Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Markets Like Going Over The Cliff

Why is the stock market so much higher than just a few weeks ago?  Don't stocks know that we are headed over the fiscal cliff?

Going over the cliff is a good thing, not a bad thing.  Higher taxes, lower spending is just the beginning.  Much, much higher taxes and the virtual elimination of the military and other discretionary spending will be required just to get through the next 15 years of the entitlement programs.  Going over the cliff will provide 15 years of breathing room against the collapse of the entitlement programs.

Not going over the cliff could force a crisis in treasury financing within the next two or three years.  Going over the cliff gets you past the end of the Obama years with a national debt of 20 Trillion and eight years of a lost decade.  But, it will get you to the end of the Obama years most likely. 

Not going over the cliff will accelerate the national debt crisis with a good chance that we can't get through the Obama years without a treasury financing crisis, similar to that of Greece.

So, let's buy a few more years by going over the cliff.  This is the price you pay for entitlement reform being "off the table."