Category: US Debt
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Friday, May 20, 2011
U.S. Deficit Legacy of Bush Policies and Economic Downturn / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Jesse
The Chart That Should Accompany Every Discussion of Deficits - The Atlantic
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Wednesday, May 18, 2011
The Federal Debt Default Tornado Is Coming, Prepare Your Storm Shelter / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Gary_North
Sometimes we need a hole to crawl into.
I recently spoke at a conference sponsored by a small rural church in Alabama. Several of the families had been in the path of one of the tornadoes that swept through the state. One of the families had a storm shelter/basement. Several nearby families did not. So, they ran for the house of the family that did.
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Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Raising the Roof on U.S. Debt / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Peter_Schiff
Today the U.S. government officially borrowed beyond its $14.29 trillion statutory debt limit. And even though the Obama administration has assured us that accounting gimmickry will allow the government to borrow for another few months, the breach has given seeming urgency to Congressional negotiations to raise the debt ceiling.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Pimco's Gross Talks Bond Market, U.S. Deficit and Europe Crisis / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Bloomberg
Bill Gross, founder and co-CIO of Pimco, appeared on Bloomberg Television's "InBusiness with Margaret Brennan" today to discuss the bond market, the U.S. deficit and Greece being the top candidate for default in Europe. Gross says that Geithner gave the U.S. debt limit "wiggle room" and that QE3 will take the form of language instead of buying.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
U.S. Debt Ceiling: Facts and Thoughts / Politics / US Debt
By: Asha_Bangalore
In the April 4, 2011 letter to John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Treasury Secretary Geithner indicated that if the debt limit ($14.29 trillion) is not raised by May 16, 2011, the Treasury would undertake extraordinary measures.
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Wednesday, May 11, 2011
U.S. Economy Boom or Doom, The Truth about the Debt Ceiling Debate / Economics / US Debt
By: Q1_Publishing
Let the fear-mongering begin.
The debt ceiling debate has been positioned as a lose/lose situation.
Some claim a failure to increase the debt ceiling will lead to near-term financial Armageddon. They say the U.S. government can’t cut spending now. Deep cuts would kill the economic recovery.
Tuesday, May 03, 2011
Federal Debt Burdens, How to Restore Fiscal Sanity in the United States / Politics / US Debt
By: John_Mauldin
One of the great privileges of traveling and speaking as I do is getting to meet a wide variety of very interesting people. Of late, I have become friends with David Walker, former Comptroller General of the US, who is now crisscrossing the country warning of the deficit crisis. It is a message that my book Endgame resonates with. If we do not bring the deficit down below the growth rate of nominal GDP, we become Greece. We hit an economic wall and everything collapses. It will be a real and true Depression 2.0. Fixing this is the single most important topic and task of our generation. If we do not, worrying about P/E ratios, moving averages, long-term investments - anything else, in fact - is secondary. Solve this and we can go back to the usual issues.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
The Debt and Inflation Endgame Headwinds / Economics / US Debt
By: John_Mauldin
I have written repeatedly about the Endgame in the weekly letter, as well as in a New York Times best-seller on the same topic. By Endgame I mean the period of time in which many of the developed economies of the world will either willingly deleverage or be forced to do so. This age of deleveraging will produce a fundamentally different economic environment, which the McKinsey study referenced below suggests will last anywhere from 4-6 years. Now, whether this deleveraging is orderly, as now appears to be the case in Britain, or more resembles what I have long predicted will be a violent default in Greece, it will create a profoundly different economic world from the one we have lived in for 60 years. This makes sense, in that the prior world was defined by ever-increasing amounts of leverage. Outright reductions in leverage or even a significant slowing of the rate of growth is a whole new ballgame, economically speaking.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
US Debt Limit Cognitive Dissonance / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Brian_Bloom
Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a motivational drive to reduce dissonance. They do this by changing their attitudes, beliefs, and actions.[2] Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming, and denying. It is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance )
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
U.S. Debt Saturation and Money Illusion / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Gordon_T_Long
Most of the clearly evident financial problems that surround us today stem from one cause - Debt Saturation.
Most, intuitively, sense this to be a correct assessment but few can either prove it or articulate it to the less sophisticated. Let me arm you to be the "Nostradamus" amongst your friends and colleagues in explaining the problem and what the future therefore foretells.
