Tuesday, November 16, 2010

A Fistful of Dominos

"...Without Congressional approval for additional debt, the U.S government cannot pay its bills – most notably, interest payments on treasury bonds, bills and notes.

If America defaults on those payments, or even misses them by just one day, the domino effect would be brutal...

•Domino #1: The country would lose its AAA credit rating and those bonds, bills and notes would no longer enjoy their status as the safest investments on the planet.

•Domino #2: In turn, a lower credit rating would mean that the United States would pay higher interest on its bonds in order to attract investors. Result?

•Domino #3: A tidal wave of selling through fixed income markets, driving interest rates higher still.

•Domino #4: Social Security would be hit hard, as its funds are invested in Treasuries. Suddenly, Social Security would have far less resources than just a day or two earlier.

•Domino #5: If money is pouring out of so-called “safe” investments, you can bet that in that kind of environment, the demand for riskier investments would be next to nil. Stocks and financial markets around the globe would plummet.

So why is this year’s Congressional raising of the debt limit different than every other?..."

No comments:

Post a Comment