Category: US Debt
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Does The National Debt Supercycle Override The Normal U.S. Interest Rate Cycle? / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Dan_Amerman
Markets and economies usually run in cycles and there have been numerous previous reversals where falling interest rates have been replaced by rising interest rates. The soothing reassurances from many financial authorities and much of the financial media are that there is no need for the general public to worry - because this sort of thing is quite normal.
But is this actually true? Have we really been "here" before?
Or are there are major differences between this time around and the previous cycles of rising interest rates which mean that much of recent history may not apply at all?
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Friday, December 11, 2015
America Living a Lie / Politics / US Debt
By: James_Quinn
"Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love." - Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
The lies we tell ourselves are only exceeded by the lies perpetrated by those controlling the levers of our society. We've lost respect for ourselves and others, transforming from citizens with obligations to consumers with desires. The love of mammon has left our country a hollowed out, debt ridden shell of what it once was. When I see the data from surveys about the amount of debt being carried by people in this country and match it up with the totals reported by the Federal Reserve, I'm honestly flabbergasted that so many people choose to live a lie. By falling for the false materialistic narrative of having it all today, millions of Americans have enslaved themselves in trillions of debt. The totals are breathtaking to behold:
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Tuesday, December 08, 2015
Misleading The American Public: Social Security & The National Debt / Politics / US Debt
By: Dan_Amerman
We are told that many economics experts don't worry about the total national debt because $5 trillion of that debt doesn't really exist; it is rather just a theoretical bookkeeping transaction for money that the federal government owes to itself. Netting out this bookkeeping entry then allows some authorities assert that while the debt is a bit on the high side relative to the size of the economy, it is far from historically unprecedented, and certainly no cause for despair or rash talk about insolvency.
Friday, November 06, 2015
Worlds Largest Debtor Ever Raises U.S. ‘Debt Ceiling’…Again / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: GoldCore
The US government has once again agreed to increase it’s so-called debt “ceiling” – this time from $18.5 trillion to $20 trillion. The so-called debt ceiling is recognized industry-wide as a complete misnomer.
Friday, October 30, 2015
Fed’s US Debt Bomb and Interest Rates / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Zeal_LLC
With the Federal Reserve’s first rate-hike cycle in nearly a decade looming, traders are working overtime trying to divine its timing and impact on the markets. They are closely monitoring the same employment and inflation data the Fed will use to start tightening. But there’s another little-discussed concern for the Fed, the solvency of the US government. The Fed’s zero-interest-rate policy has spawned a grave US debt bomb.
Back in late 2008, the US stock markets suffered their first true stock panic since 1907. This once-in-a-century fear superstorm proved catastrophic. In a single month leading into October 2008, the flagship S&P 500 stock index plummeted 30.0%. Over 6/7ths of these losses happened in 2 weeks, a massive 25.9% cratering! That exceeded the threshold for a stock panic, which is a 20%+ plunge in a couple weeks.
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Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Insane “Trillion Dollar Platinum Coin” Option Ruled Out By U.S. Treasury To Avert New Debt Crisis / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: GoldCore
The silly and somewhat insane uber Keynesian “Trillion Dollar Platinum Coin” appears to be now firmly off the table.
The US Congress has once again ruled out the possibility of issuing a “trillion dollar platinum coin” floated as a possible solution to the looming US Debt Crisis.
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Monday, October 19, 2015
U.S. Debt Ceiling Debate: Don't Mention Warfare/Welfare State! / Politics / US Debt
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
The US Treasury's recent announcement that the government will reach the debt ceiling on November 3 means Congress will soon be debating raising the government's borrowing limit again. Any delay in, or opposition to, raising the debt ceiling will inevitably be met with hand-wringing over Congress' alleged irresponsibility. But the real irresponsible act would be for Congress to raise the debt ceiling.
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Thursday, October 08, 2015
What Trump and Other Pessimists Don’t Understand About U.S. Debt / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Investment_U
Alexander Green writes:I received still more blowback from my last few columns about Donald Trump and the economic pessimists.
Some readers are in no mood to hear anything positive about the state of the country or our current economic situation.
Others realize that the economy is growing, the dollar is strong, inflation is low, American corporations are reporting record profits and U.S. household net worth just hit an all-time high.
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Monday, October 05, 2015
Financial Repression – Governments Boost their Coffers and Hold Down Interest Rates / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Chris_Vermeulen
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the government will run out of money to pay its bills sooner than previously thought around November 5, 2015. Lacking sufficient cash, it would be impossible for the United States of America to meet all of its obligations for the first time in our history.
Again, another year, to increase the USA debt limit by the government. Will monetary and fiscal policy ever return to “sanity”? Will the political leaders ever become brave enough to quit spending more of the taxpayer’s monies than they bring in without fear of losing elections? Will Americans ever elect someone who doesn’t just promise them more and more “stuff,” and who will just start acting responsibly with the nation’s treasury?
