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Today, without much fanfare, US debt to GDP hit 101% with the latest issuance of $32 billion in 2 Year Bonds. If the moment when this ratio went from double to triple digits is still fresh in readers minds, is because it is: total debt hit and surpassed the most recently revised Q4 GDP on January 30, or just three weeks ago. Said otherwise, it has taken the US 21 days to add a full percentage point to this most critical of debt sustainability ratios: but fear not, with just under $1 trillion in new debt issuance on deck in...

President Barack Obama has been increasing the national debt during his presidency by an average of $4.24 billion per day ($4,240,506,004.34) putting him on a pace to increase the national debt by $6.2 trillion ($6,195,379,272,340.74) by the end of his term on Jan. 20, 2013, according to the debt figures published by the U.S. Treasury.That $6.2 trillion is more debt than was accumulated by all U.S. presidents from George Washington through Bill Clinton combined. In fact, the U.S. national debt did not eclipse the $6.195 trillion level—the amount Obama is on pace to increase it in one term—until August 19,...

Yesterday, as the New Hampshire returns rolled in, I tweeted wearily, “I’d hoped for something different.” The incomparable Stephen Kruiser tweeted back, “You’re young. Get used to saying that if you plan on staying in the GOP.”That wisdom returned to me this morning when I read this from CNSNews.com: When the Republican-controlled House approved its first CR on March 4, 2011, the national debt was 14,182,627,184,881.03, according to the U.S. Treasury. As of the close of business on Jan. 9, 2012, the national debt was 15,236,506,139,986.86.That means the debt increased by $1.05 trillion over the past ten months.That equals approximately...

How the U.S. National Debt Could Drain Your Savings January 9, 2012 By David Zeiler, Associate Editor, Money Morning Now that Congress has allowed the U.S. national debt to grow bigger than the American economy, it won't be long until the American public suffers the consequences by losing most of its savings to inflation.Figures for last year show the national debt officially exceeded 100% of the nation's gross domestic product (GDP). According to government figures, the national debt stood at $15.23 trillion at the close of 2011, compared to a GDP of $15.18 trillion. "The 100% mark means that your...

Ten States That Cannot Pay Their Bills Posted: January 11, 2012 at 6:59 amMichael B. Sauter, Charles B. Stockdale, Ashley C. Allen 10. New Hampshire > 2011 budget shortfall as a % of general fund: 27.2% > 2011 budget shortfall: $365 million > 2012 projected budget shortfall: 18.4% (8th largest) > GDP change (2006 – 2010): +7.5% (11th smallest increase) > Median home value change (2006 – 2010): -4% (12th largest decline) New Hampshire is often considered to have weathered the recession better than most states. It has one of the strongest economies in the country in many respects. Its...

When Nobel laureate Paul Krugman began a recent New York Times column by showing concern about “disastrously high unemployment,” we could sympathize with his assertion that too much attention is focused on “the allegedly urgent issue of reducing the budget deficit.” After all, there are many other factors that prevent us from employing our resources in the most productive uses. We are overregulated, overtaxed, overinflated, and the government spends wastefully and too much. If we were to prioritize any of those policies, such as cutting tax rates, then we could justify tolerating high deficits a little longer. The brighter prospects...

Look Out Below – The Nightmarish Decline Of The Euro Has BegunJanuary 6, 2012 The euro is a dying currency. On Thursday, the EUR/USD fell below 1.28 for the first time since September 2010. In fact, as I write this the EUR/USD is sitting at 1.2791. Back in July, the EUR/USD was over 1.45. But this is just the beginning. The euro is going to go a lot lower. At this point, there are several major European nations that are on the verge of default, the European financial system is overflowing with debt and toxic assets, and most major European...

The Number One Catastrophic Event That Americans Worry About: Economic CollapseDecember 30, 2011 Can you guess what the number one catastrophic event that Americans worry about is? There are certainly many to choose from. Many Americans are deathly afraid of a major terrorist attack. Others live in constant fear of natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes and hurricanes. Still others are incredibly concerned that a massive pandemic will break out at any time or that World War III will erupt in the Middle East. Yes, there are certainly a lot of potential catastrophic events that one can worry about in...

