Peter Schiff On The Debt Ceiling Delusions | Zero Hedge
Peter Schiff On The Debt Ceiling Delusions | Zero Hedge. (FULL ARTICLE)
Submitted by Peter Schiff via Euro Pacific Capital,
The popular take on the current debt ceiling stand-off is that the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party has adelusional belief that it can hit the brakes on new debt creation without bringing on an economic catastrophe. While Republicans are indeed kidding themselves if they believe that their actions will not unleash deep economic turmoil, there are much deeper and more significant delusions on the other side of the aisle.Democrats, and the President in particular, believe that continually taking on more debt to pay existing debt is a more responsible course of action. Even worse, they appear to believe that debt accumulation is the equivalent of economic growth.
If Republicans were to inexplicably prevail, and the federal government were to cut spending so that its expenditures matched its tax revenues (a truly radical idea) the country’s financial mess would be laid bare. The government would have to weigh the relative costs and benefits of making interest payments on Treasury debt (primarily to foreign creditors) or to trim entitlements promised to U.S. citizens. But those are choices we will have to make sooner or later anyway. In fact we should have dealt with these issues years ago. But generations of mechanistic debt ceiling increases have allowed us to perpetually kick the can down the road. What could possibly be gained by doing it again, particularly if it is done with no commitment to change course?…
Related articles
- SchiffReport: Out with the Debt Ceiling, in with the Debt Target! (silveristhenew.com)
- Peter Schiff Warns of Martial Law (thedailysheeple.com)
- Peter Schiff discusses the fraud in disability claims (marketsanity.com)
- Peter Schiff discusses Bernanke’s deception and the next recession (marketsanity.com)
Share this:
Jim Grant Warns America’s Default Is Inevitable | Zero Hedge
Jim Grant Warns America’s Default Is Inevitable | Zero Hedge (FULL ARTICLE).
“There is precedent for a government shutdown,” Lloyd Blankfein, the chief executive officer of Goldman Sachs, remarked last week. “There’s no precedent for default.”
How wrong he is.
The U.S. government defaulted after the Revolutionary War, and it defaulted at intervals thereafter. Moreover, on the authority of the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, the government means to keep right on shirking, dodging or trimming, if not legally defaulting.
Default means to not pay as promised, and politics may interrupt the timely service of the government’s debts.The consequences of such a disruption could — as everyone knows by now — set Wall Street on its ear. But after the various branches of government resume talking and investors have collected themselves, the Treasury will have no trouble finding the necessary billions with which to pay its bills. The Federal Reserve can materialize the scrip on a computer screen….
Related articles
- 12 Very Ominous Warnings About What A U.S. Debt Default Would Mean For The Global Economy (rinf.com)
- A Suddenly Nervous China Tells The US To “Earnestly Take Steps” To Avoid A Default (zerohedge.com)
Share this:
U.S. Justice Department Opens Criminal Probe Into Currency Market Manipulation | Washington’s Blog
U.S. Justice Department Opens Criminal Probe Into Currency Market Manipulation | Washington’s Blog. (FULL ARTICLE)
Currency Markets Are Rigged
Currency markets are massively rigged.
Bloomberg reports today:
The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation of possible manipulation of the $5.3 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market, a person familiar with the matter said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, which is also looking into alleged rigging of interest rates associated with the London interbank offered rate, or Libor, is in the early stages of its currency market probe, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the inquiry is confidential.
***
Swiss regulators last week said they were “coordinating closely with authorities in other countries as multiple banks around the world are potentially implicated.”
The U.S. investigation comes as the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority said in June it was reviewing potential manipulation of exchange rates….
Related articles
- U.S. Said to Open Criminal Probe of Currency Market Rigging (bloomberg.com)
- Three Banks Are Reportedly Cooperating With A New Justice Department Criminal Probe Into Currency Market Manipulation (businessinsider.com)
- US And European Regulators Probing FX Market Rigging (zerohedge.com)
- UPDATE 1-U.S. looking at alleged forex manipulation -source (xe.com)
Share this:
The Dollar and the Debt Ceiling by Barry Eichengreen – Project Syndicate
The Dollar and the Debt Ceiling by Barry Eichengreen – Project Syndicate. (FULL ARTICLE)
CommentsView/Create comment on this paragraphBERKELEY – The dollar is the world’s go-to currency. But for how much longer? Will the dollar’s status as the only true global currency be irreparably damaged by the battle in the US Congress over raising the federal government’s debt ceiling? Is the dollar’s “exorbitant privilege” as the world’s main reserve currency truly at risk?
