14 Comments

Great piece. Sobering data. We all know it's bad, but seeing it all laid out like that is stark.

My opinion is that this will still be a runaway train of spending until the rest of the world starts to price their economic transactions in something other than dollars. There's no good replacement currency for the dollar out there, but eventually something will give.

Once a credible alternative(s) to the dollar emerges, then it's only a question of how swift the transition to the new suitor(s) is. Businesses engaged in international commerce won't shift to a new currency quickly. But, it will probably be like that old Hemingway quote about how you go bankrupt: "Gradually, then suddenly."

Until the dollar is no longer the world's reserve currency, the politicians will continue to spend. They'll do so even after the transition, but then it won't end well.

If the above has any truth whatsoever to it, we'll look back at two political maneuvers as perhaps the most boneheaded of this century: (1) seizing Russia's US Treasury reserves, effectively telling the world that Treasuries are only money if you're on the US's good side; and (2) as a consequence, forcing Russia to sell its oil in currencies other than the dollar -- a nice test case for ending the petrodollar system.

If you want to give the transition away from the dollar a fighting chance, those are two (really one) effective techniques.

Expand full comment

Debt will continue to grow as the Treasury need only print and circulate more fiat currency. Politicians serve short terms and will not be able to help themselves. Gold and precious metals will do well in this environment, and bitcoin even better since there is limit and certain amount in existence.

Expand full comment

When does the Market, i.e., the ability to dump worthless paper into our economy freeze up?

Expand full comment

"US government has the Ultra Black Gold Travel Rewards Card that never has to be paid so it never needs to cut spending. How many of you just pay the minimum on a credit card? Uncle Sam does. Wait until the US credit card starts seeing 28% interest rates. The introductory 0% rate is gone." - Unknown

https://inverttheinversion.substack.com/p/ch-112-money

Expand full comment

I think I read somewhere that the primary way for a government to do away with debt is through inflation. If so, hold on to your butts.....

Expand full comment

Well written👍 I liked the image at the end of the post, but the title on the board should be more like “Your Debt…” because a very tiny percentage of the population is not negatively affected by the huge debt pile. In contrast, they have even benefited massively over the past decades.

Expand full comment

1. No one in congress knows how to legislate. As Crenshaw angrily noted, they are all there for the graft.

2. The graft is provided by lobbyists convincing those they bribe to send taxpayer & fiat money their way, in the bills written by corporate lawyers to grift off the taxpayers.

3. Without the bribes, congressmen and -women could not afford their election campaigns; it’s all synergistic .

4. Once the ability to buy votes disappears - via displacement of the USD as global reserve - congress will be unable to borrow. Having no policy ideas, they will be unable to govern.

5. At this point, national collapse is inevitable.

Expand full comment

"credibility," we have none given the latest attempt to poison (bioweapon) the world!

Expand full comment

As malapportioned as spending is now, I don’t see how any candidate wouldn’t sweep into office promising to freeze spending at current levels until the economy grows into it. Too easy, I reckon.

Expand full comment