By Profit Confidential<\/p>\n
I often write about the crisis faced by the municipalities, cities, and states across the U.S. as they continue to register budget deficits year after year. Cities like Detroit and others in California have already filed for bankruptcy. When all of this was happening, I kept asking: when will the U.S. government bail out the troubled cities?<\/p>\n
Well, it\u2019s started to happen\u2026<\/p>\n
The U.S. government will be giving the city of Detroit $150 million for \u201cdemolition and redevelopment purposes.\u201d In addition, it will also provide the city with almost $140 million to better its transit system. Another $25.0 million will be granted to the city to assist in its streetcar project. (Source: Newsmax, September 27, 2013.)<\/p>\n
The economic situation for \u201cMotor City\u201d has gone from bad to worse. But I ask one question: if the U.S. government \u201chelps out\u201d Detroit, won\u2019t other cities struggling with a budget deficit<\/a> feel shortchanged? After all, they are in dire need of money too!<\/p>\n Take San Jose, for example. The city has been posting a budget deficit since the 2002-2003 fiscal year. The cumulative budget deficit since then to now has accumulated to a total $680 million. (Source: San Jose\u2019s Mayor Office web site, last accessed September 30, 2013.) And it just doesn\u2019t end at the city level. States have also been caught in the same budget deficit trap.<\/p>\n Credit rating firm Fitch Ratings, in assigning a revised credit rating to Connecticut, said, \u201cThe Negative Outlook reflects the state\u2019s reduced fiscal flexibility at a time of lingering economic and revenue uncertainty. The enacted budget for the new biennium delays repayment of deficit borrowing, adds to an already high debt load, and fails to rebuild the state\u2019s financial cushion.\u201d (Source: \u201cFitch Rates $900MM Connecticut GO Bonds \u2018AA\u2019; Outlook Negative,\u201d Fitch Ratings, September 30, 2013.)<\/p>\n But back to my original concern and the theme of today\u2019s issue of Profit Confidential<\/i>: how can the U.S. national debt ever get under control if the U.S. government now starts helping municipalities, cities, and states that have budget <\/b>deficits? The answer is it can\u2019t.<\/p>\n What does it matter to you?<\/p>\n In upcoming issues of Profit Confidential<\/i>, I will be writing about how the U.S. is following the exact path of the Japanese economy. Both countries experienced the biggest boom-bust cycle since the Great Depression. Both responded by aggressively lowering interest rates<\/a> and printing more paper money.<\/p>\n Today, Japan\u2019s debt-to-GDP<\/a> is 210%, while that multiple stands at 105% to 110% for the U.S. (Japan\u2019s bust happened 20 years before the U.S. bust.) I think by following what happened to Japan on the way to 210% debt-to-GDP, and seeing which investments did well during that period and which didn\u2019t, will be of utmost importance to my readers\u2014and that\u2019s what my research team is working on right now. In upcoming issues, you\u2019ll read about what individual investors can learn from Japan\u2019s \u201cexample\u201d to better profit and protect themselves from today\u2019s debt-crazed U.S. government.<\/p>\n What He Said:<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cPartying Like a Drunken Sailor: The party continues. Stocks are making new highs and people are spending like there is no tomorrow. Why? I really don\u2019t know. Big [cap] stocks, they just continue going up. Wall Street bonuses are at record levels. Popular consumer goods are flying off the shelves. Designer clothes, fast and expensive cars, restaurants with one hour waits\u2026people are spending in America today at an unbelievable clip. 1932, 1933\u2026who remembers those years? The depression of the 1930s was the biggest bust of modern history. 2005, 2006, 2007\u2026welcome to the biggest boom of the same period. When will it all end? Soon, my dear reader. Soon.\u201d Michael Lombardi in Profit Confidential<\/i>, February 7, 2007. Michael started talking about and predicting the financial catastrophe we started experiencing in 2008 long before anyone else.<\/p>\n