debt crisis

Why National Debts Eventually Default | Armstrong Economics

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

QUESTION: If governments have been borrowing without limit since world war 2, are you saying that there is some line that is cross in debt to GDP that results in default? Thank you JU ANSWER: No. The debt to GDP ratio is interesting. The USA is at about 103% and China is at 250%. The ratio is at 180% for Greece and France is at 96.5%. If we used exclusively these numbers, China should be worse than Greece. If France’s debt is less than the USA, then why is the French economy doing so badly? So what is the real issue that causes defaults? To answer that question we need to introduce currency. France and Germany were less impacted by converting to the Euro than Greece, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. Why? Currency Inflation! Southern Europe had always issued debt and over time you were paying back with cheaper currency. The USA is insulated in that manner. $1 million in 1930 could buy 1,666 Cadillacs. Today, financed for 39 months, the cost of a Cadillac is $26,700, which means that $1 million will only buy 37.4 cars. The debt issued in 1940 has been devalued over time. This is how debts have escaped the theory that a national debt has some limit. Then countries like Germany worry about the debt so they raise taxes to keep the ratio down below 70%. In taking that approach, they lower the standard of living of their population to support the government. The government spending as a percent of GDP in Germany has run on average about 46.5% of GDP compared to the USA average at 36.57%. The higher that ratio the lower the standard of living. It also warns that there is a limit to taxation before you reach the threshold of revolution – remember No Taxation without Representation? The debt crisis we are currently in has been accelerated by two factors: deflation making past debt more expensive and artificially low interest rates Greece converted its past debt to Euro which then doubled in value as the Euro rallied from 80 cents to $1.60. That meant the past debt was now double in real terms and there was no possible way Greece could pay such a load. In real terms, the debt rose relative to its GDP because you converted the currency base. The crisis we face globally is that as interest rates rise, the servicing of the debt will rise exponentially. This will impact everyone around the world. Now, if the dollar rallies sharply because of the structural crisis in Europe and the turning down of the economies elsewhere, then the past debt of the USA will rise in real terms as was the case with Greece. Then add to this Cauldron and stir gently rising interest rates. Shabam! You reach the threshold of a debt crisis!
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/sovereign-debt-crisis/why-national-debts-eventually-default/

Very good analysis

BIG BANG is Here and Ticking | Armstrong Economics

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

QUESTION: Dear Marty, due to 5,000-year lows in interest rates, in 2011 the US was able to triple the debt but keep the payments the same as in 1998. With interest rates rising (but still historically low) in 2017 the US paid the highest interest payment on the debt in history. Could you please elaborate on that? Thank you for sharing your wisdom. Kind regards, M ANSWER: This is going to be a major topic at the WEC. This is a major time bomb that amazingly nobody seems to be paying attention to. Rates are going higher for they need that to help the pension crisis. The USA is nowhere as bad as it appears in Europe from a debt perspective. This whole mess is going to explode in our face and this is going to be the serious trend going into the next ECM turning point. The debts of governments around the globe are going to move up exponentially. This is very serious for some will raise taxes to try to keep the game going but that will cause even more deflation. I cannot express how SERIOUS this is. While everyone is looking at the stock market, others at the dollar and gold, they are missing the greatest threat to civilization since the 12th century. Interest rates began to rise as soon as we passed the peak in this 8.6-year was – 2015.75. The Fed raised interest rates for the first time once the ECM turned. The number of institutions calling and governments has been rising ever since the ECM turned. This is not going to get better and it is not going to just fade away. Sorry, if we keep our eyes closed and even hide under the bed, it will not matter.
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/sovereign-debt-crisis/big-bang-is-here-and-ticking/

Debt bomb fuse is getting short

Has Draghi Just Lost It? | Armstrong Economics

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

QUESTION: Why are long-term yields on risky European debt below that of US Treasuries? Is this the European bubble madness? HN, Frankfurt ANSWER: This is unquestionably a bubble, but the buyer has been the ECB (European Central Bank). Yields on risky European bonds have been driven below the yields of long-dated US securities. The financial system may appear to be riddled with anomalies, distortions and erroneous prices, but all of those labels assume it is the madness of crowds rather than the government. Mario Draghi has created the worst possible financial nightmare perhaps in modern history since governments began borrowing in the 12th century. These are not driven by a free market, but one that is manipulation of a central bank gone absolutely mad. The average return on European junk bonds is below “risk-free” US government bonds. This is completely driven by the insanity of the ECB. In fact, Draghi purchased around $ 2.6 trillion in securities since his Quantitative Easing began in March 2015. He assumed that this would stimulate the economy. However, all it has done is kept the member states on life-support. He is trapped and has no way out, which is why he has come out and said that the ECB will reinvest when the bonds they hold mature. There will be no end to this madness and he has single-handedly wiped out the bond markets. There is no free-market remaining so the question becomes – how will governments ever sell its debt in the future?
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/europes-current-economy/has-draghi-just-lost-it/

