Sovereign Defaults Coming in Second Stage of the Financial Crisis.

The first stage of the deflationary debt unwind resulted in massive consumer and corporate defaults, particularly in the financial sector. This sector being one and the same as the governments that it controls, the state has thrown all the resources that it had and did not have (pulled them out of thin air) in order to save its Banking sponsors. While it has given the Banks the respite and saved many of them for now from going belly up, it did not solve a thing. The bad debts have simply been transfered to the Central Banks’ balance sheets that are expected to be later transferred to the taxpayers of each and every country. Whatever was not transfered was hidden by suspension of the mark-to-market accounting rules. Thus, the deflation that is not seen has not gone a way, but has been simply hidden.

Dubai default is DEFLATION.

When a debtor reneges on its loan repayment obligations or asks to postpone them this is deflation by definition. The debts that cannot be repayed are defaulted on and so the total debt outstanding in the economy deflates. And what about prices? The prices on real estate in Dubai are down as much as 50% since the beginning of the world financial crisis. So when debt deflation takes hold assets lose value and cause even more defaults. We say that we are in a deflationary spiral then. When it stops is a big question, but given world wide government intervention in free markets this almost assures that the so much needed adjustment will take a long and painful haul. Yet the prices will get to their natural level in spite of all government actions to support them.

One can hope that the Dubai default situation will give a much needed kick to accelerate the process of deflation and wipe out the speculators and their central bank friends.

Here goes Dubai.

Deflation arrives to United Arab Emirates. First time since 1990.

Deflationary pressures are being felt throughout the world from Japan to USA to Europe and to the Middle East. No one is going to escape the disciplining force of deflation.