Free Republic

Sunday, August 2, 2009 Executive Summary The Federal Reserve and the federal government are attempting to "plug the gap" caused by a slowdown of private credit/debt creation. Non-US demand for the dollar must remain high, or the dollar will fall. Demand for US assets is in negative territory for 2009 The TIC report and Federal Reserve Custody Account are reviewed and compared The Federal Reserve has effectively been monetizing US government debt by cleverly enabling foreign central banks to swap their Agency debt for Treasury debt. The shell game that the Fed is currently playing obscures the fact that money...

I’ve always cringed when I came across such headlines and statements that said America was at its end. To me, the case has always been overstated and its chances of happening anytime soon are slim. Not because I believe that that America is an eternal empire. That notion is silly has history tells us so. So, it has more to do with no satisfactory replacement or serious challenger to make the case. The demise of America’s dominance over the world is widely believed to start with the ending of the U.S. Dollar hegomy as the international reserve currency and staple...

Why trade deficit matters By Hans D. Baumann InTech News, May 1, 2007 The U.S. trade deficit could affect the future of your jobs, the location of our plants, and it might even cause the next recession. Our current trade deficit with China has reached $21 billion per month. It means we bought $21 billion more in one month from China than the value of goods we sold them. This makes the trade deficit with China alone about $250 billion on a yearly basis. Adding the trade deficits with Europe and Japan, among others, we had a record total...

ALBANY, April 4 — New York State and local governments and their public authorities are circumventing the voters in amassing debt that now amounts to nearly a quarter-trillion dollars, according to a report issued on Tuesday examining public borrowing in New York. The report by the Citizens Budget Commission, a business-backed policy group, presents an exhaustive overview of the extent of borrowing by New York State, its 583 public authorities and its local governments. Legislators have come under withering criticism for passing a budget last week that would more than double the new debt proposed over the next two years...

Total foreign ownership of US Federal deficit currently stands at 45% as of end of first half of 2005 COUNTRY OWNERSHIP OF U.S. GOVERNMENT DEBT Japan $687.3Billion China $252.2 Billion United Kingdom $182.4 Billion Caribbean Banking Centers $102.9 Billion Taiwan $71.8 Billion Germany $63.5 Billion Korea $61.7 Billion OPEC $54.6 Billion Hong Kong $48.1 Billion Canada $47.8 Billion Grand Total $2,065.5 Billion Conclusions: * Foreign sources financed 54% of US Federal deficit in 2002, 73% in 2003, and 99% in 2004 * Total foreign ownership of US Federal deficit currently stands at 45% as of end of 1st half of...

-- Researchers synthesize gem-sized diamonds of natural colour and exceptional hardness using Chemical Vapour Deposition. -- WITH U.S. GOVERNMENT DEBT now topping US$7 trillion (about US$100,000 for each family of four), and interest rates at historic lows, new life is beginning to breathe through the Canadian resource sector. One sign of this renewed vigor is a sudden surge in prospecting claims being staked throughout vast tracts of the Canadian Arctic. Over 1,500 new permits have been issued this year for Nunavut alone, compared to 190 last year. And according to the Nunavut Mining Recorder’s Office in Iqualuit, the largest number...

Deficit spending is back in the news lately, largely because the Democrats want to blame any projected 2003 deficits on the very modest Bush tax cut. Of course tax cuts, which stimulate the economy and generally produce increased revenues, are not the problem at all- but nobody wants to focus on the real problem, which is runaway spending. The bottom line is that our federal government almost always manages to spend more than it brings in each year in revenues. This is particularly troubling when we consider that taxes take more out of the legitimate private economy (as a percentage...