Bankruptcy of U.S. is ‘Mathematical Certainty,’ Says Former CEO of Nation's 10th Largest Bank

[baja]

CNSNews.com) - John Allison, who for two decades served as chairman and CEO of BB&T, the nation's 10th largest bank, told CNSNews.com it is a “mathematical certainty” that the United States government will go bankrupt unless it dramatically changes its fiscal direction.
Allison likened what he sees as the predictable future bankruptcy of the United States to the problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose insolvency he also said was foreseeable to those who studied their business practices and financial situation.
“I think the first thing we have to realize is where we’re going and to face it objectively,” Allison told CNSNews.com, when asked about the trillion-dollar-plus deficits the federal government has run for three straight years, the more than $13 trillion in federal debt, and the $61.9 trillion long-term shortfall the government faces (according to the analysis of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation) if the government is to pay all the benefits it has promised through entitlement programs.
“If you run the numbers, on all those numbers that you just talked about, which I think are accurate, very accurate, in 20 or 25 years, the United States goes bankrupt,” said Allison. “It’s a mathematical certainty.

“It reminds me very much of that story I told you about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae,” said Allison. “We were running the numbers, and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae went bankrupt, and we got there. In 20 or 25 years, the United States goes bankrupt.
“Now, countries don’t go bankrupt the way companies do,” said Allison. “They don’t file bankruptcy. They usually hyper-inflate. They print a bunch of paper money, or they become Third World economies like Argentina--unless we change direction. So, we absolutely have to change direction. And the irony of that is it requires an interesting combination. It requires both discipline, but it also requires a focus on growing our economy. And it means a fundamental philosophical change from where we are today, from the idea of redistributing wealth to the idea of creating wealth.”
In his interview with CNSNews.com Allison said that when belonged to the Financial Services Roundtable they examined Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and determined they were going bankrupt. Congressional leaders, however, did not heed their analysis.
“I was on a committee, a Financial Services Roundtable, for nine years trying to do something about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae,” said Allison.
“You couldn’t help but see it coming,” he said. “You ran the numbers, particularly the last several years, and it was mathematically certain Freddie and Fannie were going bankrupt.”
“We met with Congress. We met with [House Financial Services Chairman] Barney Frank and [Senate Banking Chairman] Chris Dodd and they absolutely wouldn’t see it,” said Allison.
Allison became president of BB&T in 1987 and was elected chairman in 1989. He remained CEO through 2008. He is now distinguished professor of practice at the Wake Forest University Schools of Business. By 2009, according to rankings done by SNL Financial, BB&T had grown into the nation's 10th largest bank.

[baja]

The way spending is escalating those predictions could be long.

[shakenbake]

Originally Posted by baja

CNSNews.com) - John Allison, who for two decades served as chairman and CEO of BB&T, the nation's 10th largest bank, told CNSNews.com it is a “mathematical certainty” that the United States government will go bankrupt unless it dramatically changes its fiscal direction.
Allison likened what he sees as the predictable future bankruptcy of the United States to the problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose insolvency he also said was foreseeable to those who studied their business practices and financial situation.
“I think the first thing we have to realize is where we’re going and to face it objectively,” Allison told CNSNews.com, when asked about the trillion-dollar-plus deficits the federal government has run for three straight years, the more than $13 trillion in federal debt, and the $61.9 trillion long-term shortfall the government faces (according to the analysis of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation) if the government is to pay all the benefits it has promised through entitlement programs.
“If you run the numbers, on all those numbers that you just talked about, which I think are accurate, very accurate, in 20 or 25 years, the United States goes bankrupt,” said Allison. “It’s a mathematical certainty.

“It reminds me very much of that story I told you about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae,” said Allison. “We were running the numbers, and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae went bankrupt, and we got there. In 20 or 25 years, the United States goes bankrupt.
“Now, countries don’t go bankrupt the way companies do,” said Allison. “They don’t file bankruptcy. They usually hyper-inflate. They print a bunch of paper money, or they become Third World economies like Argentina--unless we change direction. So, we absolutely have to change direction. And the irony of that is it requires an interesting combination. It requires both discipline, but it also requires a focus on growing our economy. And it means a fundamental philosophical change from where we are today, from the idea of redistributing wealth to the idea of creating wealth.”
In his interview with CNSNews.com Allison said that when belonged to the Financial Services Roundtable they examined Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and determined they were going bankrupt. Congressional leaders, however, did not heed their analysis.
“I was on a committee, a Financial Services Roundtable, for nine years trying to do something about Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae,” said Allison.
“You couldn’t help but see it coming,” he said. “You ran the numbers, particularly the last several years, and it was mathematically certain Freddie and Fannie were going bankrupt.”
“We met with Congress. We met with [House Financial Services Chairman] Barney Frank and [Senate Banking Chairman] Chris Dodd and they absolutely wouldn’t see it,” said Allison.
Allison became president of BB&T in 1987 and was elected chairman in 1989. He remained CEO through 2008. He is now distinguished professor of practice at the Wake Forest University Schools of Business. By 2009, according to rankings done by SNL Financial, BB&T had grown into the nation's 10th largest bank.

I agree

[baja]

Well that's a nobel idea but greed won't allow it. Ironic because there would be an abundance of wealth except for greed. Greed produces lack.

[Bronco_Beerslug]

Originally Posted by baja

Bankruptcy of U.S. is ‘Mathematical Certainty

Only if the rest of the world sinks into economic chaos also which means the whole planet will destruct.

[W*GS]

Given how economists' models are utter crap, any prediction by them should take that into account.

[baja]

Originally Posted by Bronco_Beerslug

Only if the rest of the world sinks into economic chaos also which means the whole planet will destruct.

The planet isn't going anywhere but the trashed financial system will implode.

[snowspot66]

I'm sorry but add this to the "no ****" pile. We keep spending more than we make of course we'll go bankrupt.

[Rohirrim]

Wasn't the Grover Norquist/Reagan/neocon plan all along to bankrupt the government, sell all its resources and obligations to private corporations for pennies on the dollar, who then profit massively while placing the American people in servitude of their credit and insurance heirarchy for perpetuity? I'd say the plan is going along admirably. Funny how, in the 80s, we had the money to take care of these issues, but then the neocons gave a 50%+ tax break to the wealthy, stole the money from entitlement plans to pay the difference, and then spent the government into bankruptcy - and they now blame the entitlement programs for the default? The only people who benefit from these so-called entitlement programs are the workers. Funny how that all worked out, eh?

Government is the problem.

Suckers.

[orinjkrush]

repubs seem to want to break the gubmint. from the inside out, and the outside in.
the demons just want to drain it dry.
the ancient greeks couldn't get a democracy to function well either.
ultimately they tend to go bankrupt.

[Requiem]

I wonder when $ ain't gonna matter.

[orinjkrush]

on the enterprise and the voyager, i think