Percentage of S&P junk bonds and leveraged loans considered "distressed" (click to enlarge)by Gaius Publius We know that there will be another economic "big one" like the crisis of 2008. All of the pieces are in place — Wall Street greed and literal pathology, the even greater size of too-big-to-fail institutions, a literal get-out-of-jail free card that almost blesses continued financial fraud, and the like.
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady says he had nothing to do with having air removed from game balls.
The NFL, following an investigation, says he did. It gave him a four game suspension, which he is appealing. That four game suspension could cost him somewhere between $2 million and $4 million of his $14 million 2015 salary. If he plays well with others, doesn’t get into any more trouble, and injuries and retirement don’t stop his career before he becomes 40 years old in 2017, he will earn $31 million for the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
The mega-buggers in Washington and the bootlickers in Europe have chosen sanctions over trade and destruction over prosperity. They are paying a price: domestic unrest, displacement from markets by emerging economies and the ascendancy of chaos as a way of life in Western Europe.
