Wednesday, December 21, 2016

JIM QUINN WARNS: Obama and the Democrats Have Strapped a Fiscal Suicide Belt to the Entire Country

Writing at The Burning Platform, econ blogger Jim Quinn offers a comprehensive summary of the fiscal time bomb that Barack Obama and the Democrat Party have bequeathed to this and future generations. Read the whole thing, but here are some nuggets to raise your blood pressure a couple of dozen points.

Quinn covers, among other things, what real inflation looks like:
The Fed narrative of no inflation, supported by the sliced, diced, manipulated, massaged, hedonically and seasonally adjusted drivel produced by the government drones at the BLS, has benefited from the almost two year decline in gas and oil prices. That is now reversing itself, as gasoline prices have risen at an annualized rate of 20% over the last three months. It is poised to rise by 30% to 40% year over year in the next few months. Even the Deep State government bureaucrats are having trouble disguising raging inflation in expenses affecting average Americans on a daily basis.
How about the real housing situation?

The Fed’s latest bubble blowing adventure has also driven the home ownership rate to a 50 year low...

...Rental society seems more likely, especially for student debt burdened millennials working their Obama jobs at Shake Shack. The Fed induced housing bubble, designed to sure up insolvent Wall Street bank balance sheets, has priced out millions of Americans and driven rents sky high, especially in metropolitan areas like NYC, SF, DC, and Chicago. The BLS’ manipulated data shows an annual increase of 3.9%, while in desirable areas, rents are rising by double digits.
Health care costs:
The truly hysterical drivel spewed by the BLS drones is that medical care costs are only rising at a 4% annual rate and only account for 8.4% of a family’s annual costs. The gyrations and hedonistic seasonal adjustments they must make to somehow configure 20% to 50% increases in premiums, doubling of co-pays, and $6,000 deductibles into a 4% annual increase must be a wonder to behold as they plug their fake variables into their excel spreadsheets. Anyone living in the real world, outside of the Imperial Capital, knows their annual living expenses are rising by at least 5% to 10%.
Jobs:
Obama hoots about all the jobs added during his reign of error, but fails to mention that 94% of all jobs added since 2004 were either temporary or independent contractor jobs. Low wage, part-time, no benefits, Obama jobs don’t pay the bills. That’s why a record number of Americans have to work multiple jobs to survive.

The narrative about an improving economy, thriving jobs market, and glorious future is bullshit. I know it. You know it. And your establishment puppeteers know it. But only “fake news” sites would dare reveal these inconvenient truths. The willfully ignorant public doesn’t want to know the truth, because that would require critical thinking and making tough choices.
And, most importantly, the fuse left burning on the debt bomb:
Obama and the Federal government have lucked out while doubling the national debt in the last eight years. By financing the debt with short term bonds, the interest on the national debt of $432 billion is virtually the same as it was in 2007 before the debt orgy really got underway. A 1% rise in rates across the curve will result in a 50% increase in interest expense and $230 billion instantly added to the annual deficit. If interest rates rose back to 2008 levels, the annual interest would double to $900 billion.

While I don't agree with all of Quinn's assessments, it's certain that most of his warnings are deadly accurate.

As he describes it, "Something wicked this way comes."


Hat tip: BadBlue Real-Time Financial News.
 

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