US Austerity in the Face of a “Fiscal Cliff”

The financial news yesterday was dominated by alarming reports from Europe.

“Backlash,” said The Financial Times…referring to an “anti-austerity wave” that washed over Europe in weekend voting.

If the FT doesn’t mind mixing metaphors, we don’t either. But our metaphors are a bit different. What has happened is not a backlash but a wake-up call. It comes as voters realize that the placebo medicine — phony, half-hearted austerity measures peddled by the Euro elite — don’t work. They want an elixir with more of a kick to it. That’s why the leftists are gaining so much ground.

[Read more...]

US Austerity in the Face of a “Fiscal Cliff”

The financial news yesterday was dominated by alarming reports from Europe.

“Backlash,” said The Financial Times…referring to an “anti-austerity wave” that washed over Europe in weekend voting.

If the FT doesn’t mind mixing metaphors, we don’t either. But our metaphors are a bit different. What has happened is not a backlash but a wake-up call. It comes as voters realize that the placebo medicine — phony, half-hearted austerity measures peddled by the Euro elite — don’t work. They want an elixir with more of a kick to it. That’s why the leftists are gaining so much ground.

[Read more...]

US Austerity in the Face of a “Fiscal Cliff”

The financial news yesterday was dominated by alarming reports from Europe.

“Backlash,” said The Financial Times…referring to an “anti-austerity wave” that washed over Europe in weekend voting.

If the FT doesn’t mind mixing metaphors, we don’t either. But our metaphors are a bit different. What has happened is not a backlash but a wake-up call. It comes as voters realize that the placebo medicine — phony, half-hearted austerity measures peddled by the Euro elite — don’t work. They want an elixir with more of a kick to it. That’s why the leftists are gaining so much ground.

[Read more...]

US Austerity in the Face of a “Fiscal Cliff”

The financial news yesterday was dominated by alarming reports from Europe.

“Backlash,” said The Financial Times…referring to an “anti-austerity wave” that washed over Europe in weekend voting.

If the FT doesn’t mind mixing metaphors, we don’t either. But our metaphors are a bit different. What has happened is not a backlash but a wake-up call. It comes as voters realize that the placebo medicine — phony, half-hearted austerity measures peddled by the Euro elite — don’t work. They want an elixir with more of a kick to it. That’s why the leftists are gaining so much ground.

[Read more...]

The Orszag Fiscal Crisis Plan

We have good news and bad news today: The White House has a secret plan to deal with a fiscal crisis.

The plan’s existence is revealed in a book called The Escape Artists: How Obama’s Team Fumbled the Recovery.

“In May 2009,” writes journalist Noam Scheiber, “the president asked [White House budget director Peter Orszag] to draft a secret memo laying out the government’s options in the event of a fiscal crisis, in which a runaway deficit sent interest rates spiraling upward.

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Cutting Federal Spending…One Way or Another

The Dow fell 248 points. Oil dropped to $96. And gold down a whopping $46. Why?

“Deficit Effort Nears Collapse”

Thus did yesterday’s Wall Street Journal describe the latest Congressional failure. To put it into perspective, a group of well-meaning, intelligent members of Congress had been asked to do something very simple. Every head of a household in the nation does it. Every businessman does it. Even some college students do it.

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The Sound That Washington Made

Clang-clang! Clankety-clank! Clang-clang!

Do you hear that sound, dear reader?

Hmmm…if we are not mistaken, that’s the sound of someone kicking a can down the road.

Oh wait…no…that’s the sound of Congressmen kicking a can down the steps of the Capitol building, out into the streets of American taxpayers…present and future.

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Gold Price Declines as a Debt Ceiling “Breakthrough” is Reached

Gold is drifting listlessly, adding to yesterday’s losses. At last check, the spot price has retreated $16 from its record high, to $1,586. Silver’s latest rise above $40 didn’t last long; it’s back to $38.47.

The gold price fell off a cliff yesterday at 1:30 p.m. EDT – right after the Comex closed and electronic trading began. Coincidentally or not, the drop came precisely at the moment President Obama announced a “breakthrough” in the debt ceiling drama.

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Greece Heads Toward Austerity?

It’s a semi-Risk Off Day today, so far that is… The Greek Confidence Vote went as thought… The budget that included austerity measures was passed, and also as expected, the Greek people protested… Just another day in the Eurozone “South”… One would think that this would be a cause to rally for the euro, being a “relief” and all… But I think that rally was already priced in yesterday, when the single unit rose to 1.44, then fell to 1.4346, and then back to 1.44, and now 1.4375…

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