The national debt continues to spiral upward. It increased by another $1.2 trillion in fiscal year 2019. But Paul Krugman says it’s not that big of a deal. He downplayed the national debt in a tweet, claiming emphatically that “DEBT IS MONEY WE OWE TO OURSELVES.”
This encapsulates a common Keynesian argument. Debt can’t really burden future generations. In the aggregate, Americans won’t be any worse off. Paying the national debt merely shifts dollars from one American to another. While future taxpayers will be out some money, the American bondholders who receive the interest payments will end up with more money. When all is said and done, it’s a wash.
The budget deficit for fiscal year 2019 came in just a hair under $1 trillion according to the Congressional Budget Office estimate.
Even if it does come in under the trillion-dollar mark, it would still rank as biggest deficit since 2012. The budget shortfall has only eclipsed $1 trillion four times, all during the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
It was a bumpy ride in the markets this week. Right now, volatility is the name of the game – in both stocks and precious metals. People are getting nervous out there with some pretty grim economic data this week stirring up recession fears. Meanwhile, the US government just keeps spending money it doesn’t have. Host Mike Maharrey talks about all of this and more in this week’s episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast.
The US national debt increased by $1.2 trillion in fiscal 2019, which ended Sept. 30. This follows on the heels of a $1.27 trillion increase in the national debt in fiscal 2018.
The fiscal year budget deficit surged passed $1 trillion last month. Spending deficits necessarily mean more government borrowing and we’re seeing that in the numbers as well. Uncle Sam’s outstanding public debt grew by $450 billion in August alone.
The national debt stood at $22.02 trillion on Aug. 1 and surged to $22.47 trillion as of Aug. 27.
The federal government continues to spend money at an insane rate and is running up budget deficits reminiscent of the Great Recession era.
With one month left to go, the federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2019 eclipsed $1 trillion in August, according to Treasury Department data released last Thursday.
Donald Trump has been badgering Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell for months, begging for lower interest rates. Yesterday, he took things to another level, saying that the “boneheads” at the Fed need to push rates into negative territory.
In his podcast, Peter Schiff said negative interest rates are boneheaded.
The federal government continues to spend America into a black hole and has already topped last year’s budget deficit with two months left in the fiscal year.
The US budget deficit in July came in at $120 billion thanks to a surge in spending, according to data released by the Treasury Department.
Uncle Sam spent $371 billion in July. That was 23% more than the government spent in July 2018. The Treasury brought in $251 billion. That number was up 12% compared to July 2018.
Month after month, the Trump administration runs multi-billion dollar deficits. The national debt has ballooned to over $22 trillion. According to the most recent Treasury Report, the US has a net worth of negative $21.5 trillion. And this understates the problem.
As Wolf Richter of WolfStreet puts it, the US government has “debt out the wazoo.”
Is this sustainable?
Gold has been rangebound for months, gyrating up and down around the $1,300 mark. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey talks about this “wash, rinse, repeat” cycle we’re seeing in the precious metals markets and then pivots into a discussion of some more fundamental dynamics. Mike touches on the financial condition of the US federal government, surging central bank demand for gold and the positive dynamics he’s seeing in the silver market.