CommentsView/Create comment on this paragraphTo be sure, the purveyors of dollar doom and gloom have cried wolf before. When the subprime-mortgage crisis hit, it was widely predicted that the dollar would suffer. In fact, the greenback strengthened as investors seeking a safe haven rushed into US Treasury bonds. A year later, when Lehman Brothers failed, the dollar benefited from the safe-haven effect yet again.
CommentsView/Create comment on this paragraphData from the International Monetary Fund confirm that these shocks caused little (if any) decline in the dominance of the dollar in central banks’ holdings of foreign-currency reserves. Likewise, data gathered by the Bank for International Settlements show that the dollar dominates global foreign-exchange transactions as much as it did in 2007.
Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/on-the-fallout-from-a-us-default-by-barry-eichengreen#848vIks20xEaO6tj.99
Share this:
The “Hard” Data Doesn’t Lie | Zero Hedge
The “Hard” Data Doesn’t Lie | Zero Hedge.
Over the last several months, “hard” economic data have been telling a much different story than “soft” economic data. On the one hand, soft surveys such as the ISM manufacturing index have pointed to robust economic growth. On the flip side, hard economic data have been disappointing. We previously pointed out Goldman’s view of the “soft” surveys relatively weak ability to project growth, but as BofAML warns, even before the government shutdown cut off the flow of hard economic data, they were tracking just 1.6% qoq saar for third quarter growth. Confidence is already taking a nose-dive as the shutdown continues and BofAML warns of the potential for significant and lasting shocks to growth if things do not improve quickly.
Related articles
- Now That There’s No Government Economic Data, Here’s A Chart You Need To Be Watching – And It’s Fallen Off A Cliff (businessinsider.com)
- US government shutdown could cancel economic data releases next week (forexlive.com)
- U.S. Rethinks How to Release Sensitive Economic Data (online.wsj.com)
- Follow the Fed to 50% Losses Again (theburningplatform.com)
- U.S. exploring ways to modify release of sensitive economic data – WSJ (scooprocket.com)
Share this:
The Conspiracy is Systemic and Legalized. | Collapse of Industrial Civilization
The Conspiracy is Systemic and Legalized. | Collapse of Industrial Civilization. (FULL ARTICLE)
If you are a person who gets their news solely from mainstream media and forms a worldview from that information, then this website would perhaps strike you as radical, off-base, and conspiratorial. But what if nearly everything you listen to and read has been filtered through the monied interests of the most powerful entities on the planet? And what if those entities quite literally control the government by way of a revolving door, campaign contributions, and lobbyists who unduly influence the crafting of legislation in favor of big business while ignoring the needs of the common citizenry? What if you are merely a pawn in the machinations of such a system — a consumer for the all-important world market and a disposable human resource in its labor pool? What if the wealth created by such an economy is amassing at the very tip of this pyramid scheme while leaving those below to fend for themselves in a world depleted of its resources and poisoned by industrial waste. Would such a grim reality be considered a conspiracy theory? In other words, would the previously described outcome of such a socio-economic system necessarily have to be the plan of a secret cabal of powerful people? If corporations must compete to survive and are legally bound to look after the financial interests of their shareholders, then protecting and growing profits must in the end override all other concerns — environmental and social. The gross wealth disparity, environmental destruction, and political disenfranchisement created by capitalism is not the byproduct of a conspiracy; it’s simply the end-result of a system operating as intended. Concentration of wealth, a characteristic result of capitalism, inevitably leads to a near total corruption of journalism and democracy. Of course the corporate elite may collude to price-fix, bribe regulators or heads of state, and cover up environmental damage and dangers to public health, amongst many other devious activities, but it is invariably done in the interest of gaining dominance in the market place and protecting profits. Capitalism and democracy are not compatible. In fact, life on Earth is ultimately not compatible with capitalism….
