IMHO, the result of terminating stimulus spending would be more negative financing. The CBO numbers shown above indicate that the private sector is still cutting back on employment in the second quarter of 2010. In a vacuum, this would cause income tax receipts to drop, and government spending would be required to cover unemployment benefits to the newly unemployed. So the deficit would continue to rise whether or not stimulus spending continued. The question is, by how much?
"...I can attest that the odds are highly stacked against the success of state ownership and management of businesses." Given its corporate structure, whither Volkswagen?
So you propose to cut payments to disabled veterans and put them out into the street because the cost of promises made to them when we the people wanted them to go into harm's way on our behalf have become inconveniently expensive to keep? That sounds like as much an example of "moral hazard" to me as a mortgagee's "strategic default." Maybe we the people should've thought harder about the eventual cost of those promises before we made them, but it's too late for that now.
Strategic Defaults: The Next Mortgage Time Bomb [View article]
I've got an ARM, and my mortgage rate just reset - to a lower level. My monthly payment is actually decreasing and, combined with a reduction in my property tax (as the county government actually recognized the fall in housing values), I'm going to have an unexpected increase in my disposable income starting this month! Surely I'm not the only person in this position, but I don't see anyone in this thread taking it into account. What's the effect on the economy as a whole?
Jeffrey Saut: Dollar May Be Entering Bullish Phase [View article]
"Some are just moving down more slowly than others." If the American dollar trails the field down, the effect would still be to make American exports more expensive and imports cheaper. That would derail American employment growth and tax receipts and worsen the deficit. Not good. We need a cheap dollar, at least for the moment, for an export-led recovery.
What Happens When the Jobs Don't Return [View article]
"From my perspective American politicians at all government levels need to wake up to the current U.S. economic reality that the status quo of recent years is not sustainable, cut their spending..." What happens then to the cops, firemen, teachers, road crew workers, garbagemen, etc.? We've already got too many people in the unemployment lines. I don't see how adding more will help us get to where we want to go. Help me out here.
Is Sovereign Debt Crisis Contained to Subprime? [View article]
Not going to happen - the programs are too big, too spread out and too entrenched. Everyone has their pet. Once the entire nation is done with "Cut everything except..." we'll find that, politically, nothing can be cut.
Demographic Trends Mean America's Future Looks Bright [View article]
"78 million boomers retiring in the next 15 years. A heavy % of consumers will be trending toward retirement without enough savings to fund their retirement(s)." The answer is simple. They won't be retiring. They'll work past normal retirement age, some well past it. Not all seniors are automatically in poor health - most will be capable of working to 70 or beyond. Whether or not this is a good thing depends on whether or not you're counting on boomers leaving the workforce as a source of job openings.
GM Loan Repayment: Mischaracterization at Best, Lie at Worst [View article]
"Strange conclusions. Ford has been punished as a result of all this crony capitalism - why should the government be choosing who wins and loses?" Perhaps because it's what's made companies like Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai what they are today? See below, p. 24: www.piie.com/publicati... If Toyota is the pinnacle of car companies, shouldn't we be doing what made them great - right down to a targeted government industrial policy, tariff and non-tariff barriers, restrictions on foreign stock ownership and cartelization of suppliers?
Is U.S. Recession Over? [View article]
Was the GM Bailout a Success? [View article]
Given its corporate structure, whither Volkswagen?
Australian Crisis Brewing [View article]
Strategic Defaults: The Next Mortgage Time Bomb [View article]
Jeffrey Saut: Dollar May Be Entering Bullish Phase [View article]
If the American dollar trails the field down, the effect would still be to make American exports more expensive and imports cheaper. That would derail American employment growth and tax receipts and worsen the deficit. Not good. We need a cheap dollar, at least for the moment, for an export-led recovery.
What Happens When the Jobs Don't Return [View article]
What happens then to the cops, firemen, teachers, road crew workers, garbagemen, etc.? We've already got too many people in the unemployment lines. I don't see how adding more will help us get to where we want to go. Help me out here.
What Happens When the Jobs Don't Return [View article]
Is Sovereign Debt Crisis Contained to Subprime? [View article]
Gold Decouples on International Debt Crisis Concerns - Gold Forecast to Reach $3,000 [View article]
Is Sovereign Debt Crisis Contained to Subprime? [View article]
How Tariffs Could Help Greece [View article]
How Tariffs Could Help Greece [View article]
www.scribd.com/doc/613...
Industry expanded throughout the United States during this period.
Demographic Trends Mean America's Future Looks Bright [View article]
The answer is simple. They won't be retiring. They'll work past normal retirement age, some well past it. Not all seniors are automatically in poor health - most will be capable of working to 70 or beyond. Whether or not this is a good thing depends on whether or not you're counting on boomers leaving the workforce as a source of job openings.
Squatters: 4.4 Million and Counting [View article]
GM Loan Repayment: Mischaracterization at Best, Lie at Worst [View article]
Perhaps because it's what's made companies like Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai what they are today?
See below, p. 24:
www.piie.com/publicati...
If Toyota is the pinnacle of car companies, shouldn't we be doing what made them great - right down to a targeted government industrial policy, tariff and non-tariff barriers, restrictions on foreign stock ownership and cartelization of suppliers?