Debt & Deficits

America’s national philosophy has become relying on debt to pay today’s expenses. Nothing’s easier than borrowing money, especially at super-low interest rates but believing that debt has no consequence, that the status quo is permanent, that all the promises based on soaring debt can be paid—it’s all an appealing fantasy. Believe at your own risk.

This scheme of revolving credit will end badly when the pigeons come home to roost; when the piper has to be paid; when we find out that there is no such thing as a free lunch. It is just a matter of time before we become the last of society’s ‘greater fools’ and, as such, are the ones required to pay the inevitable price of achieving future economic and financial stability.

The continuing support for these bubble markets is shocking to a thinking person, but it reveals that MOST leaders/administrators/traders/investors do not think. What is happening today could be reported as dire/ominous to a person of discernment and understanding…but to financial administrators and political leaders who need pumped-up markets to prevent chaos this mindset is unlikely to change.

Mainstream economic indicators aren’t telling the whole story. We looked beyond the headlines to understand how the economy’s really doing and we found something disturbing in our research that almost no one is talking about.

Global debt-to-GDP is now at a record high and the Bank for International Settlements hasbubbles noted that over the last 16 years, debts of governments, households and corporations has gone up everywhere.

...According to Bloomberg ("White House: Cohn-Led Tax Plan is Real and it's Phenomenal," February 10, 2017), Trump's tax plan, to be released in two or three weeks, will be "the most comprehensive business and individual tax overhaul since 1986." That's saying something, since the landmark 1986 tax bill cut many deductions and reduced the top rate to 28% for the rich, 15% for the middle class, and 0% for the poor.

How much consumer debt is too much? Today’s infographic uses extensive data from Equifax to try and answer this question.

The world of taxation at the personal and corporate level is about to go through a radical overhaul. For the most part, in my view, the forthcoming changes will be positive. With a Republican House and Senate, Mr. Trump has a good shot at having a good number of his tax reforms enacted.

Currently, Russian gold reserves rank 7th in the world. It’s clear that there is a concerted effort by Russian authorities to build up the country’s gold reserves as part of a national strategy to negate the effects of economic warfare waged by the United States.

Some analysts argue that the Fed would be out of ammunition to deal with any future economic crisis but that is not the case. This article analyzes what monetary weapons the Fed could use and what each would mean for the price of gold as a result.