LIVE Gold Prices $  | E-Mail Subscriptions | Update GoldSeek | GoldSeek Radio 

Commentary : Gold Review : Markets : News Wire : Quotes : Silver : Stocks - Main Page 

 GoldSeek.com >> News >> Story  Disclaimer 
 
Latest Headlines

GoldSeek.com to Launch New Website
By: GoldSeek.com

Is Gold Price Action Warning Of Imminent Monetary Collapse Part 2?
By: Hubert Moolman

Gold and Silver Are Just Getting Started
By: Frank Holmes, US Funds

Silver Makes High Wave Candle at Target – Here’s What to Expect…
By: Clive Maund

Gold Blows Through Upside Resistance - The Chase Is On
By: Avi Gilburt

U.S. Mint To Reduce Gold & Silver Eagle Production Over The Next 12-18 Months
By: Steve St. Angelo, SRSrocco Report

Gold's sharp rise throws Financial Times into an erroneous sulk
By: Chris Powell, GATA

Precious Metals Update Video: Gold's unusual strength
By: Ira Epstein

Asian Metals Market Update: July-29-2020
By: Chintan Karnani, Insignia Consultants

Gold's rise is a 'mystery' because journalism always fails to pursue it
By: Chris Powell, GATA

 
Search

GoldSeek Web

 
Another Day, Another Bail-Out


By: John Rubino




-- Posted Tuesday, 9 February 2010 | Digg This ArticleDigg It! | | Source: GoldSeek.com

With a bail-out of Greece apparently imminent and everyone drawing parallels between the PIGS countries and the Wall Street firms that nearly cratered the global economy in 2008, this might be a good time to ask why each year seems to bring a new set of financial basket cases requiring taxpayer cash.

The answer, of course, is easy money. When governments create too much credit, borrowing gets easier at the margins and the less intelligent, moral, and wise end up borrowing far more than they would normally be able to. When they inevitably implode, the world gets another chance to behave rationally by letting them go, accepting the resulting short-term pain, and learning the relevant lessons. But beginning in the 1990s with the Mexican and Russian defaults and the self-destruction of Long Term Capital Management, the strong economies have chosen to avoid the pain and bail out the losers.

This lack of adult supervision produces two results:

First, the credit created by each new bail-out finds its way into other weak hands, further impairing their balance sheets and requiring more bail-outs. Now we’ve graduated from banks to governments, and apparently a borrower as inconsequential as Greece (with foreign debt of less than $400 billion) can bring down the entire global financial system.

Second, the balance sheets of the strong countries get progressively weaker. As the U.S. took on Fannie and Freddie’s trillions, so will Germany absorb Greece’s billions. And the new wave is just getting started. Greece is the worst case, but just barely. Portugal, Spain, California and Illinois all owe more than they can ever hope to pay, and will, by the current standard of everything being too big to fail, have to be bailed out in the coming year. Their debts won’t be wiped out, but will migrate to Germany, France, or Washington. At some point those countries’ rock-solid bond ratings, already fictitious, will start to drop, making future bail-outs both harder and more necessary.

So 2010 will be the year of sovereign bail-outs at the periphery, which is bad enough. But next year, once several trillion more dollars and euros have been loaded onto large country balance sheets, the bailout profile will ratchet up to the next level, with one of the superpowers finding it impossible to roll over its debt. Japan looks like the best first-domino bet at this point, but as someone said not long ago, every debt auction is now an event risk. So it could easily be the U.S. which sees Treasury demand evaporate, followed by a spike in rates and a plunging dollar.

Putting it another way, bail-outs require strong currencies. As long as someone can borrow enough to defuse the latest time bomb the party will go on. When the bond or currency markets say no more, the party will end. Then we’ll see who’s really too big to fail.


-- Posted Tuesday, 9 February 2010 | Digg This Article | Source: GoldSeek.com








 



Increase Text SizeDecrease Text SizeE-mail Link of Current PagePrinter Friendly PageReturn to GoldSeek.com

 news.goldseek.com >> Story

E-mail Page  | Print  | Disclaimer 


© 1995 - 2019



GoldSeek.com Supports Kiva.org

© GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC

The content on this site is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws and is the property of GoldSeek.com and/or the providers of the content under license. By "content" we mean any information, mode of expression, or other materials and services found on GoldSeek.com. This includes editorials, news, our writings, graphics, and any and all other features found on the site. Please contact us for any further information.

Live GoldSeek Visitor Map | Disclaimer


Map

The views contained here may not represent the views of GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC, its affiliates or advertisers. GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC makes no representation, warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy or completeness of the information (including news, editorials, prices, statistics, analyses and the like) provided through its service. Any copying, reproduction and/or redistribution of any of the documents, data, content or materials contained on or within this website, without the express written consent of GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC, is strictly prohibited. In no event shall GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC or its affiliates be liable to any person for any decision made or action taken in reliance upon the information provided herein.