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America’s debt crisis. Even larger spending deficits are looming. What if we had been allowed to choose our own fate?

Photo above - John Wick, America's favorite vigilante. He is NOT presumed to be part of the "Bond Vigilantes" behind this month's crash of T-Bills, however.

Word of the day: “Bond Vigilantes”. This is Wall Street's term for bond traders who don’t like out of control US budget deficits. (see Fortune Magazine link, below). When we call someone a vigilante, do we tacitly admit that those responsible for law enforcement are ineffective? Or is vigilante used as an epithet, to cast aspersions on their morality and motives?

Those darn bond vigilantes! T- Bill prices are plummeting, because nobody wants to own last year’s editions when the next ones will carry much higher yields. They’re selling off the old treasuries and waiting for the new ones that pay MUCH higher interest.

This sounds more like rational thinking, rather than a bunch of masked vigilantes attempting to lynch a horse thief. Or bring an overspending government to heel through frontier justice.

I took a look at some of the things that went into the current $39 trillion national debt, and decided I wouldn’t have voted for hardly any of it. And that congress and the various presidents are clowns. Here’s what I’d have said no to:

- Trying to bomb Iran back to the stone age.

- Trillions in covid 19 stimulus, which resulted in shocking levels of fraud

- 800+ US military bases around the world. Many in places nobody heard of or cares about.

- Sending buck rogers back to the moon. And then Mars.

- Bridges to nowhere, and bullet trains to Las Vegas

- $2 billion for each B21 bomber

- 400 separate federal agencies, with huge spending and project overlaps

- $70 Billion in federal aid both to wealthy countries, as well as dozens of places which don’t even pretend to be democracies: Angola; Botswana; Jordan; Ethiopia; Sudan; Palestine; Syria; Yemen; Saudi Arabia. America even funded the Chinese military Wuhan lab which released the covid 19 bat virus.

- Federal funding for absurdities like “robotic squirrels”; “humpback whale translators”; “shrimp fight club analysis” and "what effect does coffee have on goats?"

For our $39 trillion in debt and generosity, we now have a military which can’t defeat a nation with no navy or air force; 100% inflation rate over the past 2 decades; unaffordable housing; 8,000+ US satellites in orbit, including the federally subsidized Starlink program.

And we keep re-electing (90%) of the incumbents who are responsible for this.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

US debt is the 'elephant in the room' amid bond market rout as Fed-fueled interest costs could drive even larger deficits, analysts warn

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/us-debt-is-the-elephant-in-the-room-amid-bond-market-rout-as-fed-fueled-interest-costs-could-drive-even-larger-deficits-analysts-warn/ar-AA23UdSt?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=6a12ccc5217f4316acefb651f995a22b&ei=35

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TexChik · F

The American debt crisis could be called the democrat corruption crisis.

The auto industry is about to have their crisis. The banks that backed loans for $100,000 pick up trucks with $2500/mo payents are in trouble be cause the defaults are increasing by the day. On top of that there are 6 million new vehicles sitting on dealership lots, costing the dealerships dearly for each month they sit there. No on can afford to buy a new, overpriced vehicle. Soon they won't be able to give those things away. That's what happens when greedy politicians are in charge of the economy.

DownTheStreet · 56-60, M

@TexChik the entire overpriced vehicle market is overdue for a correction. Truck pricing is crazy. You can’t even buy one that isn’t uselessly tricked out. I’ll wait for the fire sale.

AthrillatheHunt · 51-55, M

They gotta stop predatory lending ASAP. 30 something percent interest is insane . Govt has to rein in spending too

exchrist · 36-40

@AthrillatheHunt what is this a discover card? Jesus FC

exchrist · 36-40

All America needs is to switch spending to domestic priorities and self sufficiency. Foreign entanglements and pouring money into other countries is what destroying America’s finances.

AthrillatheHunt · 51-55, M

@exchrist how many months (not years ) you think it would take to erase what , 39 trillion if we didn’t send a single dollar overseas ?

exchrist · 36-40

@AthrillatheHunt currently about 4-8 trillion a year is spent overseas, on military investment, or on space projects so that’d be about 8 years (96 months) ? Problem solved.

