Counterfeit (Part 49,483)

Guest Post: The Counterfeit Economy | zero hedge: "The U.S. has a deeply counterfeit economy.

The predatory mortgages of the subprime era were presented as legitimate mortgages similiar to time-honored 30-years fixed notes with a few 'minor differences.' These were in effect counterfeit mortgages designed to fool the borrowers and buyers. They were mere simulacra of 'safe investments.'

Like the counterfeiter who plates the lead bar with a thin coating of gold, the ratings agencies coated the lead bar of toxic, high-risk mortgages with the gold veneer of a AAA rating.

The buyers of the securitized mortgages were promised gold but they were actually buying lead--and the sellers knew it. The trust engendered by the AAA rating and the veneer of authenticity issued by Wall Street was exploited in a vast counterfeiting scheme of breathtaking depth and range.

The budget of the U.S. government as presented by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is a counterfeit budget, inauthentic and riddled with blatantly false projections. As late as 2009, in the midst of the Great Recession, the OMB was projecting surpluses in the Federal budget by 2012."

RTWT.