The New York Times had a number of articles on the front page this morning that are appropriate to our current national state of being:

Detroit Faces Millions in Bills for Bankruptcy

By Monica Davey

The city has been charged more than $19.1 million by the firms and people hired to sort through the bankruptcy.

Worsening Debt Crisis Threatens Puerto Rico

By Mary Williams Walsh

Mired in debt, Puerto Rico has been effectively shut out of the bond market and is financing its operations with bank credit and other short-term measures.

Health Exchange Delays Are Tied to Software Crash

By Michael D. Shear and Robert Pear

A major software component, designed by contractors, buckled under the weight of millions of users, officials said.

It isn’t really necessary to read the articles because they all say the same thing: the Federal government — the country — cannot bail out Detroit, it cannot bail out Puerto Rico and it cannot manage the bailout of its health insurance industry … which ironically does not need a bailout. At the same time, the associated costs — of managing failed systems in Detroit, Puerto Rico and elsewhere — are relentlessly expanding.

Here’s another from the Times:

With Default Deadline Near, Wall St. Stays Calm … for Now

By Nathaniel Popper

The relative quiet on Wall Street is worrying some investors, who fear the markets will not signal to politicians the true danger of hitting the debt ceiling until it is too late.

Reading isn’t required, the fact of potential default by the US government speaks for itself. Since 2008, the business of the establishment has been to prop up key men — systemically important institutions and agencies — everywhere in the world. In 2013, key men appear faster than there are props for them, the establishment cannot keep up, it can only pretend.

In the US there is onrushing economic failure, there is accompanying political failure. The US government can certainly borrow a lot more than it has so far, the loans are simply wished into existence at very small initial cost . Yet the loans are obligations not gifts, they must be repaid with interest; the the costs grow exponentially, they have been growing for decades and have now become unbearable. At this moment, there is little difference between the cost of defaulting and the cost of not defaulting. Added to energy, the aggregated costs of credit have outstripped the ability of flesh-and blood humans with all of their magic toys to meet them particularly since the toys themselves have costs which require credit. Continue reading →