US Faces Same Economic Woes As Greece: Marc Faber
The US is facing the same dire economic problems as Greece, Marc Faber, author of the Gloom, Doom and Boom Report, told CNBC Friday.
"Many people haven't woken up to the severity of the US fiscal crisis," Faber said by phone. "The only difference for the US from Greece is that it can print more money."
Faber said that most western countries as well as the US cannot pay for unfunded liabilities and that more sovereign defaults will happen in the future.
As for Greece, Faber said the country was basically bankrupt and the EU will most likely have to bail it out.
"That's good for Greece," Faber went on to say, "but it's a big negative for the EU to have to come up with the funds."
Asked about Thursday's plunge of the Dow, Faber pointed to reasons beyond the Greek government's vote for an austerity package and the following protests.
"It's not that Greece alone produced the market sell-off," said Faber. "It was a trigger but the market was probably overbought and we were ahead of economic fundamentals."
As for predictions that the Chinese economy is headed for a recession, Faber said that he expected a slowdown over the next couple of years.
"The Chinese stock market is already down by 25 percent from last August," said Faber. "A real estate bubble exists in some parts of the country. But it won't be as bad as what the US has had. How bad the recession there will be is hard to say. I still believe in the Chinese economy, but there will be a slowdown."