Economy
Fiscal Cliff Repercussions
Written by Charles Scaliger
Now that President Obama and most of his key congressional allies are safely re-elected and the so-called “fiscal cliff” negotiated, the full consequences of the most recent elections are coming into view. Despite repeated assurances he would not raise taxes on any but the wealthiest Americans, the president (with the grudging support of many congressional Republicans), has — before even being sworn into his second term in office — enacted massive tax hikes that will affect almost every working American.
The decision to stop printing Newsweek magazine after Monday, December 31, reflects a change not only in how its subscribers access the news but a change in what they wanted to read when they got it.
Foreign governments continue to increase their purchases of U.S. government debt despite concerns over the fiscal cliff and the government's continued profligate spending.
All the chairman of the Federal Reserve has done in his latest announcement of a new bond-buying program is give himself and his Federal Open Market Committee permission to buy government bonds forever.
Despite his firm defense of his call that the U.S. economy entered into another recession in July this year, Lakshman Achuthan of the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) continued to be scorned by his critics.
But his call was shown to be on the mark when the National Federation of Independent Business issued its Optimism Index today and noted that it decreased an astonishing 5.6 points to 87.5, the lowest reading since March of 2010 and the biggest monthly drop going back to 1986.
More...
