Cuba Cuts One Million Public Jobs… California State Pensions $500 Billion Underwater
Red Ink Rising
I’ve already discussed how the federal government’s budget is bleeding red ink. Well, the state’s aren’t much better. A recent Stanford University report concluded that California’s public employee’s pension fund was an astronomical $500 billion dollars… Continue reading
Is The United States Going Bankrupt?
Renowned economic historian Niall Ferguson is usually even-keeled with his predictions. That was not the case about a month ago when he warned that the United States could be nearing a sudden collapse:
“I think this is a problem that… Continue reading
Bill Clinton Making Some Sense
Here President Clinton discusses the crux of the G20 meetings, whether the US is headed toward a double dip recession, and whether governments should be pursuing austerity measures. He also lets us know that you “can’t get milk out of… Continue reading
A Second Mortgage Meltdown?
As bad as all that sounds, it ignores the dire situation we are facing in a very familiar setting; the housing market. Contrary to popular wisdom, the ‘toxic assets’ have not been cleaned out. It is very likely we are heading for a second mortgage meltdown. Continue reading
Swift Wits: Savers Get Stung, Pay Czar Tackles AIG and Real Estate Keeps Deflating
As of today, few things would be less appealing in your portfolio then dollars. As the Federal Reserve pours liquid-ity into the economy through TARP, stimulus and bailouts, and the Federal Government runs record deficits, interest rates stay artificially low. Depressingly low. In fact, a quick surf of Bankrate.com tells me the highest yielding money market account currently available (MMA) is 1.81%, while the average yield comes in at a whopping 1.113%. (1) That means if a person has $20,000 of hard earned money stuffed away in a MMA, he or she will earn roughly $30/month in taxed income. Nice. Continue reading
Swift Wits: Should We Sell Alaska to Pay Off Debt?
David Walker, the former comptroller general of the GAO, has said the United States is on pace for bankruptcy. Fiscally speaking, things look really bad. So what should we do? Well, real estate developer Aaron Bistons has an idea and a petition to back it up. Sell Alaska! Continue reading
The Art of Monetizing Debt
The public debt soared to $1.27 trillion in July, for fiscal year 2009. The current ceiling for the total public debt is set at $12.1 trillion, a figure the Treasury projects will be eclipsed by mid-October. This has Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner urging Congress to raise the debt ceiling, and raise it fast. Continue reading
GAO Comptroller General David Walker on U.S. Fiscal Mess
Some new projections put unfunded liabilities at over $100 trillion dollars! Regardless of whether we get out of this current financial crisis and regardless of whether the massive amount of money being created in by the Federal Reserve doesn't cause massive inflation, the United States will still have to deal with enormous fiscal deficits. It's a problem we simply cannot ignore. Continue reading
Write Your Local Representative…OK, I Will
It's hard to have any sympathy for Tim Geithner. The man was president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank and director of the Policy Development and Review Department for the International Monetary Fund. Learn how to do your taxes and work TurboTax or better yet, you're not 22 anymore with no assets or responsibility; get an accountant. Continue reading
Setting the Record Straight on George Bush’s Conservative “Free Market” Presidency
In eight years, Bill Clinton only increased the budget from 1.41 trillion to 1.86 trillion, a 32.2% increase which is notably not adjusted for inflation. As a percentage of GDP the budget fell from 21.4% to 18.5%. Under eight years of Bush the budget increased from 1.86 trillion to 3.11 trillion, an uncanny 66.8% increase. Continue reading
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