By Les Dunaway
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Meredith Whitney looks at the state of the states. With the end of stimulus money and the end of QE2 (quantitative easing) just weeks away, this is timely. In January we talked about the states “The States – America’s PIIGS?” in relation the EU countries.
Several states have used stimulus money to put off dealing with systemic problems – … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
The long expected housing double dip has happened. Diana Olick, Reality Check, reports that March 2011 numbers are lower than the March 2009 trough. In a second piece she discusses reasons for the dip. Unfortunately, her analysis has since been damaged by today’s unemployment report. In her 23 March 2011 analysis she states “The pros are that the job market is slowly recovering. Jobs are key to … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
This April 18th, 2011 will be one of those dates hated by school kids – because it will be part of the dreaded “essay question”. It’s still to be seen what the essay will describe – the beginning of America’s slide into oblivion or the beginning of her heroic escape from the yawning abyss of Euro-socialism.
One essay tied to 18 Apr 2011 can be written now … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
In a move surprising only those who believe demagoguery is a substitute for economics, the Standard & Poor Ratings Services downgraded its outlook on the US to “Negative” from “Stable”. This is the first step toward a downgrade of the US credit rating from AAA, which would increase borrowing costs and hasten America’s spiral into economic ruin.
“More than two … Read more...
By J. Randolph Evans
The recently averted federal government shutdown has increased the focus on the federal budget crisis. Politicians (and talking heads) throw around words like ‘federal deficit’ and ‘federal debt’ as if they were interchangeable. Yet, these words actually mean very different things. In today’s world of spend, spend, spend, understanding these words and their implications has never been more important.
‘Federal Deficit.’ First, and importantly, the federal … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
On Tuesday, either the PC-censor was out sick or there’s a new kid who’s not yet trained – either way a piece was published that is worthy of attention
“Inflation Actually Near 10% Using Older Measure“.
What “older measure” you might ask. Well, the older measure based on actual arithmetic rather than “Hedonic Adjustments” .
The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes the process … Read more...
By Michael S. Opitz
Well, last night we received the news that the Republicans, Democrats, and the President reached a 2011 budget agreement at the 11th hour, but only after many calls to “K Street” for consultation and advice. “K Street” is the inside beltway term for the powerful national and international (global) lobbyists who make big dollar contributions to those who supposedly work for and represent us.
Both parties … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
We’ve heard lots about America’s debt in the past weeks – unless you watch the 6 o’clock news, then all you’ve heard about is shootings and wrecks. Some commentators would have you believe that debt is bad. No, debt is not bad. Debt is a business tool. Arguably, the most important business tool. Look around, every thing you see – buildings, roads, hospitals, …. were built … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
With our non-royalty political structure, the term sovereign is not a household word. It is one with which we need to become familiar. The term refers to governments, as in sovereign debt, sovereign default, sovereign bankruptcy and (less frequently) sovereign fiscal responsibility. The following press release tells of an important scholarly work on understanding this critical set of issues:
WASHINGTON, March 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
In “The States – America’s PIIGS? ” we talked about the debt / spending problems that various US states and cities face. An insightful look at the underlying cause is found in “What’s Your State’s Deadweight Ratio?” by William Baldwin in the Mar 16, 2011 Forbes.
Mr Baldwin writes
“The structural problem is that government has too many mouths to feed. It’s possible to … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
Have you ever had storm damage to your house? If so, your homeowners insurance probably covered most of it but some of it came out of your pocket (or your plastic 😉 What if the plastic was maxed-out? Wow! Maybe that blue tarp needs to stay on the roof for a while? Well, Japan just had some damage and their plastic is waaaaay maxed-out. What does their … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
This week’s column is a commentary, with references, on the “chalk talk” that Paul Ryan (R-WI) Chairman House Budget Committee has been presenting to House Republicans to reach a clear understanding of the crisis our country faces. The presentation does not propose solutions, it is only intended to reach understanding of the problem. Below is the description of the sessions from Politico – Mar 6, 2011, pasted … Read more...