Add 10 Zeros

Add 10 Zeros

It was yet another week of off-kilter markets and unexplainable reactions to economic data and macro-events. It’s hard to tell if we are in a bad is good or good is good or everything is bad cycle?  

The one thing we can be sure of is that while you have just read this sentence, the national debt has increased by some ridiculous sum. For all the numbers that I consider on a daily basis, this is the one that is tough for me to wrap my brain around. How can we casually be talking about $16 trillion? 

No matter what your political leanings, Senator Alan Simpson from Wyoming put it in to perspective on CNBC last week when asked by Steve Liesman about the debt.  

STEVE LIESMAN: Senator, if you were in a position now to be advising both candidates, what would you have them say now about the deficit, particularly in light there's a vice presidential debate this evening. What would you like to hear from them?

ALAN SIMPSON: Well, I think I'd want to tell them what a trillion bucks is. I know that's a silly exercise. Just say-- well, let me tell you something about us-- this country.

If you spend a-- if you spend a buck a second, you wouldn't hit a trillion for 32,500 years. And if you spend a million a day since the birth of Christ, you wouldn't be at a trillion. And the big bang theory of the universe happened 13 billion 600 million years ago, that ain't even close to a trillion. And we owe 16 of those babies!

So start thinking. And then you're going to borrow $3,600,000,000 a day, every day. You're going to do that today, tomorrow. Every buck you spend, you borrow 41 cents. And I would say, "Will one of you-- let a peep out of yourself of what you're going to do about that and to restore the solvency of Social Security without letting the A.A.R.P. tear your leg off or Grover Norquist on the other side rip the other let.

Really, what’s another couple of trillion dollars among friends? 

Trade well and follow the trend, not the so-called “experts.”   

Behold the age of infinite moral hazard! On April 2nd, 2009 CONgress forced FASB to suspend rule 157 in favor of deceitful accounting for the TBTF banking mafia.

Larry Levin
President & Founder- Trading Advantage
TradingAdvantageCom