Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis |
- Philadelphia, 5th Largest City in US is Effectively Bankrupt; Mayor Holds Closed Meeting With Wall Street to Discuss Asset Sales
- German Reader Tackles Question "What Percentage of the Vote will Anti-Euro Party AfD Receive in Upcoming Election?"
- 55% of Americans Say Their Income Taxes are Fair; 46.6% Paid No Income Tax in 2011
Posted: 16 Apr 2013 09:38 PM PDT You know a city is in deep trouble when its mayor invites Wall Street but not the press and not private citizens to a closed meeting to discuss the future, including a sell-off of city assets. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, whose municipality has the lowest credit rating of the five most-populous U.S. cities, did just that. My translation: Philadelphia is bankrupt. However, that easily discernible fact will of course be denied until it officially happens. Please consider Philadelphia Holds Closed Meeting With Wall Street Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, whose municipality has the lowest credit rating of the five most-populous U.S. cities, will address investors at a conference financed by underwriters and closed to the public and the press.Philadelphia, 5th Largest City in US is Bankrupt It does not take a genius to figure out what is going on here. Philadelphia is bankrupt. Without even seeing the details, it is safe to assume untenable union wages and pension benefits are at the heart of it all. A 47.6% funded pension is rather telling in and of itself. Gutless Mayor Michael Nutter does not even have the decency to let the public or the press hear what is going on. Instead he invited Wall Street to a private tour of Philadelphia's assets, hoping to sell assets and stave off the inevitable. What fundamental issues is Nutter solving? Pensions? No Schools? No Union Salaries? No Bloated Payrolls? No Benefits? No Instead of inviting Wall Street to a private tour, Nutter ought to be inviting the press and private citizens to a press conference to declare the city's bankruptcy. We've been down this path before, most recently in Stockton, California. Here are some Stockton Bankruptcy Articles to consider in case you are not familiar with the story. Most relevant to Philadelphia is a ruling the Stockton Bankruptcy is Valid, City Acted in Good Faith. The judicial ruling means bondholders are at risk, and the city will not be forced to raise taxes to pay off creditors. Also see CalPERS Pension System in the Crosshairs of Stockton Bankruptcy Dispute. With those rulings, Philadelphia's cost of borrowing is likely to soar. Regardless, the city is nothing but a walking zombie now. The end is at hand. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com |
Posted: 16 Apr 2013 12:40 PM PDT Polls show the support for the anti-euro Alternatives for Germany AfD party as high as 17% according to the Financial Times. However that 17% is the number of voters who would "consider" voting for an anti-euro party, not the number of people committed to that outcome. Specifically, the FT article states "AfD is a late entrant for the election on September 22 and might not be radical enough to attract protest voters it needs in order to make it over the five per cent vote threshold for seats in the Bundestag." The AfD, led by economics professor Bernd Lucke, is dominated by former CDU members who became disillusioned with the chancellor's European policy that is broadly supported by a majority of the public." Underestimating the Vote In contrast to the possibility AfD receives less than 5% of the vote as mentioned by the Financial Times, reader Bern who lives in Germany believes AfD is going to receive substantially more than 10% of the vote. Bern writes .... Hello Mish,Given that the nannycrats have underestimated the backlash of every policy decision and every important vote, especially in Italy, I am a firm believer that reader Bern is correct. In a followup post, we will discuss what this means for chancellor Merkel. Here's a hint. If you are a Merkel supporter, the result won't be pretty. Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com |
55% of Americans Say Their Income Taxes are Fair; 46.6% Paid No Income Tax in 2011 Posted: 16 Apr 2013 10:22 AM PDT The percentage of Americans who think their income tax is fair has fallen to 55%, the lowest level since 2001 according to a recent Gallup Poll on Income Tax Fairness. 46.4% Pay No Income Tax According to the Tax Policy Institute 46.4% paid no income tax in 2011. The Gallup question specifically stated "Do you regard the income tax you will have to pay this year is fair?" It did not ask if the system was fair. If those who pay no income tax think their zero share is fair (and logically they should), then a mere 16% of those who do pay taxes think their share is fair. Here is my math: 55% think their share is fair. Subtract the 46.4% who pay nothing (and logically should be happy about that), the net is 8.6 percentage points. (8.6 / 53.6) * 100 = 16% I wonder if some people who pay no income taxes misunderstood the question and said taxes were unfair because they want those who do pay taxes to pay more. Perhaps some of those who pay nothing, want more money back. Bear in mind that most of those who pay no income tax still pay property taxes, sales taxes, and payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare). So, perhaps some of those who said their zero share was "unfair" do not realize they pay no income tax. For more on who pays and who doesn't, How Stuff Works answers the question Is it true that only 53 percent of Americans pay income tax? Here is the answer in a nutshell: The top 20 percent of Americans earn 53.4 percent of the total U.S. income, but pay 67.2 percent of total income tax. Is that fair? Are your taxes fair? Mike "Mish" Shedlock http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com |
You are subscribed to email updates from Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 |