Dear Carlos,
Last week in this space, I told you about the dire consequences of the sequester, and I wrote:
"Precisely BECAUSE the warnings are falling on deaf ears, the real wolf is now prowling. And not only is she likely to strike on March 1, but she's also likely to continue striking for months to come."(See The REAL Fiscal Cliff.)
Today, March 2, that's precisely what has happened.
On Thursday, Congress virtually shut down as senators and congressmen went home.
Yesterday, the first spending cuts went into effect.
And in the weeks ahead, they will continue, digging more deeply into the economy.
Will Washington finally reach some sort of deal that makes the cuts less arbitrary and a bit more rational? Yes, probably.
But no matter what's agreed upon or when, there are four important lessons to take away from this episode.
Lesson #1. Austerity is here no matter what—just as Mike Larson warned his Safe Money subscribers last year.
No matter what finally comes out of Washington — agreements or no agreements, automatic cuts or targeted cuts, cuts to defense or cuts to entitlements, more taxes or reformed taxes — the result for the economy has one BIG PICTURE aspect in common:
The government is taking money out of the economy! And that, Carlos, means only one thing: Austerity — like it or not.
Lesson #2. Our government's a mess — not just financially, but also in terms of its ability to function.
To understand how grave this is, put yourself in the shoes of global investors in U.S. bonds. You say ...
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/auste...t-or-not-51537
Last week in this space, I told you about the dire consequences of the sequester, and I wrote:
"Precisely BECAUSE the warnings are falling on deaf ears, the real wolf is now prowling. And not only is she likely to strike on March 1, but she's also likely to continue striking for months to come."(See The REAL Fiscal Cliff.)
Today, March 2, that's precisely what has happened.
On Thursday, Congress virtually shut down as senators and congressmen went home.
Yesterday, the first spending cuts went into effect.
And in the weeks ahead, they will continue, digging more deeply into the economy.
Will Washington finally reach some sort of deal that makes the cuts less arbitrary and a bit more rational? Yes, probably.
But no matter what's agreed upon or when, there are four important lessons to take away from this episode.
Lesson #1. Austerity is here no matter what—just as Mike Larson warned his Safe Money subscribers last year.
No matter what finally comes out of Washington — agreements or no agreements, automatic cuts or targeted cuts, cuts to defense or cuts to entitlements, more taxes or reformed taxes — the result for the economy has one BIG PICTURE aspect in common:
The government is taking money out of the economy! And that, Carlos, means only one thing: Austerity — like it or not.
Lesson #2. Our government's a mess — not just financially, but also in terms of its ability to function.
To understand how grave this is, put yourself in the shoes of global investors in U.S. bonds. You say ...
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/auste...t-or-not-51537
The Chonchy