She canna take much moor o'this!

Looking at the global financial markets, one can't help but hear the familiar voice of Mr. Scott: "Cap'n, at this rate, the engines'll blow sky high!"

From CNN:

It's a sign of the times that, according to one survey last month, 6% of British homeowners have been using their credit cards to pay their mortgages. That's suicidal, of course, given that credit card interest rates are more than double even the heftiest mortgage. Keep your fingers crossed that it's not a trend that crosses the Atlantic. ((Um.... too late.... -- Jemison))

There are no free lunches, and bills always come due. Most of the complex web of high finance is smoke and mirrors designed to hold the inevitable at bay, but Truth remains: you reap what you sow.

A generation or more of sowing historic levels of debt is about to reap a bumper crop. The Fed is scrambling, tinkering with interest rates and flooding money into the financial markets, while commodities like gold and oil are reaching historic price levels. Sloshing even more money around is the equivalent of adding kerosene to a house fire.

Warp factor nine, Mr. Scott...