Sovereign debt defaults has become a topic of investors’ worry in the past few years. Some of the European countries such as Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, etc. are suffering from fiscal issues and may default on their debts. At the height of the credit crisis some suggested that the US may have to default should …
Continue reading ‘A Historical Look at Sovereign Debt Defaults’ »
Transfer payments are government payments to individuals in the form of social security, unemployment benefits, disability benefits, food stamps, etc. Some of these payments are big expenditure for the government and have increased in recent years. For example, food stamp expenditures totaled $64.7 billion for the fiscal year ending in September 2010 and is projected …
The current U.S. total public debt outstanding exceeds $14.8 Trillions. This huge debt has been accumulated over many years under the of administrations of both Republican and Democratic presidents. Just like a business it takes money to run a government. One of the main sources of revenue for governments is taxes. So Tax Revenues as a …
Continue reading ‘USA Has One of the Lowest Taxes Among OECD Countries’ »
Originally I had scheduled the article below for posting on next Friday. After reading yesterday’s The New York Times editorial on Occupy Wall Street protests I decided to publish it today. From the Times editorial: Extreme inequality is the hallmark of a dysfunctional economy, dominated by a financial sector that is driven as much by …
Continue reading ‘IMF: Income Inequality Worsens in Most Developed Countries’ »
The U.S. markets made a dramatic turnaround today with the S&P 500 soaring 4.1% in the final 50 minutes of trading. Up until few weeks ago US stocks had held up well compared to European stocks as investors assumed the European debt crisis would have a smaller impact here. However despite the perceived strength of …
Continue reading ‘The Next U.S. Crisis Could be Worse Than the Previous One’ »