Today’s Poser

Would you exchange even half the gains you have enjoyed in the stock market (inc. IRAs, 401Ks) since the day Trump was elected ... for a guarantee that he would not be re-elected in November?

Stock Funds

Believe it or not, this whole impeachment hoax has an upside ... IRAs and 401Ks around the country keep inflating along with the rhetoric heat of these never-Trumpers ... my funds included. So pilgrim, when I see Schiff, Nadler and Pelosi praying for America or solemnly quoting our founding fathers in their condemnation of President Trump ... I find solace by calling up the growing balances of my stock funds.

Suggestion

Suggestion: Never-Trumpers ... particularly virulent never-Trumpers ... in order not to appear as hypocrites ... should take all of the financial gains that they have enjoyed in their IRAs, 401Ks, stock portfolios, etc. since Trump was elected ... and donate these monies toward reducing our national debt ...

No!?

Mo-or-Less-Town

Mitt Romney's campaign prediction has come true.  Detroit, Michigan has declared bankruptcy ... the largest city to ever do so in the United States (see: Detroit News Story).  What a shame! I've only been to Detroit once or twice ... to visit the General Motors headquarters ... so I have not seen the central-city decay there cause by decades of irresponsible fiscal management. But there might be plenty of pain to go around once the courts have divvied up the few remaining assets.

Yes, pensioners there may suffer but, I suspect that the Obama administration will find a sub rosa way of easing their pain.  (There is something called the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation which will probably dump tons of taxpayers money into this financial chasm ... see: Wikipedia Entry.  Yes, this quasi-governmental company is privately-funded now ... but it is running such a huge deficit that we all know that taxpayers will eventually be forced to close this gap.)  The other real sufferers will more likely be all the IRA owners around the country who either are directly or indirectly invested in Detroit municipal bonds.  They, like the previous investors in General Motors debt, will take it in the shorts.

And many other major mismanaged cities around the country are going to find their municipal bond financing costs go up ... possibly dramatically.  So we see that Detroit's pain will likely be shared by all of us ... even though we had no hand in the corruption and fiscal naivete that caused this catastrophe.

I do have a simple suggestion that might allow Detroit to make lemonade out of the bushel of lemons that it now has on hand (a thought I also had for the South Bronx when it was in rampant decay.)  I think that tens if not hundreds of blocks of contiguous abandoned homes and businesses in downtown Detroit should be bulldozed and a gigantic verdant municipal park should be created ... as a centerpiece of an eventually revitalized city.  It might even get Mitt Romney to donate the millions of dollars it will cost ... then name it for his father, George.

Afterward: For another interesting take on Detroit, see: The Diplomad Blog.