Another debt ceiling fight is looming on the horizon and it appears the US Treasury Department is preparing for the drama. Meanwhile, rising interest rates are rapidly increasing the cost of the massive national debt.
The world loves dollars. Whenever there is a problem, people flock to the dollar as a safe haven. But the US has problems of its own. In a podcast, Peter Schiff said America’s problems will eventually catch up to the dollar and at that point, the greenback will crash.
The US government ran a $1.38 trillion budget deficit in fiscal 2022 despite government receipts at near-record levels. This further highlights the federal government’s out-of-control spending problem. It’s also a big problem for the Fed as it tries to fight inflation.
The US government is rolling in dough!
US tax receipts have surged this year. Through August, the US Treasury had collected over $4.4 trillion in revenue for fiscal 2022 with one month left to go. That was already 10% higher than receipts in 2021. The US government took in $303.73 billion in August alone. That was up 23% from August 2021.
Some people in the mainstream have been talking about gold’s demise as an important financial asset. Meanwhile, central banks continue to buy gold. What are the gold naysayers missing? Peter Schiff appeared on Fox Business with Charles Payne to talk about the price of gold and why some investors are starting to realize they’ll need gold as the Fed loses its inflation fight.
Last week, the Bank of England threw in the towel on its inflation fight and launched a quantitative easing program. Why? Because something broke in the UK financial system. That led to a rally in stocks and precious metals this week as many in the US realized the Fed might be closer to a pivot than previously thought. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey talks about why he thinks something is going to eventually break in the US economy.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell knew fighting inflation would cause big problems in a bubble economy loaded up with debt. He put it off as long as he could, calling inflation “transitory.” But once inflation became a huge problem, the central bank had no choice but to get into the fight and start tightening monetary policy. The problem is, the Fed’s plan won’t work. And one reason it won’t work is the massive national debt.
“I can scarcely contemplate a greater calamity that could befall this country than to be loaded with a debt exceeding their ability to ever discharge.” – Brutus
Well, here we are.
On Monday, the US national debt eclipsed $31 trillion for the first time in history.
Federal Reserve rate hikes will add trillions to the national debt, according to an analysis by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Some things never change — such as the federal government spending more money than it has month after month after month.
August was no different. The US government ran a massive $219.6 billion budget deficit last month, according to the latest Monthly Treasury Statement. That nudged out July as the second-largest monthly deficit in fiscal 2022.