Debt, Growth and Stocks–The Great Debate
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on December 8th, 2010 5:31 am by HL
Debt, Growth and Stocks–The Great Debate
Rich Karlgaard, Forbes
The 18th Forbes Cruise for Investors sailed to a finish on Sunday. On Saturday, we heard a pair of stalwart stock pundits debate the impact of public debt on stocks. Their opinions could not have clashed more.– John Mauldin thinks stocks are due for a major correction, possibly testing the March 2009 low. Mauldin says The Great Debt Super Cycle has entered its “endgame.” As indebted nations, states and cities reduce their debt, they must cut budgets, raise taxes, or do both – and all such scenarios will suppress GDP.
Stop Blaming China for Korean Tensions
Simon Tisdall, The Guardian
North Korea's aggressive behaviour has sent tensions soaring on the Korean peninsula. But it is also placing serious new strains on already fraught relations between China and the US. This development is neither sensible nor rational, since both superpowers stand to lose much more than they could possibly gain from intensifying confrontation. Perversely, it may suit North Korea very well.The dangerous ramifications of the standoff that followed the shelling of a South Korean island two weeks ago were dramatised by an anonymous briefing given today to the Washington Post by a…
Confused About the Constitution
James Antle, The American Spectator
Lincoln Caplan is confused. He has been given space on the prestigious New York Times op-ed page to explore “the meaning of constitutional conservatism.” Yet though he struggles mightily, Caplan ultimately comes up short in his quest for understanding.”The phrase is used mainly in opposition: against health care reform; against the General Motors bailout; against President Obama's policies,” Caplan observes. “A year ago, conservatives focused on the gravity of economic problems. This election, their concern shifted to the danger represented by solutions.”