Meet the doomsayers waiting for the economy to crash – By Jennifer Sor (Business Insider) / May 11, 2024
- Economic doomers are getting louder as they say the economy is headed for a collapse.
- Membership on the r/economic collapse subreddit rose by 80% from the end of 2021 to the end of 2023.
- There’s a divergence between what experts say is a healthy economy and the experience of many individuals.
Daniel, a Reddit user based in Washington, DC, has been browsing the subreddit r/economiccollapse for about four years. He says he isn’t a doomsayer, but he sees an economic implosion coming for the US that could mirror the Soviet Union’s collapse at the end of the Cold War.
Daniel, who asked to only use his first name to protect his privacy, has taken steps to prepare for his grim vision of the future. He refuses to hold his savings in cash and has all of his money invested in a portfolio of defense stocks, gold, crypto, and other assets he thinks will maintain their value.
“The one thing that our economy is going to be guaranteed is a wartime economy,” Daniel told Business Insider in an interview. “Only time will tell how bad it will truly get.”
Observers may be quick to dismiss such talk as conspiratorial or alarmist, but a growing number of people in online communities on Reddit and elsewhere say their unease about the economy and material conditions in the US points to a coming collapse.
