Category: US Debt
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Republican Party Debt Ceiling Delusions / Politics / US Debt
By: Peter_Schiff
The popular take on the current debt ceiling stand-off is that the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party has a delusional belief that it can hit the brakes on new debt creation without bringing on an economic catastrophe. While Republicans are indeed kidding themselves if they believe that their actions will not unleash deep economic turmoil, there are much deeper and more significant delusions on the other side of the aisle. Democrats, and the President in particular, believe that continually taking on more debt to pay existing debt is a more responsible course of action. Even worse, they appear to believe that debt accumulation is the equivalent of economic growth.
Friday, October 11, 2013
U.S. Debt Ceiling Political Economic Blood Sport / Politics / US Debt
By: Ty_Andros
In what is BECOMING the deadliest game of CHICKEN since the August 2011 US debt ceiling Showdown, we are at the doorstep of part II. In a game of chicken, two cars rush headlong towards each other to see who veers off first. Occasionally, neither driver does and both parties perish in the collision. Usually, it is just the drivers who pass away from their imprudence; in this case it will be the spectators. Just like children playing with FIRE who BURN the HOUSE down. Blood sport of the worst sort.
I have commented a number of times that since 2008 elected veto-proof majorities, the implementation of socialism went into HYPERDRIVE during the 2008 to 2010 period. The affordable care act was, and has been, the dream of socialists since 1945.
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Thursday, October 10, 2013
U.S. Debt Default? The Perversion of the Constitution / Politics / US Debt
By: John_Mauldin
David Kotok, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Cumberland Advisors (and our host at "Camp Kotok" for the annual "Shadow Fed" fishing expedition), leads off today's Outside the Box by meticulously dissecting the roadkill that is our federal government's process for deciding whether they will continue to pay their bills and federal employees' wages.
Will the US default? David doesn't think so, and neither do I; but oh, the foolishness, even to tempt the economic fates (read: the markets) this way. David notes that global investors think differently about US default risk than we US-centric types do. Well, David Zervos is with me here at Barefoot, and we just heard that one foreign prime broker (and now maybe two?) is calling hedge funds to say they will not take short-term T-bills as collateral and will mark T-bills down to zero in the event of an actual default. The ultimate risk-free asset is now full of risk? REALLY? This is an unthinkable event. This broker is a Primary Dealer, and I assume they will very shortly get some irate phone calls; but these things start with one bank and then it turns into a herd.
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Wednesday, October 09, 2013
Ominous Warnings About U.S. Debt Default and Impact on the Global Economy / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: LewRockwell
Michael Snyder writes: A U.S. debt default that lasts for more than a couple of days could potentially cause a financial crash unlike anything that the world has ever seen before. If the U.S. government purposely wanted to damage the global financial system, the best way that they could do that would be to default on U.S. debt obligations. A U.S. debt default would cause stocks to crash, would cause bonds to crash, would cause interest rates to soar wildly out of control, would cause a massive credit crunch, and would cause a derivatives panic that would be absolutely unprecedented. And that would just be for starters. But don’t just take my word for it. These are the things that top financial experts all over the planet are saying will happen if there is an extended U.S. debt default.
Monday, October 07, 2013
U.S. Debt Ceiling Deception / Politics / US Debt
By: Michael_Pento
Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson weighed in on the budget and debt ceiling gridlock in Washington and offered a solution last week by saying, "I hate the whole concept of a debt ceiling". He also indicated that putting a legal limit on our nation's borrowing authority is a "flaw in the system". In other words, if we just did away with the strictures of a debt limit our problems would go away. Unfortunately, this view is shared by most in our government.
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Sunday, October 06, 2013
US Government Shutdown - Wall Street Signals Concern on Debt Ceiling / Politics / US Debt
By: Global_Research
Bill Van Auken writes: With the partial shutdown of the US government ending its fourth day on Friday, leaving 800,000 federal employees out in the street and vital social, environmental and other services paralyzed, the US Congress appeared no closer to an agreement on a bill that would provide the appropriations to keep the government running in the new fiscal year that began Tuesday.In immediate jeopardy are programs like WIC, which provides supplemental food assistance to some 9 million low-income women, infants and children, and Head Start, with nearly 20,000 children in programs whose grants kick in on October 1 already facing the threat of being locked out.
Sunday, October 06, 2013
An Empire of Money and Privilege in Decline: Portrait of a Tragic Policy Error / Politics / US Debt
By: Jesse
"Everybody, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences." Robert Louis Stevenson
"They don't have intelligence. They have what I call thintelligence. They see the immediate situation. They think narrowly and they call it 'being focused.' They don't see the surroundings. They don't see the consequences." Michael Crichton
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Sunday, October 06, 2013
US Government Shutdown Theatre Of The Absurd / Politics / US Debt
By: Andrew_McKillop
DEBT AND ANARCHY
Claims in the US media, from left and right, that anarchy is rising and is being encouraged are easy to find. This is nothing more or less than a diversionary tactic to keep everybody's mind off the real subject which is out-of-control debt. Journalists as wide-ranging as arch-keynesian Paul Krugman to left wing senator Elizabeth Warren, and “moderates” like the collective Bloomberg Editorial Board or anonymous editorialists at Wall Street Journal work the anarchy theme.
