debt
The Lost Decade Ahead
“The worst is behind for the economy, and we’re on the mend,” was the quote of the week, and it came from David Katz, chief investment officer of Matrix Asset Advisors. (Katz was interviewed for a piece on Bloomberg.com this morning.) This wonderful summation regarding the state of the economy came on the heels of [...]
The Debt Bomb Boogie
Yes, this country’s financial situation is abysmal. The federal deficit is set to hit $1.7 trillion for the 2009 fiscal year, hovering around 13 percent of GDP. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts that the total federal budget could reach $13 trillion by the fall of 2010. The NY Times reported that the CBO puts [...]
Consumers High on Hope
Consumers are high on hope, choosing the drug peddled by politicians, mall operators and bankrupt car makers, over the dismal news coming from the housing and job markets. Consumer sentiment, the lifeblood of the American economy, climbed last month to the highest level since last year. The faint glimmers of good news in some areas [...]
Federal Budget Deficit Kills Spring Fever
Spring is finally here after a long, frightfully cold winter. And with it comes the delusions induced by spring fever. Both the Obama administration and investors are stricken with the heady optimism associated with this illness, classifying the trickles of less than horrible economic data as green shoots that will bring America out of the [...]
Still Heading for the Abyss
Stock markets across this troubled planet rocketed ahead late this week – mainly on Thursday – because it appears that the world’s largest economies are slowing down as they approach the abyss. But, what jubilant investors are missing is that we’re still headed for the abyss – the economic trajectory has not changed. Extremely tough [...]
The Culture of Debt
I have something that I’m quite proud of to share with you this afternoon. It’s an essay called The Culture of Debt, and I wrote it about three years ago. At the time, the credit bubble was still growing, feeding a boom in real estate and fueling all manner of mindless consumption. I wrote this [...]
The World According to Gordon Brown
It was all smiles at the conclusion of the G20 summit held in London yesterday. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown babbled on about the emergence of a new world order – which will be composed of the very same self-serving politicians that he was bickering with just a few hours before this laughable announcement of [...]
Where did America’s Wealth go?
Where did America’s wealth go? That is the question being asked from Washington state to Washington DC. The Federal Reserve reported yesterday that U.S. household net worth plummeted by $11.2 trillion, equivalent to a loss of close to 18 percent, during 2008. Household net worth – which is assets owned minus liabilities owed – of [...]
Feds Scheme to Nationalize Citigroup
It’s round three in the federal government’s fight to save Citigroup. Last weekend, officials from the Obama administration and Citigroup discussed the possibility of expanding the government’s ownership stake in the troubled banking giant by converting existing preferred shares into common stock. This development makes the question of nationalizing large, troubled commercial banks a matter [...]
Stop Digging! – A Criticism of Economic Stimulus
Over the past two decades, the U.S. has shifted from a nation of producers and savers to one of shoppers and spendthrifts. Now, our collective recklessness is plunging our economy into its darkest period since the Great Depression. It’s time for politicians to create policies that promote fiscal responsibility as opposed to ones that encourage [...]
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