Doubling down

The Dollar is Not Dead After All? | Armstrong Economics

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

CLICK ON CHART It is amazing how people have simply declared that the dollar is in a perpetual bear market as if the USA is the only nation with a debt. They judge the entire future by a few weeks of price action. That is what is so dangerous – emotional trading. I have been warning that ONLY a dollar’s resurgence would create a monetary crisis. The entire world is free to issue debt in dollars and emerging market have done so. As interest rates were manipulated to a 5,000 historic low by central banks, they never thought about what would happen to pensions. So many pensions ran into the open arms of emerging debt which doubled its issue in less than 8 years. The foolish fund managers ran headstrong into emerging markets seeking HIGH YIELD! The dollar rally is now rippling through emerging markets, sparking steep falls in stocks, bonds, and their currencies wiping out whatever gains they thought were guaranteed. We are looking a devastation around the globe with the Turkish lira falling almost another 6%. Argentina’s peso is also in trouble as the central bank raised the interest rate to 40% trying to support the currency. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which measures stock performance, is also down 1.5%. Then there is the JPMorgan index for emerging-market government bonds in their respective local currencies has also dropped almost 4% in the past month. These declines illustrate that there is rising uncertainty about the outlook for emerging-market assets among fund managers. Many have been showing that 2018 would be a Directional Change following the surge many saw during 2017. Since January 2018, this turning point which made many call a bear market in the US shares has also marked the beginning of a shift in worldwide trends. Complexity. You have to Love the interconnections. Keeps the brain awake.
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/markets-by-sector/foreign-exchange/the-dollar-is-not-dead-after-all/

Cologne Institute of German Business Warns of Deposit Protection May Not Survive in Europe | Armstrong Economics

Posted on by johnbarleycorn12

The Cologne Institute of German Business sees in the planned European deposit insurance is simply incapable of proving protection against a bank crash in Europe. The EU deposit guarantee is simply not practical under any concept of austerity. The Eurozone still has inherent significant risks in the balance sheets of European financial institutions. This is primarily because where the USA took the bad loans from the banks and stuffed them into Freddie and Fanny, in Europe, the bad loans are still on the books of the banks. Systemically, this has been the leading problem why Europe has been unable to recover and Quantitative Easing merely robber savers of their income and it failed completely to stimulate the economy. Banks were still reluctant to lend and people would not borrow if they did not have confidence in the future. The proportion of bad loans is so different between the individual banks that a joint deposit guarantee leads to a permanent transfer mechanism. This is a complete disaster and pulls the EU apart. As the worse banks are in Southern Europe, Northern Europe will see this as a bailout for the South. Therein lies the very crisis and why the structure of the Eurozone from the outset has been such a complete disaster. All national debts of member states should have been consolidated and that should have become the European National Debt. Thereafter, member states should have been on their own. But that common sense design was ignored for political purposes. Any consolidation of debt was seen as a bailout for weaker member states. This inherent disparity simply remains intact with no solution in sight. The recapitalization costs for eliminating non-performing loans (NPLs) just in Cyprus will still consume 2.4% of GDP in that member state. In Greece, any recapitalization will cost 2% of GDP and in Italy 0.8%. The disparity among members smacks of transfer payments which have been a sore subject behind the design of the Euro. A closer look at Italy reveals that more than 10% of the balance sheets of Italian banks constitute bad loans. The cost to bailout Italy is put at €189 billion while Spain comes in around €100 billion and even France will be €85 billion. In Germany, the bad loans amount to about €48 billion While nobody wants to talk about it, the obvious issue is why has Deutsche Bank not been merged with Commerzbank? The bad loan problem a derivatives problem would simply not be solved even by such a merger. Is it any wonder why politicians have looked to bail-ins rather than bailouts?
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/europes-current-economy/cologne-institute-of-german-business-warns-of-deposit-protection-may-not-survive-in-europe/

Scary