Related articles
- A conspiracy theory that is chilling – are they planning for a collapse (amanwithaphd.wordpress.com)
- Collapse of the Industrial Civilization Interview with Michael Ruppert (disclose.tv)
- Are conspiracy theorists really the sane ones? (mobile.wnd.com)
- Conspiracy Documentary New World Order (financearmageddon.blogspot.com)
Share this:
‘Super-cyclone’ approaches India’s east coast, thousands flee – World – CBC News
‘Super-cyclone’ approaches India’s east coast, thousands flee – World – CBC News. (FULL ARTICLE)
Tens of thousands fled their homes in coastal areas of eastern India and moved to shelters on Friday, bracing for the fiercest cyclone to threaten the country since a devastating storm killed 10,000 people 14 years ago.
Large waves were already pounding beaches in the state of Andhra Pradesh over a day before Cyclone Phailin was due to hit. Villagers were evacuated to schools in the north of the state and in neighbouring Odisha, while panic buying drove up food prices.
Satellite images showed Phailin some 500 km off the coast in the Bay of Bengal and likely to make landfall on Saturday evening, with widespread flooding expected from surges.
The images showed the storm covering an area roughly half the size of India. Some forecasters likened its size and intensity to that of hurricane Katrina, which devastated the U.S. Gulf coast and New Orleans in 2005….
Related articles
- Cyclone Phailin may be worse than Katrina, warns US meteorologist (ndtv.com)
- Tens of thousands flee as cyclone ‘half the size of India’ threatens east coast (dnaindia.com)
- India braces for cyclone (worldbulletin.net)
Share this:
World won’t wait for Canada to aid in progress: Stockwell Day – Politics – CBC News
World won’t wait for Canada to aid in progress: Stockwell Day – Politics – CBC News. (FULL ARTICLE)
On a recent trip to China, I heard the president of that nation make a startling announcement.
China will rebuild the centuries’ old trade route known as the Silk Road, a 3,000-kilometre trail spanning from the Northeast of China to the Middle East.
They will declare it a free-trade zone through previously disputed borders in countries that desperately want growth and health for their citizens.
Canada can play a part in this phenomenal project and similar ones around the world.
But the world is not waiting. They will get the energy, resources and human talent they need from other places if we can’t deliver. They already are.
Some commentators make the wry observation that countries like China move swiftly on project approvals because of the “efficiency” of totalitarianism. There may be some grim truth to that.
However, don’t blithely surmise that China makes decisions which ignore the needs of its people. Its government is acutely aware that its burgeoning mass of more that 1 billion citizens is pushing for a standard of living that approaches what we enjoy in the Western world. And they have many of the tools to get there, even environmentally….
Related articles
- Stockwell Day Joins WesternOne Inc.’s Board of Directors (prnewswire.com)
Share this:
Burst oil pipeline in N. Dakota spewed crude, farmer says – World – CBC News
Burst oil pipeline in N. Dakota spewed crude, farmer says – World – CBC News. (FULL ARTICLE)
A North Dakota farmer who discovered an enormous oil spill while harvesting wheat says crude was bubbling up out of the ground when he found it.
Steve Jensen said he smelled the crude for days before the tires on his combines were coated in it. At the apparent break in the Tesoro Corp.’s underground pipeline, the oil was “spewing and bubbling six inches high,” he said Thursday.
What Jensen had found on Sept. 29 turned out it was one of the largest spills recorded in the state. At 20,600 barrels it was four times the size of a pipeline rupture in late March that forced the evacuation of more than 20 homes in Arkansas.
But it was 12 days after Jensen reported the spill before state officials told the public what had happened, raising questions about how North Dakota, which is in the midst of an oil boom, reports such incidents.
The spill happened in a remote area in the northwest corner of the state. The nearest home is a about a kilometre away, and Tesoro says no water sources were contaminated, no wildlife was hurt and no one was injured.
The release of oil has been stopped, state environment geologist Kris Roberts said Thursday. And the spill, which spread out over three hectares, has been contained….
Related articles
- Massive oil pipeline break under N.D. farmer’s wheat field (cbsnews.com)
- North Dakota Pipeline Spills Over 20,000 Barrels Of Crude Oil (thinkprogress.org)
- Wheat farmer discovers oil spill the size of seven football fields (billingsgazette.com)
Olduvaiblog: Musings on the coming collapse 