We can pay this debt. We can fix our deficit. Plans and ideas are not lacking (Ray Dalio's 3%). Political will is what we lack. Neither party will campaign and govern on fiscal austerity and higher taxes. Congress has forever been in the thrall of large donors to get elected. Worse, our elected officials use the offices we gave them to represent all constituents to enrich themselves front running stocks with their insider information. If each were ended people wouldn't want to be in office any longer than they had to. They would term limit themselves.
The problem is not just the federal debt; the problem is ALL THE DEBT in all of the elements of the financial system! Considering derivatives, etc. the total amount may actually be unknowable, but it surely in the multiple hundreds of trillions of Fiat dollars. The consequence is that true interest rates must be constantly suppressed by the fedgov and fedres and thus malinvestment is continuously enhanced. As a result, we have reached the point at which the continued functioning of the financial system depends upon greater and greater reliance upon the “waste is growth” economy identified by Charles Hugh Smith. The problem in that regard is that, with enormous economic growth in the developing world, the world as a whole has reached resource limits in numerous areas. Hence the geopolitical turmoil as nations begin to battle over access to, and prices of, resources. A fitting complement to the forthcoming conclusion of the current Fourth Turning.
The Tea Party movement is almost 20 years old. That was the last time there was a substantial rally for less spending. Over ten years ago I was sitting at an event with coworkers and one of their wives said what does the debt matter anyway, nothing ever happens (everyone agreed). She was in her 30s then and it is probably safe to say most people under 45 don’t have the financial sophistication to know why they should care. These are the same people loading up on BNPL. And you can see how dangerous this is, they end up trying to vote themselves free stuff which is just going to continue the cycle.
What would our country (and the world?) look like if we weren't $40T in debt? Less military, less roads, less population, more personal responsibility. I don't know. We do we get to take from future generations?
We are nearing the end of the 2026 fiscal year on September 30th. Deficit spending has been accelerating over the last 2-3 months and is now on a $4 trillion annual pace at the end of August. Why?
Assuming that we have 260 million ounces of gold and gold is valued at $15,000/ounce, we thus can cover a $4 trillion deficit. Not even pay it down. If we were to go to a gold standard, it might have to be valued at $150,000/ounce to pay off the debt. That means silver might be...??
Just flipping around numbers and what if's...like the DC Cesspool does every day. I think I could make up a bunch of government statistics (no A/i needed) and get 3/4 of the country to believe my report is true. Hey, I could be a super-high paid government wonker making $750k/year.
“Pain delayed is pain multiplied.” Damn straight. In the late 90s-early oughts I was employed by Cabletron Systems, a networking firm that had achieved spectacular growth in the early 90s before managerial ineptitude & hubris slowed it down. So one quarter, rather than reporting declining sales, the head honchos stuffed some inventory into the channel and reported it as revenue. No doubt thinking “it’s a on-off and we’ll fix it next quarter when sales revive.” Hah! The one-off to avoid some short-term pain became a way of life. The company ended up blowing up in SEC investigations and was sold for scrap bit by bit. Pain multiplied 100X. Mean gurl Scott Bessent and his boss and congress should take note that history does indeed rhyme (bad pun, sorry).
I had to laugh when the author used TABOR as an example. I’m a resident of Colorado and watched one of our finest greasy politicians explain why foregoing the refund of excess taxes, as required, wasn’t really a tax increase. Almost every year there is a referendum on the ballot attempting to neuter TABOR.
So much digital ink spilled on what politicians should do. So many good ideas on how to do it.
It's bupkis! Ovet the last 30 years it's gotten worse. There are no consertative or liberals debating ides. It's the Uniparty fighting for their slice of the spoils. It's an equal sum game and if your favorite flavor of politician dosen't get their slice then you are losing.
So whatcha gonna do.
The train wreck is going to happen but mañana. Tomorrow, next Friday, next year...just not today. Live your life like it doesn't matter because the next batch of scumbags we elect will just be more of the same.
It’s the realization that this can never be pay back.
We can pay this debt. We can fix our deficit. Plans and ideas are not lacking (Ray Dalio's 3%). Political will is what we lack. Neither party will campaign and govern on fiscal austerity and higher taxes. Congress has forever been in the thrall of large donors to get elected. Worse, our elected officials use the offices we gave them to represent all constituents to enrich themselves front running stocks with their insider information. If each were ended people wouldn't want to be in office any longer than they had to. They would term limit themselves.