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Wednesday, September 30, 2015
More U.S. Municipal Bankruptcies on the Way / Politics / US Debt
By: BATR
Even to the casual observer, the financial condition of government budgets are under severe stress. Taxes have gone up consistently and have outpaced any meager adjustments in income for most taxpayers. No one can reasonably expect that municipal financing is assured by simply raising assessments and rates to keep their bloated bureaucracies solvent. Since the middle class has never recovered from the money centered meltdown, the average community struggles with diminished resources.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Speaker Boehner Readies Final Sellout As Debt Ceiling Debacle Looms / Politics / US Debt
By: MoneyMetals
It's campaign season, and that means non-stop media coverage of candidate polls, quips, gaffes, tweets, emails, controversies, lies, and scandals. It all makes for a good soap opera. Unfortunately, it's almost all irrelevant in the big picture.
The media prefer to focus on the sideshow rather than the 800-pound gorilla in the room: the looming debt crisis. Nothing that comes out of a pundit's mouth or a Hillary Clinton email will close the $210 trillion long-term fiscal gap the U.S. now faces.
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Friday, September 18, 2015
Three Reasons Why the U.S. Government Should Default on Its Debt Today / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Casey_Research
The overleveraging of the U.S. federal, state, and local governments, some corporations, and consumers is well known.
This has long been the case, and most people are bored by the topic. If debt is a problem, it has been manageable for so long that it no longer seems like a problem. U.S. government debt has become an abstraction; it has no more meaning to the average investor than the prospect of a comet smacking into the earth in the next hundred millennia.
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Thursday, August 20, 2015
Trumping the Federal Debt Without Playing the Default Card / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Ellen_Brown
In a post on "Sovereign Man" dated August 14th, Simon Black argued that Donald Trump may be the right man for the presidency:
Read full article... Read full article...[T]here's one thing that really sets him apart, that, in my opinion, makes him the most qualified person for the job:
Thursday, August 20, 2015
Another Day Younger and Deeper in Debt / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: John_Mauldin
My friend Neil Howe, author of Generations, The Fourth Turning, and other books and president of Saeculum Research, joins us today in Outside the Box with a succinct, eye-opening essay on generational differences in debt levels and attitudes towards debt.
I often write about the problems that come with overindebtedness, but we’re usually talking about public debt, here in the US or abroad. But personal or household debt in America is nearly as massive as government debt, as this chart shows:
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Wednesday, July 15, 2015
The U.S. Fiscal Grand Canyon and the Cycle of Hyperinflation / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis
The cycle of hyperinflation is already upon us. It was set in motion long ago. We are in the ultimate conundrum. Politically, the US Government, Treasury, and Central Banks must satisfy - pay for - unfunded liabilities and promises.
But the “money” is is simply a desperate conjuring meant to keep the doors of government open.
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Thursday, June 25, 2015
When Will US Debt Hit the Wall? / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: DeviantInvestor
As I see it, the following are true:
- Debt is increasing far more rapidly than growth in the underlying economies that must support that debt. Although this is also true in Japan, the UK, and Europe, I’ll focus on the US.
- Revenue is increasing but less rapidly than debt. This is a problem.
- There will come a time when the interest payments on exponentially increasing government debt will exceed what the economy can support. Call that point “hitting the wall.”
- Higher interest rates will cause the US economy to “hit the wall” sooner. Lower interest rates merely delay the “day of reckoning.”
Tuesday, June 09, 2015
Volcker Warns U.S. State Finances Lack “Truth and Integrity” / Politics / US Debt
By: GoldCore
- U.S. state budgets rely on “faulty practices” – Volcker
- Shoddy budget practices push costs to future generations
- Faulty budget practices lead to poor policy making
- “Problems hidden by lack of truth and integrity” – Volcker
- No common definition of balanced budget allows for gimmicks
Saturday, May 23, 2015
Are We in Another Credit Bubble? And Is It Different than Before? / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: EWI
Part 1 of our FREE report on the recent build-up in credit includes a chart of U.S. corporate debt issuance since 1998 you don't want to miss
Whatever your politics, creed or nationality -- we can all agree that a huge catalyst for the 2008-9 global financial meltdown was the universal binge of bad credit.
A huge part of that bad-debt pile were the "don't-ask-don't-tell" high-yield bonds -- a.k.a. junk bonds -- which were used to fund a lot of things, including corporate takeovers.
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Saturday, May 02, 2015
The U.S. Government: Adding Illiquidity to Insolvency / Politics / US Debt
By: Jeff_Berwick
[The following post is by Managing Director of Windrock Wealth Management Christopher P. Casey, CFA]
Nobody believes that the states will eternally drag the burden of these interest payments. It is obvious that sooner or later all these debts will be liquidated in some way or other, but certainly not by payment of interest and principal according to the terms of the contract.
- Ludwig von Mises, Human Action (1949)
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Thursday, April 02, 2015
Chicago Shockingly Bad Fiscal Health and the Financial Engineering Used to Hide the Facts / Politics / US Debt
By: Mike_Shedlock
Chicago finances are even worse than I thought which is saying quite a bit because I have written about the sorry state of Chicago finances on numerous occasions.
Kristi Culpepper, a bond guru, has gone over Chicago's annual financial report, bond documents, investor presentations, and CAFRs. She has uncovered things the City of Chicago does not want anyone to understand.
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