Jim,

Last week you posted an article titled "The Recession Begins Flooding Into the Courts." The article focused on the huge increase in recession-related cases being filed in courts around the country. However, it failed to mention that the funding required to keep the courts operating efficiently is being drastically reduced at the same time that the case loads are expanding exponentially.

A study conducted by the National Center for State Courts found that "court operations in many states are near a ‘tipping point’ at which they may not be able to handle constitutional duties and are trapped in a cycle of widening budget deficits and falling tax revenues."

A California study stated "The potential closure of one-third of Los Angeles County courtrooms would stretch the average wait for trial to 4-1/2 YEARS from 16 months, resulting in the loss of $13 billion in legal industry revenue and 155,000 jobs."

A study done in Idaho stated,“The financial crisis will jeopardize the continued operation of the Idaho Courts.”

Nationwide, the judicial system is strained to the breaking point.  Many civil cases being filed may not come to trial for several years, if ever. This is not good news for those hoping to recover large financial losses they incurred at the hands of fraudsters.

Best regards,
CIGA Black Swan

Britain’s debt now a ‘riskier proposition’ than Italy’s
CIGA Eric

You think the US cannot be in the same position? We are on the road and not that far behind GB in terms of debt to GDP ratio.

As of 2008, the United Kingdom’s Debt to GDP was 10,450/2,773 = 3.77.

As of 2008, the US Credit Market Debt to GDP was 52,508/14347 = 3.66.

Does this mean the United State’s debt, at nearly the same debt/GDP level, is also a riskier proposition than Italy’s?

More…

Billion not Trillion:

The next time you hear a politician use the word ‘billion’ in a casual manner, think about whether you want the ‘politicians’ spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of its releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.

B. A billion minutes ago, the year was 1 A.D.

C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.

D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.

E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

Dear Jim,

This article again confirms what your 2006 Formula has shown time and time again.

There is no recovery!

Best,
CIGA BT

“The first three quarters of 2009 were the worst on record for states in terms of the decline in overall state tax collections, as well as the change in personal income and sales tax collections,”

More…