Yearly Archives: 2013

The Debt Ceiling Battle Is Coming

"A working paper by economist James Hamilton, of UC San Diego, for the National Bureau of Economic Research indicates that the official federal debt, $16.7 trillion, is the tip of the iceberg. Currently, the feds are $86.8 trillion in debt, according to Hamilton. The Treasury department has been looting government pensions to hold the debt ceiling at bay. This can go on for another month or so until the battle in Congress begins again. Sunday, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew pre-empted the debt ceiling fight with a strike against the GOP on Meet the Press. Lew predictably blamed the debt ceiling for the S&P crash of summer 2011." Continue reading →

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People Are Using Borrowed Money To Buy Stock Like It’s 2007 Or 1999

"Deutsche Bank has a monster note out on margin debt that has been making the rounds. The conclusion of the note is rather simple – today’s euphoric borrowing on margin to buy stocks is reminiscent of past bubbly equity market periods (see here for more). The note reviews commentary from the 1999 & 2007 periods and compares it to what’s being said today. So, are we in a 2007 or 2000 type environment? Yes. I would say we are given that the data is confirming the same sort of market trends and debt trends. But the question is what’s the trigger? The market is kind of like a Jenga set at this stage in the cycle." Continue reading →

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Federal Debt: Frozen for Two Months. A Miracle!

"How is is it that the official debt of the United States government has been frozen at $16,699,396,000,000.00 for over 70 days? The Secretary of the Treasury is not saying. He merely reports that this is the case. 'Trust me.' Congress is trusting him. The Media are trusting him. The voters are trusting him. How does the U.S. government deal with an annual deficit of at least $600 billion, yet the official, on-budget debt does not change for over two months? Inquiring minds want to know. Actually, they don’t want to know. This willingness to believe in miracles is part of the national pastime: 'kick the can.'" Continue reading →

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Bernanke Must Testify Under Oath

"In September 2008 the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a privately owned entity, paid $182 million to buy 80% of the busted insurance firm AIG. Why would any privately owned company pay par value for the shares of a company that had only hours to live? That’s what the court wants to know. Why? Because — you’ll love this — the former CEO of the almost busted insurance company says he was cheated. The value of his stock was diluted. How? By all that money. All that money let an outside agency — the New York FED — buy 80% of his worthless shares. He wants payback. From whom? 'The U.S. government.'" Continue reading →

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Treasury’s Lew: Congress Needs to Pass Debt Limit

"Congress needs to raise the debt limit and take away the 'cloud of uncertainty' about the nation's ability to pay its bills, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said. 'The fight over the debt limit in 2011 hurt the economy, even though, in the end, we saw an extension of the debt limit. We saw confidence fall, and it hurt the economy. Congress needs to do its job. It needs to finish its work on appropriation bills. It needs to pass a debt limit,' Lew said on NBC's Meet The Press. Senior lawmakers on Capitol Hill are trying to come up with must-do legislation to keep federal agencies running after Sept. 30 and prevent the possibility of a government shutdown." Continue reading →

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Chicago’s Cash-on-Hand Plunges

"Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed the books on 2012 with $33.4 million in unallocated cash on hand — down from $167 million the year before — while adding to the mountain of debt piled on Chicago taxpayers, year-end audits show, reports the Chicago Sun Times. Last week, Moody’s Investors ordered an unprecedented triple-drop in the city’s bond rating, citing Chicago’s 'very large and growing' pension liabilities, 'significant' debt service payments, 'unrelenting public safety demands'." Continue reading →

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Heart Surgery in India for $1,583 Costs $106,385 in U.S.

"Devi Shetty is obsessed with making heart surgery affordable for millions of Indians. On his office desk are photographs of two of his heroes: Mother Teresa and Mahatma Gandhi. Shetty is not a public health official motivated by charity. He’s a heart surgeon turned businessman who has started a chain of 21 medical centers around India. By trimming costs with such measures as buying cheaper scrubs and spurning air-conditioning, he has cut the price of artery-clearing coronary bypass surgery to 95,000 rupees ($1,583), half of what it was 20 years ago, and wants to get the price down to $800 within a decade." Continue reading →

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Cuba looks to medical tourism to entice international visitors

"Drug rehab, post-accident motor skills rehabilitation, treatment for eye diseases and plastic surgery — foreign patients can get all of these services and more in Cuba, and at competitive prices. As the communist government of President Raul Castro seeks to revive the island’s moribund economy, it is turning to medical tourism as a revenue generator. Cuba’s main source of foreign income is the sale of medical services to other countries — legions of doctors and nurses, who are public employees, travel abroad to work following an agreement with the host country. Cuba has the highest number of doctors per resident in the world." Continue reading →

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Cities’ Strategy in Health Insurance for Retirees: “Dump Them Into ObamaCare!”

"The 61 largest U.S. cities in 2009 were in the hole by about $118 billion to retirees’ health insurance obligations. They now think they have a way out: default on these obligations and force retirees into ObamaCare. This gets the obligations off their backs and onto the backs of the federal government. This is what Detroit is doing. Other cities’ officials are impressed. But Detroit is declaring bankruptcy. How can the other cities get out from under without declaring bankruptcy?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCities’ Strategy in Health Insurance for Retirees: “Dump Them Into ObamaCare!”