Debt Desensitization

It’s almost like we’re conditioned to dismiss it all. Why?

A million seconds is = ~12 days.

1 Billion seconds = 32 Years.

1 Trillion seconds = ~31,600 years.

The National debt $31 Trillion.

If you paid a dollar a second, it would take you 979,600 years.

Or if every American agreed to pay, we’d each have to stroke a check for ~$240,000 🧵

This math was done when the debt was $14 Trillion

The National debt is now $31 Trillion.

Current

interactive:

The Interest payments ALONE on our $31 trillion in US debt exceeds what we spend on the Defense Department.

Stanley Druckenmiller (famous investor) on CNBC.

“The intrest payments on the debt alone wil consume everything.”

Here’s what the media says:

Here’s what Nobel Prize winning Economist Milton Friedman says:

Here’s what pundits and propagandists say.

(This one in particular is heir to a banking dynasty so he know better…or something)

What politicans said:

Here’s what politicians and media said in unison

More of what the media said

Well we dont know who to trust here…

so what are companies and bankers doing and saying?

What are smart guys like head of Goldman and JP Morgan…what is their take on things?

oh.

Maybe we misheard the politicians….let’s check back in.

Wait a minute:

“if governments can just print money, why are we paying taxes?”

🤔🤔🤔

Why does inflation exist anyway?

oh.

Ok ok …..So how much inflation we talking exactly?

is it REALLY that bad?

Let’s check the purchasing power of $100 over time.

Ok, that can’t be right, let’s check another source… The power of dollar over time (infographic)

With our personal finances, and with common sense, everyone knows you cant spend your way our of being in debt.

You know you’d have to cut expenses.

Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and Keynesian economics tells bureaucrats that this is wrong and that you CAN spend your way out of debt.

“You can’t Keynesian stimulate your way out of Cost-Push Inflation”

– P. NAVARRO

So…

how bad could it get exactly?

In Oct2022 Charlie Munger (Warren Buffet’s long-time investing partner) said exactly what others have been saying since late mid 2021.

“The troubles that come to us could be worse than what Volker was dealing with.”

So if smart people know this then…

why are they doing this and not reversing course? 🤷🏾

We can’t know their motivations but…

maybe we can look at what they did in past crises:

In 2008, 4 of 7 Federal Reserve Bank seats departed just weeks before markets started imploding.

But that was then.

Clearly now we are in competent hands.

Right?

We have

Jerome Powell at the Fed and that loveable aspergy gnome Janet Yellen at Treasury…

What’s she been saying lately?

Here’s something from 21March and then the very next day.

oh.

What about…

The President’s Senior economic advisor? Maybe he knows what to do.

The Whitehouse Chief Economic Advisor (Jared Bernstein) accidentally reveals that he knows less about Central Banking (and fiscal vs monetary policy) than the people who casually skimmed my fed-thread (https://t.co/EjNbi5l8JI) from last year's "lockdown reads" notedump. https://t.co/sb87N0e2CK
— Stephen A. Ridley (@s7ephen) May 10, 2024