What Will Happen as $1,000,000,000,000,000 in Global Debt Winds Down?

The biggest balloon in the world is deflating.

This balloon had been inflated with a quadrillion (1015) dollars, which is to say: This balloon was filled not with air but with debt from around the globe.

What will happen as this global debt winds down? In two words: Deflationary Depression -- the likes of which could be unprecedented in history.

A thousand trillion in debt can't be wished away or swept under the rug. No one can "forgive" the debt. The consequences of unwinding this debt could be as massive as the dollar figure itself.

We've heard plenty about the debt problems of Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy.

But how about the world's second largest economy? Consider this fact reported in the Japan Times (July 8):

"Japan's government debts are the highest the world has ever seen, at 219 percent of gross domestic product, according to the International Monetary Fund."

Then there's the world's sixth largest national economy. In January 2009, Robert Prechter wrote this in the Elliott Wave Theorist:

"British banks have amassed $4.4 trillion worth of foreign liabilities, twice Britain's annual GDP. ... England, moreover, 'has not defaulted since the Middle Ages.' The possibility that it may do so again is yet another indication that the bear market is of ... (larger) degree, exactly as Elliott wave analysts have predicted all along."

Remember, Japan and Great Britain are major world economies. Imagine what the debt totals would look like in a line-item analysis of other nations, regions, states, provinces and municipalities around the world, including the U.S.

De-leveraging will likely lead to a deflationary crash -- a "day of reckoning."

How can you prepare for a deflationary crash?

To start with, keep your money safe. As Bob Prechter mentions in the June 2010 Elliott Wave Theorist:

"Investors should be primarily in greenback cash and Treasury bills."

He also describes holdings which should be strictly avoided.

Want to Know How to Prosper in a Deflationary Depression? If you haven't yet given Robert Prechter's deflation argument your full attention, you should know now that yesterday was the best time to do so. Download Prechter's 60-Page Guide to Understanding Deflation here.

This article, Quadrillion Dollar Debt: 'Day of Reckoning' Looms,was syndicated by Elliott Wave International. EWI is the world's largest market forecasting firm. Its staff of full-time analysts lead by Chartered Market Technician Robert Prechter provides 24-hour-a-day market analysis to institutional and private investors around the world.