What we are currently experiencing feels a lot like what we felt in the Economy of 2008. Stocks are falling dramatically, the economy it writhing and the government can’t seem to figure out what to do. Which leaves us all to wonder, it this another 2008 financial crisis?  Are we doomed to enter another recession, or even depression?

Economists and experts alike are on both sides of the fence. But on both sides it seems that there is concern. Some say the economy is healthier with less hidden problems than in 2008 but if the government cannot instill confidence there is a chance of a quick downward spiral.

2008 was a different animal all together, spurred by the subprime mortgage mess. Today the problems are much more systemic and far reaching. The problem today doesn’t lie with banks and corporations; it lies with governments and sovereign debt. If fiat currencies fail who is there to bail out the biggest countries in the world?

The problem today that is similar to that of 2008 is that people are afraid. They are afraid of the unknown. There is so much stock market volatility, jobs have not improved and entitlements look like they are on the brink of massive cuts. Couple all of this with European problems, with one country after another announcing that they are on the brink of a debt default.

Some economists will argue that banks here in the US are much more able to weather a storm like 2008 because they are leveraged less and they have more capital. But the reasons the banks are stronger is because the Federal Reserve has taken on all of their bad debt. So the risk has shifted from big banks to a bigger bank, the Fed, and the Fed can only do so much.

Since 2008 the Fed has pumped more than $2 trillion worth of stimulus into the system and kept interest rates at 0-.25% for an “extended period” which has done very little to help the economy actually recover. The Fed is running out of tools. The more money they print the less effective each dollar becomes further muting the Fed’s power.

Meanwhile no viable plan for getting us on track has been presented. Governments around the world are merely reacting which is only leading us all further into the unknown, fueling fear. There is one way to give yourself more confidence and that is through owning precious metals. You get to be your own central bank and there is nothing more powerful than that economy.