Tag Archives: deficit

In their recent NYTimes op-ed Paul Volcker and Peter Peterson say: Yes, this country can handle the nearly $600 billion federal deficit estimated for 2016. But the deficit has grown sharply this year, and will keep the national debt at about 75 percent of the gross domestic product, a ratio not seen since 1950, after the budget ballooned during World War II. The practical consequence of large deficits and debts, according to them is that: Our current debt may be manageable at a time of...

Right here. Except this libertarian idiot connects Keynesianism to Herbert Hoover, which demonstrates, if nothing else, how libertarians never seem to get anything right.Apparently Trump did an interview recently where he said this:“Mr. Trump himself said in a telephone interview last week that he believed more borrowing and spending would help lift economic growth, a departure from traditional Republican economics.‘It’s called priming the pump,’ Mr. Trump said. ‘Sometimes you have to do...

"Best diss of the Quantity Theory of Money comes from Keynes", commented Toby Nangle on Twitter, referring to this paragraph from Keynes's Open Letter to Roosevelt (Toby's emphasis): The other set of fallacies, of which I fear the influence, arises out of a crude economic doctrine commonly known as the Quantity Theory of Money. Rising output and rising incomes will suffer a set-back sooner or later if the quantity of money is rigidly fixed. Some people seem to infer from this that output...

November Retail Hiring Falls To 4-Year Low – 5% Fewer Than One Year Ago As it says, Alaska is not alone, as spending cuts and tax increases due to the oil price collapse continue into next year: Alaska governor proposes first income tax in 35 years Dec 9 (AP) — Alaska Gov. Bill Walker is proposing instituting a personal income tax for the first time in 35 years as the oil-dependent state looks to plug a multibillion-dollar budget deficit amid chronically low prices.In laying out his...

So much for housing leading the way up- looks to have gone from flat to down: MBA Mortgage Applications For the most part Saudis have been lowering premiums and increasing discounts which causes prices to fall to get their sales up to their pumping capacity: Not without a bit of pain, which they may have come to believe inevitable due to long term supply/demand dynamics: Saudi Arabia risks destroying Opec and feeding the Isil monster (Telegraph) &#8212 The rumblings of revolt against...

No letup yet as Saudi discounts continue: My RT interview on the price of oil here. Seems suddenly everyone is missing on revenues? Total sales (less inventory draw down)= GDP AT&T warns of revenue miss in Q3

After the up and down in front of the change in regulations new purchase apps are, so far, lower than before: Fits with the permit spike/decline story, and there was also this note: The multi-family residential market was negative for the eighth consecutive month – and this might be indicating a slowdown for apartments – or at least less growth. Japan export growth slows sharply, raising fears of recession By Tetsushi KajimotoOct 21 (Reuters) — Japan’s annual export growth slowed for the...

Gives the Fed another dovish data point: PPI-FD Highlights Producer prices show wide weakness and may raise talk that deflationary pressures are building, not easing. The PPI-FD fell 0.5 percent in September which is just below Econoday’s low estimate for minus 0.4. Year-on-year, producer prices are falling deeper into the negative column at minus 1.1 percent. And it’s not all due to energy excluding which and also excluding food, prices fell 0.3 percent though the year-on-year...

Total trade is down, but the surplus is still high and holding, which ultimately supports the currency: China : Merchandise Trade Balance Highlights Every month China’s trade data are reported in both the renminbi and U.S. dollars by the National Bureau of Statistics. The renminbi report comes out first, followed about an hour later by the more closely-watched U.S. dollar report. Since the August 11 devaluation of the renminbi there is a wider discrepancy between the two sets of data...

Anti-austerity demonstrators in Helsinki, Finland The ratings agency Fitch has affirmed the AAA rating on Finland's sovereign debt. But on reading Fitch's analysis, the justification for this is very hard to see.Finland's economic situation is, to say the least, dire.  This is what Fitch has to say about it: The Finnish economy is adjusting to sector-specific shocks in key industries (electronics, communications and forestry), is already experiencing the impact of an ageing population...