Random Thoughts: Debt Ceilings and Floors

Debt Ceilings Are for Losers

I seem to have gotten fixated with the Debt Ceiling discussions going on in the U.S. and ended up spending pretty much the whole week writing about it. The discussions/arguments/impasse continues with both sides claiming the others are the biggest doo-doo heads they have ever met (not sure the rhetoric is actually as cerebral as that, but you get the feeling for my views on it). Somone call Amex and tell them to increase the U.S. credit limit a few more trillion (actually given who the major creditor is, what is the major credit card in China?).

The other interesting news stories has been the demise of the News of the World and the problems that Rupert Murdoch has been having. Given he has given up on BskyB, if he is looking for other acquisitions, he can contact me if he wants this portal for a reasonable price (no more than a few million dollars). The British press has always been a little over the top, but when allegations of deleting messages on dead murder victims phones (so you can hear more illicit messages, because the voice mail box was full), emerge that seems a little beyond outrageous.

Sad to see that Sherwood Schwartz passed away this week, he is the man who gave us Gilligan’s Island and various other brain adling TV series, my brother claims I watched Gilligan’s island so much I can recite every episode from memory (not sure the the claim is true, but I do seem to remember a lot of those episodes).

All this talk of debt ceilings and floors seemed to clutter my posts this week:

• There was some economic good news (in Canada) with employment up in June but not by a lot. Better news than in the states where they continue to lose jobs.
• I asked what is your debt ceiling? and got a wild answer from one reader, which I hope is living in a mansion given how much credit he seems to have available.
• With debt ceilings and the blame game I pointed out that figuring out who caused a couple to get into debt isn’t nearly as important as getting the heck out of debt (taking note Liberals, Conservatives, NDP’s, Bloq’s and Greens in Canada?)
• Getting to your debt floor pounds home the same message as always, get out of debt now!
• Random Thoughts: News of the World and Debt is a recap of the best from last week.

I actually enjoy all comments (even the ones that question my sanity), and will try to respond to most comments, so please feel free to comment away. For you spammers who continue to inundate me with your drivel, keep it up as well.

Credit Crisis everywhere, debt ceilings somewhere and a summer of housing bubbles means plenty of interesting posts by our fellow financial blogging friends:

• Gail Vaz-Oxlade pointed out the importance of a Good Home Inspector, when you are buying a house. If you think it isn’t important watch Holmes on Homes and see the catastrophes that home inspectors have missed.
• Michael James must be eating out more because he was lamenting about Useless Prizes in the Swiss Chalet Dip n’ Win contest. He must be making more blogging these days and splurging on a night out.
• Frugal Trader at Million Dollar Journey explained Why we switched our cell phone from Rogers to PC Mobile, which is another good case study to read about. I am still astounded by how the CRTC allows Canadians to be gouged by the wireless providers, but then again, we could all vote with our feet I suppose.
• Canadian Couch Potato asks the delicate question What is in YOUR Index Fund? My answer is, it depends on which fund you are talking about, I suppose.
• Our old friend Jim Yih brings us TFSA or Pay Down Debt, and of course the obvious answer is pay down debt, if you have read any of my posts this week.
• Preet helps us by Putting the Greek austerity measures into context for us, I guess now with all that spare time he has now that he doesn’t have a real job, he can write on his blog again? Nah, I know Preet, he is (most likely) busier than a Japanese Beaver with ADD (if that is possible).
• Strangely Boomer and Echo and Michael James both hit the same topic which was Downsizing Your Home after retirement, I don’t think I want to live in a Winebago (or however you spell that), so I think I’ll stay where I am for now.

Carnivals this Week

I did make it into a few carnivals this week too:

• Tom over at Canadian Finance Blog hosted the Canadian Finance Carnival #44 which included my post What does the 4th of July Mean?

Remember

“Anyone can speak Troll, All you have to do is point and grunt.”

Author: Fred Weasley from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (must be talking about ongoing debt negotiations in the U.S.)