Pessimistic piece on 2010

More pessimistic than Karl Denninger, but hard to refute his points:

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2009/12/december-19-2009-death-taxes-and-mr.html

There is no recovery

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2009/12/december-11-2009-there-is-no-recovery.html

Until I see old, crappy 500 sq ft houses selling for $50K in California like they were 10 years ago instead of $500K+ I won't agree with anyone that housing has stabilized. There is a lot more pain ahead and I'm tired of the manipulated numbers coming out of Washington (e.g. "seasonally adjusted BS") showing how things are improving. They aren't. Sales tax receipts are way, way down. Rail/truck traffic is down y/o/y. Personal income tax receipts are way down. Property taxes are down. Travel is way down y/o/y. Corporate tax receipts are essentially zero. Greece, Italy, Spain, Baltic states, Ireland, Japan, etc. are all running into big trouble. Dubai is cratering. There is no recovery and things are really much worse than they were last year.

Hey, let's spend our way out of the recession

The insanity increases - Obama actually said that we "must continue to spend our way out of the recession" (but I thought Obama said the recession was over . . .). Craziness abounds. Give the drunks more booze until they are sober. Logic is dead.

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2009/12/december-9-2009-desperate-thing-to-say.html

http://market-ticker.org/archives/1713-Insanity-Doing-The-Same-Thing-Obama.html

And while we're at it why don't we greatly expand Medicare and Medicaid and call it "Health Care Reform" - where is all that money (trillions) going to come from?

Washington DC has become more and more unhinged.

Another case for deflation

Scary interview. Similar to thoughts of Karl Denninger. We are in a lot of trouble.

http://theautomaticearth.blogspot.com/2009/10/october-30-2009-interview-with.html

Why education (and housing) prices kept going up

If the government hands out free money then people will charge more because they can. It's about that simple.

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/10/remarkable-comparison-affordable.html

The City of Houston is bankrupt

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/10/city-of-houston-is-bankrupt-so-are.html

US is a failed state

Listen carefully to the words of Dr. Paul Roberts, a former Assistant Treasury Secretary. He says that the access Geithner is allowing to GS, C, and JPM is unprecedented. “America is a failed government…” He explains that the crooks are now on the inside of government and in a normal situation they reside on the outside of government. Yes, the rule of law is gone. Separate corporations and their money from state!

http://economicedge.blogspot.com/2009/10/dr-paul-craig-roberts-with-max-keiser.html