Jay Walker’s Financial Traffic

So the numbers are out.  The estimate is that  the deficit during Obama’s first year at the helm of the Presidency will be of $1,200,000,000,000.  That’s $1.2 Trillion dollars.

The estimated population in the United States as of July 2008 was of 303,824,640 which means that every men, women and child in the United States will have an additional debt of $3,949.64.

That doesn’t include what will be a second bailout package of at least $700 Billion.

So where all this money is coming from?  Print it and the dollar will become worthless like Zimbabwe’s currency.  Borrow it and it has to be paid later.  But with what money?  Print it and the dollar will become worthless…and round it goes.

Borrowing more and continue running a deficit makes as much sense as throwing gasoline on a bonfire in the hope of extinguishing it.  It was nice to see Obama elected.  But the honeymoon is over;  He should know better.

Barack Obama wrote a book called The Audacity of Hope.  Now he’s presenting America with The Audacity of Debt.

China will not land money to the deadbeat junkie economy America now is.  Obama and his advisors should do with the nation’s budget what we all should do with our own…Get our asses out of debt.

There are times in history where some individuals are ahead of their time.  Rock and Roll for example was seen by some as being ahead of it’s time.

But it didn’t stop Little Richard from singing Tutti Fruiti and years later, he got the deserved recognition as a visionary.

Which brings me to Nick Leeson.  Yes, that Nick Leeson.  The rogue trader who brought down Barings Bank in the 90’s.

See, according to Leeson himself, he cost Barings an estimated 1.3 billion dollars in liabilities.  The problem was that Barings didn’t have 1.3 billion dollars and just like the Titanic, it sunk and it sunk majestically.

But that was then and this is now.

Banks today have more than 1.3 billion dollars and if you’re an American bank and don’t have that kind of cash laying around, you call Ben Bernanke.  He will come with his helicopter and throw cash down to your front door.

Leeson’s exploits of the 90’s pale in comparison of the corrupt financial system seen in America and in the UK these days.  They pale in comparison just in the same way Little Richard pales in comparison to Ozzy Osbourne.  Nowhere near as brash but still worthy of respect for being a visionary.

What Leeson did was most absolutely despicable.  However, he did pave the way for today’s crooks in the financial centers of the world to ply their trade not only unencumbered but also subsidized.

Nick Leeson, you where a crook but you where a visionary and for that I salute you.

A while ago, I asked people reading this to contact Al-Jazeera English to get The Oracle with Max Keiser on the air.

The bad news is that Al-Jazeera didn’t pick up the show.

The great news are that BBC World has picked up the show.  Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert are shooting episodes now and it will be airing on January 9th.

Mr. Keiser is a financial analyst, a former Wall Street stock broker and one of the founders of the Hollywood Stock Exchange.  He also hosts The Truth About Markets with Stacy Herbert on Resonance 104.4 FM in London.  Max also has a blog at karmabanqueradio.com and a news site at maxkeiser.com

More can be found about The Oracle with Max Keiser on BBC’s site