Greek style financial meltdown in the USA would never happen. We are special.
From the Guardian
While Greece erupted in protest again, representatives of the country's government were trying to drum up international investors' interest in a "fire sale" of its national assets.This in from Leucadia's own global finance guru, Two-armed Jack (to keep his identity a temporary mystery):
Up for sale are 39 airports, 850 ports, railways, motorways, sewage works, ... thousands of acres of land for development, casinos and Greece's national lottery.
The same vultures the taxpayers bailed out are setting up pools of cash to start buying up public assets as the debt crisis catches up to the USA. Encinitas is screwed too. It is just a question of how many parks the city will have to sell to pay off its pension debt that exploded with one vote five years ago.Sure would be a bummer if we had to sell the Hall park. I don't know about finance, but that would never happen. Americans are way smarter than the Greek. That's how we kicked their assess in WWII!
Unlike Greece, a few of us here in the U.S. actually pay income taxes.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. We are heading down the path of serious upheaval. If you love your children, you will wake up and start voting for candidates outside the current path of destruction.
ReplyDeleteFirst order of business in your home town, vote out the nightmare of special interest union bought Jerome Stocks.
Gaspar, be smart and ditch that nightmare. He is only going to sink your future.
HH,
ReplyDeleteThat's actually a point against us.
Greece has deficits of 9% of GDP and part of the solution will be beginning to collect taxes.
We already collect a crapload of taxes and we are running deficits of 10% of GDP over and above that.
We are borrowing 40 cents of every dollar we spend.
The only thing giving us a temporary reprieve from a financial disaster is that interest rates are near zero. How long do you expect China to keep lending at near-zero to a clearly bankrupt government?
Don't worry WC. The Fed will lend us money.
ReplyDeleteToo avoid some discomfort of today, the Americans just keep marching to the same drum of increase borrowing and devaluing our dollar. They are so stupid, they believe Obama and the FED.
ReplyDeleteBy doing so, our country has given our control of our future to China. While we have spent trillions occupying arab lands with dreams of controlling the world's cheap oil supply, China was able to take us out as the Superpower without firing a signal shot. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43573008/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/
All you voters that voted for the past politicians dating back to Nixon are to blame and the presidents just keep getting worse. Clinton, GW Bush and Obama are on top of the worst presidents list by far.
Ross Perot was right, and Ron Paul is right and the idiots of America will sell out their children's future for some easy fat living of Today. How did Americans become so fat and complacent?
The only hope is voting for truth like Ron Paul. I bet he will not win, because people like the FOX sound bites and the looks of Michelle Bachmann.
This country is heading for a tough 30 years ahead. I can't wait until my fell youth decide to strip all the insolvent social security and medicare from the baby boomers who sold out this country all for cheap oil. I will vote for that today or anyday! Its better than our children being slaves to the chinese.
WC, I know you're a negative sorta guy but U.S. taxes are on the low side of historical ranges (14% of gdp vs 17% historical average), and frankly, few people in the U.S. actually pay taxes. To say we pay a "crapload" is not fair. We are severely under-taxed. Greek people won't pay taxes. Like the Chinese, they cheat. No doubt the U.S. has it's fair share of problems but Greece we are not.
ReplyDeletePalin is hotter than Bachman (to be fair, I haven't seen Bachman in a bikini - anybody got any pics?).
HH,
ReplyDeleteTrue about taxes. But that's part of the problem. The government is using low taxes and high spending to keep our sick economy on life support.
From the definition of GDP,
GDP = C + I + G + X,
G is government meaning that government spending translates directly into GDP (no matter how wastefully it is spent, even digging holes and then filling them back in). And taxes directly take away money that would otherwise go to Consumption or Investment. So our 10% GDP deficits artificially boost GDP by 10%, and any effort to close the deficit by either higher taxes or spending cuts will cause a collapse in GDP.
Deficit spending is like heroin: a bitch to get off of. Greece is starting to go through withdrawal. We haven't even started yet.
I don't think I'm a negative guy. I'd call myself a realist.
I'd agree WC is a realist which in the end probably makes him more happy and peacefull considering he is not trying to kid himself every day.
ReplyDeleteUh... the Greeks were on the side of the Allies in World War II.
ReplyDeleteya but the part about Americans being smarter. That part is right!
ReplyDeleteYeah. Right! Haaa!
ReplyDelete