In 2012 The Economy Will Be On 'Firmer, Albeit Unsteady, Footing' Peter Demirali, Cumberland Advisors Dec. 28, 2011, 4:51 PM The last twelve months have been quite remarkable in terms of volatility and absolute levels of interest rates. The bond market was whipsawed by events in Europe and Washington. Greece was the poster child for the debt crisis in Europe but it was merely the first country to feel the wrath of the capital markets. Portugal, Ireland, Spain, and ultimately Italy experienced difficulty accessing the cash markets to roll over debt. You can view the spreads on various European sovereign...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. stocks fell sharply Monday as investors remain concerned about the debt crisis in Europe and its potential impact on the global banking system. The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) was down 114 points, or 1%, in afternoon trading. The S&P 500 (SPX) sank 14 points, or 1.1%. The Nasdaq (COMP) slid 31 points, or 1.2%. Stocks opened higher but the gains faded as the banking sector dragged down the broader market. Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) fell below $5 per share, lowest level since the worst of the financial crisis in March 2009. Citigroup...

The federal government’s debt increased by $203,368,715,583.63 in the month of October, according to the U.S. Treasury. That equals about $650 per person for each of the 312,542,760 people the Census Bureau now estimates live in the United States. At the end of September, the total national debt stood at $14,790,340,328,557.15, according to the Bureau of the Public Debt. By the end of October, it had risen to $14,993,709,044,140.78. The debt increased far more this October than it did last October. Between the last day of September 2010 and the last day of October, the debt rose from $13,561,623,030,891.79 to...

So How Do These Sorts of Crises End? Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis Oct 28, 2011 - 01:38 AM By: Paul Tustain However this crisis is resolved, guess who'll be footing the bill... The World has endured these sorts of crises before. Somehow they come to an end. What happens? Sometimes, someone turns up who can prop up the collapsing debt mountain, and they make it grow higher, for a little bit longer. For a short while they are even called brilliant, but they leave a bigger problem than they started with. Eventually the thing comes crashing down and the...

Monster Prediction From BofA: Another US Debt Downgrade Is Coming In Just A Few Weeks Joe Weisenthal | Oct. 22, 2011, 7:04 AM | 4,055 | 48 In an analyst note, Bofa/ML Ethan S. Harris drops a bit of a bombshell prediction: We expect a moderate slowdown in the beginning of next year, as two small policy shocks—another debt downgrade and fiscal tightening—hit the economy. The “not-so-super” Deficit Commission is very unlikely to come up with a credible deficit-reduction plan. The committee is more divided than the overall Congress. Since the fall-back plan is sharp cuts in discretionary spending, the...

If you ever try comparing the debt situation in the US and Japan, someone will invariably say: Well, Japan can afford a lot more debt because it's all domestically owned, whereas US debt is owned by the Chinese. It turns out this isn't really true, though unfortunately this destructive myth continues to dominate political/economic debates. Yes, China holds a lot, but they're not dominant, and when you add it up, most debt is actually domestically held, just like in Japan.

State news agency Xinhua said unless the US cut its "gigantic military expenditure and bloated welfare costs," another downgrade would be inevitable. But other countries, such as Australia, France and Japan, said they retained their faith in US bonds.

With the political clash over the U.S. debt ceiling in full swing this week, I’ve been inundated with people asking variants of the same question: with U.S. in (temporary) danger of defaulting, will China, which holds at least $1.2 trillion worth of U.S. Treasuries, finally get fed up and dump its share of the U.S. national debt? It certainly sounded that way, with the official People’s Daily condemning Congress’ handling of the debt crisis as “irresponsible” and “immoral,” while Chinese diplomats urgently pressed their American counterparts for reassurance. In fact, as I pointed out in a National Public Radio (NPR)...

California Borrows $5.4 Billion As Protection In Case U.S. Defaults Grace Wyler Jul. 26, 2011, 8:01 PM UPDATE: 7:45pm, July 26 California went through with plans to borrow money from Wall Street today as a hedge against a possible U.S. default. The AP reports that California State Treasurer Bill Lockyer secured $5.4 billion in short term loans from a group of banks, credit unions, and investment funds. The bulk of the loans come from Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, which each provided more than $1.4 billion. The so-called "bridge loan" will allow the state to avoid a cash shortfall if...

As he normally does on "Inside Washington," PBS's Mark Shields Friday was waxing moronic about Republican plans to balance the budget. Not pleased by the fictional account on display, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer challenged his fellow panelist saying, "Democrats have not even produced a budget for 2012. What’s their budget?" (video follows with transcript and commentary): Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/07/03/krauthammer-challenges-shields-where-democrat-budget-whats-their-plan#ixzz1R98RVLOf

Just in time for the end of QE2, when the US needs every possible foreign buyer of US debt to step up to the plate, we get confirmation that yet another major foreign central bank has decided to not only not add to its US debt holdings, but to actively sell US Treasurys. The WSJ reports that "Russia will likely continue lowering its U.S. debt holdings as Washington struggles to contain a budget deficit and bolster a tepid economic recovery, a top aide to President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday. "The share of our portfolio in U.S. instruments has gone down...