The Multi-Trillion-Dollar Scorecard

Here's a handy reference on how much money is spewing forth: Economy rescue: Adding up the dollars

Total score to date: $2.3 trillion spent, $11.6 trillion planned.

Add another trillion to that list: Fed to pump another $1 trillion into U.S. economy

Soon to be followed by two more: Obama climate plan could cost $2 trillion

Pretty soon we're talkin' about some real money!

Hyperinflation Is (not completely) a Black Hole

The hyperinflation meme is rising on the Media-Attention-Meter. A lot of commenters treat hyperinflation as an event horizon, beyond which no information is available. That's not exactly true.

There is a pattern to hyperinflation, and while it can be really nasty, it is not the end of the world.

It could, however, be the end of your retirement account, assuming it consists of treasuries, mortgage-backed securities, derivatives, or other abstract financial instruments that are not based on anything real. U.S. Dollars fall squarely under that category.

And I've been meaning to post something at least a little positive for once: On the plus side, if you can maintain income increases through the hyperinflation phase, you could possibly pay off your debts really quickly. Good for you, bad for banks and credit card companies.

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Why hasn't Polywell Fusion been funded by the Obama administration?
IEC Fusion Technology (Polywell Fusion) Explained

A Really Clear Explanation

Glenn Beck on Fox News gives a great, concise explanation of where we are at right now.

Even Glenn Beck Is Starting To Get It

H/T to MSimon at Power and Control.

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O/T:Why hasn't Polywell Fusion been funded by the Obama administration?
IEC Fusion Technology (Polywell Fusion) Explained

The Chinese are Watching

This is from a Wall Street Journal article:

...the U.S. is printing money to pay for its soaring budget deficit. He noted that China and other developing countries hold U.S. dollars as their foreign reserve on the premise that the dollar is being managed responsibly. But in recent years, the U.S. "didn't assume its responsibilities."

China buys a great deal of our debt on the assumption that we will be able to pay that debt back. If they think we are not acting responsibly, they will stop buying our debt, and we will be even deeper in the hole.

Shadow Government Statistics

This sums up the current situation quite nicely:

As inflationary pressures mount anew and the financial markets increasingly shun U.S. Treasuries, an inflationary depression can evolve quickly into a hyperinflationary great depression. Although hyperinflation became inevitable in the last decade, the onset of the process just recently was triggered by Fed and the Treasury actions in addressing the systemic solvency crisis. The process would be accelerated by unfettered and unfunded government spending that appears to loom in early 2009.

This is from John William's excellent web site, Shadow Government Statistics. Unfortunately you need a fairly pricey subscription to get to the rest of the article quoted above. I can't blame Williams for that, ya gotta make a living. But there's a lot of other great stuff there available for free, including special reports on hyperinflation and the money supply. This is highly recommended material.

The Spigot Starts to Close...

U.S. debt is losing its appeal in China
No problem, just print more money!

Obama gives us a head's up

You can't say he didn't warn us, sort-of:

Obama says trillion-dollar deficits may last years