Daily Readings 03-11-2010
Consumers not making dent in debt – Bulk of $93.2 billion drop in card balances due to write-offs
Mortgage Insurers Won’t Pay on Bad Loans - Mortgage insurers are rescinding (denying) claims, claiming themselves that the loans were fraudulent and misrepresented to them
February budget deficit – Economists believe that the federal budget deficit through the first five months of the budget year is running at a record-breaking pace
China’s Housing Bubble Is Inflating Faster Than Ever – The latest report on the property market in China is truly frightening. Despite measures taken by authorities to reign in the price explosion in Chinese real estate, prices rose at the fastest clip in nearly two years in February
GMAC bailout could cost taxpayers $6.3B – The Treasury Department sank billions into auto finance giant GMAC Inc. without an exit strategy or proof the company was viable — a decision that could cost taxpayers $6.3 billion
Obama: half of my letters brand me an idiot - Many senior citizens wrote to him to tell him to keep the government’s hands off Medicare, a health plan for elderly people. He said he wrote back to these people to point out that Medicare is in fact a federally administered program. LOL
6 of the 10 richest counties in U.S. are in DC area – Coincidence? I think not… It is good to be a king
Too soon for spending clamp-down – Romer – Clamping down on spending now to cut the gaping U.S. budget deficit would be “pound-foolish” and derail the economic recovery, a top White House economic adviser said on Tuesday.
What’s Our Credit Limit Again? – Deninger – The federal government is directly spending 9% more of GDP today than it was just two years ago. The market and economy are absolutely dependent on the Federal Government continuing to do so. Should the government not be able (or willing) to continue to do so, S&P 666 or DOW 6,489 will look like a bull market. Financial Armageddon ahead of US
Who Is The Stimulus Money Stimulating? Teachers - Based on the Recovery.gov data, more than two third of the 594,754.3 jobs “created or saved” with the stimulus funds were “created or saved” in the Department of Education (see chart). Basically, what the administration meant by shovel ready projects was funding for your next door teacher.
The Obama Budget: Spend, Entitle, Borrow – The president’s budget plan would produce deficits totaling $10.1 trillion over the period 2010 to 2020, and by 2020 federal debt would reach $18.6 trillion…But now we learn that that was the rosy scenario
U.S. Monthly Budget Deficit Balloons to a Record – Even as government receipts posted a rare increase in February, soaring outlays pushed the country’s year-to-date deficit up to a record $651.60 billion.
Unemployment Rate Needs to Rise in House, Senate: Caroline Baum – The public is mad as hell at Washington: at the corruption, the underhanded deals, the earmarks, the sense of entitlement that comes with lifetime employment. If we don’t want to take it anymore, we can do something about it.
Unemployment rises in 30 states in January - Evidence that jobs remain scarce in most regions of the country