There isn't a single politician that gives a damn about the common good of this country.
To the vast majority, holding office is akin to hitting the lottery.
"Gold is the money of kings.
Silver is the money of gentlemen.
Barter is the money of peasants,
but debt is the money of slaves."
Author unknown.
Apparently the amount or intensity of our slavery is only equaled by the amount of "no fucks given" by the ruling class .
Everybody knows Diamonds are a girl's best friend which makes them slavery too.
The dollar is a bigger ponzi than tulips 🌷
The problem is not just the federal debt; the problem is ALL THE DEBT in all of the elements of the financial system! Considering derivatives, etc. the total amount may actually be unknowable, but it surely in the multiple hundreds of trillions of Fiat dollars. The consequence is that true interest rates must be constantly suppressed by the fedgov and fedres and thus malinvestment is continuously enhanced. As a result, we have reached the point at which the continued functioning of the financial system depends upon greater and greater reliance upon the “waste is growth” economy identified by Charles Hugh Smith. The problem in that regard is that, with enormous economic growth in the developing world, the world as a whole has reached resource limits in numerous areas. Hence the geopolitical turmoil as nations begin to battle over access to, and prices of, resources. A fitting complement to the forthcoming conclusion of the current Fourth Turning.
Yup.
The Tea Party movement is almost 20 years old. That was the last time there was a substantial rally for less spending. Over ten years ago I was sitting at an event with coworkers and one of their wives said what does the debt matter anyway, nothing ever happens (everyone agreed). She was in her 30s then and it is probably safe to say most people under 45 don’t have the financial sophistication to know why they should care. These are the same people loading up on BNPL. And you can see how dangerous this is, they end up trying to vote themselves free stuff which is just going to continue the cycle.
We live way beyond our means at the expense of future America.
That future may be coming much sooner than expected.
Empires always wage war in their final attempt to hold it all together. It's their only hope for an economy.
What would our country (and the world?) look like if we weren't $40T in debt? Less military, less roads, less population, more personal responsibility. I don't know. We do we get to take from future generations?
We are nearing the end of the 2026 fiscal year on September 30th. Deficit spending has been accelerating over the last 2-3 months and is now on a $4 trillion annual pace at the end of August. Why?
Assuming that we have 260 million ounces of gold and gold is valued at $15,000/ounce, we thus can cover a $4 trillion deficit. Not even pay it down. If we were to go to a gold standard, it might have to be valued at $150,000/ounce to pay off the debt. That means silver might be...??
Just flipping around numbers and what if's...like the DC Cesspool does every day. I think I could make up a bunch of government statistics (no A/i needed) and get 3/4 of the country to believe my report is true. Hey, I could be a super-high paid government wonker making $750k/year.
“Pain delayed is pain multiplied.” Damn straight. In the late 90s-early oughts I was employed by Cabletron Systems, a networking firm that had achieved spectacular growth in the early 90s before managerial ineptitude & hubris slowed it down. So one quarter, rather than reporting declining sales, the head honchos stuffed some inventory into the channel and reported it as revenue. No doubt thinking “it’s a on-off and we’ll fix it next quarter when sales revive.” Hah! The one-off to avoid some short-term pain became a way of life. The company ended up blowing up in SEC investigations and was sold for scrap bit by bit. Pain multiplied 100X. Mean gurl Scott Bessent and his boss and congress should take note that history does indeed rhyme (bad pun, sorry).
I had to laugh when the author used TABOR as an example. I’m a resident of Colorado and watched one of our finest greasy politicians explain why foregoing the refund of excess taxes, as required, wasn’t really a tax increase. Almost every year there is a referendum on the ballot attempting to neuter TABOR.
So much digital ink spilled on what politicians should do. So many good ideas on how to do it.
It's bupkis! Ovet the last 30 years it's gotten worse. There are no consertative or liberals debating ides. It's the Uniparty fighting for their slice of the spoils. It's an equal sum game and if your favorite flavor of politician dosen't get their slice then you are losing.
So whatcha gonna do.
The train wreck is going to happen but mañana. Tomorrow, next Friday, next year...just not today. Live your life like it doesn't matter because the next batch of scumbags we elect will just be more of the same.