Category: US Debt
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Bernanke Hallucinating That Printing Money and Buying Bonds Can Save the Economy / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Martin_D_Weiss
If Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke honestly believes what he said at Jackson Hole on Friday — that he can save the economy by printing more money and buying more bonds — he’s hallucinating.
Through the first quarter of this year, he printed $1.5 trillion of paper money and promptly bought $1.5 trillion in mortgage bonds, government agency bonds, and Treasury bonds.
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Sunday, August 29, 2010
Debt is Main Threat to U.S. National Security ... Pentagon Must Cut Spending / Politics / US Debt
By: Washingtons_Blog
War and The Economic Crisis: Mullen - In February 2009, the head of U.S. intelligence - Dennis Blair - said that the global financial crisis was the largest threat to America's national security. All of America's intelligence agencies apparently agreed.
The same month, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff - Admiral Mullen - also agreed.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Rumours of the Death of the U.S. Economy are Premature, Sovereign Debt Exchange For Equity / Economics / US Debt
By: Brian_Bloom
Conventional wisdom states that levels of Public Debt – in particular in the USA – are too high and there are only three possible outcomes:
- Helicopter Ben’s so-called Quantitative Easing leading to hyperinflation in the USA
- Debt default leading to Depression
- A sideways moving economy for 10-15 years accompanied by churning markets as income is used to repay debt. (A side-effect of this approach will be that tax rates will likely rise significantly even as standards of living decline).
Saturday, August 28, 2010
U.S. Fed About to Launch Monetary Shock and Awe / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Mike_Whitney
The equities markets are in disarray while the bond markets continue to surge. The avalanche of bad news has started to take its toll on investor sentiment. Barry Ritholtz's "The Big Picture" reports that the bears have taken the high-ground and bullishness has dropped to its lowest level since March ‘09 when the market did a quick about-face and began a year-long rally. Could it happen again? No one knows, but the mood has definitely darkened along with the data. There's no talk of green shoots any more, and even the deficit hawks have gone into hibernation. It feels like the calm before the storm, which is why all eyes were on Jackson Hole this morning where Fed chairman Ben Bernanke delivered his verdict on the state of the economy on Friday.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
U.S. Fiscal Debt and Monetization are taking the Financial System Down / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Bob_Chapman
The Congressional Budget Office thinks the country faces serious budget problems, as well as serious economic problems, because it estimates that the deficit for 2011 will be $1.066 trillion. In addition it sees fiscal 2010, which ends on September 30th, at $1.34 trillion, or 9% of GDP. Last year was 9.9%.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
The Great Debt Deleveraging Lie / Economics / US Debt
By: James_Quinn
You can't open a newspaper or watch a business news network without seeing or hearing that consumers and businesses have been de-leveraging. The storyline as portrayed by the mainstream media is that consumers and corporations have seen the light and are paying off debts and living within their means. Austerity has broken out across the land. Bloomberg peddled this line of bull last week:Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The True U.S. National Debt / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: James_Quinn
When I read Paul Krugman and the other Keynesian boneheads saying that our debt is not a problem, they quote figures about our debt of $13.3 trillion versus our GDP of $14.6 trillion not being so bad. That is only 91% of GDP. They point to World War II when our national debt reached 120% of GDP. They say everything worked out after that.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, August 23, 2010
What Does Debt-Based Money Imply for Interest Payments? / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Robert_Murphy
In a previous article, I explained the sense in which our fractional-reserve, fiat financial system is built upon debt-based money. In this perverse arrangement, new dollars come into existence through the creation of government and private debt. Going the other way, if the private sector and the federal government ever began seriously paying down their debts, the supply of US dollars would shrink.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Unenlightened Self-Interest, Deficit Hawk Down On Tax Cuts and Financial Reform / Politics / US Debt
By: Jesse
"Economics is haunted by more fallacies than any other study known to man." Henry Hazlett
The argument that 'tax cuts for the wealthiest few stimulates growth' aka the trickle down theory needs to be buried alongside the 'efficient markets hypothesis' and the other principle beliefs of voodoo economics that have brought the US from the world's greatest nation to third world status in a generation.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Utility of Debt / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis
For many, debt is a burden. For many others, it's a utility to be respected. Regardless of which position you take, realize that there are some situations in which debt is beneficial - and others where it's just dangerous. For the US Government, debt is now just simply dangerous.
