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There are people that are like magnates when it comes to raking in the millions and there are some that have an even stronger pull than usual where finances are concerned. As Warren Buffet openly states that he believes that a default on US debt will be catastrophic and that lawmakers in Congress need to get their act together and get the federal government back to work by passing the budget we might well wonder if it’s just for show or if he really believes that. Why would someone who made $10 billion out of the lifelines that he threw to the failing companies after the financial crisis of 2008 want to forego making even more than that this time round?
Buffet on Shutdown
Warren Buffet [20] has recently asked the politicians of the US to stop using the debt limit as some sort of weapon to win the policy debates. But, we had better hope that he’s not talking about weapons of mass destruction (as they never existed the last time that word was banded about in the country).
We should be asking though whether Buffet is really eyeing the best interests of the country. The man made $10 billion out of the loans that were granted to failing companies and banks five years ago. Yes, he had the money to shore them up then and no money lender is philanthropic enough to do it for free of charge and with no interest; but we should wonder if he will be “fearful when others are greedy or greedy when others are fearful” (to quote his favorite saying) this time around.
Through Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Buffet has so far made $10 billion and he still hasn’t got the entire return on his investments back. Maybe he’ll be using the money he has made when the stock market drops this time round. He might even turn out to be the lender of last resort for the US administration. Who knows?
- Buffet lent $4.4 billion to Mars Inc’s subsidiary Wrigley in 2008.
- Berkshire bought up $2.1-billion worth of shares in Goldman Sach’s in 2008 and invested a further $5 billion.
- Dow Chemical borrowed $3 billion in 2009.
- The Bank of America got $5 billion in 2011.
- Overall Berkshire invested $26 billion.
National Debt
When Lehman Brothers collapsed it brought the stock market to its knees and the market lost 50% of its value in the aftermath. Then we were only talking about a measly $517 billion for Lehman. The US has $12 trillion in debt that is outstanding. Even when we are told that the Chinese and the Japanese own the US debt the answer comes back from some that it doesn’t matter. There are some that are even under the delusion that it’s acceptable to have so much debt in the US since Japan is in a worse state of affairs. Japan may have almost double the national debt of the US in terms of a percentage of Gross Domestic Product, but that doesn’t make things any better for the US to carry on willy-nilly with the frenzied spending and it certainly doesn’t mean that they can go on spending as they have done in the past. Is it because the guy round the corner does it that I can do it. Stop looking over the garden fence Uncle Sam and start looking in your own back yard.
- China has a national debt of $2, 403, 410 150, 771 and that debt stands at 40.36% of GDP.
- Japan has a national debt of $11, 266, 212, 135, 309 and debt that equals 193.41% of GDP.
- The USA has a national debt of $17, 265, 489, 323, 435 and that equals 107.88% of GDP.
At least that was how things stood today when the national debt clocks were checked. That’s already out of date right now, however. It was old news as soon as it was written.
Sometimes we might wonder whether it would actually be better for the whole world to collapse and those that believe that there needs to be a rethink of how the economies of the world actually act and react together.
Some believe that it might be a good think for there to be an implosion that will bring the banks down, kill off the money-makers and the buck reapers and get rid of those that started the printing presses rolling the greenbacks out.
Granted, we all might go under but we could all start from scratch in a brand new world and just probably end up doing the self-same thing since we never learn from our mistakes. It will never happen, but a few might get hurt along the way as we enter day 9 of the shutdown and the debt ceiling deadline is just a week away.
Come on policymakers, carry on and keep knocking of 0.5% from the growth rate of the USA and spiral us into not just recession, but depression. We will need to invent a new word for the effects on the world and that word might well beObamacaression that will be on the tips of the tongues of the American people. That’s where it all stemmed from. They voted a man into office so the ideal that all Americans might have healthcare coverage one day could see the light of day in a new world that then changed tack when the chips were down and went on to believe that meritocracy should be the order of the day.
Obamacare was the ideal that was the start of all of this and Obamacare will be the caress of death of the US.Obamacaression. It was the start of this and it will be the finish of it too. The US may not default, but it will do a damn good job of destroying [21]what has been built up over the past five years. Obamacare: I've started so I'll finish. You don't have to be Mastermind to know what will happen next.
Maybe that’s not such a bad idea. We need to restructure the way the economies work, don’t we?
Originally posted: Obamacare: I’ve Started So I’ll Finish [22]
You might also enjoy: USA: Uncle Sam is Dead [21]
Where Washington Should Go for Money: Havens [23] | Sugar Rush is on [24] | Human Capital: Switzerland or Yemen? [25] | Wonderful President of USA and Munchkins [26] | Last One to Leave Turn Out the Lights [27] | Crisis is Literal Kiss of Death [28] | Qatar’s Slave Trade Death Toll [29] | Lew’s Illusions [30] | Wal-Mart: Unpatriotic or Lying Through Their Teeth? [31] | Food: Walking the Breadline [32] | Obama NOT Worst President [33] in reply to Obama: Worst President in US History? [34] | Obama's Corporate Grand Bargain [35] [35] Death of the Dollar [36] | Joseph Stiglitz was Right: Suicide [37] | China Injects Cash in Bid to Improve Liquidity [38]
Technical Analysis: Bear Expanding Triangle [39] | Bull Expanding Triangle [40] | Bull Falling Wedge [41]| Bear Rising Wedge [42]| High & Tight Flag [43]
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