A Major Trend Change
In 2023, the Treasury added $2.6T to the national debt. While that number alone should be enough to scare anyone, the details reveal something even more concerning. $2T of it, or 77%, was financed entirely with short-term Treasury Bills maturing in less than a year. The chart below shows the debt issuance trend over the last 20 years. As shown, the Treasury typically relies on medium-term debt (2-10 Year Notes) to fund the budget deficit. 2023 was a massive change in standard procedure as shown by the giant light blue bar on the right of the chart.
Federal regulators are plotting a course that could see America’s sturdiest banks tied to a sinking lifeboat. This plan, designed to compel banks to use the Federal Reserve’s discount window, aims to normalize the act of reaching for this financial lifeline amidst turbulent seas.
It’s as if the Fed is asking the healthiest swimmers to don faulty life jackets first, in a bid to make them seem less alarming to those already struggling to stay afloat. Our guest commentator explains why this strategy, while intended to fortify the banking sector against future storms, would endanger all US banks.
After a delicate dance of interest rate increases, Jerome Powell has declared victory on inflation and says to expect looser monetary policy this year. But with junk bond spreads not widening nearly as much as one would expect during an era of economic tightening, you’ve got to wonder if money is still actually looser than the Fed’s last round of hikes would lead you to believe.
As the conflict continues to accelerate in Gaza and beyond, 2024 is set for a somewhat terrifying boom in global uncertainty — and will take gold prices with it.
Anyone who has been to a restaurant, a grocery store, or the car lot during the Biden administration can’t deny the reality of inflation. But despite what the federal government is saying about the success of its anti-inflation efforts red flags for inflation keep popping up in the strangest places.
Peter was recently featured on Real America hosted by Dan Ball.
It’s no secret that the government has been spending more than it collects, and there are indications that the Biden administration is addressing this issue.
The president touted a manufacturing renaissance. However, economic indices show US manufacturing entering a Dark Age. Home sales are not looking bright, either.
There’s been lots of talk within the Biden Administration about forgiving student loan debt. But with chaos widely reported at companies that service student loans, some debtors can’t even figure out how much they owe — much less actually pay down their balances.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released two inflation reports highlighting inflation figures for December 2023. Here’s what they showed:
In a disturbing (but unsurprising) trend, more than 1 out of 4 US consumers are throwing in the towel with defeatist “Doom Spending” sprees — despite already being saddled with crippling levels of debt. This behavior is akin to someone who, feeling overwhelmed, indulges excessively in a habit they know isn’t beneficial. In a similar vein, these Americans, perhaps feeling a sense of despair, are accumulating unprecedented levels of new debt through spending sprees that are beyond their financial means.
