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The United States recorded a Government Debt to GDP has risen dramatically and remains at peak levels since Obama took office. See chart in linked article. We have been running at roughly just over DOUBLE the GDP in debt.

I’d intended to write about the Democratic and Republican primaries this week, but an article from the New Republic’s very smart Danny Vinik caught my eye. So, the primaries will have to wait. Referencing a piece by Ed Luce in the Financial Times, Vinik writes that Luce “overlooks a fundamental reason why [Hillary Clinton] is the early [2016] favorite: The economy is quickly improving under a Democratic president.” Vinik then cites political science research suggesting that the economy is the crucial factor in predicting elections. This is true. But there are other factors to consider as well; no model of...

With all the economic gloom in the world, many have been perplexed: Why have stocks done so well, especially in the U.S.?

Jonathan Cable, Reuters December 3, 2014LONDON (Reuters) - The euro zone economy may face another contraction after business activity grew less than expected in November despite heavy discounting, surveys on Wednesday showed, although Asian readings were more upbeat. Firms across the euro zone cut prices again. That, and signs that the bloc's core economies are struggling, will concern the European Central Bank which has launched a raft of measures to revive growth and drive up dangerously low inflation. In contrast, a survey covering China's services industry showed slightly faster expansion. But after data on Monday said manufacturing growth was its...

Paulina Abramovich, AFP December 2, 2014Santiago (AFP) - Latin America's economies, hit by falling investment, will grow just 1.1 percent in 2014 -- their lowest level in five years, a UN commission on the region said Tuesday. The poor performance of several of Latin America's biggest economies dragged down growth across the region, found the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Argentina's economy will contract by 0.2 percent this year and Venezuela's by 3.0 percent, it said. Regional giant Brazil's will grow just 0.2 percent. The figures are the latest confirmation of the end of...

December 2, 2014Santiago, ChileOn October 22, 1981, the government of the United States of America accumulated an astounding $1 TRILLION in debt.At that point, it had taken the country 74,984 days (more than 205 years) to accumulate its first trillion in debt.It would take less than five years to accumulate its second trillion.And as the US government just hit $18 trillion in debt on Friday afternoon, it has taken a measly 403 days to accumulate its most recent trillion.There’s so much misinformation and propaganda about this; let’s examine some of the biggest lies out there about the US debt:1)...

Russian Ruble Takes a Nosedive as Oil Price Drops MOSCOW — Dec 1, 2014, 6:29 AM ET By NATALIYA VASILYEVA Associated Press Russia's ruble hit a new all-time low on Monday, dropping about 5 percent as declining oil prices and the conflict in eastern Ukraine weigh on the country's economic prospects. The Russian currency traded at 52.75 rubles against the dollar in morning trading Monday after shedding 15 percent in the previous week. The ruble was also down 5 percent against the euro. Battered by low oil prices and the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the ruble has been declining throughout...

1 December 2014 Last updated at 14:22 Japan downgraded by Moody's amid rising fears over debt Moody's has cut Japan's credit rating by one notch over rising doubts about its ability to reduce debt levels. The decision by the ratings agency sent the yen to a seven-year low against the US dollar. The downgrade comes less than a two weeks before a snap general election called by prime minister Shinzo Abe. His economic stimulus policies and a decision to delay a second sales tax rise will be among the key campaign issues. Tom Byrne, regional credit officer of Moody's, said...

Tyler Durden 12/01/2014 Last week, total US debt was a meager $17,963,753,617,957.26. Two days later, as updated today, on Black Friday, total outstanding US public debt just hit a new historic level which probably would be better associated with a red color: as of the last work day of November, total US public debt just surpassed $18 trillion for the first time, or $18,005,549,328,561.45 to be precise, of which debt held by the public rose to $12,922,681,725,432.94, an increase of $32 billion in one day.(snip)

Merryn Somerset WebbDecember 1, 2014 Russell Napier is a financial historian and the founder of ERIC, an online research firm that aims at connecting analysts and investors. Here he talks to Merryn Somerset Webb about the next deflationary bust – why it’s coming, what it means for you, and how you can survive it. Merryn Somerset Webb: Let’s start at the beginning. You are a firm believer, as I understand it, in the idea that we live in a deflationary environment and there’s almost nothing that central banks can do to change that. So, maybe talk a little bit about...

  Once again we can say we're looking at a great time for investing!  OK, so it means we wince over last Friday's metals prices, but like who does metals anyway dude, like it's soooo 2013 even.   That and the general feeling we get reading stuff like  Gold mining industry mostly ‘under water’ – Gold Fields CEO (h/t Chgogal). Hey, I'm talking stock market year end "window dressing"† January effect --check out the averages over the past 30 years for the Dow, S&P500, and the NASDAQ, they typically go up 3.4%, 3.6% and 4.8% respectively.  On top of that...

Columbia County, Ark. — There’s no sign of it here in Magnolia, Ark., but the boycott season is upon us, and graduates of Princeton and Bryn Mawr are demanding “justice” from Wal-Mart, which is not in the justice business but in the groceries, clothes, and car-batteries business. It is easy to scoff, but I am ready to start taking the social-justice warriors’ insipid rhetoric seriously — as soon as two things happen: First, I want to hear from the Wal-Mart-protesting riffraff a definition of “justice” that is something that does not boil down to “I Get What I Want, Irrespective...

The GOP is preparing to mount a full-scale assault on President Obama’s regulatory agenda, using the party’s strengthened hand in Congress to delay, soften or block contentious administration rules at every turn. As long as Obama sits atop the executive branch, Republicans’ power to derail scores of rulemaking efforts now under way is limited. But control of both the House and Senate in the next Congress will enable GOP lawmakers to ratchet up their attacks on what they view as overzealous regulation. “So long as we have this president the federal agencies can go around Congress," said Sen. Jim Inhofe...

RadioShack won't be the only store to open on Thanksgiving Day, but it might be the only one of its particular makeup to do so. This isn't Walmart or a call center, in which volunteers who want overtime pay can be chosen first. Most RadioShack stores have just a handful of employees, most or all of whom will work Thanksgiving whether they want to or not. Retail employees have very, very little in the way of perks, of things that are understood to be sacred. Having Thanksgiving Day to themselves was one of them. RadioShack is a company of massive...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)The busiest shopping day of the year also saw a major boom for gun sales, with the federal background check system expected to set a record of more than 144,000 background checks Friday, according to the FBI. The staggering number of checks -- an average of almost three per second, nearly three times the daily average -- falls on the shoulders of 600 FBI and contract call center employees who will endure 17-hour workdays in an attempt to complete the background reviews in three business days, as required by law, FBI spokesman Stephen Fischer said. "Traditionally, Black Friday is one...

Tyler Durden11/29/2014 A week ago, when we reported that in a stunning move, the "Dutch Central Bank Secretly Withdrew 122 Tons Of Gold From The New York Fed", and when looking at the NY Fed's monthly reports of gold deposits by foreign entities, we observed that "we can see that while the 5 tons outflow in 2013 was most likely Germany, the recent surge in gold repatriation from Liberty 33 was the Netherlands. That said, only 77.5 tons of NY deposits gold has been officially repatriated through September, which means the October update, when it comes out, will be a...

When it comes to poverty, the two biggest states, California and Texas, offer a vivid contrast: Results matter more than well-meaning intentions, and work beats welfare. Once again, California has the highest poverty rate in the nation at 23.4%, according to a new Census Bureau report that takes into account the variable cost of housing from state to state as well as noncash benefits such as housing vouchers and food stamps. (The official poverty measure assumes the same costs throughout America.) This broad poverty measure shows that Texas' poverty rate dropped to 15.9%, the national average. Along with the nation's...

Father-of-six Tyree Landrum was driving to one of his three jobs when he came across a line of Ferguson protesters blocking the road in the middle of the San Diego rush hour. Furious that the demonstrators might make him late to work and risk him getting fired, he decided to get out of his car on the I-5 in La Jolla to confront the group of students. He then told a photographer for ABC News 10: 'If I don't get there, I'm going to get fired. I've got six f****** kids to feed.' Mr Landrum's reaction on Wednesday has since...

Lyle Denniston, the National Constitution Center’s constitutional literacy adviser, tackles a weighty issue: the FDA’s constitutional ability to mandate calorie counts on restaurant menus nationwide. “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today finalized…rules requiring that calorie information be listed on menus and menu boards in chain restaurants [and] similar retail food establishments….The menu labeling final rule applies to restaurants and similar retail food establishments if they are part of a chain of 20 or more locations, doing business under the same name and offering for sale substantially the same menu items. Covered food establishments will be required to clearly and...

On Thursday, oil prices crashed. And on Friday, shares of oil companies around the world followed suit. Here were some of the biggest losers on Friday: BP (BP), down 5% Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A), down 6% Total (TOT), down 5% Statoil (STO), down 14% Exxon Mobil (XOM), down 5% ConocoPhillips (COP), down 9% Marathon Oil (MRO), down 13% Occidental Petroleum (OXY), down 7%