GLOBAL ECONOMICS AND POLITICS

Leo Haviland provides clients with original, provocative, cutting-edge fundamental supply/demand and technical research on major financial marketplaces and trends. He also offers independent consulting and risk management advice.

Haviland’s expertise is macro. He focuses on the intertwining of equity, debt, currency, and commodity arenas, including the political players, regulatory approaches, social factors, and rhetoric that affect them. In a changing and dynamic global economy, Haviland’s mission remains constant – to give timely, value-added marketplace insights and foresights.

Leo Haviland has three decades of experience in the Wall Street trading environment. He has worked for Goldman Sachs, Sempra Energy Trading, and other institutions. In his research and sales career in stock, interest rate, foreign exchange, and commodity battlefields, he has dealt with numerous and diverse financial institutions and individuals. Haviland is a graduate of the University of Chicago (Phi Beta Kappa) and the Cornell Law School.

 

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STATE AND LOCAL TRAVELS: US NON-FEDERAL DEBT VISTAS © Leo Haviland, December 6, 2011

Europe’s ongoing sovereign debt and banking crisis grasps many headlines and excites worldwide fear. America’s continuous federal fiscal fiasco and restless debates regarding it will continue to capture attention as election year 2012 beckons. Yet noteworthy debt, deficit, and funding issues lurk in other financial corners.

In America, state and local debt topics generally feature less prominently in marketplace and national media commentary. However, the federal story is not the whole story. State and local debt is substantial. Moreover, pension (and other benefit) funding obligations represent a huge challenge for many states and communities. It pays to focus on these matters alongside federal and household indebtedness, for it further highlights the status and policies of the 50 United States as a major debtor nation.

In America, in principle, each citizen “is king of its castle”. However, in a representative democracy, it should not be surprising that debt trends and levels for “individuals in general” substantially mirror those for the nation as a whole. As thriftiness can be popular, so can appetite for debt.

FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW to download this market essay as a PDF file.

State and Local Travels – US Non-Federal Debt Vistas (12-6-11)