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Monday, April 25, 2011
U.S. Waking Up to Economic Realities / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Dr_Ron_Paul
Last week the financial markets were roiled by Standard & Poor's announcement that they will change their outlook on the fiscal health of the United States over the next two years from "stable" to "negative". The administration decried this decision as political. However, it seems the only political thing about this decision is the fact that it took so long. The Washington Post recently reported that the White House and the Treasury Department put tremendous pressure on S&P not to do this.
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Saturday, April 23, 2011
Downgrades Galore, U.S. Debt Becomes Scary / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Dr_Jeff_Lewis
As if there weren’t already ample reasons not to purchase US Treasury securities, the ratings agency Standard and Poors’ has provided investors with another reason: it may soon be downgraded.
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Friday, April 22, 2011
Raising U.S. Debt Ceiling Spells Economic Disaster / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: LewRockwell
Jeff Scribner writes: Nero fiddled while Rome burned. The President and the Congress are playing political games while the national debt grows to out of control proportions. We should hold the government’s feet to the fire and force an end to spending using borrowed money. An opportunity to do this will arise in a month or so.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Uncle Sam Busted, The S&P U.S. Debt Rating Announcement / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Robert_Murphy
On Monday, Standard and Poor's (S&P) announced that although the US government would retain its AAA debt rating, the outlook for the United States' future was being downgraded from "stable" to "negative." The move is a welcome if tepid acknowledgement of the fiscal train wreck of which Austrians have been warning for years.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Government Debt Bubble Targeted with S&P Outlook / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Jason_Kaspar
Washington has been placed on notice that it’s reckless spending and unfathomable fiscal debt is not immune to the censure of Wall Street.
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Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Standard & Poor’s US Sovereign Debt Downgrade Initial Reflections / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Asha_Bangalore
Standard & Poor's changed in its outlook on US sovereign debt to "negative" but reaffirmed the AAA rating of the nation's debt. Today's financial market response to this action includes equity prices viewing this in negative light. As of this writing the S&P 500 was down 1.1% at 1305. At the same time, the Treasury market posted a significant rally, with the 10-year Treasury note yield trading around 3.37% after closing at 3.43% on April 15. The dollar has gained ground vis-à-vis the euro and pound sterling. Gold prices moved ahead to nearly $1500 per ounce and oil prices have edged down.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Standard & Poor's U.S. Sovereign Debt Downgrade Watershed Event / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Richard_Mills
"Common sense tells us that a government central bank creating new money out of thin air depreciates the value of each dollar in circulation." ~ Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX)
Monday, April 18, 2011
SP Eventually Downgrades U.S Debt Ratings to Negative / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Jesse
This is the same SP whose ratings were for sale to the banks throughout the build up to the financial crisis, and which has largely escaped investigation and indictment. So, even though their opinion here may be valid, how are we to know that it has not been bought again, with regard to timing and impact?
Friday, April 15, 2011
Student Loans Big Business, Underwritten by Tax Payers / Politics / US Debt
By: Mike_Whitney
Student loans are a big business. In fact, student debt now exceeds $895 billion which is more than the total Americans owe on their credit cards. And, most of these loans are underwritten by the US government, which means that the taxpayer is on the hook when students can't repay the debt. This is a big problem, because many of the people taking out loans are not really qualified for college, so they end up dropping out of school and defaulting on their loans putting themselves in long-term debt while passing the bill along to Uncle Sam. But not everyone loses on the deal. In fact, the institutions that help unqualified applicants get loans, do quite well. After all, they're paid in full by the government. If this sounds like it might be a scam; it's because it is. All the recruiters need to do is find a credulous subject, bamboozle him into signing on the dotted line, and hold his hand for the first few weeks of the new semester. That's all it takes to net a big government payout. Here's a rundown of how it works from an article by Chris Kirkham at the Huffington Post:
Monday, April 11, 2011
U.S. Downward Debt Spiral Into the Abyss / Interest-Rates / US Debt
By: Jesse
As we can see, the 'crisis' of the US budget impasse was averted, and the theater came to an end. Now the real work of creating a sustainable budget can begin.
The pigmen are going to be unrelenting in their attacks on the middle class and the poor. The attacks are threefold: