Category Archives: Fiscal Policy

Where’s the Bottom?

Posted on November 15, 2012 by macromon

Wish we knew. We respect the downtrend and are trying to remain flexible. We do know fiscal cliff worries are dominating the market, the S&P500’s medium-term uptrend is broken, and the 200-day moving day has been violated.   We now  … Continue reading →

Posted in Equities, Fiscal Policy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Quote of the Day: A True Economic Idiot

Posted on November 14, 2012 by macromon

Gov. Jerry Brown has always been and shall always be “Governor Moonbeam” to us. A true economic idiot, his only saving grace as far as we’ve been concerned is that back-in-the-day he dated Linda Ronstadt. – Dennis Gartman,  The Gartman … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiscal Policy | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Global Corporate Tax Rates

Posted on November 12, 2012 by macromon

Go no further than the following chart from Deutsche Bank to understand that tax rates do not necessarily correlate with tax revenues.  The effective U.S. corporate tax rate — i.e., taxes actually paid — fell to a 40 year low … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiscal Policy | Tagged | Leave a comment

Composition of the U.S. Fiscal Cliff

Posted on November 11, 2012 by macromon

Here’s some background and a nice chart on the fiscal cliff prepared by the IMF for last week’s G20 FinMin meeting.  Note also the U.S. debt ceiling, which currently stands at $16.394 trillion with current outstanding debt at $16.245 trillion, is … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Fiscal Policy | Tagged , | Leave a comment

It’s Health Care, Stupid!

Posted on November 11, 2012 by macromon

Great chart from the CBO on where the runaway spending will take place in future U.S. federal budgets.  It’s mostly all health care due to an aging population. We sense the next “Big, Big Thing” is going to come in … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Fiscal Policy | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

“US Set to Restage Greek Tragedy” – Der Spiegel

Posted on November 8, 2012 by macromon

How is the rest of the world (ROW) viewing America’s fiscal problems? Here is Germany’s Der Speigel, The US has more in common with heavily indebted southern European countries than it might like to admit. And if the country doesn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Dollar, Fiscal Policy, Germany | Tagged , , , | 15 Comments

Portugal passes fresh tax hikes

Posted on October 31, 2012 by macromon

Portugal’s parliament has passed the country’s largest tax hike package in decades. The changes form part of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho’s new 2013 budget programme. Lisbon has to meet targets set by a 78-billion-euro bailout agreement with the EU … Continue reading →

Posted in Euro, Eurozone Sovereign Spreads, Fiscal Policy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Italians ask the IMF

Posted on July 10, 2012 by macromon

In this video, the IMF invited Italians to share their biggest worries about Italy’s economy. The IMF’s top economist on Italy, Kenneth Kang, takes questions about unemployment, taxes, and growth as part of the IMF’s annual economic evaluation of Italy’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Economics, Euro, Fiscal Policy, Italian Yields, PIIGS | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Quote of the Day: Fiscal Barbells

Posted on June 6, 2012 by macromon

And to this we say,  AMEN! The right policy, which also happens to be the only one with any hope of being adopted in the foreseeable future, is a barbell approach, with more stimulus on one side and, on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget Deficit, Fiscal Policy | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Spain’s Rajoy calls for eurozone fiscal authority

Posted on June 4, 2012 by macromon

(click here if video is not observable)

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Euro, Fiscal Policy, PIIGS, Sovereign Debt, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment