Infinite Unknown

‘Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren,” Obama said in a 2006 floor speech that preceded a Senate vote to extend the debt limit. “America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership.’

Exactly right!

The latest posting from the Treasury Department shows the National Debt has increased over $2 trillion since President Obama took office.

The debt now stands at $12.6 trillion. On the day Mr. Obama took office it was $10.6 trillion.

President George W. Bush still holds the record for the most debt run up on his watch: $4.9 trillion. But it took him over four years to rack up the first two trillion dollars in debt. It has taken Mr. Obama 421 days.

But the Obama Administration routinely blames the Bush Administration for inheriting a budget surplus and turning it into years of record-breaking deficits and debt — and then leaving it on the doorstep of the new president. Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Debt, Economy, Global News, Government, Obama administration, Politics, U.S.

WASHINGTON (AP) — China retained its spot as the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasury debt in January even as it trimmed its holdings for a third straight month. The string of declines underscored worries that the U.S. government could face much higher interest rates to finance soaring budget deficits.

The Treasury Department said Monday that China’s holdings dipped by $5.8 billion to $889 billion in January compared with December. Japan, the second-largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, also trimmed its holdings but by a much smaller $300 million, to $765.4 billion. Continue reading »

Tags: Bonds, China, Debt, Economy, Government, Politics, U.S.

In 2009 the Fed monetized 80% of US government debt, according to PIMCO’s Bill Gross.

The US has no credibility anymore.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao makes a point at his annual press conference after the closing of the National People’s Congress held in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Sunday, March 14, 2010. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

BEIJING – China’s premier expressed concern about the U.S. dollar and called on Washington on Sunday to take “concrete steps” to reassure Beijing about the safety of its huge Treasury bond holdings.

“Any fluctuation in the value of the U.S. currency is a big concern for us,” Premier Wen Jiabao said at a news conference.

“We cannot afford any mistake, how slight it is, when running our financial assets,” he said. “I would like the United States to take concrete steps to reassure investors.”

China has pressed Washington to control its yawning budget deficit and prevent inflation that would erode the value of the dollar and China’s holdings.

The premier said Treasury values were a matter of the “national credibility” of the United States. Continue reading »

Tags: China, Debt, Dollar, Economy, Global News, Government, Inflation, Politics, U.S.

I have told you many times before that Gordon Brown, ‘THE SAVIOR’, is really just another elite puppet prime minister, that is destroying any future that the people of the UK might have had, hand in hand with the Bank of England, that is printing money like mad to destroy the pound.

The BoE calls it ‘Quantitative Easing’, which is creating money out of thin air = pure inflation, which is nothing more than a hidden tax.

Those criminals are looting the taxpayer until there is nothing left.

The same is happening in the US, with their elite puppet President Obama and the Fed.

UniCredit has alerted investors in a client note that Britain is at serious risk of a bond market and sterling debacle and faces even more intractable budget woes than Greece.

No turning back: Sterling is going to fall further over coming months, warns Unicredit

The Italian-German group, Europe’s second largest bank, said Britain’s tax structure will make it hard to raise fresh revenue quickly enough to restore confidence in UK public finances.

“I am becoming convinced that Great Britain is the next country that is going to be pummelled by investors,” said Kornelius Purps, Unicredit ’s fixed income director and a leading analyst in Germany.

Mr Purps said the UK had been cushioned at first by low debt levels but the pace of deterioration has been so extreme that the country can no longer count on market tolerance.

“Britain’s AAA-rating is highly at risk. The budget deficit is huge at 13pc of GDP and investors are not happy. The outgoing government is inactive due to the election. There will have to be absolute cuts in public salaries or pay, but nobody is talking about that,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“Sterling is going to fall further over coming months. I am not expecting a crash of the gilts market but we may see a further rise in spreads of 30 to 50 basis points.” Continue reading »

Tags: Bank of England, Bonds, Debt, Economy, Politics, pound, Quantitative Easing, Rating, U.K.

The US deficit in 2008 stood at $459bn

(AP) WASHINGTON — The government ran up the largest monthly deficit in history in February, keeping the flood of red ink on track to top last year’s record for the full year.

The Treasury Department said Wednesday that the February deficit totaled $220.9 billion, 14 percent higher than the previous record set in February of last year.

The deficit through the first five months of this budget year totals $651.6 billion, 10.5 percent higher than a year ago.

The Obama administration is projecting that the deficit for the 2010 budget year will hit an all-time high of $1.56 trillion, surpassing last year’s $1.4 trillion total. The administration is forecasting that the deficit will remain above $1 trillion in 2011, giving the country thrree straight years of $1 trillion-plus deficits.

Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Debt, Economy, Global News, Government, Obama administration, Politics, U.S.

Fitch Ratings has delivered a serious blow to the credibility of the Government’s budget plans, warning that Britain risks a loss of investor confidence and erosion of its AAA rating unless it maps out clear austerity measures.

Fitch warns Britain and questions Greek rescue as sovereign risks grow

Brian Coulton, the agency’s head of sovereign ratings, said the UK has seen “the most rapid rise in the ratio of public debt to GDP of any AAA-rated country” and is courting fate with its leisurely plan to halve the deficit by the middle of the decade.

