Busting Bubbles

 
Bubbles can't last forever.  

They float around on the air and hit some grass & pop.  

They get blown like the above pic and pop.  

Balloons filled with He float up-up & away, but only go so high before they pop


Sovereign Man offers up this info on bubbles.

But is that all a bubble is– simply meteoric growth, seemingly with no end in sight? If so, let’s examine some other ‘bubbles’ in our society.

1) Number of people renouncing US citizenship: Four years of exponential growth. [Source: Bloomberg / IRS]

2008: 146
2009: 742
2010: 1534
2011: 2048 (estimate)

2) Number of Facebook users: Eight years of viral growth. [Source: Facebook]

August 26, 2008: 100 million
April 8, 2009: 200 million
September 15, 2009: 300 million
February 5, 2010: 400 million
July 21, 2010: 500 million
January 5, 2011: 600 million
May 30, 2011: 700 million
September 22, 2011: 800 million
February 4, 2012: 845 million

3) Number of Americans on Foodstamps: A disturbing, tragic long-term growth trend. [Source: USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program]

2007: 26.3 million
2008: 28.2 million
2009: 33.5 million
2010: 40.3 million
2011: 44.7 million

4) Number of FBI/NICS background checks to obtain a firearm in the United States: Eight years of consistent growth.  And baby, we ain’t seen nothin’ yet. [Source: FBI]

2004: 8.69 million
2005: 8.95 million
2006: 10.04 million
2007: 11.18 million
2008: 12.70 million
2009: 14.03 million
2010: 14.41 million
2011: 16.45 million

5) Number of requests the US government made for Google user data: 4 straight reporting periods of astounding growth. [Source: Google]
6-months ending 12/31/2009: 3,580
6-months ending 6/30/2010:  4,287
6-months ending 12/31/2010: 4,601
6-months ending 6/30/2011:  5,950

6) US federal government budget outlays: a never-ending growth trend of out-of-control spending. [Source: CBO, OMB]

2000 budget: $1.9 trillion
2001 budget: $2.0 trillion
2002 budget: $2.2 trillion
2003 budget: $2.2 trillion
2004 budget: $2.3 trillion
2005 budget: $2.4 trillion
2006 budget: $2.7 trillion
2007 budget: $2.8 trillion
2008 budget: $2.9 trillion
2009 budget: $3.1 trillion
2010 budget: $3.6 trillion
2011 budget: $3.8 trillion

7) And last but not least, US monetary base as of January 1st each year [Source: St. Louis Fed]

2001: $  616.7 billion
2002: $  673.7 billion
2003: $  719.6 billion
2004: $  756.8 billion
2005: $  793.8 billion
2006: $  825.2 billion
2007: $  843.5 billion
2008: $  851.4 billion
2009: $1,730.2 billion
2010: $2,010.1 billion
2011: $2,057.1 billion
2012: $2,647.7 billion

Ultimately, a bubble isn’t something whose price keeps going up. It’s something that is steadily expanding, supported by nothing but hot air.