China’s historic post-2009 debt binge flew largely under the radar — fooling most observers into thinking the global economy was recovering rather than just re-leveraging. Now Beijing is back at it, borrowing over $1 trillion in this year’s first quarter, buying up commodities and creating the illusion of global growth. But this time the scam […]
This Is How They Fool Us, China Edition
So it seems that China’s economy, caught in the grip of a credit crisis just a few months ago, is all better. And so, by extension, is everyone else. As the Wall Street Journal explains it: China Calms Anxiety With Economic Fixes WASHINGTON—The world’s financial leaders started the year worried about China’s decelerating economy dragging […]
Here We Go Again: Government Ramps Up Borrowing As Private Sector Slows
This morning, US existing home sales plunged and the Chicago Fed’s national activity index turned negative. Both are obvious signs of a slowing economy. Anticipating this kind of news, Credit Bubble Bulletin’s Doug Noland in his most recent column analyzed the Federal Reserve’s quarterly Z.1 Report for signs of changing financial trends, and found something […]
Is This The Debt Jubilee?
Not so long ago the financial world viewed certain numbers as limits beyond which lay trouble. Interest rates near zero, for instance, were thought to risk destabilizing the banking system. And government fiscal deficits above 3% were considered so dangerous that exceeding this level was prohibited by the Maastricht treaty that all eurozone members were […]
Is Anybody NOT Deeper In Debt?
The New York Federal Reserve just announced that older Americans are carrying more debt than ever before and, believe it or not, spins this as a good thing: New York Fed Finds Large Increase in Debts Held by Those Over Age 50 (NASDAQ) – Americans in their 50s, 60s and 70s are carrying unprecedented amounts […]
Screwed By The System, With No End In Sight
Bloomberg just cited some stats that validate the average American’s sense of being ripped off: Here’s How Much QE Helped Wall Street Steamroll Main Street Wall Street is counting its winnings from seven years of easy money. In a report sent to clients on Sunday, Bank of America Corp. strategists totted up the results of […]
If Debt Was The Problem…
Confounded Interest just posted a nice summary of a McKinsey report on the growth of global debt during what some persist in calling the “great deleveraging.” Turns out that since the crisis of 2008, debt has actually risen by $57 trillion, and the ratio of debt to GDP is up 17 percentage points to 286%. […]
Debt Makes You Dumb, Part 2: Borrowing Just To Get By
As incomes stagnate and prices rise, a growing number of Americans face a tough choice: either descend a couple of rungs on the lifestyle ladder or borrow to keep it together. Many are apparently choosing door number two. From MarketWatch: Americans are getting into debt to afford food, gasNowhere has the unequal nature of the […]
Debt Makes You Dumb, Japanese Edition
Debt works the same way for countries as for families and individuals. That is, if you borrow too much, your life begins to suck. And actions that in normal times might have seemed unwise, contradictory or downright stupid begin to look better than the (even more disturbing) alternatives. Pretend, for example, that you are Japan. […]