I can still remember when there were serious debates in Washington over balancing the federal budget.  Indeed, just 20 years ago in 2000 and 2001, the federal government ran budget surpluses of $236 billion and $127 billion, respectively.

Those days are way behind us.  Since 2008, politicians in conjunction with the Federal Reserve System have been printing money like there's no tomorrow.  With the fiscal crisis of 2008 and now the pandemic for cover, Washington is throwing fiat money at anything that moves.  Some of that spending may be needed.  But for a lot of it, the Chinese virus and the subsequent shutdowns are a cover to recklessly spend.  Many of those who study the situation note that the bulk of the bailout money always seems to go the top one or ten percent (banks, Wall Street, and the like) while the middle class get crumbs. 

Regarding government spending, the universities don't teach this in political science courses, but those who study the humanities know that the more the politicians spend, the more of it that sticks to them.  It's an iron law just as is the Law Number One of real political science, which states that politicians take care of themselves and their families first and foremost.

As of November 2020, the current deficit of the U.S. government is a whopping $27 trillion.  That is due to be jacked up by more trillions under the Harris/Biden administration.  Furthermore, that $27 trillion does not account for the unfunded liabilities of Washington for promises like Social Security and Medicare and government pensions.  Truthfully, there's no end in sight to massive deficit spending.  Congressional Democrats are even toying with adding fuel to the fire by adopting the cockamamie idea of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT).  

Many of our citizens are blasé about the multi-trillion-dollar debt.  One reason for this is that for generations, Americans have been dumbed down in math and critical thinking skills by the public schools.  A surprisingly large number of people have no idea what a trillion dollars is, let alone what it means to the country.  This animation will help.  And remember, the graphics are based on $100 bills, a denomination I myself seldom come across, let alone use.

Budget hawks in Congress and the media are as extinct as the dodo bird.  Senator Rand Paul may be the exception.  And as politicians spend, spend, spend, not one of them addresses the question of how this debt will ever be discharged.  There's a good reason for that.  It's because the debt can never be paid back, not by taxes or productivity increases. 

There is no consensus on what is coming.  If one listens to independent analysts who are not hacks for the big banks, government, or Wall Street, a conflicting picture emerges.  People like Jim Rickards, Doug Casey, and Richard Prechter of the Elliot Wave fame see a major depression coming, while Peter Schiff and others see runaway inflation in America's future. 

Both camps make a persuasive case for their position, and I'm not wise enough to say which it will be.  What I do believe, however, is that the Establishment's objective in all this may be the literal destruction of the dollar and the creation of a new currency from its ashes.  If that comes to pass, there's little question who will come out on top.  It will the top one percent and those in the Establishment, not the average Jane and John Doe, the people who actually keep America running.

Image: PublicDomainPictures via Pixabay, Pixabay License.