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Thursday, August 19, 2010
U.S. Heading for Currency Destruction Debt Default Great Depression / Economics / US Debt
By: The_Gold_Report
As the world sinks deeper into what he calls the Greater Depression, Casey Research Chairman Doug Casey sees default on the U.S. national debt as inevitable—albeit probably in the guise of currency destruction. He anticipates further contraction in real estate, particularly on the commercial front. As long as stocks remain overpriced, he'll shy away from equities—except perhaps in favored sectors such as gold. In fact, in this exclusive interview with The Gold Report, Doug posits that gold juniors might "go up by an order of magnitude or more, even while most other stocks are going down."
Monday, August 09, 2010
Federal Reserve Magically Erasing Debts and Liabilities / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Richard_Daughty
Hossein Askari is a professor of international business and international affairs at George Washington University, and Noureddine Krichene is an economist with a PhD from UCLA, which I mention to establish their credentials, since some bozo from the Federal Reserve created a stir when he said, with a sniff of condescension and smugness, that nobody should comment about economics unless they have a PhD in economics from a “proper” university, because we unwashed huddled masses are “dangerous” and a “threat to society.”
Friday, August 06, 2010
Keynesians, Fiat Currency, Until Debt Does Them Part / Economics / US Debt
By: Brady_Willett
Ben Bernanke’s machinations since the financial crisis began are widely celebrated as having saved the financial markets from complete ruin. Question is, was preventing the ruin of an over-leveraged, non-transparent, and bubble-driven financial system really the best path? For that matter, did the actions of Bernanke and company simply delay the day of reckoning and/or ensure that this day will be even more severe? Efforts to divine an enigmatic yesteryear notwithstanding, the reality is that as policy makers veer down one path we are precluded from knowing what the terrain would have been like down the other, with all of the ‘could have’ and ‘would have’ impediments limiting what can be said with conviction…
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Obama Save the U.S. Economy by Paying Down the National Debt / Economics / US Debt
By: Graham_Summers
Dear Mr. President,
The following is a plan that I believe would bring about a significant change not only in the US economy, but in the US mindset. The last 30+ years in this country have been dominated by an overall regression in moral character and beliefs.
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Monday, August 02, 2010
US Economic Outlook: Indebted to Death / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Richard_Daughty
John Stepek at MoneyWeek.com, talking about the “European bank stress tests” that were “a whitewash, of course” said that it kind of reminded him of “one of Gordon Brown’s budgets.”
My immediate reaction, of course, and speaking as a true American, is to ask, “Huh? Gordon who?” as a clever way of reminding these British guys that real Americans, like me, don’t know about anything, or care about anything, that is not about America and/or Americans and how it affects us, as Americans, but mostly me, personally, as an American.
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Wednesday, July 28, 2010
US Treasury Running on Fumes, Down to the Last Trillion in Red Ink / Economics / US Debt
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
The White House is screaming like a stuck pig. WikiLeaks’ release of the Afghan War Documents “puts the lives of our soldiers and our coalition partners at risk.”
What nonsense. Obama’s war puts the lives of American soldiers at risk, and the craven puppet state behavior of “our partners” in serving as US mercenaries is what puts their troops at risk.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Confirmed: U.S. Fiscal Woe Is Worse Than Greece / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Dian_L_Chu
Reading the annual Long Term Budget Outlook by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has become an increasingly depressing experience in recent years. This year seems even more so than ever.
The latest projection puts the federal debt rising to 62% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the end of the year (from 40% pre-crisis), the highest percentage since just after World War. (See Graph)
Sunday, July 25, 2010
U.S. is Insolvent and Faces Bankruptcy as a Pure Debtor Nation / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Washingtons_Blog
China Calls Our Bluff: America's biggest creditor - China - has called our bluff.
As the Financial Times notes, the head of China's biggest credit rating agency has said America is insolvent and that U.S. credit ratings are a joke:
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Thursday, July 22, 2010
Quadrillion Dollar Debt: Deflation 'Day of Reckoning' Looms / Economics / US Debt
By: EWI
What Will Happen as $1,000,000,000,000,000 in Global Debt Winds Down?
The biggest balloon in the world is deflating.
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Friday, July 16, 2010
U.S. State Budget Debt Crises Threatens Economic Recovery / Economics / US Debt
By: Money_Morning
Don Miller writes: Across the country state budget crises are threatening to undermine the U.S. economic recovery.
Some 48 states are emerging from a round of painful budget cuts for their 2010 fiscal budgets, and at least 46 states face shortfalls for the upcoming 2011 fiscal year, which in most states began July 1.
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