“Bush behaved incredibly irresponsibly for eight years. On the one hand, it might seem unfair for people to blame Obama for not fixing it. On the other hand, he’s not fixing it. And not fixing it is, in a sense, making it worse.”
-
Alan Auerbach, economist at the University of
California in Berkeley.
It’s the bond market, stupid.
Equity markets may or may not have turned a corner from their recent lows (the
signs are improving even if the global economy is not), but government bond
markets increasingly look like a grisly road accident in progress. Which is as
it should be. 10 year Gilt yields have risen by a third, from 3% to 4%. 10 year
US Treasury yields have doubled, from just over 2% to 4% since December. Not
even President Obama can oversee a $1.2 trillion annual deficit during years
(2009-2012) that were previously forecast to be showing a surplus (of more than
$800 billion a year) without Treasury bond investors getting spooked. And it’s
bad luck when you’re dependent on the likes of China (foreign exchange
reserves: c. $2 trillion) and Russia (over $400 billion) to fund your grotesque
efforts to support Wall Street bonuses and the housing market. It’s almost as
if George W Bush departed from Washington determined to make the Oval Office
uninhabitable for his successor. Having said that, Gordon Brown seems to be
going through a similar ‘scorched earth’ policy for the UK’s public finances –
and we don’t even have a Wall Street.
To read more:
Download Of inhuman bondage
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Posted by: cheap ugg boots | June 13, 2009 at 01:42 AM
Is it reasonable to take the position that Obama should have fixed the issues which were years in the making within a few months time?
Posted by: Reggie Greene / The Logistician | June 16, 2009 at 02:33 AM
Does the Bush bashing never end?
Posted by: Max | June 20, 2009 at 08:47 PM
I try not to do politics since this is the inevitable response. And I'm certainly no socialist. But I don't realistically see how any sentient being can see George W Bush's tenure at the White House as anything other than a triumph of mediocrity and venality and stupidity. What the hell else did he achieve ?
Posted by: timprice | June 21, 2009 at 11:37 AM
A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.
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