Doom and Gloom
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The U.S. economy is doomed. The world is doomed. There is
nothing but gloom everywhere. And it's our mission to spread it.
December 15, 2004
American households spend more than 14% of their income on debt
service.
December 9, 2004
Today's Doom and Gloom courtesy of a recent Economist:
"Never before has the guardian of the world's main reserve currency
been its biggest net debtor." Um, btw, the guardian the
magazine refers to? Uh, that's the United States. I guess this
is what happens when you put the fox in charge of the hen house.
December 8, 2004
The British Pound recently passed $1.95. This is the first time
it's reached that mark since 1992--twelve years ago--when Black Wednesday
occurred, the collapse of the British currency, the day George Soros
made a billion bucks in 24 hours. Will the dollar suffer its own Black
Wednesday?
December 7, 2004
Every time the dollar loses a penny, the Central Bank of Japan loses $7 billion--in the
last two weeks they've lost $40 billion (is this doom and gloom for Japan or the
U.S.?--Floyd). Both!
December 2, 2004
Mortgage debt has more than doubled to $6 trillion in the last four years.
November 30, 2004
Good God, for week there was no doom and gloom...well, at least it went unrecorded.
But don't fret, here's the latest: China's oil reserves currently consist of
a seven day supply (the U.S. has a 60 day supply). China receives more than 50
percent of its oil from the Middle East. If trouble brews again in Iran or Saudi Arabia
China could be running on empty.
November 22, 2004
Profits for U.S. companies in 1997: $508.4 billion. Profits in 2004 on
an annualized basis: $448.8 billion.
November 16,Doom and Gloom
The U.S. Government-sponsored safety net for pension funds unveiled a record $23.3
billion deficit for the fiscal year ended September 30, more than twice that reported last
year--as reported by the Financial Times.
November 15, Doom and Gloom
The earnings of many top university presidents are spiraling up toward $1 million a year,
according to an annual survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education, rising far more
quickly than faculty salaries.
November 11, 2004
Our doom (and our gloom) today come from that age-old financial guru Richard Russell.
As always, enjoy it and take it with a shot of your favorite liquor if need be: "At
this juncture, we're dealing with huge federal deficits, a housing bubble, a drastically
overpriced stock market that pays little or nothing in the way of dividends, extremely low
short rates that allow savers very little in the way of interest return, massive debts
that must be financed out of current income -- plus unfunded liabilities of $53 trillion,
liabilities that will begin to come due within four year. Lastly, this nation is in a
grinding war with insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan plus a seemingly unending war with
terrorists who are intent on breaking the US financially via massive military expenses and
deficits."
November 9 Doom and Gloom
Stephen Roach, chief economist at Morgan Stanley tells us, "In my view, the US
economy is an accident waiting to happen. That's the message to be taken from a record
shortfall in national saving, a record current-account deficit, record levels of household
indebtedness, a record deficiency of personal saving, and outsize government budget
deficits. The emphasis is on the word "record." Never before has the United
States pushed the envelope to this degree on such a wide array of economic imbalances.
November 8 Doom and Gloom
From Andrewsullivan.com: "So
Samarra - the success story - sees a new bloodbath. Allawi imposes martial law without an
army to enforce it. And the possibility palpably exists for a full-scale national uprising
in response to the battle for Falluja. This really is the third Iraq war. And this time,
thanks largely to decisions made by this president, it is by no means certain who will
win."
November 4 Doom and Gloom
Since 2000, U.S. household debt has risen 65 percent fastger than the U.S. economy.
November 1 Doom and Gloom
In 1995, the American Bar Foundation counted the number of
lawyers in the United States at 896,000. The figure today is at least 1,000,000 lawyers
and counting.
October 26 Doom and Gloom
There's about $8,000 worth of credit card debt outstanding for every man, woman and child
in the United States.
October 24 Doom and Gloom
China's crude oil imports rose 40% from last year as oil use in the country has
risen more than 20 percent since 2003 and doubled in the last five years. In 2003, China
used 250 million tons of oil and will consume 300 million tons this year. They are about
to surpass Japan to become the 2nd largest consumer of oil. Of course, the United
States is still at the top of the heap as we burn 1 billion tons of oil a year.
October 22nd Doom and Gloom
--U.S. Federal Debt: $7.4 trillion,
--Each citizen's share: $25,261
--Date Baby Boomers start Retiring: 2008
--As Boomers retire and cash in their entitlement claims, the deficit will explode to 6
percent of GDP by 2020, 12 percent by 2030, and an economy-shattering 21 percent by 2040.
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