Recently, this relationship has been called into question as Puerto Rico faces a looming debt crisis that could set the island’s economy back by more than a decade.
Recently, this relationship has been called into question as Puerto Rico faces a looming debt crisis that could set the island’s economy back by more than a decade.
In a 2010 study, Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff identified a 90 percent debt/GDP threshold as a “red line” national economies crossed only at the cost of impeding their growth. That study garnered a great deal of attention among debt hawks. More has been written about the impact of recent academic work discrediting Reinhart/Rogoff’s core conclusion […]
President Obama appealed to the American people last night in a televised national address asking them to support a “balanced” plan to avoid imminent financial default. Declaring that the “the world is watching,” Obama called for compromise between the Democrats and Republicans to maintain U.S. credit worthiness and global standing. There can be no doubt […]
Standard & Poor’s, a leading credit ratings agency downgraded Japan’s long-term sovereign debt Thursday, a sharp reminder of the heavy financial obligations plaguing one of the world’s largest economies.
State and local government are frantically scrambling to meet huge budget deficits and revenue shortfalls as the anemic corporate sector (except, of course, Wall Street and Big Oil) and as constrained businesses hold back on capital expenditures, employment decisions stagnate causing high unemployment and shaky consumer spending and confidence, which mean less income tax and smaller sales tax revenue for government treasuries.
A synopsis of market-moving news and developments in the Emerging Markets.
In an effort to stem the deepening collapse from the Greece Sovereign Debt crisis, finance ministers from the European Union agreed on a deal that would provide $560 billion in new loans and $76 billion under an existing lending program. Elena Salgado, the Spanish finance minister, who announced the deal, also said the International Monetary Fund was prepared to give up to $321 billion separately.
Financial markets continue to be roiled this week over fears that a European debt crisis could derail the global recovery. Investors are spooked by the debt problem in Greece – a possible precursor of what may happen in the U.S. Investors fear Greece may default on its sovereign debt, or require a bailout from already strapped European governments. Those concerns are spreading to other financially troubled governments in Europe.