in. The Kaiser Family Foundation issued a study on Obamacare, which reveal it is collapsing by its own weight. They noted: “the number of counties with a single marketplace insurer is likely to increase, from 225 (7% of counties) in 2016 to 974 (31% of counties) in 2017.”

Indeed, UnitedHealthcare left most of the 34 state markets and Aetna is following. The Guardian reported that Obamacare is nearing collapse. The entire structure was based upon the same scheme as Social Security that has been predicated upon exploiting one generation for the next. But with rising unemployment among the youth, and more than 30% of the youth remain living with their parents into their thirties now combined with the collapse in birth rates, this entire scheme is just a scheme that is unsustainable.

Come 2017, we are likely to see Obamacare also collapse. Of course, if Hillary is in, that means higher taxes to try to keep it afloat since the Democrats will never admit a mistake of this magnitude. The only way to deal with the heathcare crisis is to STOP subsidizing healthcare. If the government simply passed a law that hospitals will receive a flat fee per type of care and prohibit charging anything more to the individual, then we will see some competition for the first time. Hospitals have been trying to put private practices out of business as well. The entire scheme has been to run healthcare as a giant corporate entity eliminating choice and with not restraint on fees.

The healthcare business has been the ONLY industry, aside from politicians in Washington, who are not subject to the business cycle. Government also needs to stop the lawsuits that are driving up costs insanely by also capping award per injury on a flat basis. But to get that type of reform we have to clean-house in Washington since 45% of public officials are lawyers compared to just 6% of the work force are lawyers. Hence, the legal profession is disproportionately represented and prevent tort reform since that is their bread & butter.

So buckle up. The whole house of cards is starting to come down. Hello – Phase Transition! Confidence is always the key.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-09-08/martin-armstrong-explains-why-2017-threshold-chaos

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