By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com  

The Federal Reserve raised the discount rate yesterday to 3/4% from 1/2%.  That’s the interest rate the Fed charges banks in an emergency.  The Fed insisted that rates for consumers and companies would not rise.  So why did the Fed raise rates?  (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com   

There has been some encouraging news about the real estate market recently.  In San Francisco, real estate prices shot back up 16% according to the Case-Shiller Index.  On the other coast, friends of mine in the New York City real estate business say price declines seem to be leveling off.  There has been plenty of talk that “now is the time to buy a house.”  After all, the government will give up to an $8,000 tax credit if you purchase a home.  But what is the real story on the housing crisis?  Are we at or near a bottom?    (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

Congressman Ron Paul put out a startling warning  video just over a week ago.  This tells me things must be getting really messy right now.  (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com  

The financial malaise the world finds itself in right now can be summed in just one sentence.  There is way too much debt.  It is such an enormous amount of debt that most people cannot grasp its size.   It is a sum that is unparalleled in human history.  There are only two ultimate conclusions to debt–it either gets repaid or it does not.  If debt is repaid in printed money, then that is that same as a default.  The world will either repay its gigantic debt or default with money created out of thin air.  What is at stake here is the world monetary system and what will constitute money in the future.   (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com    

The recently published book called “This Time Is Different” makes the case that this financial crisis has the same basic elements as every other financial crisis since the 1300’s.  Economists Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart do a great job of researching various financial meltdowns in places like South America, Asia, Europe and the U.S.  In every crisis, no matter where it took place in the last 8 centuries, people thought a big debt buildup could not end badly.  The authors say “arrogance and ignorance” always pave the way to financial hell, no matter what country or what century.  (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

The Markets breathed a sigh of relief yesterday after word of an European Union bailout of Greece.  The Dow was up 150 points.  Greece is one of, what is called, the “PIGS,” which is an acronym for Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain.  All of these Southern European countries are facing severe debt problems.   The most immediate problem is Greece, and it looks like a “Big Fat Greek Bailout” will postpone a debt crisis for now.  (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com    

According to Middle East news sources, Iraq will sue the U.S. over the residue from Depleted Uranium munitions. These types of munitions are also commonly referred to as DU.  This may sound like the story of an ungrateful nation, but Iraq has a legitimate beef. (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

Almost everything but the U.S. dollar took a hit yesterday.  Oil sold off nearly 4 bucks a barrel, the Dow was off nearly 270 points, bonds tumbled and gold plunged nearly $50 per ounce.  The dollar was bought because the euro sold off due to debt trouble in Southern Europe. There are fears of a debt default in Portugal, Italy, Spain and Greece.  The “safe haven” of the U.S. dollar is the beneficiary of those consternations. (more…)

 By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com   

We just finished 2009 with a record federal deficit of $1.4 trillion.  Let’s think about that for a minute.  The U.S. government says it is $1,400 billion in the red at the end of 2009.  But is that the “real” deficit number?  The reason why I ask is the government uses accounting gimmicks to make just about every number it puts out look better than what it really is.  For example, the most recent Consumer Price Index for inflation was officially 2.7%; but if you compute inflation the way Bureau of Labor Statistics did it in 1980, the inflation rate would be 9.7%.  The same goes for unemployment.  Officially, it stands at 10%; but if computed the way BLS did it prior to 1994, it would come out to 21.9%. (source: shadowstats.com) (more…)

 By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com  

Since the State of the Union Address, the White House has turned its attention to jobs. President Obama said last week, “…jobs must be our focus in 2010, and that is why I am calling for a new jobs bill.”  A $100 billion jobs bill has already passed the House of Representatives.  The Obama Administration is now pressing the Senate to get a bill on his desk in short order.  It will likely end up being a combination of spending and some tax incentives.  (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com 

This was a huge week folks.  The two big stories I wrote about were the AIG bailout and cover-up and the U.S. deficit.  I have a couple of really good stories to pass along that will give you some more perspective on both.

First, there is a lot more to the AIG story that will come out in the future.  The Huffington Post ran a story called “Is Bernanke Hiding a Smoking Gun?”  It’s about how the Fed Chief was behind the bailout of AIG even though his staff recommended not to rescue the insurance giant.  (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com   

U.S. lawmakers in the House of Representative skewered Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner in a hearing over the $180 billion bailout of insurance giant AIG.  Geithner’s credibility was repeatedly questioned by both Democrats and Republicans over the Treasury Secretary’s claim of complete ignorance of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to cover-up details of the bailout.  (more…)

 By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

The Obama Administration is planning to seek a spending freeze for 3 years on domestic discretionary non-security spending.  Officials say the freeze could save $250 billion over the next 10 years.  That may seem like a lot of money until you compare it to the most recent national debt-limit raise of $290 billion last month.  It sure looks to me like we have already spent the future savings and then some.

(more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.comI was a featured guest on the nationwide overnight radio show “Coast to Coast AM” last week.  The show airs on more than 500 radio stations. “Coast to Coast AM” has a huge audience.  So, after my appearance, I was flooded with emails.  Many people who contacted me said they were “scared” of what is happening in the economy and wanted to know what to do with their money to keep it safe.  I want to share a couple of excerpts from the emails with you: (more…)

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

In the post “Is the Recession Over? Not a Chance!” this past Monday (1/18/10), there was a prediction made about the upcoming PPI.  Shadow Government Statistics said, “…annual PPI inflation should pick-up sharply in December.”  (more…)