Reinhart and Rogoff: The Economy Can’t Grow With Debt and Marc Faber


By Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S. Rogoff



As public debt in advanced countries reaches levels not seen since the end of World War II, there is considerable debate about the urgency of taming deficits with the aim of stabilizing and ultimately reducing debt as a percentage of gross domestic product.
Our empirical research on the history of financial crises and the relationship between growth and public liabilities supports the view that current debt trajectories are a risk to long-term growth and stability, with many advanced economies already reaching or exceeding the important marker of 90 percent of GDP. Nevertheless, many prominent public intellectuals continue to argue that debt phobia is wildly overblown. Countries such as the U.S., Japan and the U.K. aren’t likeGreece, nor does the market treat them as such.
Indeed, there is a growing perception that today’s low interest rates for the debt of advanced economies offer a compelling reason to begin another round of massive fiscal stimulus. If Asian nations are spinning off huge excess savings partly as a byproduct of measures that effectively force low- income savers to put their money in bank accounts with low government-imposed interest-rate ceilings -- why not take advantage of the cheap money?
Although we agree that governments must exercise caution in gradually reducing crisis-response spending, we think it would be folly to take comfort in today’s low borrowing costs, much less to interpret them as an “all clear” signal for a further explosion of debt.
Changing Interest Rates

Buying US Debt 'Mind-Boggling': Marc Faber

It is mind-boggling that people would consider buying 10-year US Treasurys with yields trading at around 3 percent, said Marc Faber, the author of the closely-watched Gloom, Boom and Doom report in an interview with CNBC on Thursday.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43736837