Category: US Debt
The analysis published under this category are as follows.Sunday, February 28, 2010
Bernanke Says U.S. Heading for Greece Style Debt Crisis / Interest-Rates / US Debt
Bernanke is now joining Rosenberg, Ferguson and Faber, Edwards, Grice and many others in warning that the debt crisis rearing its head in Greece may spread to America, causing U.S. interest rates to climb.
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Thursday, February 25, 2010
As Greece Goes, So Goes the U.S.? / Economics / US Debt
Greece hasn't gotten so much press since 146 B.C. when the Romans took over. Of late, Greece sneezes and investors think the U.S. is going to catch the swine flu. Of course, it is not just Greece. Greece is part of the EU and the EMU. So, it is thought that as goes Greece, so goes Europe. And then, the next step is that as goes Europe, so goes the U.S. But is Europe really where the action is with regard to U.S. economic growth?
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Wednesday, February 24, 2010
I Am Worried about the Government Debt My Descendants Will Inherit / Politics / US Debt
This is a common concern I hear from seniors and even some enlightened baby boomers. (Yes, Virginia, there actually are some enlightened baby boomers!) Is this a legitimate concern? You betcha. The chart below shows actual per-capita gross federal debt through 2009 and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office's (CBO) projected per-capita federal debt thereafter through 2020. In 2009, each of us was responsible for $38, 651 dollars of gross federal debt. By 2020, CBO projects each of us will be on the hook for $62, 808 of gross federal debt.
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Monday, February 22, 2010
U.S. Government Debt Crisis is Financial Armageddon / Interest-Rates / US Debt
If you thought Wall Street’s debt crisis was traumatic, wait till you the see the consequences of Washington’s debt crisis!
Never before in history has a world power like the U.S. been so utterly buried in debt! And never before has that debt been financed so massively by foreign investors!
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Saturday, February 20, 2010
Miami's Municipal Woes (Again): Exiting Before the Tide Goes Out / Politics / US Debt
Miami's tradition of unruly official behavior is finally bringing painful consequences. After years of reckless financial management and a bribery scandal that produced federal charges against three top city officials, South Florida's largest city stands on the edge of bankruptcy."-Time, December 16, 1996, "Gloom Over Miami"
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Sunday, February 14, 2010
Niall Ferguson: A Greek Debt Crisis is Coming to America / Interest-Rates / US Debt
Oh that Niall! Always stirring up trouble... Today might be the most entertaining set of posts I've ever put together - what a smorgasbord. Today we have an editorial in the Financial Times raising many of the same issues we speak out weekly in these virtual pages. Don't forget your own homeland Mr. Ferguson; it's a mini US but without the reserve currency - this "grand experiment" of fighting debt with more debt should show up on your shores before ours. The only thing that separates our 2 nations from the Greeks on a fiscal basis, is the printing press. [Feb 5, 2010: Sovereign Risk Chart - Where Would the US Fit in, on Europe's Scale?]
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Saturday, February 13, 2010
Refuse to Pay Odious Government Debt Incurred to Finance Illegal Wars / Politics / US Debt
It Is the Personal Debt of Those Who Ordered It
There is an established legal principle that people should not have to repay their government's debt to the extent that it is incurred to launch aggressive wars or to oppress the people.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Solution to the Washington Debt Crisis Threat / Politics / US Debt
Frédéric Bastiat must have been looking toward the future of the United States today when he said, "When plunder has become a way of life for a group of people living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it, and a moral code that glorifies it."
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Wednesday, February 10, 2010
California Debt Crisis, Muni Bonds At Real Risk of Default / Interest-Rates / US Debt
California’s finances are a mess. Credit default swap rates put California among the top ten most likely to default among major governments worldwide.
If you are a California resident and think California can solve it’s own budget problems, or if you think the US government will bail them out, then you might want to own California municipal bonds for the best fit tax shelter and the higher nominal yield. However, if you doubt either of those, you may be better off owning a national or non-California muni fund, and accept a less tax efficient holding with a somewhat lower nominal yield, but with superior credit quality.
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Sunday, February 07, 2010
U.S. Federal Deficit is the Biggest Threat to Investor Wealth! EVER! / Stock-Markets / US Debt
While our federal deficit explodes and U.S. stocks sink, I’ve been actively meeting our readers on my personal blog to share ideas on how to build the optimal growth portfolio in trying times like these.
