Wednesday, December 3, 2014

What's $18 trillion (or $200 trillion) Between Friends?




*  *  *  *  *  *

Total U.S. national debt hit a new record high overnight at over $18 trillion as the Obama administration continues to pile debt onto the back of the U.S. taxpayer at a rate that makes George W. Bush look prudent!

With the U.S. national debt or government debt now at over a staggering $18 trillion, it means that each household in the U.S. now carries the burden of $124,000 in national debt alone - or $56,378 per individual.

(This does not include the massive private debt or household debt burden - people’s  mortgages, personal loans, credit card debt, student loans, car loans and other household debt.)

When Obama took office in 2009, the national debt had surged to $10.6 trillion up from $3 trillion at the beginning of Bush’s tenure in 2001.

* NOT DEFENDING BUSH... HOWEVER... TO BE FAIR... THE DEMS CONTROLLED BOTH HOUSES OF CONGRESS DURING THE LAST TWO YEARS OF BUSH'S SECOND TERM - WHICH IS WHEN THE "BUSH" DEBT REALLY TOOK OFF.

(*SHRUG*)

It also means that total U.S. debt has increased by 70% under Obama, from $10.625 trillion on January 21, 2009 to over $18.005 trillion today.

As ever, historical context is all important.

The U.S National Debt took 43 Presidents from 1789 until 2008 to reach $9 trillion. The National Debt rose $4.899 trillion during the two terms of the Bush presidency. It has now gone up nearly $8 trillion since President Obama took office.

* AGAIN, FOLKS... IT'S REASONABLE TO SEPARATE THE FIRST SIX YEARS OF BUSH/RINO CONGRESS FROM THE TWO YEARS OF BUSH/DEMOCRAT CONGRESS. (SAME WITH OBAMA/DEMS, OBAMA/SPLIT, AND OBAMA/RINO.)

* ANYWAY... TO GET BACK TO THE POINT...

In short, the federal government has borrowed, and spent, nearly $7.5 trillion more since President Obama took office than it has collected in taxes.

* FURTHERMORE...  

Obama’s policies have continued to favor Wall Street and corporate interests over Main Street.

* AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH!

The U.S. national debt is spiraling out of control, seemingly without any plan to ever reign it in and yet the rise above $18 trillion was not reported in mainstream media.

* NOT WIDELY... BUT IT WAS REPORTED.

Compared to this time last year, the national debt has grown by another $1 trillion. ... Astoundingly, more than $7 trillion of additional U.S. national debt will have been accumulated over the 8 year duration of Obama’s two presidencies, which is more than the accumulated U.S. national debt of all previous U.S. presidents combined.

(This is not to mention the astronomical expenses of more than $200 trillion of U.S. government unfunded liabilities such as medicare, medicaid and social security.)

Household debt - including mortgages, credit cards, auto loans and student loans - remains close to $12 trillion.

The U.S. debt position increasingly has all the hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme. The Daily Treasury Statement that was released last Wednesday afternoon as Americans were preparing to eat turkey on Thanksgiving revealed that the U.S. Treasury has been forced to issue $1,040,965,000,000 in new debt since fiscal 2015 started. This is just eight weeks ago. they had to do this in order to raise the money to pay off Treasury securities that were maturing and to cover new deficit spending by the government.

(*SNORT*)

* AND YET IN A WORLDWIDE RACE TO THE BOTTOM THE U.S. HAS RECENTLY EXPERIENCED A SURGE IN THE COMPARATIVE VALUE OF THE DOLLAR! IT'S INSANE!

During those eight weeks since fiscal 2015 started, Treasury took in $341,591,000,000 ($342 billion) in revenues. That was a record for the period between October 1 and November 25. But that record in revenues was not enough to finance ongoing government spending let alone pay off old debt that matured.

* ONE... MORE... TIME...

During those eight weeks since fiscal 2015 started, Treasury took in $341,591,000,000 ($342 billion) in revenues. That was a record for the period between October 1 and November 25. But that record in revenues was not enough to finance ongoing government spending let alone pay off old debt that matured.

* AND I'VE GOT BAD NEWS FOR YOU, FOLKS; THE GOP ESTABLISHMENT - THE RINOs, THE BOEHNER/MCCONNELL CROWD - CAN'T BE TRUSTED TO CUT ANY SPENDING. (GOD HELP US...)

A conservative measure of the U.S. National Debt to GDP ratio is now around 103%. The talking heads have, for many years, downplayed the out of control spending of successive administrations with the justification that it was below the “psychologically important” debt to GDP ratio of 100%. Well, here we are now over 100%...

(*PURSED LIPS*)

...and all is quiet.

The Total U.S. Debt to GDP ratio is now over 300%.

* AND ALL IS QUIET...

(*SIGH*)

U.S. government profligacy has been protected by the extraordinary status that the dollar has enjoyed as a reserve currency since the early 1970s and Nixon going off the Gold Standard.

Heretofore, almost all balance of trade deficits have been settled with dollars.

All oil transactions have been settled in dollars.

* ACTUALLY THAT'S BEEN CHANGING LATELY... BUT YES... IT'S STILL OVERWHELMINGLY TRUE.

This has allowed the U.S. an “exorbitant privilege” in the words of  Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the former French Minister of Finance; it has allowed us to live beyond our means because our currency remained in demand regardless of our country's economic performance.

Over the course of this year, however, the dollar has taken what should be seen as an alarming series of blows to its status as trusted sole global reserve currency as currency wars intensify. Increasingly, the new power bloc that are the BRICS nations are settling their trade deficits with domestic currencies, bypassing the dollar.

Russia and Turkey have just signed a gas-line agreement to this effect - as have Russia and China.

There is a perception that the U.S. dollar is still strong and is still the reserve currency of choice.

* AS I MENTIONED UP ABOVE...

This is based on the strong performance of the Dollar Index as of late.

(*NOD*)

It is important to note the distinction between the dollar and the Dollar Index. The index rates the dollar relative to a basket of other - mainly western - currencies, primarily the euro. The recent “strength” of the dollar is merely strength against these other struggling currencies - including the euro.

* BINGO!

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, pointed out last week that “the seven developing economies headed by BRICS already have a bigger GDP than the Western G7.” This drives home the message that the economic might of the U.S. is waning. It is doubtful whether it will be able to re-establish or indeed maintain the Bretton Woods paradigm which gave the dollar it’s preeminent status.

* I FRANKLY CAN'T IMAGINE HOW IT CAN.

(*SHRUG*)

Another major cause for concern should be the impending rise in interest rates. The ability of the U.S. to service its debt will be drastically reduced if rates move higher.

* YEP...

Already a number of states have defaulted. The luxury of determining interest rates may not be one that the Fed will enjoy for very much longer. When rates do finally rise we may witness the default of the U.S.

* BETTER MAKE SURE THOSE NUCLEAR WEAPONS WORK!

If this specter comes to pass – and possibly independent of it – there will be demand for a new store of wealth. History teaches us, regardless of our own philosophical or economic outlook, that gold will be one such store.

The BRICs countries are major purchasers of gold - both their people and their central banks.

The U.S. is now the largest debtor nation in the world - by a significant margin. This profligacy will be paid back by the American people, and most likely by people everywhere, in the form of higher taxes, higher interest rates, inflation and almost certainly currency crises.

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