Claims

60% of the US population is relatively unproductive and the debt crisis will create second-order consequences if the government cuts social programs (food assistance, school lunch programs) without addressing the underlying productivity problem, affecting high school dropout rates already at 22% in Connecticut (the second-richest state).

Cutting social programs and safety nets without addressing underlying low productivity will create second-order consequences that undermine the fiscal reform effort, including increased unrest among the 60% of the population that depends on these programs.

The breakdown of the copper-gold ratio's predictive power is because gold buying behavior has changed from speculative/inflation-hedging (responding to inflation vs deflation concerns) to permanent asset allocation driven by structural concerns: institutional worry about imploding institutions, inability of political leaders to cooperate, multiple significant wars, massive budget deficits, perceived election meddling, and fear of inflationary fiscal policy responses.