10/23/09

It’s that simple

Peacenik was up early this morning and thought Peacenik would check a few blogs while Peacenik's English muffin toasted in the toaster oven. And the finanical news was all bad. Garth, Mish, Ilargi, Denninger. They all portend a crash...sooner rather than later.

But Peacenik was also listening to News570 a Rogers all news radio station in Kitchener. At 5:29 every morning the financial pundit/reporter/cheerleader always has a one minute business report. The cheerleader was cheerful. The futures market today was pointing up.

Garth mentions it in his post today and Peacenik recalls it from other articles. When empires collapse, they collapse very quickly. And black swan events can bring on a rapid collapse. And this impending collapse may not even need a black swan trigger. Who you gonna believe? Garth? Ilargi? or Rogers' pundit? By the time Peacenik gets home from work today investors may well be fricasseed. Have a good weekend.

by Garth Turner

dwight duncan1

Ont Treasurer Dwight Duncan: busted


It’d be hard to make this stuff up.

* One of Canada’s biggest banks is slapped with a debt review and a likely credit downgrade.

* The country’s biggest province says half its business taxes vanished, and doubles its deficit. It, too, gets a debt downgrade.

* And it’s taken a mere 12 months for Ontario and Canada itself to pile $83 billion more in debt on taxpayers’ shoulders. In fact Ontario alone figures new debt will hit $70 billion over the next three years, while the national government heaps on $200 billion.

Was it only a year ago we heard this: “We will not be running a deficit. We will keep our spending within our means. It is that simple. The alternative is not a plan. It is just the consequence of complete panic, and this government will not panic at a time of uncertainty.”

Read on...