The Second Wave

The Sovereign-Debt Default Bomb - WSJ.com

After a financial crisis like the one of the past two years, 'there's typically a wave of sovereign default crises,' he said. 'If you want to know what's next on the menu, that's a good bet.' Spiraling government debts around the world, from Washington to Berlin to Tokyo, could set the scene for years of financial troubles, he said.

Right now it costs about 2.6% of the principal each year for investors to insure Greek government bonds against default, according to CMA DataVision. Some say that's too high, and that a European country like Greece, a member of the euro-zone, will never default. Prof. Rogoff, by contrast, thinks that 2.6% is too low. There's a serious chance Greece will default, he said, adding that most people don't realize that this is a tradition in that country. Greece has been in default for a substantial amount of its modern history as an independent country, he said. Even if the IMF steps in, they won't do so until the crisis actually blows up. Continue reading...

The 60-Second Guide To Everything You Need To Know About Oil, Gold, Bonds, China, And Stocks In 2010

While some forecasters aim to continue their winning streaks, others hope to salvage their reputations in 2010.

Yet from Goldman's giant interest rate call to Marc Faber's ultimate contrarian bet, competitive market forecasting is really just a giant game of chicken.

Key prognosticators are paid to take their stand, then defend it incessantly without blinking. So here they are. Continue reading...

How prices have changed since 1999

Remember the giddy year of 1999, when many of us were convinced we were entering the new millennium and everyone was panicking about the Y2K bug?

During the subsequent decade, the stock market made us rich as kings, then poor as church mice. We've taken a look back to see how the years have affected the price of 50 things we buy, or wish we could buy. Thanks to inflation, it takes around $1.30 to buy what $1 bought in 1999.

How have your fortunes fared in the past ten years? Continue reading...

10 Countries That Will Survive The Sovereign Credit Meltdown in 2010

First, there were the failed banks. Then, countries started to fold. 2009 has been the year of shrinking budgets, and economic slowdown for many nations.

In 2010, sovereign defaults are expected to be the economic story.



10 Countries That Will Survive The Sovereign Credit Meltdown Of 2010: "10 Countries That Will Survive The Sovereign Credit Meltdown Of 2010"

Inflation is Hiding in The Fed's Balance Sheet

However much it infuriates people like Paul Krugman to hear analysts warn about inflation while the economy is still sputtering along joblessly, there is good reason to worry about the ability of the Federal Reserve to prevent the massive build up of the monetary base from resulting in out of control inflation.

Twenty seven minutes of truth

Here is one of Max Keiser's better videos.  The best is about 12 minutes into this clip, Max Keiser interviews an Australian economist, Steve Keen. Mr Keen's assessment about the current economic crisis and bail-outs was very interesting. He said Americans are anti-understanding and described the bail out of these financial institutions as "keeping vampires and parasites alive". He also said 20% of our workforce don't have skills to do any productive work for our society, which Peter Schiff keeps harping about.