Spending

Borrowing, Spending, and Sustainability

usissuescom Monetary Policy , ,

  By Bob Shapiro

Keith Weiner blogged recently explaining how borrowing to consume is a bad thing. Nice job Keith.

However, extending Keith’s arguments, it would imply that any consumption makes us poorer. Do you really need to trade in your 10 year old car when it’s still doing a fine job getting you where you want to go?

Keith makes the distinction between borrowing to consume but I don’t see it. Consuming is consuming. It’s only in the aggregate that the situation makes a difference.

Continue reading →

Advertisements

US Budget Deficit And Interest

usissuescom Monetary Policy, Taxes & Spending , , , , , , ,
By David Haggith – Re-Blogged From Gold Eagle

Continue reading →

“Black Swan” Author Just Issued a Powerful Warning About Global Debt

usissuescom Stocks & Commodities , , , , , ,

By Frank Holmes – Re-Blogged From Gold Eagle

The world is more fragile today than it was in 2007. That’s the opinion of former derivatives trader Nassim Taleb, whose bestseller, The Black Swan, is about how people make sense of unexpected events, especially in financial markets. True to form, he made a whole lot of money after predicting the global financial crisis more than a decade ago.

Speaking with Bloomberg’s Erik Schatzker last week, Taleb said the reason why he has reservations about today’s economy is that it suffers from the “same disease” as before. The meltdown in 2007 was a “crisis of debt,” and if anything, the problem has only worsened.

Continue reading →

Greatest Demographic Shift In History

usissuescom Statistics, Stocks & Commodities, Taxes & Spending , , , , , ,

By Marin Katusa – Re-Blogged From Silver Phoenix

The economy depended on the spending habits of baby boomers the last three decades.

The success and failure of many companies depended on the spending habits of those same baby boomers.

It was all about the baby boomers.

Continue reading →

Universal Basic Income For Everyone!

usissuescom Entitlements, Taxes & Spending , , , , , ,

By Gary Christenson – Re-Blogged From Silver Phoenix

Several countries and cities studied and tested a universal basic income (UBI). At first glance it looks like giveaway nonsense:

  1. Who pays for the giveaways?
  2. Does the UBI discourage work and self-improvement?
  3. How much price inflation does it create?
  4. How much additional unpayable debt will be created by the UBI?
  5. The UBI should be how large? If $1,000 per month per person is good, is $10,000 per month better? Which bureaucrat defines the size of the benefit?
  6. Does it apply to everyone? Adults only? Means tested? Only those who voted and paid taxes? Only those in good standing with the “thought police?”

Continue reading →

“Printing Money” and Cocaine

usissuescom GDP & Employment, Monetary Policy, Taxes & Spending , , , , ,

By Gary Christenson – Re-Blogged From Deviant Investor

The addictive behaviors of drug addicts are similar to the actions of a modern “Keynesian” economy addicted to “money printing” by central banks and fractional reserve banking.

From Psychology Today on Addiction:

“Addiction is a condition in which a person engages in use of a substance or in a behavior for which the rewarding effects proved a compelling incentive to repeatedly pursue the behavior despite detrimental consequences.”

Continue reading →