Economics

bloomberg.com - by John Glover - October 14, 2013

Reneging on its debt obligations would make the U.S. the first major Western government to default since Nazi Germany 80 years ago. . .

. . . “These are generally catastrophic economic events,” said Professor Eugene N. White, an economics historian at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. “There is no happy ending.”

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On July 18, 2013, Frank Nutter, President of the Reinsurance Association of America, testified before the Senate Committee on Environment Protection and Public Works as to the RAAs perspective on weather and climate-related impacts in the United States.

Following are excerpts from his report:

"In the 1980’s, the average number of natural catastrophes globally was 400 events per year. In recent years, the average is 1000. Munich Re’s analysis suggests the increase is driven almost entirely by weather-related events. North America has seen a fivefold increase in the number of such events since 1980. In comparison, Europe has seen a twofold increase.

A National Park Service police guarded The Lincoln Memorial as signs were put up explaining government shutdown, on Tuesday.

nytimes.com - by michael D. Shear - October 1, 2013

WASHINGTON — The vast machinery of the federal government began grinding to a halt Tuesday morning just hours after weary lawmakers gave up hope of passing a budget in the face of Republican attacks on President Obama’s health care law.

For the first time in 17 years, Congress failed Monday night to agree on a new budget and refused to extend the current one. Without the authority to spend money, the executive branch on Tuesday morning started the process of temporarily mothballing facilities and suspending the many services the government provides.

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Secretary of the Treasury, Jack Lew says debt ceiling will be reached Oct. 17

huffingtonpost.com - by Luke Johnson - September 25, 2013

WASHINGTON -- The debt ceiling will be reached Oct. 17 and the Department of the Treasury will have less cash on hand than it previously estimated, said Secretary Jack Lew in a letter released Wednesday.

"Treasury now estimates that extraordinary measures will be exhausted no later than October 17. We estimate that, at that point, Treasury would have only approximately $30 billion to meet our country's commitments," he said in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio).

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