the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will cost Australian taxpayers around $22 billion a year (gross) and $10.5 billion (net) in its first full year of operation. This figure is substantially larger than the $15 billion (gross) and $8 billion (net) currently being used by politicians and commentators in the public debate.
Australia is spending itself into a deep hole but if you want to see just how deep a hole can be, look at the crater Uncle Sam has dug for itself. View here.
With the political discussion of late largely focusing on the GOP primary and income inequality chastised by “the ninety-nine per cent occuytards,” many US media commentators have seemed to have forgotten the mounting US debt that will weigh heavy on the backs of each and every American. The US Senate on Thursday voted to allow President Barack Obama to increase the debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion (that’s $1,200,000,000,000.00) to ensure that the federal government can pay its bills through the November elections.
Rick Santelli hasn’t forgotten, and he’s quantified just how much each person will be on the hook for with the latest rise in the debt ceiling.
The new US debt ceiling is now at $16.4 trillion or $52,409 per American (312 million Americans).
Continue reading "CNBC’s Rick Santelli Looks at the Latest US Debt Ceiling Increase and its Scary" »
President Obama, in a one-sentence letter to House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, said "further borrowing is required to meet existing commitments."
The proposed increase would push the US debt ceiling to $16.394 trillion.
Meanwhile…
Even before the euro crisis, people were worried about Europe’s pension bomb.
State-funded pension obligations in 19 of the European Union nations were about five times higher than their combined gross debt, according to a study commissioned by the European Central Bank. The countries in the report compiled by the Research Center for Generational Contracts at Freiburg University in 2009 had almost 30 trillion euros ($39.3 trillion) of projected obligations to their existing populations.
Germany accounted for 7.6 trillion euros and France 6.7 trillion euros of the liabilities, authors Christoph Mueller, Bernd Raffelhueschen and Olaf Weddige said in the report.
And according to JP Morgan...
Australia is "vulnerable" to recession in 2012 as the global economy deals with the potential ramifications of the worsening European sovereign debt crisis.
JPMorgan chief economist Stephen Walters said the Australian economy was not as well placed now compared to the start of the downturn, given the nation's fiscal position.
There is no way Wayne Swan will get the budget back into surplus by 2012-2013.
Continue reading "Give Me More Cash: Obama seeks $1.2 Trillion Debt limit rise" »
Britain’s debt levels are dangerously high and are damaging the economy, according to one of the world’s leading financial watchdogs.
It means the country is in the danger zone following a ten-year borrowing binge under the last Labour government, a hard-hitting report from the Bank for International Settlements has revealed
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said government, corporate and household debt in Britain jumped from 223 per cent of gross domestic product in 2000, or £2.18trillion, to 322 per cent, or £4.68trillion, in 2010. That is the equivalent of £180,000 per household
In 2010, Britain had government debt of nearly 90 per cent of GDP, corporate debt of 126 per cent and household debt of 106 per cent.
UK PM David Cameron should seriously re think his commitment to phasing out the production of energy based on burning of fossil fuels as it is going to cost the UK economy at least £300 billion over the next 10 years to go renewable energy (which we all know works intermittently).
What is it with Labor and debt? They’re like junkies to a needle.
While our government debt of 15.4% of GDP is low compared to the UK, the trend is more concerning.
Andy Semple
Follow him on twitter @Bulmkt
No Prime Minister - we Australian’s do not want to copy Spain’s economically stupid renewable energy policies.
Spain is a member of the PIIGS - Zombie Economies that are a complete basket case and we’d really like it if you and Bob Brown would just stay the hell away from the economic levers.
The PIIGS are Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain – and they are totally screwed with a combined total national debt of over $3.075 Trillion Euros or a staggering $4.06 Trillion Australian Dollars!
Prime Minister, we currently have an economy the PIIGS would kill for and you want to emulate them?
When you combine Swanomics with Brownomics and Gillardnomics it’s a sure fire recipe for Australia’s total economic oblivion.
Would the real people still left in the ALP please stand up now and please remove this walking talking disaster zone of a Prime Minister before it’s too late?
There’s no EU to bail us out!
Andy Semple
Follow him on twitter @Bulmkt
Menzies House is the leading online Australian community for conservative, centre-right and libertarian thinkers.
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