Saturday, March 27, 2010

U.S. Economic News Roundup

Are we experiencing a U.S. Economy that's in recovery? We don't think so

Due to the current dearth of local red meat political news, we'll revert to one of our favorite ongoing topics, The Economy. Here's a sampling of some of the chirpy stuff we dredged up on that topic this morning whilst Googling:

1) Eye-popping article this morning from the Washington Times, with harsh words of warning about the perils of Obama's 2011 budget. Here's the lede:
President Obama's fiscal 2011 budget will generate nearly $10 trillion in cumulative budget deficits over the next 10 years, $1.2 trillion more than the administration projected, and raise the federal debt to 90 percent of the nation's economic output by 2020, the Congressional Budget Office reported Thursday.
In its 2011 budget, which the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released Feb. 1, the administration projected a 10-year deficit total of $8.53 trillion. After looking it over, CBO said in its final analysis, released Thursday, that the president's budget would generate a combined $9.75 trillion in deficits over the next decade.
"An additional $1.2 trillion in debt dumped on [GDP] to our children makes a huge difference," said Brian Riedl, a budget analyst at the conservative Heritage Foundation. "That represents an additional debt of $10,000 per household above and beyond the federal debt they are already carrying.".
Read the full story here:
CBO report: Debt will rise to 90% of GDP
This is a recipe for disaster, folks. There's no way that deficits of this magnitude are sustainable, even in the short run.

2) And here's a sobering "companion piece"from the Wall Street Journal, indicating that while federal debt skyrockets, U.S. personal income (you know - the federal revenue stream that pays the federal bills) is simultaneously swirling down the toilet. We incorporate the key opening paragraphs below:
Personal income in 42 states fell in 2009, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
Nevada's 4.8% plunge was the steepest, as construction and tourism industries took a beating. Also hit hard: Wyoming, where incomes fell 3.9%. [...].
Nationally, personal income from wages, dividends, rent, retirement plans and government benefits declined 1.7% last year, unadjusted for inflation.
Check out the full story here:
Personal Income Drops Across the Country
3) Are we experiencing a U.S. economy that's in recovery? We don't think so:
Mortgage delinquencies rise to nearly 14 percent
Have a nice day, folks! We do hope we didn't put you off your feed for the balance of the weekend.

And don't forget to throw in your own 2¢.

4 comments:

Danny said...

Some other tidbits:

People note that profits have come back somewhat at S&P companies, and cash flow is good. BUT . . .

The reason is that they have massively cut capital spending. They are not investing in the future. Ask yourself, why.

Also ask why executives are large net sellers of their own company stock - much more than average.

Smaller companies are still losing money. Russell 2000 companies earnings are less than zero.

Crushed stone and lumber shipments are no higher than a year ago. New home sales hit a record low last month.

Baltic Capesize index is heading back down.

Note that during the first great depression, stocks plunged, then rose due to gummint actions. They almost recovered. Then, they headed down again, ultimately losing 90% of their value.

Think consumer spending has recovered? Then why are tax receipts still way down and falling?

The list goes on. We are in the eye of the storm. She is not going to let us out, boys.

googlegirl said...

Half of U.S. Home Loan Modifications Default Again

Dr. Kildare said...

Just wait until the public realizes that the so called reduction in Medicare of $500 billion never is realized. That means the the cost of Obamacare will wind up in added to the deficit. Congress does not have the guts to ever cut a Medicare service.

Noname McGee said...

Well, there's just one thing left to do: immediately impeach President Obama and bring back George W. Bush. Now that man knew how to run a country (into the ground)!

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