Ripped From The Headlines, March 7, 2023
#Debt Bubble About To Burst? "Customer Rage" Goes To A New Level, #China Shows Its True Financial Colors - #Read, #Share, & #Subscribe - SherlocExposes.com
We Are The Watchmen On The Wall
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"Conventional wisdom says the US will avoid a devastating federal payments default later this year. But conventional wisdom has proved spectacularly wrong months ahead of shocks that upended the world in recent years: the failure of Lehman Brothers, the 2016 US election, the global spread of Covid-19.
The source of this potential shock is a procedural quirk of the US government that’s intersected with soaring partisan hostility. The federal debt has hit a legal limit imposed by Congress, and Republicans in the House of Representatives say they want concessions from Democrats and the White House before raising it. Such standoffs aren’t new. But lawmakers have never failed to pass an increase or suspension of the debt ceiling before the Department of the Treasury ran out of cash to make good on US obligations.
For Americans already struggling with high-interest rates, a US payments default would push up borrowing costs for everything from mortgages and credit card balances to auto loans. Beaten-down 401(k) portfolios are in danger of further damage. The 2011 partisan showdown over the debt ceiling ended with a compromise that averted default but still sent the S&P 500 down 17%.
This year’s fight is shaping up to be at least as contentious. 'The market is quite complacent,' says Tracy Chen, a portfolio manager at Brandywine Global Investment Management in Philadelphia. 'Investors should be very cautious' because 'this time around, with regard to the debt limit, it will be an extraordinary and most acrimonious event this year,' she says."
"Americans are encountering more problems with companies’ products and services than ever before, and a higher proportion of them are actively seeking “revenge” for their troubles, a new study has found.
Some 74% of the 1,000 consumers surveyed said they had experienced a product or service problem in the past year. That is up from 66% in 2020, when the study last was conducted, and 56% in 2017. Only 32% told researchers they had experienced a problem in 1976, when a similar version of the study was first conducted.
The percentage of consumers who have taken action to settle a score against a company through measures such as pestering or public shaming in person or online, has tripled to 9% from 3% in 2020, according to the study. That reversed a downward trend with regards to revenge-seeking behavior: The average percentage of customers seeking revenge between 2003 and 2017 was 17%.
'It’s the idea of, if you as a company don’t really seem to care, well then I’m going to take to the streets,' said Scott Broetzmann, president and chief executive of Customer Care Measurement & Consulting, which conducts the so-called National Customer Rage Survey with the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. The research, which builds on a study first conducted by the White House in 1976, albeit under a different name, found that 32% of complainants posted about their most serious problem on social media—more than double the proportion who did so in the 2020 study."
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“As China tries to turn the page on one of its worst stretches of growth since the 1970s, its economy is being weighed down by the colossal debts of its local governments, which swelled during the pandemic and are starting to come to a head.
Xi Jinping’s zero-Covid campaign saddled cities with billions of dollars in unplanned expenditures for mass testing and lockdowns. The Chinese leader’s crackdown on excessive property-market leverage led to a sharp drop in land sales, depriving cities of one of their biggest revenue sources.
Two-thirds of local governments are now in danger of breaching unofficial debt thresholds set by Beijing to signify severe funding stress, with their outstanding debt exceeding 120% of income last year, S&P Global calculations show.
About a third of China’s major cities are struggling to pay just the interest on debt they owe, according to a survey by Rhodium Group, a New York-based research firm. In one extreme case, in Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province, interest payments were the equivalent of 74% of fiscal revenue in 2021.
However, the central government’s balance sheet isn’t strong enough to bail out every contingent liability in China, wrote Nicholas Borst, director of China research at Seafarer Capital Partners, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a research paper on local debt released this month.
'Moreover, a one-off series of bailouts would increase moral hazards and not change the underlying dynamics that led to the problem in the first place,' he wrote.
That means local residents—especially civil servants—may see more salary cuts and reduced services, as well as fewer infrastructure investments to power growth and employment."
“I Need A Tums” Tuesday, Ripped From The Headlines. Things To Ponder:
“No Need To Worry About the Debt Ceiling… You’re Just Screwed… Have A Great Day!”
SO… the debt ceiling…
Yikes.
The fact that US debt is out of control is bad enough… but when we run out of money, we just “up the limit” on the credit card.
If you did that in your household, you’d be going to jail…
But Uncle Sugar is too big to fail… but what if it does?
Here’s your future:
“For Americans already struggling with high-interest rates, a US payments default would push up borrowing costs for everything from mortgages and credit card balances to auto loans. Beaten-down 401(k) portfolios are in danger of further damage.”
That is… if there’s anything left. If not, you’ll just be screwed…
And in the soup line.
Know. Your. Foe.
“Just When You Thought Service Was All The Rage…”
As in you, raging because customer service for most places you deal with these days is complete garbage…
We were out last week and thought, “Is it us, or does everything just seem dirty, and unkept, and service is just horrible?”
It appears the answer is no, it’s not just us.
In a race to the bottom, you’ll get there… and no one wins…
And when people have nothing left to lose, they lose it.
We have some bad news…
It’s going to get worse… that feeling you have? It’s your gut telling you that…
We’re just being The Watchmen On The Wall to sound the alarm.
“China Is Like A Pig On LSD…”
You never know which way it’s going to run…
Unless, of course, you’re SHERLOC… which first shared the issues with China’s runaway… everything… way back in 2015.
Here’s the real deal:
China is kind of showing you your future…
We’re just not quite that far along in the UNITED STATES…
But that freight train is coming…
Quick example:
“Two-thirds of local governments are now in danger of breaching unofficial debt thresholds set by Beijing to signify severe funding stress, with their outstanding debt exceeding 120% of income last year, S&P Global calculations show.”
US Debt to GDP Ratio:
Chickens… eventually come home to roost.
What does this mean?
The “Fail Train” just keeps on rolling…
This is the big reason we chose to do Ripped From The Headlines… so you can be out in front of what’s coming.
Take note of what’s happened as we’ve looked at the debt ceiling, rising anger in the economy, and the inflation numbers fiasco…
If they can scare you enough…
With a situation they created…
They can pay off the people that need to be paid, and make it look like a mistake…
They can also provide you with a solution you’ll take… like the Central Bank Digital Currency (“CBDC”).
Hegelian Dialectic (Problem - Reaction - Solution) is hard at work.
That ain’t good.
Why Should I Care?
Because this is going to be your future if you don’t do something about it:
You are going to save yourself.
You should care.
What Should I Do?
Given where we’re at, we want to share our recommendations for things to do:
Grab some precious metals at SherlocEZ.com.
Grab supplies at 4Patriots.
Get started on a food forest at Food Forest Abundance.
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YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON IT.
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