If you have not yet read Why 2014 Is Beginning to Look A Lot Like 2008, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, we noted the similarities between early 2008 and 2014, and dismantled Alan Greenspan’s claim that the global meltdown of 2008 was unforeseeable. If markets are fractal, as argued by Benoit Mandelbrot, then we can anticipate more “once in a lifetime” crises than economists expect, and that such crises will be less predictable than expected.

After reviewing some technical charts that suggest trouble ahead in 2014 (or perhaps 2015 if certain cycles hold up), I asked how asset bubbles can be considered a “social good” if the current bubble is not boosting employment or income for the vast majority of Americans. I also wondered how the presumed fundamentals of “growth” (sales, profits, creditworthiness, etc.) can continue expanding if income is stagnating.

In Part 2 of this report, the goal is to examine the policies of the states (central governments) and central banks around the world that have boosted assets such as stocks, bonds and real estate to new highs. What repercussions are they creating, why they are failing, and why they will cause a crisis that will be as damaging as 2008 — yet unfold quite differently…