Monday, February 9, 2009

The United States of Insolvency

This chart caught my eye over the weekend (from the Economist):



The biggest force behind the bond-market shock is the onslaught of new issuance as the government seeks to finance the gaping budget deficit, Fed liquidity programmes, mortgage purchases and bank bail-outs. Yields moved still higher this week partly on the Treasury’s
announcement that it would borrow a whopping $493 billion this quarter. Wrightson ICAP, a research firm, predicts the Treasury will issue $1.8 trillion this year, which combined with $1.5 trillion last year, would exceed all the net borrowing of the prior 27 years combined.
Where are all the hyperventilating voices that expressed outrage when Dick Cheney said, "...deficits don't matter" almost 5 years ago?

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