Funny Money

Remember Obama and the Dems bailing out Wall Street firms “to big to fail”? Coming soon, various states.

Picking on California, they are some $443 billion in debt.

http://uscommonsense.org/research/unsustainable-california-the-top-10-issues-facing-the-golden-state-wall-of-debt/

That is over $1,000,000 per resident.

California has a net gain in jobs but at what cost? Seems enormous subsidies are what is fueling that growth while regular businesses are leaving the state.

 http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/business/20160809/how-many-businesses-have-left-california-this-report-claims-to-have-an-answer

Picking on New York, and not using the newspaper with the most sterling reputation.

http://nypost.com/2016/03/05/new-york-states-debt-is-way-higher-than-announced/

Note the reference to back door borrowing. Common in many states.

Who holds the debt? A lot of it is you, in your pension funds, IRAs, and 401Ks. 

Total state debt per various sources is around $1.8 trillion. That doesn’t necessarily include underfunded pension obligations.

US Government debt may exceed $13.62 trillion.

What happens when some state defaults? Not if, when. Does Uncle Sugar bail them out?

Depressing figures to be sure. At least we now have a chief executive that understands finance. His predecessor never had to meet a payroll and probably can’t balance a checkbook.