“It is frankly too slow, a pedestrian pace. Why the UK thinks it has more time than other countries , we’re not sure. This needs to be reoriented,” he told the Fitch forum on sovereign hotspots.

A string of European states are stepping up the pace of retrenchment, aiming to cut deficits to 3pc of GDP within three years. The risk is that Britain will soon stick out like a sore thumb, left behind with a shockingly large deficit long after such loose fiscal policy can be justified as a crisis measure. The UK deficit this year is 12.6pc of GDP, the highest among G10 states. Continue reading »

Tags: Bailout, Debt, Economy, EU, Fitch, GDP, George Papandreou, Government, Greece, Politics, Rating, U.K.

March 7 (Bloomberg) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the European Union must support Greece or risk destroying the euro as Prime Minister George Papandreou heads for Paris to lobby support for the debt-laden country.

“If we created the euro, we cannot let a country fall that is in the eurozone,” said Sarkozy yesterday before a meeting with Papandreou in Paris today. “Otherwise there was no point in creating the euro. We must support Greece because they are making an effort.”

EU leaders have so far refused to give financial aid to Greece and have ordered the government to cut its budget deficit, the EU’s highest, on its own. While Papandreou says steps taken this past week to slash the shortfall warrant more help from the EU, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said yesterday that his country is “not going to write a blank check.”

Papandreou is visiting Berlin, Paris and Washington after his government passed a 4.8 billion euro ($6.5 billion) austerity package on March 5. A poll published in To Vima newspaper today showed 51.9 percent of voters support him even after the cuts, compared with 47.5 percent who don’t. Continue reading »

Tags: Debt, Economy, EU, Euro, France, Global News, Government, Greece, Nicolas Sarkozy, Politics

Empty rail tracks are seen at at the entrance to the Thision underground railway in Athens on March 5, 2010. (Bloomberg)

March 5 (Bloomberg) — Striking Greek workers shut down transport and tried to storm parliament as lawmakers passed 4.8 billion euros ($6.5 billion) in budget cuts, including wage reductions, needed to trim the region’s biggest budget deficit.

Police with riot shields fired tear gas as demonstrators wearing biker helmets and ski masks pelted them with stones outside parliament in Athens where lawmakers approved the measures. Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou told parliament the cuts will show European Union allies and investors that Greece is making good on its deficit pledges.

“We didn’t create this crisis but now we have to pay for it,” said Manthos Adamakis, who was protesting with other catering workers outside the five-star Grande Bretagne Hotel on Syntagma Square in downtown Athens. Continue reading »

Tags: Debt, Economy, EU, Europe, Global News, Government, Greece, Politics, Protesters, Society

The Fed, creating the US dollar out of thin air, is the real Ponzi scheme here and not gold.

Marc Faber’s recommendation to continue buying gold every month, forever, received a full broadside on CNBC.

[At 3:45 in the video]:

“You see sir, I am a huge fan of yours, but I have a real difficulty here that I’d like you to help me out with. If I’m looking to invest in my retirement, I have a choice of investing in the American stock market, which is basically a play on change, bright people, working internationally in teams, around the world, and chasing the margin every day of their lives… OR… I can do what you’re suggesting and buy an inanimate object that sits in a dark, damp cellar somewhere, that may or may not be in short supply, may or may not glitter in the correct light, but really has no productive power. Isn’t gold the ultimate Ponzi scheme?”

Faber’s response:

“No, I don’t think it’s a Ponzi scheme, and it’s not a liability of someone else… it’s quantity cannot be increased at the same rate as you can print money… I’m not saying that the dollar will go straight away down because other currencies like the euro are even worse at the present time. But eventually if you print money, the purchasing power will lose.” Continue reading »

Tags: Bailout, Debt, Dollar, ECB, Economy, EU, Euro, Gold, Greece, Italy, Marc Faber, Ponzi schemes, Portugal, Spain, Stock Market, U.S.

See also:
- Greece passes new deficit cuts to avert ‘catastrophe’ (Telegraph)

George Papandreou, Greece’s prime minister, pauses during a conference organized by The Economist in Athens, on Feb. 2, 2010. (Bloomberg)

March 4 (Bloomberg) — Greece’s pledge to deepen planned budget-deficit cuts failed to yield an offer of assistance from Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, as protesters in Athens seized the finance ministry building and blocked roads in the city center.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said a meeting tomorrow with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou won’t be “about aid commitments.” Her finance minister, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said the third round of deficit-reduction measures this year were probably enough to convince investors to buy Greek debt.

While Papandreou is risking a backlash at home to meet European Union demands for more deficit cuts before allies even consider providing aid, Merkel is facing domestic opposition to tapping taxpayers to extend a financial lifeline to Greece.

“There would be no understanding in Germany for bailing out Greece,” Henrik Enderlein, a political economist at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, said by phone. “It’s a bit of catch-22 situation: if you give in to Greece and you put 5 billion or perhaps even 10 billion into some kind of rescue package or into some guarantees, then the German government would look irresponsible. However, if it doesn’t, then European Union leaders might put a lot of pressure on Merkel and say, look, we have to bail out Greece.” Continue reading »

Tags: Angela Merkel, Debt, Economy, EU, Euro, Europe, George Papandreou, Germany, Government, Greece, Politics, Protesters, Taxpayers