14 July 2009

Happy Trillion Dollar Deficit Day

Might as well yuck it up before the Chinese pull the plug on us and turn America into Barter Town because the dollar ain't worth a shit. From Sun-Sentinel:

The Treasury Department said Monday that the deficit in June totaled $94.3 billion, pushing the total since the budget year started in October to nearly $1.1 trillion.

The deficit has been propelled by the huge sum the government has spent to combat the recession and financial crisis, combined with a sharp decline in tax revenues. Paying for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also is a major factor.

The country's soaring deficits are making Chinese and other foreign buyers of U.S. debt nervous, which could make them reluctant lenders down the road. It could force the Treasury Department to pay higher interest rates to make U.S. debt attractive longer-term.

"These are mind boggling numbers," said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at the Smith School of Business at California State University. "Our foreign investors from China and elsewhere are starting to have concerns about not only the value of the dollar but how safe their investments will be in the long run."
It seems Obama's team had too many rosy predictions about an excessively shitty economy. Well, at least bailed-out Goldman Sachs is having a good fiscal year.

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