CBO Budget Projections and the Horrors of Inflation

The pills that I thought were tranquilizers turned out to be vitamins, and although I am on the verge of some kind of mental breakdown because of the mix-up, I feel great!

Turning to the old tried and true, I soon learned that I had started too late, and I was not nearly drunk enough to have properly anesthetized my nerves when I chanced to read Agora Financial’s 5- Minute Forecast report that “The CBO’s latest numbers reveal that President Obama’s proposed fiscal 2011 budget would add $9.7 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years.”

Ron Paul: Not Long Before the Gov’t is “Borrowing us Further Into Oblivion”

Dr. Ron Paul (R-TX) isn’t one to let his opinion go unheard… especially as Congress continues approving massive amounts of debt-financed spending.

From his recent Texas Straight Talk:

“Last week, the House approved another increase in the national debt ceiling. This means the government can borrow $1.9 trillion more to stay afloat and avoid default. It has been little more than a year since the last debt limit increase, and graphs showing the debt limit over time show a steep, almost vertical trend. 

Private Sector De-leveraging: A Rally in a Bull Costume

Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the rally. The Dow rose a piddly 11 points. Gold sold off $1.

This rally has gone on for so long most people think it is not a rally at all, but a new bull market. Worldwide, it has taken equities up some 73%…making it one of the greatest rallies ever.

Using Gold to Fend of the FDIC and Its “Problem Banks”

People think that Addison Wiggin is just another talented, intelligent, pretty face who secretly thrills to hear people say things like, “You’re a lot better looking than The Mogambo! And younger and smarter, too!” but he is much, much more than that.

Wall Street Snubbed in European Sovereign Bond Sales

It looks like US banks are losing the opportunity to earn fees on the roughly $500 billion in planned European debt offerings this year. It probably shouldn’t come as a big surprise, given the less than savory details that emerged regarding Goldman’s relationship with Greece, and the series of black eyes the euro currency has been enduring as a result of sovereign debt-related instability.

Are Sovereign Borrowers the Next Crisis Catalyst?

Our little bull market is one year old today. Yep, that’s right, just one year ago our little cherub came into the world… And my how it has grown!

Since touching a 12-year low on March 9, 2009, the Dow has bounced more than 61%. Over the same timeframe, the S&P 500 has soared 72% and the NASDAQ has jumped 84%. These eye-popping numbers could lead one to believe that all is right with the world…or at least that all is much better than it was one year ago.

Championing Stimulus and the Economics of “Surprisingly Normal”

If you don’t read the newspapers you run the risk of missing something. Of course, if you do read them, you run the risk of catching something.

Not much in the financial news worthy of comment this morning…

The Dow gained $13. Gold lost $13. Nothing much to say about it…

Survey: 43% of US Workers, Retirees Have Under $10k Saved for Retirement

If you’re worried about retirement you’re not alone. A new survey out today shows that Americans are increasingly ill-prepared for retirement. US Workers are delaying their planned career end dates to instead focus on building just a basic nest egg. 

According to CNNMoney.com:

US Credit Rating: Who Will be the First to Downgrade?

During World War II, there was a saying, that, “loose lips, sink ships”… I think Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, should have taken those words to heart yesterday… You see, the currencies, led by the beleaguered euro (EUR), were rallying, and the single unit was nearing 1.37, when Papandreou made a statement that sunk the rally’s ship… He said, “Greece’s debt problems could soon spread to the rest of Europe and mean a weaker euro”

CBO Debt Projections: Make Room for “Crowding Out”

The latest deficit projection from the Congressional Budget Office was conveniently revealed just prior to the close of business on Friday.

“Why so?” You ask suspiciously.

“Because,” we respond in a hushed tone.

The CBO’s latest numbers reveal that President Obama’s proposed fiscal 2011 budget would add $9.7 trillion to the national debt over the next 10 years. The White House projection is only slightly less staggering – $8.5 trillion.

Consumer Debt and the Supply-Demand Dynamic

I was recently reminded of the old argument about Say’s Law, and that reminded me that it was Keynes who twisted Say’s theories around to create the ridiculous argument that supply created its own demand, which I say is a load of crap, which pretty much sums up a lot of what Keynes did, probably because he was an egotistical idiot-savant who erroneously thought that he could put economics and human behavior in terms of absolutes that you could turn into equations, a particular, arrogant stupidity that has, nonetheless, fascinated generations of economists since then, all of whom childishly delight in equations and computers, whether it means anything or not, which it doesn’t, which I can actually prove – prove! – with an entire storage area full (the “supply”) of ashtrays made out of dried dog crap, which nobody wanted to buy (the “demand”), proving that supply does NOT create its own demand.

European Monetary Fund: You Heard it Here First

Well… After a couple of weeks of waiting, and wondering if it was going to print or not… There was a very nice article in The Wall Street Journal on Saturday that featured… Me! And my Pfennig! I’m sure that most of you missed it, so if by chance you would want to read what Jeff Opdyke had to say about me and the Pfennig… Click here.