Debt & Deficits

...According to Bloomberg ("White House: Cohn-Led Tax Plan is Real and it's Phenomenal," February 10, 2017), Trump's tax plan, to be released in two or three weeks, will be "the most comprehensive business and individual tax overhaul since 1986." That's saying something, since the landmark 1986 tax bill cut many deductions and reduced the top rate to 28% for the rich, 15% for the middle class, and 0% for the poor.

Many novice observers may wonder why we have a debt ceiling at all when our government has never shown the slightest inclination to respect its prior self-imposed limits [and, as such, why all the] seeming urgency to Congressional negotiations to raise the debt ceiling. [Let me explain in no uncertain terms.] Words: 1073

How much consumer debt is too much? Today’s infographic uses extensive data from Equifax to try and answer this question.

In our view massive infrastructure spending may boost the economy temporarily but more spending means more debt and potentially more inflation and interest rate exposure.

India has, in effect, a dual currency system where people choose to save mostly in gold rather than rupees. This is unlike any other major economy and begs the question: how do you wean a population off a precious metal?

The world of taxation at the personal and corporate level is about to go through a radical overhaul. For the most part, in my view, the forthcoming changes will be positive. With a Republican House and Senate, Mr. Trump has a good shot at having a good number of his tax reforms enacted.

Currently, Russian gold reserves rank 7th in the world. It’s clear that there is a concerted effort by Russian authorities to build up the country’s gold reserves as part of a national strategy to negate the effects of economic warfare waged by the United States.

Some analysts argue that the Fed would be out of ammunition to deal with any future economic crisis but that is not the case. This article analyzes what monetary weapons the Fed could use and what each would mean for the price of gold as a result.

...Until now a full picture of global debt was missing. The October 2016 Fiscal Monitor has, for the first time, put a number on the size of debt covering virtually the whole world and the picture is not pretty.

...Whenever a country (or countries) creates debt that is beyond the level that they can ever repay, an economic collapse is a near-certainty. Today, many jurisdictions, particularly, the US, EU, UK, Canada, etc. have created debt that is far beyond anything the world has ever seen. This assures us that the corresponding collapse will be of epic proportions.