Debt & Deficits

[You are being forwarned - again - that Europe and the U.S. are now on a collision course with a second Lehman-type megashock....A snowball of events - bank runs spreading across Europe - are bringing us a few steps closer. What [can we expect] next? Let me explain. Words: 1795

The International Monetary Fund wants the rules of the IMF changed so it can lend directly to banks and underwrite a rescue of the Spanish financial system without increasing Spain's government debt. If the IMF is permitted to do so, however, the banking system's control would pass to the IMF and such an increase in powers would be momentous. Here's why. Words: 755

The deficits aren't going to stop anytime soon. The debt mountain will keep growing...Obviously, the debt can't keep growing faster than the economy forever, but the people in charge do seem determined to find out just how far they can push things....The only way for the politicians to buy time will be through price inflation, to reduce the real burden of the debt, and whether they admit it or not, inflation is what they will be praying for....[and] the Federal Reserve will hear their prayer. When will the economy reach the wall toward which it is headed? Not soon, I believe, but in the meantime there will be plenty of excitement. [Let me explain what I expect to unfold.] Words: 1833

I continue to see articles in the media claiming that Europe's problems are solved. Either the folks writing these articles can't do simple math, or they don't bother actually reading any of the political news coming out of Europe [so let me present 3 data points that guarantee Europe will collapse at some point in the near future]. Words: 722

Spain is an absolute disaster on a level that [it seems] few, if any, analysts can even grasp. [Let me try to.] Words: 428

In this article I lay out precisely why the coming Crisis in Europe will be THE Crisis I’ve been forecasting for the last 24 months, why it will have dire consequences on the U.S. and why the Fed can do absolutely nothing to stop it this time round. Words: 1334

The plight of municipalities in the U.S., and their struggles under the weight of enormous pension budget deficits, are reaching the critical phase [with] many municipalities [now]contemplating bankruptcy. [That, in turn, is causing]... municipalities [to eliminate jobs (150,000 - 175,000 in 2012) providing significant headwinds to jobs growth nationally [which, in turn, will adversely affect] economic growth...[causing even] more municipalities to declare bankruptcy and [their] states, in turn, run to the Federal government for help. Words: 567

On the surface things may appear to be calm, but I don’t think the European crisis is anywhere near its conclusion. Losses still have to be taken from Ireland, Spain, Portugal and possibly even Italy...There are a number of ways out of Europe’s problems. One of them is higher inflation...[which] is going to be very positive for gold... because the central banks will be under pressure to print

One of the problems with the debate over the “national debt” is that there’s no generally agreed upon definition of that term. Is it what the federal government owes, or what it owes foreigners, or what the whole country, private and public sector together, owes? Does it include off-balance-sheet items and contingent liabilities? There’s a hundred-trillion dollar gap between lowest and highest on this spectrum, which allows each commentator to confuse the rest of us by picking the measure that best suits their point of view. [Let's try to decipher the true state of the nation.] Words: 1468

StatsCan released a major report Friday that outlines the overall debt situation of Canadians... It only measured what is owed by Canadians who carry any form of debt, not those that are debt free, and according to the report, the typical borrower owed an average of $114,400 as of 2009. That number, however,...is almost certainly higher today due to...[the fact that] low lending rates have been at 1% since early 2008...More worrisome could be that two-thirds of all Canadians who carry debt owe more than the average. Words: 585