The Coming Recession and the Horoscope for the USA

If you had asked any astrologer two or three years ago what to expect from the passage of Pluto and Saturn through Capricorn in 2019 and 2020, he or she would have probably predicted an economic downturn. Some might have phrased it as a mild recession. Others might have torn their hair and warned of a second Great Depression. Most would have been somewhere in between, but the general picture for the U.S. economy, astrologically speaking, was grim.

The reason for this grim forecast was the fact that Capricorn in the Sibly chart for the U.S. (click on Sibly to see the horoscope) coincides with the Second House of finance and material resources. Saturn represents restriction, while Pluto is associated with powers beyond our control. It seemed obvious that this combination in the Second House would result in economic forces beyond our control restricting the flow of money. That’s more or less the definition of a recession.

Up until a few weeks ago, those predictions seemed to be laughably inaccurate. In January, as Saturn made it sole conjunction to Pluto in Capricorn, I searched the internet to see what economists were foreseeing for the U.S. economy for 2020 and found nothing but rosy forecasts. Of course, in January we saw Saturn conjunct Pluto manifest in a completely different way, with Saturn’s call for justice being subverted by Pluto’s hold on power. It seemed that that was as much as we were going to get out of this passage.

Then came the Corona virus. Not only did this virus bring us the threat of serious illness and, possibly, death, it took down the U.S. stock market like a wrecking ball hitting a house of cards. At first it seemed like this economic damage would be temporary, a panic attack that would soon alleviate once the virus subsided. However, a closer look at the situation reveals a more alarming picture.

First of all we have the matter of corporate debt. Obviously, a lot of businesses are suffering losses thanks to the changes in behavior brought about by COVID-19. The hospitality and travel industries are the hardest hit, but the pain is spreading to all sectors of the economy. It might seem logical to assume that these large corporations, most of whom have been raking in huge profits during the last few years, would be able to absorb these losses, but that is not necessarily the case.

The fact is, that a lot of these companies have actually been borrowing money during this period in order to further expand their operations. This has particularly been true for energy companies. As result, instead of a huge reserve of cash, many of these companies entering this economic downturn with substantial debts. This brings us the possibility  that one of more of these giant corporations will not be able to make that crucial “minimum” payment will their creditors come calling. Such defaults could ripple through the entire economy like a tsunami of empty pockets.

Then we have the federal deficit. Instead of using the phenomenal economic growth of the past few years to decrease the deficit, the Trump administration gave Americans a huge tax cut. We could have a debate about what group of Americans really profited from this tax cut, but there can be no denying that this strategy only increased the deficit.

Now congress is working on a stimulus package worth several billion dollars. There’s no denying that the stimulus is necessary. There’s also no denying that much of this money will have to be borrowed, thus increasing the deficit even more. Back in 2008, when President Obama’s stimulus package ballooned the federal deficit, Republicans and some Democrats objected. They worried about the long term effects of a huge deficit. Republicans have mostly stopped talking about this subject now that Trump is in office, but the concerns they voiced back in 2008 are real. There is such a thing as having too much debt.

I was one of those astrologers who, a couple of years ago, said that having both Saturn and Pluto in the U.S. Second House would produce an economic downturn. Perhaps I should be celebrating my vindication and the vindication of astrology in general. However, considering the pain that could result from the combination of this pandemic and a major economic recession, I would much rather have been wrong.