From The Market Ticker . I think he lays out a pretty good case, and, I think this is scary. ![](http://market-ticker.denninger.net/uploads/Dec2009/credit-all.serendipityThumb.png) That "pumping" of credit is why the stock market has "recovered." BUT IT CANNOT AND WILL NOT STAY "recovered", because the debt that is outstanding is unsustainable - interest costs are crushing innovation and we are now absolutely reliant on near-zero interest rates lest everything collapse. How bad is it? During the same time period that we essentially doubled the debt of households, businesses, the federal government and financial institutions (2000-2009) we added just 40.8% to GDP ($10.129tn to $14.266tn) You might think it wasn't as bad from 1990-2000 - we went from $5.846tn to $10.129tn in GDP (a 73% increase) while household debt went from 3.58tn to 6.53tn (an 82% increase) and non-financial corporate debt from 3.768tn to 6.195tn (a 64% increase.) This looks reasonable. But financial leverage during that decade went from 2.613tn to 7.521tn, a monstrous 187% increase (!) and government debt from 2.613tn to 7.521tn, also a 187% increase (!), both nearly double the GDP growth rate. The 1980-1990 years? GDP expanded from $2.915tn to $5.846tn, a clean double. Pretty good! Consumer debt, however, went from $860 billion to $3.58 trillion, a 316% increase. Non-financial corporate leverage went from $1.387tn to $3.768tn, a 172% increase, the Federal Government went from $668 billion to 2.498tn, a 273% increase and financial leverage went from $526 billion to $2.614tn, a 396% increase. From this viewpoint, the Federal govt just pumped trillions down a rathole. FWIW, the viewpoint of "traders" at least a couple I know right now, is that the dollar will get stronger. Yeah, our situation sucks, but other places in the world suck worse. A general deflationary period may even see the dollar skyrocket because of unwinding currency trades. What's the timeframe? What does this mean for Ag?
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