Is the current economic crisis creating a generation of American deadbeats? Once upon a time in America, we were taught that no matter how much financial trouble we get in we pay our debts – no matter what. But now that has fundamentally changed. Today, record numbers of Americans are filing for bankruptcy and a new term had to be invented (“strategic defaults”) to describe the large number of people who are making “business decisions” to walk away from underwater mortgages. Meanwhile, many of these same individuals who are walking away from their debts are spending big money on cruises, vacations and new cars – as if they were still entitled to all of the good things that come with living the American Dream. Below you will read some incredibly disgusting examples of this. It is as if a whole generation of Americans has decided that “financial responsibility” is a problem that they don’t care to be bothered with. But what is it going to do to the U.S. financial system if we can no longer count on people to honor their debts? (Read More...)
The Federal Reserve And U.S. Treasury Unveil The New 100 Dollar Bill
The Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury have unveiled the new 100 dollar bill which will go into circulation starting on February 10th, 2011. Officials from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve System and the United States Secret Service held a press conference in Washington D.C. today to show off the new security features which they hope will reduce the threat of counterfeiting. The 100 dollar bill is the highest denomination of all Federal Reserve notes currently being produced, and circulation of the 100 dollar Federal Reserve note in the past 25 years has grown from $180 billion to approximately $650 billion, so maintaining the integrity of the note is absolutely critical. (Read More...)
The Foreclosure Crisis
Those who believe that the U.S. real estate crash is over are delusional. The truth is that all the numbers point to the foreclosure crisis getting worse – not better. Many of the talking heads on the major news shows want to make the American people feel better about the real estate market and are projecting that things will soon turn around, but a cold, hard look at the statistics tells an entirely different story. Foreclosures are increasing and there is every indication that they will continue to increase. According to RealtyTrac, initial foreclosure filings were reported on 367,056 properties in March, an increase of almost 19 percent from the previous month. It was also the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac began issuing its report on initial foreclosure filings in January 2005. (Read More...)
14 Pieces Of Really Bad News For The U.S. Economy
Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh told an audience on Friday that the U.S. economy is in the midst of a cyclical recovery and that there are “encouraging” signs of improvement in financial markets. Many other governmental and media talking heads have uttered similar pronouncements about a “recovery” which will put the U.S. economy back on track. But are we really experiencing a recovery? If so, then why are foreclosures still hitting record levels? Why is unemployment so high? Why are so many cities and states on the verge of bankruptcy? Why are so many average Americans hurting so much? The truth is that what we are experiencing now is a period of stabilization before the “second dip” of the double-dip recession so many economists have been talking about hits. What the U.S. economy is actually in the midst of is a complete and total structural failure. The American Dream is going to permanently die for millions of American families. Millions more are going to lose their jobs and millions more are going to lose their homes. This is what we get for piling up the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world and outsourcing much of our manufacturing and industry to places like China and India. Now we are an aging, bloated dinosaur trying to survive on a service economy and the biggest debt bubble of all time. (Read More...)
11 Examples Of How Insanely Corrupt The U.S. Financial System Has Become
If you ask most Americans, they will agree that the financial system is corrupt. It is generally assumed that just like most politicians, most big bankers are corrupt by nature. But the truth is that the vast majority of Americans have no idea just how corrupt the U.S. financial system has become. The reality is that the American Dream is literally being stolen from millions of Americans right out from under their noses and they don’t even realize it. The corruption on Wall Street has become so deep and so vast that it is hard to even find the words to describe it. The level of greed being displayed by many Wall Street firms would make Gordon Gecko blush. It seems that the major financial players will try just about anything these days – as long as they think they can get away with it. But in the process they are contributing to the destruction of the greatest economic machine that the planet has ever seen. (Read More...)
Hold On – Interest Rates Are Going To Increase During The Second Half Of 2010 And Into 2011
Interest rates have nowhere to go but up. Interest rates will rise during the second half of 2010, and they will continue to rise during 2011. This is going to cause a lot of pain for the U.S. economy and for American consumers. Unfortunately, this is not just the opinion of a handful of half-baked Internet nutjobs. This is the assessment of the New York Times and of the highly respected economists that they interviewed. It seems that virtually everyone in the financial community agrees that it is inevitable that interest rates are going to rise. And that is really bad news for the U.S. economy. (Read More...)
If The U.S. Economy Is Experiencing A Recovery Why Does It Seem Like Things Keep Getting Worse?
The talking heads on all the major news shows keep telling us that the U.S. economy is experiencing a recovery. Usually the term “recovery” is accompanied by a qualifier such as “jobless”, but they continue to use the word recovery anyway. We are told that the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression is behind us and that the great American economic machine is roaring back to life and everything will be back to normal soon. So why does it seem like things keep getting worse? Why does it seem like the American Dream is out of reach for more Americans than ever? Why does it seem like economic pain is spreading to more families and more businesses? (Read More...)
The Health Care Bill Is Great For American Taxpayers – If You Like Being Punched In The Groin
Thanks to the health care “reform” bill passed by Congress and signed into law by Barack Obama, American taxpayers are about to be hit with the largest tax increase in the history of the United States. According to an analysis by the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation the health care bill will generate $409.2 billion in additional taxes by 2019. But there are also heavy fines for those who refuse to buy the health insurance mandated by the bill. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the health care bill imposes approximately $69 billion in penalties for individuals and businesses who don’t meet mandates to purchase health insurance. This will be the first time in the history of the United States that the federal government has ordered Americans citizens to buy a good or service. But it is not just a small amount of money that the U.S. government is requiring all of us to spend. In fact, the federal government will be mandating that ordinary Americans pay almost as much to private insurance companies as they do in federal taxes. (Read More...)