Current federal spending trends will add $19 trillion to the U.S. national debt over the next ten years, $3 trillion more than previously estimated, because of additional expenses in interest payments, military budgets, and retirement and veterans benefits, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said in a 15 February report.
Category: 21 February 2023
U.S. ECONOMY REMAINS SURPRISINGLY RESILIENT. OOPS.
Household incomes are rising, the economy is adding jobs, and consumers spent 3 percent more money in January than in December, following two months of decline.
RECESSION, “HARD LANDING” DUE AFTER JUNE
A U.S. recession will arrive in the second half of this year, bogging down stock prices, Bank of America analysts predicted in a report last week.
EMERGING MARKETS’ STOCK AND BOND RUN IS RUNNING DOWN
Developing nations began this year by selling almost $41 billion in bonds, with their equity markets riding the wave.
INVESTMENT-GRADE BOND FUNDS GAIN RECORD VOLUME OF NEW INVESTMENTS THIS YEAR
Since 1 January, funds around the world investing in investment-grade corporate bonds—a category that excludes junk bonds—have taken in about $19 billion in new cash, the Financial Times reported, a record amount at this point in any year.
MARKETS REVISE THEIR OUTLOOK ON INTEREST RATES
In recent weeks, markets had banked on the idea that the U.S. Federal Reserve would either continue to increase its key interest rate modestly, hold rates where they are, or even cut them.
AMERICA THE FECKLESS
One would think that the United States military staging an unprovoked “plausibly deniable” covert attack on a nation with which it is not at war would be at least considered newsworthy.
AS WE FORECAST, COVID WAR DESTROYED THE HUMAN SPIRIT
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced last week that American teens are more distressed than ever recorded after two years of COVID-19 lockdowns.
ZIPPIDY DUDA: “FIGHT TO THE END.” BIDEN DISPARAGES PRESIDENT’S DAY
Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, said in an interview published Monday that the West should provide Ukraine with security guarantees from now until forever. In response to his dictate, the Kremlin laughed it off as a non-starter.
THIS WEEK IN SURVEILLANCE
Yes, the brain implant industry is growing. And during a conference this past week hosted by the U.S. Commerce Department, industry execs pleaded for the government not to “overregulate” firms working on brain-computer interfaces (BCIs).