Trillions of dollars of government spending around the world…hundreds of billion of dollars of bailouts…and money-printing to make you blush with shame…And for what?
Standard & Poor’s downgraded nine European countries on Friday, including core countries France, Austria and Italy. Smacks of an American conspiracy led by speculators who want to make a killing off a falling euro, right? Well, believe me, they will, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re pulling the strings. The other
As bad as things are now in Europe, I believe they’re going to get much worse. That’s because some $500 billion in bonds is coming due during the first three months of 2012. Governments and banks will be trying to refinance the vast majority of them with new loans. Where exactly will
The rating agencies have put the US on a negative credit alert. The CBO says that our debt will be unsustainable by 2020 given the US’s current path. The Supercommittee agonized on how to cut the budget, but came up empty. But while balancing our budget remains a top priority and a
What’s going on in Europe is scary. And everybody is faulting the politicians.
It’s easy to diss Europe’s dithering government officials. They actually make Washington DC look decisive.
In truth, there’s not much too choose between them. When you strip away the superficial differences you’re left with politicians on both sides of the Atlantic who fear the electoral consequences of betraying their base: Whether it’s German chancellor Angela Merkel, President Obama or Speaker of the House John Boehner.
Was the trade agreement between the US and Korea (just recently approved by Korea’s ruling party) that one-sided? No, and they rarely are. But they do expose a country’s labor force and economy to new global competitive pressures and they have a way of exposing an economy’s weaknesses.
When it comes to Washington DC, I might be the only one in America who doesn’t mind a divided government or political gridlock. In fact, I think under current circumstance it’s the best thing that could happen to our country.
Never before has so much power – and so much latitude – been given to a single Congressional committee. And never before has Congress wasted such a big opportunity to put the American financial house in order.
