US Debt Ceiling
It’s a reflection of how desperate things have become. The conundrum: where to put your money? Share markets are overvalued, especially now that the latest ructions will wreak all sorts of dislocations and current earnings forecasts will have to be reined in. Commodities are plunging on the diminishing prospects for global growth and demand. Gold is already sky-high and bond markets are groaning under an ever-rising weight of supply.
Many governments will struggle to just meet interest payments. Against this backdrop, US treasuries have rallied as investors flee for cover. It’s the Armageddon play.
Now then, what’s the plan? There seem to be two choices on the policy menu.
One, the deflation option: let market forces take over, let the defaults begin and provide a social safety net.
Two, the inflation option: keep splashing the cash to reduce the debts to zero. Kick the can down the road. This is clearly the Wall Street option. The proxies in Washington will duly deliver more stimulus, stimulus the public can ill afford, stimulus which could bring another Weimar Republic with its hyperinflation, but stimulus which will diminish the size of the debt.