We’ve examined all five of the major asset classes — stocks, bonds, currencies, precious metals and commodities — to sort out which ones we believe will sink and which will surge going forward.
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Friday, February 05, 2010
No Easy Way Out From America's Debt Crisis / Economics / US Debt
I just got back from my first lengthy vacation in years — to New York, London, and Paris. I enjoyed many fine meals and fun nights out with friends. I got to see everything from the Rosetta Stone and St. Paul’s Cathedral to the Mona Lisa and the Eiffel Tower.
The only real downside? The lousy January weather!
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Wednesday, February 03, 2010
U.S. on the Brink of Bankruptcy? / Economics / US Debt
Martin Hutchinson writes: U.S. President Barack Obama's budget for 2011, presented on Monday, shows a deficit of $1.3 trillion for the fiscal year that ends that September. That shortfall is actually $287 billion more than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) had projected less than a week earlier, when it had released a budget forecast of its own for that same fiscal year.
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Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Global Insolvency, How will the U.S. Service its Debt? / Economics / US Debt
The recent election in Massachusetts of Republican Scott Brown to the Senate was a seminal event. It ended the Democratic administration’s ability to ram through legislation. It changed the game. The locomotive hit the bunter.
China saw the error of its ways in overstimulating its economy and halted bank lending. The Senate majority refusing to seat the new Senator Brown passed a tremendous increase in short-term government debt. Goldman Sachs and others thumbed their noses at the rest of America and distributed giant bonuses as the country wallowed in depression and 22.5% unemployment. Finally we have Paul Volcker proclaiming the end of too big to fail and stopping banks from trading their own accounts.
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Tuesday, February 02, 2010
U.S. Deepening Debt Crisis, Be Afraid of Bernanke Reappointment / Economics / US Debt
If the economy deteriorates in the L-shaped “hockey-stick” rut that many economists forecast, what political price will President Obama and the Democrats pay for having returned the financial keys to the Bush Republican appointees who gave away the store in the first place? Reappointing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke may end up injuring not only the economy but also the Democratic Party for years to come. Recognizing this, Republicans made populist points by opposing his reappointment during the Senate confirmation hearings last Thursday, January 27 – the day after Mr. Obama’s State of the Union address.
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Marc Faber on Sovereign Debt Default Risks and the Real Value of Gold / Economics / US Debt
Alex talks with contrarian investment analyst and entrepreneur Marc Faber. Faber publishes the monthly investment newsletter The Gloom Boom & Doom Report. Marc Discusses Debt monetization to boost gold and emerging markets. Some economic recovery for next 3 months, but outlook beyond looks poor due to the large deficit which means higher interest rates.
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Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Is a U.S. Debt Default Inevitable? / Politics / US Debt
Patrick J. Buchanan write: We were blindsided. We never saw it coming.
So said Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein of the financial crisis of 2008. He likened its probability to four hurricanes hitting the East Coast in a single season.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Municipal Meltdown: Teacher Pensions, Bondholder Coupons, Go to Court / Politics / US Debt
While the Illinois Constitution protects vested pension benefits, that promise, like all the state's obligations, is only as good as its ability to pay." -Crain's Chicago Business
"Illinois Enters a State of Insolvency" cried a January 18, 2010 headline from Crain's Chicago Business: "As Illinois' fiscal crisis deepens, the word 'bankruptcy' is creeping more and more into the public discourse."
Monday, January 25, 2010
U.S. Government On Its Way to Bankruptcy Part1 / Economics / US Debt
The U.S. government is quite literally out of control.
I’m not talking about a government which shows an almost total disregard for the U.S. Constitution. I’m not talking about elitist politicians in Congress who think they know what’s best for you, who think it’s their job to take care of you from cradle to grave, whether you like it or not. I’m not even talking about an administration whose policies sometimes appear to have more in common with the command and control societies of Benito Mussolini or Karl Marx than they do with the freedom loving societies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
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Friday, January 22, 2010
Los Angeles Heading for Bankruptcy, Mayor Tries to Prevent Bond Market Panic / Economics / US Debt
When a politician says something is "not an option" that generally means it is (or soon will be). Sometimes it means it is all but certain. With that in mind, please consider Mayor Villaraigosa says no bankruptcy for the city.
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Friday, January 15, 2010
US Debt: Look At It This Way / Economics / US Debt
Seven ways to put the United States' national debt into perspective...
The SHEER SIZE of the US government's debt hasn't put off new bond buyers so far in 2010.
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