movielover said:

---

Cal88 said:

---

National debt is barreling towards $40 trillion.

27% of this debt occurred under Donald Trump, despite him only being President for 2% of American history.

Republicans are terrible for the economy. pic.twitter.com/OlxgHu7CeD

— The Green Dragon Tavern (@greendragonhq) May 21, 2026

---

"During the Biden administration (January 20, 2021, to January 20, 2025), the gross national debt increased by $8.4 trillion. The total gross national debt grew from roughly $27.8 trillion at the start of his term to about $36.2 trillion when he left office."

More recent Presidents will naturally eclipse prior until something massive changes, spending, interest rates, tariffs (revenue). Ross Perot and Newt Gingrich forced Bill Clinton to cut spending, and the Internet boom helped.

---

The peace dividend was the main reason the Clinton budget deficits came under control. The defense budget tripled under Dubya.

Quote:

---

AI Overview
President Clinton's annual defense budgets ranged between \(\$266 \text{ billion}\) and \(\$295 \text{ billion}\) during his time in office, steadily declining as a share of the economy due to the post-Cold War "peace dividend". [1]
By the end of his administration, defense outlays represented roughly \(2.9\%\) of the national GDP.

---

Trump is doing this again, he wants to jack the defense budget all the way up to $2.2 trillion.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-03/trump-budget-pits-spending-cuts-against-massive-defense-push

What's interesting is that the Fed has cut the benchmark rate by 175 basis points since mid-2024, but the 10-year Treasury yield has only dipped by about 35 basis points while the 30-year yield touched 5%.

This kind of DISCONNECT is not normal.

In fact, if you track Fed policy and yields going back to 1990, this disconnect is UNPRECEDENTED.

Things that don't help:

1.) Foreigners like Japan backing off from buying our Treasury's in lieu of their own bonds.
2.) Massive supply out of our Treasury of bonds for as far as the eye can see.
3.) Interest costs of $1 Trillion a year now.
4.) Flood of corporate bonds.

Japan has to shore up the Yen.

⚠️Japan is dumping US bonds at an alarming pace:

Japanese investors posted net sales of $29.6 billion in US Treasuries, agency, and local authority bonds in Q1 2026, the largest quarterly outflow since Q2 2022.

TAP IMAGE TO SEE FULL INSIGHT👇https://t.co/FRk8YmkfnJ

— Global Markets Investor (@GlobalMktObserv) May 20, 2026

Foreign holdings of US government debt fell sharply in March (latest data) as central banks sold Treasuries to defend weakening currencies during the Middle East oil crisis. China, Japan and Turkiye were the big sellers as China reduced its Treasury holdings to roughly $652B, the… pic.twitter.com/vl5tORuqpQ

— Seabridge Gold Investor (NYSE:SA | TSX:SEA.TO) (@GoldSeabridge) May 21, 2026

The Bond Market Vigilantes are forcing the Fed to tighten.
They're already doing it themselves.

Setting aside Wags' boring as hell dual obsession with Trump and the markets, here's an interesting article about why the government intentionally makes sure the country never reaches anything near full employment.

Why the Job Guarantee is a Class Question, Not a Technical One

The mechanics of production have changed, but the mechanics of class discipline have not. The threat of unemployment remains capital's ultimate weapon.https://t.co/Hd2NPjBLsh

— Darren Quinn | Modern Money Economist/Educator (@AusMMT) May 21, 2026

Aunburdened said:

---

SBGold said:

---

This

---

As I said before, Boomers are the most selfish and stupidest generation of all time.

---

On this we agree!

SBGold said:

---

Aunburdened said:

---

SBGold said:

---

This

---

As I said before, Boomers are the most selfish and stupidest generation of all time.

---

On this we agree!

---

On this we disagree!

Selfish? People tend to act in their own self-interest. How is what Boomers are doing all that different than what anyone would, if they had the chance? And remember all the selfless reforms that Boomers tried to enact: we are still for them, which accounts for a lot of our unpopularity.

Stupid?!? I resemble that remark. Wait, no I don't; I can name all the state capitals! Boomers are smart! Especially, the amazing sub-generation, "Late Boomers"!

Regarding our soaring national debt... it's a political problem. One politician runs on austerity and fiscal responsibility and the other runs on universal tax cuts and free Wi-Fi. Everything else equal, who's gonna win that one?

Reminds me of the paraphrazation of that quote from George Carlin :

"You know how stupid the average person is? Well, half the entire population is even dumber than that!"

SBGold said:

---

Yeah that's a personal attack troll post that is not needed

---

DiabloWags said:

---

SBGold said:

---

Yeah that's a personal attack troll post that is not needed

---

Yes, I simply posted an economic report in the ECONOMY thread and was personally attacked.
Thankfully, the mods saw it the same way and deleted the attack.

---

I'd head over to the Berkeley Optometry building and get your vision checked if I were you.
https://bearinsider.com/forums/6/topics/134581/replies/2696557

I paid $6.99 for Organic Ketchup last week at my local Safeway.

I also paid $6.99 at Whole Foods for the best DIPA in the world.
It used to be $5.99 before the War.