http://counterpunch.org/lindorff08012011.htmlThe chief economist at ratings agency Moodys is warning that the U.S. could be headed for a renewed recession.
Calling the current situation "very perilous," John Lonski adds that the politicians in Washington, where both parties are vying to present budgets featuring massive cuts in spending, could help bring on that recession--just as the new Conservative Party-led government in Great Britain brought on a return to recession this year through its aggressive cutting of public spending. Worse yet, they could create a new shut-down in credit or "liquidity" in the financial industry that "could be more serious even than what caused the collapse of Lehman Brothers" in 2008.
Lonski, in an interview with ThisCantBeHappening!, said, "What scares me is that, because of the weakened condition of the federal government, there is less confidence in the philosophy of `too big to fail'-- the idea that the government will come in and back up any financial company that runs into trouble." He said the government is probably no longer in a position to make trillions of dollars available to prop up failing big banks as it did in 2008 and 2009, and that fearing this, financial institutions may pull back, drying up lending.
Lonski and his colleague Ben Garber, another economist at Moody's Capital Markets Research Group, today released a new report titled "Double Dip Risk Rises as DC Standoff Continues," in which they warn that the U.S. "may be closer to a double dip recession than commonly thought."
More at the link --