Friday, October 04, 2013
First U.S. Government Shutdown in 17 Years. If Only It Will Last? / Politics / US Debt
By: Profit_Confidential
At the very core, this U.S. government shutdown means that about one million federal employees will be told to go home without pay. Non-essential services will be stopped until further notice. This will be mainly due to a lack of funds. (Source: Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, September 24, 2013.) National parks will be closed; museums will be shut along with many other services.
Wednesday, October 02, 2013
US Debt Flies High – But NASA Keeps Mission Control Going / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Andrew_McKillop
ALWAYS A TEMPORARY SHUTDOWN
Analysts cited by ZeroHedge, 29 September, said that some 50% of US defence force workers will continue to be paid, and NASA will continue paying workers at Mission Control in Houston to support the International Space station, where two Americans and four other people live. Aside from that, only 3% of NASA's 18 000 other employees will keep on working. About 91% of the tax-gathering IRS' staff will also be furloughed – who needs to collect taxes at a moment like this?
Tuesday, October 01, 2013
U.S. Debt Burden - The Most Predictable Economic Crisis? / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Axel_Merk
Forget about a government shutdown. The quibbling over concessions to keep the government funded distracts from what might be the most predictable economic crisis. We have problems that may affect everything from the value of the U.S. dollar to investors’ savings, but also to national security.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Do You Have Any Idea What $50 TRILLION Looks Like?! / Politics / US Debt
By: David_DeGraw
Comedian Lee Camp was inspired enough by our latest commentary on the state of our economy to feature it in his new Moment of Clarity video. Apparently only comedians seem to understand the mind-blowing absurdity of US millionaires having $50 TRILLION in wealth, while we also have a record number of people living in poverty. Russell Brand has been riffing on that stunning fact on his Messiah Complex tour, and now Lee Camp throws some fuel on the fire and also rips on this “crime against humanity.”
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Debt is Still Cheap, and Getting Looser / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Douglas_French
Suddenly, borrowing and lending is all the rage again.
The financial crash was five years ago this fall, and nobody is letting us forget it. According to ex-FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, financial soundness isn't much improved. She says, "I think our system is still somewhat fragile, a lot more needs to be done."
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Sunday, September 08, 2013
The Fed Has Wasted Trillions and the US Will Default / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Graham_Summers
The facts are now becoming abundantly clear, that the forecast we’ve maintained for well over two years has been validated: the US is in a DE-pression and both Washington and the Federal Reserve have wasted trillions of Dollars.
The reality is that what’s happening in the US today is not a cyclical recession, but a one in 100 year, secular economic shift.
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Sunday, August 25, 2013
The Truth about the Real Size of the US National Debt / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Pravda
Everyone got used to the largest officially announced U.S. national debt of 16 trillion dollars. Moreover, despite the dire predictions, the global economy seems to be more or less stable, and recently liberal media have been happily reporting GDP growth in the United States and the European Union. However, it is not all that great.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
America is Detroit / Politics / US Debt
By: Videos
O“Rich Dad/Poor Dad” author Robert Kiyosaki says, “I am terrified for my fellow human beings. Detroit just declared bankruptcy, and most Americans have no idea what that means. The idea that Detroit went bankrupt is the canary in the mine. . . . It means the end of the industrial age.” Kiyosaki, who wrote the best-selling financial self-help book of all-time, goes on to say, “America is Detroit. . . .
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
U.S. Debt Nears a Tipping Point, Dire Economic Consequences / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Money_Morning
Garrett Baldwin writes: As U.S. debt as a percentage of GDP hovers at levels not seen since World War II, concerns are growing that the American economy is susceptible to a debt crisis in the near future.
Here's why people are worried: If interest rates return to normal levels of around 5% as the U.S debt approaches $20 trillion, then servicing that debt each year will cost taxpayers $1 trillion.
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Thursday, July 25, 2013
Detroit Bankruptcy, the Law, and Leonard Garment / Politics / US Debt
By: Fred_Sheehan
The City of Detroit, Michigan's petition for "bankruptcy protection and the adjustment of debts under chapter 9 of the United States Bankruptcy Code" (case number 13-53846 United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Southern Division), offers plenty of opportunity. Among the potential windfalls are to those who buy contracts at a discount, the clarity of bondholder claims, and the clarity of retiree benefit claims.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Eight More U.S. Cities on the Verge of Bankruptcy / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Money_Morning
Detroit is the largest municipal default in the history of the US. The city owes $9.2 billion in pensions, $1.9 billion to creditors and is $18.5 billion in debt.
The city's infrastructure is collapsing. Almost half of its streetlights are not working and aren't being repaired.
The average time for Detroit police to respond to an emergency is just under an hour. Crime has spiked. Many in the city have resorted to carrying firearms for their personal protection.
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Monday, July 22, 2013
Why Detroit’s Bankruptcy Should Concern You / Stock-Markets / US Debt
By: InvestmentContrarian
Sasha Cekerevac writes: Well, it’s official—as of last Thursday, the city of Detroit is bankrupt.
Detroit is a sad example of a city that was continually running a large budget deficit. But it grew into such a huge amount of government debt that the only way out was to file for bankruptcy and give investors pennies on the dollar.
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