The federal government has already run a $2.06 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2021 with four months left to go. But somewhat surprisingly, over the last few months, the national debt hasn’t increased at nearly the pace you would expect considering the budget shortfalls. Given the level of spending, borrowing should be much higher. How has the federal government maintained its spending pace without borrowing at a much higher rate?
The US Treasury has been drawing down the balance in its Treasury General Account (TGA) at the Federal Reserve. But that maneuver is about to come to an end, so you can expect Treasury bond sales to spike in the coming months.
Typically, the US government runs a budget surplus in the month that tax returns come due. Not this year. Despite a surge in receipts, the federal government ran a $131.95 billion deficit in May, continuing the trend of overspending and ballooning budget shortfalls.
The federal budget deficit for fiscal 2021 now stands at $2.06 trillion with four months left to go. That compares with a $1.9 trillion deficit through the first seven months of fiscal 2020, which included the first round of stimulus checks in April 2020.
With some positive economic data coming out this week, investors suddenly went bullish on the economy again and decided that the Fed is surely going to deal with inflation now. Will it though? In this Friday Gold Wrap Podcast episode, host Mike Maharrey speculates about the Fed’s next move. He also looks ahead and talks about the long-term future of the dollar. Can we assume it will always be the reserve currency?
President Joe Biden released his 2022 budget this week. The $6 trillion spending plan offers a glimpse into Biden’s long-term fiscal strategy – borrow and spend to infinity and beyond.
The Biden budget would take the US to its highest sustained spending levels since World War II.
And here you thought the pandemic emergency was winding down and spending would go back to normal. Well apparently, this is the new normal.
The US government ran another huge budget deficit in April. The shortfall came in at $225.58 billion, running the total budget deficit through the first seven months of fiscal 2021 to a record $1.9 trillion, according to the Treasury Department’s Monthly Treasury Statement.
That compares with a $1.5 trillion deficit through the first seven months of fiscal 2020, which included the first round of stimulus checks in April 2020.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent markets into a tizzy on Tuesday when she said interest rates may have to rise to keep the economy from overheating with all the government stimulus. But later in the day, she walked those comments back, claiming inflation isn’t going to be a problem and insisting that she wasn’t suggesting or predicting rate hikes.
Yellen’s flipflop is telling. Even if inflation is an issue (and it is), there isn’t a darn thing the Federal Reserve can do about it.
There are a lot of new taxes coming down the pike. This was inevitable with all of the government spending. Big government isn’t free. In order to pay for three rounds of stimulus, infrastructure spending, and now the “American Families Plan,” taxes will have to go up.
But there’s a problem with this tax and spend scheme. Taxes make an economy less competitive — especially when other countries have more favorable tax environments. Janet Yellen and the power brokers in DC have the solution to that problem – a global minimum corporate tax.
As Ron Paul explains, global taxes are a blueprint for global economic stagnation.
Biden and Company have given us stimulus 3.0. They have unveiled an infrastructure spending plan. But that’s not the end of the spending. Next in the lineup comes the “American Families Plan” — another $1.8 trillion or so of government spending. Peter Schiff talked about it in his podcast, calling it a giant new welfare package. He said ultimately, it’s going to be another giant government boondoggle.
Last week, President Biden announced a plan to significantly hike capital gains taxes on the wealthy. Republicans are predictably opposed to the hikes, but in a recent podcast, Peter Schiff said the GOP is mired in hypocrisy.
The Biden plan would raise long-term capital gains taxes to 39.6%. For those earning $1 million or more, the new top rate, coupled with an existing surtax on investment income, would jack up the tax on wealthy investors as high as 43.4%.
The US government ran a record $1.7 trillion deficit through the first half of fiscal 2021. That’s a staggering budget shortfall, but only a symptom of the real problem – excessive government spending. We’re told this will “stimulate” the economy. But in the long run, it does no such thing.
