For years, I told my BudComm that at some point, the Federal Government was going to run out of other peoples’ money or the ink would run out for printing money (I know, I know, it’s all a bunch of ones and zeros nowadays but I liked the line).
We’ve passed 30 trillion and seven Trillion of that came just from the Feds “handling” the WuFlu. Acting like Oprah (“YOU’VE got cash! And YOU’VE got cash, and YOU get even MORE cash”) on one of her binge shows.
And make no mistake, bingeing is what the Politicians have been doing.
And I warned them that while interest rates have been low, once they start to go up, that debt payment will skyrocket. It’s already the fourth largest expenditure in the Federal budget and if the Federal Bank raises rates (already announced over the rest of the year), those payments are going to soar. So HOW does $30 Trillion of debt look like? Glad you asked:
And guess WHAT! With inflation officially at about 8% (and “real” inflation rates at 10% or more), we’re venturing back into the Jimmy Carter era.
For you who just graduated from Government Schools, that would be the former peanut farmer turned Georgia Governor and then the second-worst President EVAH! And BOY is he glad that Joe Biden has taken THAT mantle for him.
I and TMEW were coming into our adulthood and marriage back then – we lived through that financial horror time; I am afraid for all of us in that it is going to envelop us again.
It took hard-nosed decisions of President Reagan and Fed Chair Volker to wring this out of our Society. Who knew that the cure was almost as bad as the disease but it had to be done.
So, who will be the dude coming over the horizon, be it a Reagan or a Thatcher, that will have the cojones to beat this (and those who caused this stagflation in the first place with their policies) back into that financial Pandora’s box (and again, for the ill-educated among you, I’m not talking jewelry).
(H/T: Paul)
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