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A Tale of Two Different Budget Plans
The governors of two states, Maryland and Virginia, have taken two different paths in attempting to manage their respective state budgets. The first, Republican governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia, focused on cutting spending and reducing the size of government. The second, Democrat governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland, has hiked taxes significantly and recently announced plans [...]
Majority of Economists Prefer Spending Cuts to Tax Increases
22. August 2011
Read it and weep, Krugman. Read it and weep. The majority of economists surveyed by the National Association for Business Economics believe that the federal deficit should be reduced only or primarily through spending cuts. The survey out Monday found that 56 percent of the NABE members surveyed felt that way, while 37 percent said [...]
Moody’s Lowers U.S. Growth Outlook
16. August 2011
Obamanomics. Moody’s Analytics, a sister company to credit-ratings company Moody’s Investors Service, now expects real gross domestic product to increase at an annualized rate of about 2% in the second half of this year and just over 3% next year, compared with its estimate a month ago for growth of 3.5% for the second half [...]
It’s Time to End the Postal Service
15. August 2011
The US Postal Service has outlived its usefulness. The “company” is drowning in debt and can’t pay its benefit obligations to power-hungry unions. Fewer and fewer Americans utilize the snail-mail, 49-cent service, instead resorting to free and instant email and web delivery. The business model is outdated and unsustainable. First Class mail is rarely utilized, [...]
Obama to Deny Taiwan New F-16 Fighters, Costing 16,000 Jobs
15. August 2011
Awful. Taiwan faces daily pressure from China, which considers the small island nation to be part of its territory. Mainland China just launched an aircraft carrier named after an admiral who once conquered Taiwan. And China has been hacking our computer systems and stealing our military technology for years. But we’re so indebted to Beijing, [...]
U.S. Consumer Confidence Plunges to Lowest Level in Decades
12. August 2011
Consumer confidence fell to the lowest level in more than 30 years in early August. It’s the latest sign of continued economic weakness. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment slumped to 54.9 from 63.7 the prior month. The gauge was projected to decline to 62, according to the median forecast in [...]
U.S. Trade Deficit Widens in June
11. August 2011
The U.S. trade deficit widened more than expected during the month of June, hitting $53.1 billion rather than the $48 billion economists had expected. But hey, let’s keep pushing more unsustainable mandates and regulations on our private sector. Let’s keep handing unions more power so they can make the sector even less competitive globally. That [...]
Idiots Wonder Why the Markets Are Turbulent
10. August 2011
Please note that when I say “idiots” I’m referring to the talking heads who get paid to analyze the situation and yet have to ask every single guest/co-host why the markets are acting the way they’re acting. Gee. I don’t know. Maybe because: The world’s biggest economy was just downgraded. Italy, an economic powerhouse, may [...]
Countrywide Could File for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
10. August 2011
During a teleconference today, Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan refused to rule out Chapter 11 bankruptcy to handle the company’s Countrywide unit.
Greek Budget Deficit Widens by 24% in July
10. August 2011
Yikes. Remember how the Troika said Greece has its “budget situation” under control, and as such is a worthy recipient of the second €120 billion bailout tranche? Then perhaps they can explain to us how the following makes sense: according to Bloomberg, Greece’s state budget deficit widened to €15.5 billion in the January to end-July [...]
23. August 2011
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