This Is The Reality Of It: We Are Factually In A Recession. Period.Mac Slavo But one number in particular pretty much sums it all up. It depicts not just the worsening state of our economy, but puts the lies and machinations of the U.S. government on full display for the world to see. Youll often hear the media cite the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as a measure of economic growth. It measures the rate at which our economy grows. In 2013, for example, our GDP was $17.08 trillion, up from the previous years $16.42 trillion. So, all of the goods and services sold throughout the United States (essentially, all of the money spent by Americans) rose about $661 billion dollars year-over-year. Most people might look at the number, see 4% growth, and say its a no-brainer. How can the economy not be growing if the GDP rose? The answer is simple. And when you look at it from the perspective Karl Denninger of the Market Ticker outlines below, you cant help but realize that youve been purposely duped into believing that things are getting better. Just the opposite is true. It is, in fact, contracting. That extra trillion dollars slammed into the system by The Fed pretty much wipes out any growth noted by the Federal governments statistics, because we never actually earned that money. Its debt. Not growth! Incidentally, the other oft-cited measure of economic health is the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which currently sits around record all-time highs of 16,000 points, is likewise benefiting from this illusion. Guess where that stock market growth came from? Yes, the very same credit being used to prop up the economy (that $85 billion or so in Fed Treasury purchases every month) is also keeping stocks at record highs. Back on Main Street, where most Americans live, were feeling the effects. Do we need to mention that the Patient Affordable Care Act has just forced working Americans to spend up to quadruple on their monthly premiums? Or that millions of Americans who are unemployed and are no longer counted in the official statistics have absolutelyno income whatsoeverbecause their unemployment insurance has run out?Or that the price of everything from food and energy to rent and clothing is rising? That kind of thing tends to happen when you debase your currency. Last week famed contrarian economist John Williams noted that the economy gave a powerful recessionary signal in January that had not been seen since right before the market crash in 2007. Furthermore, one of the leading economic indicators of a recessionary environment is the price of copper because it is so closely associated with global growth. It has dropped significantly in recent months and it could well be signaling a coming crash in stocks just as it did in 2008. When, not if, this thing buckles again were going to be in for an unprecedented period in U.S. history. The system was on the brink of total collapse in 2008, as evidenced by Representative Brad Sherman on the House floor: Theyve used up all of the tricks in their magic hat. One misstep here and were going down. Any number of domestic or geo-political events could trigger a meltdown in U.S. stock markets and send the broader economy crashing. You can read more from Mac Slavo at his site SHTFplan.com, where this first appeared. 