Debt Crisis

On Monday, May 25, a government spokesman for Greece said the country wants to pay its financial obligations, but a deal with its international creditors over further rescue funding is needed as soon as possible. (Source: The Wall Street Journal, May 25, 2015.) In June, Greece is scheduled…

For the U.S. government’s fiscal year ended September 30, 2014, the government registered a budget deficit of $483 billion—the lowest budget deficit since 2007. In fiscal 2013, the budget deficit was $680 billion. In each of the previous four fiscal years, it was more than $1.0 trillion per…

According to the U.S. Congressional Budget Office, next year, the government is expected to incur a budget deficit of $469 billion and then another budget deficit of $536 billion in 2016. (Source: Congressional Budget Office web site, last accessed July 21, 2014.) From there, the budget deficit is…

As it stands, the U.S. national debt has skyrocketed to above $17.4 trillion. With this year’s budget deficit expected to be around $500 billion, we’ll be at a national debt of $18.0 trillion in no time. In fact, a $30.0-trillion national debt is not out of the question…

Something just doesn’t make sense here… In 2013, the U.S. budget deficit came down to $680 billion. Finally, after four consecutive years of annual budget deficits of more than $1.0 trillion, the government got its annual “hole” under the trillion-dollar level, and it seemed as though we were…

For a moment, consider yourself a loan officer at a major bank. Would you approve a loan for a customer who says they earn $1,000 a month, spend $1,300 a month, and don’t have a job? They also tell you they have unpaid debts of $17,000. I don’t…

The savings of 500 million individuals living in the European Union are on the line. Let me explain: We all know Cyprus, one of the smallest countries in the eurozone and part of the European Union, went through what many feared. To save itself from default and pay…

In the month of November, the U.S. government registered a budget deficit of $135 billion. Over the course of the month, it spent $318 billion and only took in $182 billion. So far for the fiscal year 2014, which began in October, the U.S. government has registered a…

Can it be true? The U.S. Department of the Treasury has reported that for the federal government’s fiscal 2013 year, which ended on September 30, 2013, the U.S. government budget deficit was $680 billion—the smallest budget deficit in five years. (Source: Bureau of the Fiscal Service, October 30,…

The U.S. government, after winning World War II for the Allies, was very convincing. It told central banks around the world that they should hold the U.S. dollar as their reserve currency instead of gold, based on the idea the U.S. dollar would be backed by gold. Only…

At the very core, this U.S. government shutdown means that about one million federal employees will be told to go home without pay. Non-essential services will be stopped until further notice. This will be mainly due to a lack of funds. (Source: Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget,…

The “Bernie” Madoff name became famous while the stock market was falling during the credit and financial crisis. He was responsible for running one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history—if I recall correctly, it was a $65.0-billion scheme. But as the scam got bigger, Madoff couldn’t…

Major cities across the U.S. economy are struggling. Yes, we saw great cities like Detroit go bankrupt. But don’t for a second believe it’s all over. The reality is we will have more situations like Detroit. Take the City of Los Angeles, for example. In his budget proposal…

Last week I wrote about how auto loans have reached their highest level since the third quarter of 2007 and how easy access to these loans was pushing car sales higher. (See “Scary Story on the Booming Auto Sales No One is Talking About.”) Yes, ballooning auto loans…

As we march towards another debt ceiling limit… The U.S. Treasury Secretary, Jacob J. Lew, wrote a letter to Congress this week stating the U.S. government will hit the debt ceiling by October. He wrote, “…Congress should act as soon as possible to protect America’s good credit by…

The U.S. government registered a budget deficit of $98.0 billion for the month of July. Total revenues received by the government in the month accounted for $200 billion, and it spent $298 billion. (Source: Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Fiscal Service, August 12, 2013.) So far in…

Detroit, once the emblem of the growing U.S. economy, had no other options than to file for bankruptcy. Other cities in California, and cities like Jefferson County, Alabama, have done the same for very similar reasons: registering a budget deficit year-after-year as revenues declined and costs rose—especially pension…

By now, we all know Detroit, once a notorious manufacturing hub in the U.S. economy, filed for bankruptcy. The city defaulted on its municipal bonds simply because it didn’t have the money to give its creditors. The city had three main reasons for filing bankruptcy: out-of-control budget deficits,…

Politicians and the mainstream will certainly love this… Last week, Moody’s Investors Service changed its outlook on the U.S. national debt from negative to stable. (Source: Reuters, July 18, 2013.) Despite the credit reporting agency’s “upgrade” on U.S. national debt, my opinion remains the same: the U.S. national…

Municipal bond investors beware! On June 14, it was announced that Detroit will not make a $39.7-million payment on unsecured municipal bonds worth $2.0 billion. This makes Detroit the most populated city to default on its debt, after Cleveland, since 1978. The Emergency Manager, Kevyn Orr, who was…