Tag: us Posts

The senate passed the deal to raise the debt ceiling today, which means the United States can pay their bills and not default. But truthfully, that’s probably the worse thing that could have happened, since the US has delayed dealing with some very hard problems. First, let me comment on the ratings agencies. Right after a deal was announced, two of the three major rating agencies reaffirmed the United State’s AAA credit rating. These are the same ratings agencies that also gave AAA ratings to the credit default swaps and other securities that were the underpinnings for the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Saying the United States is in good fiscal shape is like saying Icarus was the world’s best astronaut. S&P hasn’t weighed in on their rating yet, but I suspect they’ll give a AAA rating as well. It doesn’t really matter – either way the markets have reacted negatively and […]

I’m scheduling this post for when I’m out tomorrow for a while, so it’s possible the US may find some common ground on the current US debt negotiations. I don’t it though. Right now things aren’t looking very good for the United States, and the time is almost out where a solution can be reached and implemented before the debt ceiling expires. Negotiations continue to stall, and both sides seem unwilling to deal with some of the harder issues, like coming up with a long term financial strategy that will reduce the deficit and the debt. I actually thought there was only about a 10% chance that the US might default previously, but I’d say we’re probably looking at 50/50 right now. Either way, I think the ratings agencies should severely punish the US for the state it is in. What use is there in waiting until after a default […]

It’s no secret that most of the organized governments in the world are essentially broke. The current debt to GDP ratio in the United States is almost 100%, a fairly incredible number that continues to rise. That number alone indicates that the US is in poor financial shape, and it’s not even that accurate a number. For example, the US has a number of off budget items that are technically debt as well – all the Freddy May and Fannie Mac purchases, Social Security (the US has been taking the money every year and basically putting an IOU in its place) and Medicare. If you factor in all of those items, realistically the debt-to-GDP ratio of the US is more like 500%. The United States only has a brief amount of time to get their financial house in order. Already the debt load in the United States is crippling the […]

I picked up a Nexus pass about a year ago, mainly because I thought it would help with the amount of travelling I have been doing over the years. In theory, a Nexus pass will let you cross the US/Canada border without waiting in those huge line ups. My first attempt at using my Nexus pass was by road. It’s a bit scary using it, because they have so many restrictions in place for the program. For example, if you do something wrong (like attempt to bring a person across with you who isn’t a Nexus card holder), they can revoke your privileges and take your card away from you indefinitely. Plus, they have a special book of custom paperwork for when you declare anything. When you cross by road, they have a little machine that you have to hold your card up against which will read the RFID chip […]

It’s official. Sometimes I get harassed at the border, sometimes my car gets dented in a parking lot. But usually when I’m down south something happens that shows just how much the US hates me. Today I was driving along, having a pretty good time listening to music, when I looked up in my rear view mirror and saw the cherries flashing. Since it’s been about 12 years since I’ve been pulled over, I didn’t even really get that the lights were for me. I thought, “hmm, that’s peculiar, I wonder why he doesn’t just go around me.” Anyways, I pulled over to the side of the road, and proceeded to get my first speeding ticket in 12 years. Strangely enough, I had been stuck behind a semi truck for about 20 miles when the cop gave me a ticket. I told him I really doubted I was speeding, since […]

How do you feel about that? I read this article with the CEO of Ford today, where the interviewer basically pummeled him. When asked about Ford’s strategy with regards to electric cars, the CEO had this to say: We are working on that [fully electric cars], but let me just share with you the Ford plan about that. Our No. 1 priority is to improve the internal combustion engine, and that’s why the turbocharging, the direct fuel injection, we get a 20 percent improvement in fuel mileage and a 15 percent reduction in CO2, but we get that across all of the engines, across all the vehicles. Then we move to more electrification with the hybrids as you mentioned, and we are very excited that the next step after that will be full electrification. Now we’re tied into the grids, and we really have moved to an energy independence solution. […]