Meredith Whitney On Muni Doom: Governors Know I'm Right On This
• BusinessInsider.com/When asked whether states have reached out to her, she says "Governors agree with me, it's the bond market that doesn't"
Contents Pages by Subject
Government Debt & Financing
Republicans Push For A "Brief" Default As China Warns US Is "Playing With Fire"
• ZeroHedge.comChina announced that the United States is "playing with fire" if it opts to briefly default on its debt, which could undermine the dollar, Li Daokui, an adviser to China's central bank said on Wednesday. Yet the statement could very well backfire...
Real US Debt is $61 Trillion
• EconomicPolicyJournal.comWhen the U.S. government reports its debt, it does not include payment that it is required to make to seniors, veterans and retired employee. If those were included, as they should be, the US debt would be an far greater number...
The Global Debt Crisis: How We Got in It and How to Get Out
• truthout.orgCountries everywhere are facing debt crises today, precipitated by the credit collapse of 2008.
Meredith Whitney Broadens Concerns on State Fiscal Woes
• BusinessInsider.com/As Whitney shows, these off-balance sheet numbers are an incredible three times the size of all on-balance sheet debt, totaling $2 trillion. The load is rising quickly; the unfunded pension burden has jumped 50% in the past year.
China Has Divested 97 Percent of Its Holdings in U.S. Treasury Bills
• cnsnews.comChina has dropped 97 percent of its holdings in U.S. Treasury bills, decreasing its ownership of the short-term U.S. government securities from a peak of $210.4 billion in May 2009 to $5.69 billion in March 2011, the most recent month reported by the
INTERVIEW-W.Bank to suggest CO2 levy on jet, shipping fuel
• www.af.reuters.comThe World Bank will suggest a global levy on jet and shipping fuel in recommendations to G20 governments later this year on raising climate finance, a senior official said on Sunday.
‘Bankrupt’ claim heightens Spanish debt fears
• www.ft.comThe central Spanish region of Castilla-La Mancha is “totally bankrupt”, according to the incoming administration of the rightwing Popular party (PP), an accusation that will deepen concerns about Spain’s budget deficit.
Charles Hugh Smith: Taking Away the Punchbowl
• OfTwoMinds.com/blogFederal spending has risen by 40% since 2008 and the deficit has soared to over 40% of Federal spending. That's the punchbowl Wall Street fears might be taken away.
Fiscal Sodomy of The American Public and Bankster Holdings of PIIGS Debt
• EconomicPolicyJournal.comBottom line: There's a global bankster game going on where the role for the average American is to simply pay for it.
Our Hobson's Choice: Higher Taxes or Higher Inflation Via Christine Lagarde
• EconomicPolicyJournal.comThe best way to hide the true cost is to have other people’s taxpayers foot the bill, preferably with the least possible transparency. Thus, euro-zone politicians have a lot at stake, and look for Ms. Lagarde to run the I.M.F.
When All You Have Is A Hammer (QE3)
• Market-ticker.orgWhen you reach the point that new debt creates negative changes in economic activity you either stop the idiocy of continued debt issuance or you're destined to have an economic catastrophe.
Pat Buchanan: What Must We Defend?
• http://townhall.com/"We need to be honest with the president, with the Congress, with the American people" about the consequences of cutting the defense budget, said Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in his valedictory policy address to the American Enterprise Institute
11 Things You Should Know About The U.S. Postal Service Before It Goes Bankrupt
• Business InsiderThe Postal Service is nearly $15 billion in debt. It has stayed afloat by borrowing $12 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The agency has lost $20 billion since 2007.
UN Warns of Risk Of “Collapse” Of Dollar
• ZeroHedge.comThe United Nations warned on Wednesday of a possible crisis of confidence in, and even a "collapse" of, the U.S. dollar if its value against other currencies continued to decline.
Bill Bonner: Things Get Curiouser and Curiouser
• LewRockwell.comIn ’71, the US seemed to have thrown caution to the winds, with a deficit of $23 billion. Fiscal realists gasped and clutched their hearts. They’d better sit down, because today the deficit is expected to top $1.6 trillion this year alone, up 7,000%.
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Expatriation: A Path To Personal Liberty
• Magazine Article Simon BlackIn 43 BC, warring consuls Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian were duking it out with each other over control of Rome following Julius Caesar's assassination the prior March. Each had legions at his disposal, and Rome's terrified Senate sat on its hands wa
State and local governments may cut 450,000 jobs in FY2012
• Reuters.com/Most states and municipalities begin new fiscal years on July 1.
David Stockman: Both US Parties Are Now Advocating Default
• BusinessInsider.com/David Stocksman, the former Reagan advisor-turned-deficit hawk sees "no hope" of the two parties coming to an agreement on the US debt, because neither party is willing to compromise on either spending or taxes...
Battle Over IMF Chief: Proxy War Over Power of Banks?
• NakedCapitalism.com/But what is intriguing are the arguments that follow, which reveal what the real stakes are. Crudely speaking, the advanced economies are far more bank friendly than their “emerging” counterparts. China is actively hostile to neoclassical economics..
Goldman Aligns Itself With China In Choice For Next IMF Head
• ZeroHedge.comIn other words, Goldman has aligned itself with China, which has made it clear that it may be wise if the next IMF leadership "reflected the New World Order."
Pentagon weapons buyer quietly visits California to discuss bomber planes
• W.J. Hennigan, Los Angeles TimesThere is $197 million set aside for developing the bomber in the 2012 fiscal budget, and $3.7 billion is allocated for the program over the next five years, said Maj. Chad Steffey, an Air Force spokesman. The program's prospects in Congress also l
US Debt And The Presidents Responsible
• ZeroHedge.comEnjoy!
Meredith Whitney Warns on Muni Debt: The Countdown Begins In July
• EconomicPolicyJournal.comNext month will be pivotal for most states, as it marks the fiscal year end and is when balanced budgets are due. The states have racked up over $1.8 trillion in taxpayer-supported obligations in large part by underfunding their pension and other...
Current Government Expenditures versus Receipts
• EconomicPolicyJournal.comTo me the chart dramatically shows just how far the government is from serious budget control. In my world, a first step would be to see the blue line (expenditures) fall below the red line (receipts), while preventing any increase in the red line.
What a Public Bank Could Mean for California
• truthout.orgThe state's facing big debt, but also big opportunity.
Today on LewRockwell.com - Thursday May 19th, 2011
• lewrockwell.comSell the Gold in Fort Knox - Ron Paul is right, says Gary North. / Are You a Sheeple? - Take the quiz and grade yourself, says Mike Adams. / Sell Yellowstone Park - Becky Akers on desocialization and paying off some debt.
David Stockman: Compares The Treasury Market To A "Roach Hotel"
• ZeroHedge.comWe have had a rigged market that has been dominated by not just the Fed, but all the central banks. Today over half of the $9 trillion in publicly-held debt is in central bank vaults. I call it the 'Monetary Roach Hotel.'"
Timothy "Pavlov" Geithner and His Federal Jackbooted Games
• Market-ticker.orgWell Timmy, lots of people saw this coming. I did. The only people who "couldn't see it coming" are those who are so arrogant as to think they can play Global Thermonuclear Financial Armageddon whenever their social spending and military...
Meredith Whitney: Here Comes The "Hidden State Financial Crisis"
• ZeroHedge.com"Defaults in a variety of forms by states and municipalities are already happening and more are inevitable. Taxpayers have borne the initial brunt of these defaults by paying higher taxes in exchange for lower social services.
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