Government Spending Now “Unsustainable”
The US federal government ran a budget deficit of over $1 trillion in the 2019 calendar year. It was the first budget deficit over $1 trillion in any calendar year since 2012 — in the midst of the Great Recession.The budget shortfall from January through December totaled $1.02 trillion, according to the latest report issued by the…
Companies Borrowing Money Only to Create Illusion of Profitability
Reuters has dubbed the 2010s the “decade of debt.”The Reuters report focused on the ballooning levels of corporate debt, but consumer and government indebtedness has skyrocketed over the last 10 years as well. This massive debt bubble poses a significant systemic risk to the financial system and the economy. Some in the mainstream are starting to hint at this,…
Debt Bubble Burst Imminent
If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.This seems self-evident, but as Jim Rickards noted in a recent article about the ever-growing levels of debt, people tend to ignore this indisputable truth.Total global debt reached a record of over $250 trillion in the first half of 2019, according to an Institute of International Finance report published in November.…
Student Loan Bubble Hits New Record
Expert blames government programs Have you heard? The Democrats are going to fix the student loan mess! They’ve brought up the issue in almost every Democratic Party presidential debate. All we need is a good government program and we can easily solve this $1.64 trillion problem.Never mind that government programs caused the problem in the…
Auto Loan Delinquencies Surge
Crisis pushing American consumer debt to new record How much more can the auto loan bubble blow up before it pops?Total auto loans and leases outstanding for new and used vehicles increased by another 4.3% year-on-year in the third quarter, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. This was a factor in pushing total…
Student Loan Debt Hits New Record
Loans burying taxpayers, stealing from future generations American consumer debt pushed to a new record of $4.15 trillion in September. Part of that equation – the continued surge in the levels of student loan debt.Student loan balances jumped by $32.9 billion in the third quarter this year, pushing total outstanding student loan debt to a new record…
Peter Schiff: Stock Market Surge Ignoring Bad Economic, Political Data
Stock markets made new highs on Wednesday, but as Peter Schiff explained in his latest podcast, there are a lot of cracks under the surface.The markets are surging forward even as they overlook bad economic data and chilly political winds.While stock markets are generally trending up, only about 10% of the individual stocks are actually…
Massive Corporate Debt Bubble Spells Trouble for Many Companies
There is a massive corporate debt bubble floating around out there, and when it pops, it will likely take a lot of companies down with it.Outstanding corporate debt in the US stands at almost $10 trillion, according to SEC Chairman Jay Clayton. That’s nearly 50% of GDP.In a speech last month Clayton said, “Those are numbers…
Government Spending Money, Running Up Debt at Unfathomable Rate
The US government is spending money and running up debt at an unfathomable rate.The US national debt increased by a staggering $814 billion in just two months. When confronted with this reality, most people just shrug. Policymakers certainly don’t care. They continue to ramp up spending and call for even more. Paul Krugman recently tweeted that we…
Drop in Credit Card Debt Rocks Wall Street Pundits
Consumers continued to pile on debt in August, according to the latest data released by the Federal Reserve.But credit card debt fell slightly, raising a troubling question: are consumers close to maxing out the plastic?Total consumer credit grew by another $17.9 billion in August. That represents an annualized increase of 5.2% and pushes total consumer indebtedness…