Wednesday, July 09, 2014

An Army Of Bubbles

by JASmius

Am I the only one who feels like a countdown has already begun?:

A slew of financial assets around the world may have entered bubble territory, says New York Times columnist Neil Irwin.

"Welcome to the Everything Boom — and, quite possibly, the Everything Bubble," he writes. "Around the world, nearly every asset class is expensive by historical standards."

And why would that be, Neil?

"The Everything Boom brings obvious economic risks," Irwin warns. "In the most pleasant outcome, global economic growth would pick up, causing today's expensive assets to begin looking more reasonably priced. But other outcomes are also possible, including busts in one or more markets that could create a new wave of economic ripples in a world economy still not fully recovered from the last crisis."

Experts agree that historically low interest rates caused by central bank easing across the globe, particularly in the United States, have led investors to take on more risk.

More risk in a "boom" that is phonier than an Obama guarantee with absolutely nothing holding it up.  So when the "bust" arrives....well, remember the pics of people jumping out of the top floors of the World Trade Center towers on September 11th, 2001?  More than a little appropo, isn't it?

And do you recall what brought about the last crisis?  The federal government decreeing that mortgage loans were an entitlement and outlawing consideration of lending risk?

Funny you should ask:

Another market looking bubblicious is that for bank loans, as banks are loosening their loan standards, says Bill Gross, chief investment officer at Pimco.

"There are bubbly aspects in the terms and conditions of bank loans," he tells CNBC.

George Santayana once wrote, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it".  The difference is, last time the American economy had room to fall, and Democrats exploited that crisis to seize unchallenged control of the elective branches of the federal government.  After bouncing and dragging along the bottom of a media-camouflaged economic depression for the past almost six years, we're looking at a collapse the likes and depth of which none of us can even imagine in this erstwhile modern era, an economic nightmare of, to again quote Robert Wiedemer, "50% unemployment, a 90% stock market drop, and 100% annual inflation".  The crisis-exploitation possibilities for the Obama Regime would be well-nigh limitless - precisely as he intended.

I'd say we really have lost our minds, but that took place in November 2008.  Now we're simply reaping the final whirlwinds.

No comments: