When the mayor was asked about taxpayers being at risk for the games he repeatedly said "It won't go over budget" (watch him deny budget liability three times in a row).
But Supavud Saicheua, an economist at Phatra Securities, a local investment bank, estimates all off-budget liabilities at 8% of GDP at worst a hefty figure, to be sure, but not enough to provoke fiscal meltdown.Yet even if Thaksinomics has not fulfilled sceptics' fears, it has not lived up to its author's expectations either.
One of the Chief Financial Officers (CFO) (Case B) expressed this aim: "We already provide a set of well-developed instruments of financial management (e.g., cost accounting, budgeting, accrued liabilities).
They include mediocre schools, stratospheric pension liabilities, budget deficits, crumbling infrastructure and flagging economic development.
Budget includes $100,000 of liability insurance as well as loss-damage insurance in the cost of the rental, but the deductible may be higher than for an ordinary car, so read the rental agreement carefully.
Mr. Kennedy, president of Merchandise Mart Properties Inc., was in his Mart office last week explaining the global context from which to view Chicago's present and future — notwithstanding the encroaching deluge of budget deficits and pension liabilities.
The U.S. faces a long list of major issues, from Iraq to North Korea, dependence on foreign oil, unfunded Social Security and Medicare liabilities, a budget deficit and more.
"An unlimited budget would be a liability," Ken Loach once told me when I asked what he would do with infinite funding.
Despite the Republicans' confidence in their ability to counter the Democrats, the Senate race in Montana offered evidence that some party leaders recognize that the Ryan budget could be a liability.
Democrats see Ryan's budget as a real liability for Republicans.
