“Where the hell are we?” – President Joe Biden, February 16, 2021
Highway to Hell
This pressing question from the President deserves an answer.
To put it simply, the United States is careening down a troubling path. The current state of our union reflects a chaotic financial landscape. The nation’s economic situation is spiraling out of control.
Government spending is consistently outstripping revenue. Our debts and deficits are swelling alarmingly, resembling mold growing on damp surfaces. The structural integrity of our financial framework is deteriorating beyond repair.
Need proof?
The recent Budget and Economic Outlook: 2021 to 2031 from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) presents a stark reality; America is financially worse off than ever. It estimates a staggering federal budget deficit of $2.3 trillion for 2021. This deficit represents 10.3 percent of our gross domestic product (GDP), marking it as the second largest since 1945, surpassed only by last year’s 14.9 percent shortfall.
Moreover, the CBO forecasts that public federal debt will surpass 102 percent of GDP by the end of 2021, exceeding 107 percent by 2031. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget elaborates on this dire assessment:
“Four major trust funds are on a trajectory towards insolvency. The CBO predicts that the Highway Trust Fund will be insolvent by FY 2022, while the Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund is likely to become insolvent by FY 2026. Furthermore, the Social Security Old Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund is projected to face insolvency in 2032, with the Social Security Disability Insurance trust fund following suit in the mid-2030s.”
“Debt levels could be even higher than anticipated. Should policymakers introduce an additional $2 trillion in fiscal relief, extend expiring tax provisions, and increase annual appropriations in line with GDP, debt may reach 120 percent of GDP by 2031.”
While we might not have reached rock bottom just yet, we are undeniably on a fast track to economic disaster. And who’s behind the wheel?
Eggheads Delight
The so-called “eggheads” at the helm of our economy delight in concocting elaborate plans, manipulating data, and sketching out futures they deem ideal. They believe they can shape a better world by adjusting various policy levers.
[Editor’s note: To explore the origins and meaning of “egghead,” please refer to The Triumph of the Egghead by Louis Bromfield, from the December 1952 edition of The Freemen.]
For instance, every egghead insists that the minimum wage should be firmly set at $15 per hour. They also equate a fair interest rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage with a specific figure of 3.50 percent. Furthermore, they assert that government-led charitable initiatives are essential to assist the underprivileged.
However, reality often diverges sharply from their idealistic plans. Raising the minimum wage hastens the shift towards automation, pushing more workers to rely on welfare. Similarly, keeping interest rates artificially low inflates housing prices to unsustainable levels, making homeownership unattainable for young families. Even the best-intentioned government aid programs can foster a growing dependency culture.
In most professions, such dismal outcomes would warrant termination. Yet, for these professional eggheads, failures typically result in promotions and salary increases. Take Dr. Fauci, for example: in 2019, he earned a hefty $417,608. Quite impressive for a government official.
Members of this elite cohort—ranging from central bankers to social engineers—tend to hop from one misguided idea to the next, rarely stopping to evaluate the repercussions of their actions. Their distorted perceptions begin in academia, ultimately producing professionals such as social media monitors and diversity officers who shield society from the perceived dangers of free speech.
Now, these most esteemed eggheads are orchestrating what may indeed be their grandest scheme yet.
The Great Egghead Caper
Year after year, the federal government has consistently spent more than its revenue. As a result, the national debt has escalated beyond the point of no return, rendering any quick fix impossible.
But fear not—the eggheads have devised a strategy.
Under their guidance, the U.S. government, and by extension its citizens, are committed to a policy of currency debasement as a means to alleviate the debt crisis. The eggheads believe that achieving an implicit default through inflation is a gentler solution.
For the past 90 years, politicians have been offering citizens the illusion of receiving something for nothing, while voters have willingly accepted these promises. This cycle has enabled numerous eggheads—from Benjamin Strong to Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin to Ben Bernanke, Janet Yellen to Jerome Powell, and countless others—to devise ways to deliver these empty promises.
Their approaches include countercyclical stimulus spending, interest rate suppression, quantitative easing, Operation Twist, yield curve control, elastic currencies, money shuffling, inflation targeting, and even Modern Monetary Theory—all rooted in deception.
All these policies originate from a single source: the inflation of the money supply. This practice—commonly referred to as stimulus—is essentially dollar debasement, which constitutes theft.
Through these misguided policies, the eggheads are effectively stripping away the remaining assets of individual citizens. This represents the true essence of the great egghead caper.
Are you ready for the possibility of seeing your life savings cut in half within the next five years?
Sincerely,
MN Gordon
for Economic Prism
