Howard Marks Memo: It’s All Very Taxing
The issue is simple: the U.S. government generally spends more than it brings in . . . and recently, a lot more. For years Congress was willing to serially raise the federal debt ceiling and monetize the deficit. But this past summer, some legislators balked. When the early August deadline for an increase in the ceiling arrived, our elected officials kicked the can down the road, but less far than usual. They created a Congressional supercommittee with unprecedented power to propose solutions, and they designed automatic spending cuts in case no proposal won approval.
With the committee working under a November 23 deadline to find ways to reduce the federal deficit by $1 trillion-plus over the next decade, and with a presidential election less than a year away, the subject of taxes is all over the headlines and likely to remain there. Thus I’ve decided to provide a background piece on the issues.
- Hussman Weekly Market Comment: Brief Holiday Update
With Monday as the last opportunity for Congress to avoid some version of the “fiscal cliff,” there isn’t a great deal to say that will be relevant for long, but my impression remains that the most likely outcome is that fiscal policy will go over...
- John Mauldin: The Cancer Of Debt And Deficits
We are coming to the point in the United States when even the US government will no longer be able to borrow at very low long-term rates. That point is a few years off, and we have time to change paths; but as I have shown in previous letters, the longer...
- Everything You Need To Know About The Debt Ceiling In One Post - By Ezra Klein And Dylan Matthews
What it is: The debt ceiling is a legal cap on the amount of money the Treasury can borrow to fund existing government functions. It essentially authorizes the Treasury to borrow the money necessary to pay the bills incurred by the federal government....
- Fpa Capital Fund Letter To Shareholders Which Includes The Final Fund Commentary From Robert Rodriguez
Thanks to Steve for passing this along. One final thought that brings me to the intensifying issue that we have written about several times before — the explosion in Treasury debt outstanding. Since September 30, 2008, Treasury debt has risen from $10...
- Ny Times Op-ed: The Greenback Effect - By Warren E. Buffett
The Greenback Effect By WARREN E. BUFFETT Omaha IN nature, every action has consequences, a phenomenon called the butterfly effect. These consequences, moreover, are not necessarily proportional. For example, doubling the carbon dioxide we belch into...