local government

As the New Year unfolds, it is time for predictions. I have done my part, giving a full account of where I see things headed in 2009 in my post "Top ten predictions for the 2009 global economy" and where I want to see them headed in 2009 in…

There has been a general outcry for economic stimulus on the part of the North American, U.K. and Eurozone federal governments to counteract the fall in private sector consumption. In the U.S. and the U.K. in particular, this message is…

In my most recent post, I gave a fairly comprehensive retrospective of the year that was. Near the end of that post, I listed a number of posts I wrote in Octobr and November which point to how I see 2009 shaping up. Let me give you a…

Hank Paulson may have created a monster. He has recently said that he does not want to use the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) to buy dodgy assets as he originally billed the U.S. bailout measure. Instead, he wants to inject cash…

Yesterday, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to warn him that California was suffering a liquidity problem and needed federal assistance in order to avoid insolvency. Below is the text of…

It sure seems like California is insolvent. Just today we heard that Arnold Schwarzenegger contacted Hank Paulson to let him know that the State is having liquidity problems (see pdf) and needs help. California ranks as the world's 9th…

The lawsuits are piling up. America is a very litigious country and when things go wrong people sue. That's one reason one should realistically expect the courts to be clogged with all manner of suits on bond insurance, auction rate…

As Ireland faces a recession after a fifteen-year property boom, it has come to light that the government have been caught out and doesn't have the enough funds to support the economy now that the boom has gone bust. The Irish Independent…

I have been meaning to address the issue of State and local governments for some time, because during the boom they were flush with cash from property taxes. The obvious parallel is an expected shortfall during this downturn. One can…

On Friday, the Spanish newspaper ABC reported that Spanish municipalities are being hit hard due to the tax revenue shortfalls emanating from the effects of the Spanish property market crash. The two local governments most affected have…