SunshineGirl · 36-40, F

Buyer's remorse?

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, MVIP

US Debt may be the elephant in Americas room. A self inflicted injury that may be fatal, because of this. Not only collapsing the US Economy.. But US society and others as well. Spend 10 minutes and be afraid for your kids and your ageing parents..
😷[media=https://youtu.be/snpMDHawrvs]

View 4 more replies »

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, MVIP

@Thinkerbell The Marshall plan was only one of a suite of US funding and frankly colonization strategies that America put in place in various countires, (notably Germany and Japan) to increase its influence in the country as well as expand corporate interests. Coca Cola was suddenly everywhere. But we are drifting off point here. Spend 10 boring minutes watching this and it will outline what the US government has planned. And by extension how it will effect the average America. As the video explains. Its how it is always done..😷
[media=https://youtu.be/9aq_30rx5XE]

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@whowasthatmaskedman

"The Marshall plan was only one of a suite of US funding..."

I rather doubt that the rest of the suite amounted to much more than the Marshall Plan, which itself was a relative drop in the bucket for Germany, as I pointed out above.

As for Dalio, yes of course national debts get paid off with inflated currency... the question is, at what point does the inflation become catastrophic? The US population starts getting restive when it rises above, say, 5%.

And I just looked up Japan's inflation rate... it has been kept under (often well under) 5% for the last half century, despite Japan's current debt-to-GDP ratio being over 200%. Dalio doesn't say anything about that.

"Coca Cola was suddenly everywhere." [e.g., in Germany]

And yes of course, the Marshall Plan, NATO, etc were put in place to keep the USSR from doing to Western Europe what it had already done to Eastern Europe, but more than that, to avoid repeating the post-WW1 mistakes.

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, MVIP

@Thinkerbell A couple of points here. The spending by NATO that went into capital works also benefited German construction and employment. While the Japanese , having a different relationship between government and industry, kept interest rates artificially low for decades, the result being housing prices were off the planet, with multi-generational mortgages. I might add the trade off for the Japanese was price capping in many areas that benefited the community. An MRI machine made and installed by its Japanese maker cost one tenth of the cost of the same American made machine installed in a US hospital. But this gets very complex, encompassing the relationship of Big business Unions and government at the cultural level.
In the end there was no single factor that enabled the rise of Germany post war. Yet another interesting point is that so many of the pre war names are still with us.. Fokker, Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Krupp and Mitsubishi..😷

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

"...100% inflation rate over the past 2 decades; unaffordable housing..."

If no one can afford housing, how come
housing prices are so high...? 🤔

exchrist · 36-40

@Thinkerbell explotition greed and ever rising cost (unsustainability)

Thinkerbell · 41-45, F

@exchrist

Greed avails nothing if no one can afford to pay greed's demands.

SatanBurger · 36-40, F

Why are we even talking about debt. If americans cared about debt they wouldn't have voted in Trump who used private jets to kidnap immigrants at 50,000 per hour. Obviously debt is a lie to be spending like that.

whowasthatmaskedman · 70-79, MVIP

@SatanBurger The American government is planning to inflate its way out of nearly $40 Trillion in debt, by devaluing the currency to the point where (hypothetically) a pack of cigarettes can cost a thousand dollars. Easy to pay off the debt. But hard on the people. Fortunately 98% of Americans cant work that out for themselves.
And it might just have worked if other nations had not started trading in currencies other than the $US. Now the T bond sales landslide is happening and America is having to sell short term bonds which will roll over quickly and have to be replaced at spiralling rates, or default. (For the uneducated, default means that America will not be able to use $US to pay for imports and will either have to purchase another currency (which would be massively inflated) or use gold or some other commodity.)..😷

SusanInFlorida · 31-35, F

@SatanBurger nice thread hijacking to trump. upvoting this so everyone will read it. and you managed to completely avoid any discussion at all of the original post. bonus points for that!

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