NY Times pivots to conservative economics – condemns “buy now - pay later” economy.

Photo above - Nixon asserts "We're all Keynesians now". A short while later he added "I am not a crook", but apparently not to defend his 34% increase in the national debt.

There are 2 links below. The NYT article is sometimes behind a paywall, sometimes not. So I’ve included a second link to a possible AI plagiarized version from MSN.

The gist of it: we shouldn’t pay for our groceries with a credit card. Or a “buy now, pay later” financing scheme which may have even higher interest rates. In fact, we shouldn’t borrow for ANY day-to-day expenses: food, gasoline, electricity, rent, monthly health insurance premiums, liquor and weed . . .

If you we only afford this stuff on credit, it means we're broke. Our expenses exceed our cash inflow. Bankruptcy is sure to follow, unless it stops. Eventually Visa and MasterCard will say I've exceeded your credit limit, and then I can’t buy ANY groceries.

That's all well and good, but what about the federal government? It has $37 trillion in debt. And thinks that's okay because the Fed Funds interest rate on that debt is around 7%, instead of 16.99% (my credit card’s APR). That $37 trillion (among other things) was spent on welfare, food stamps (SNAP and WIC benefits), medical expenses, rent and electric subsidies, Obamaphones, etc.

I’d be less alarmed if this was wartime, and the government was borrowing to keep Hitler and the Emperor of Japan from overrunning the free world. But the US government isn’t supposed to have massive budget deficits in peacetime. Just bone up on economists like John Maynard Keynes if you doubt this.

I have a pretty good idea when Visa would cut me off. My credit limit is $15,000. If I went over that, they’d turn my purchases down and invite me to have a conversation about my income and assets. That probably wouldn’t result in someone there giving me a high-five and increasing my spending limit to $25K.

I don’t have any prediction about when America's banks, sovereign wealth funds, and moguls will cut us off and stop buying US Treasury Bills. But this can’t go on forever. In this regard Trump is as deluded as Biden, Obama, and most other presidents. Can we have an honest discussion about this during the 2028 presidential election? We sure didn’t have one in 2024. It never came up. PBS, CNN, Fox . . .and yes you as well, NYT: you’re all part of the problem. Stop ranting about my groceries when my personal share of the national debt is $350,000 !!!

I’m just sayin’ . . .

Consumers Are Financing Their Groceries. What Does It Say About the Economy? - The New York Times

Buy now, pay later usage for groceries nearly doubles as consumers struggle with food costs