Everyone outside the White House is worried about the national debt, which is expected to accelerate from 100% of GDP today to nearly 200% over the next 30 years. But the standard forecast from the Congressional Budget Office is predicated on the assumption of 1.7% annual economic growth. But that’s way below the 3.2% average real growth rate of the U.S. economy from 1950-2005.
To borrow a phrase from JFK, when he was running for president in 1960: “We can do bettah.”
So what if we set a national priority to do everything humanly possible to make the economy grow at between 3 and 3.5%, not the anemic rate of growth CBO predicts? Many people think that’s impossible because of low birth rates and low labor force growth, but we can and should import the workers we need – especially the brainiacs – from the rest of the world to keep labor force growth from shrinking.
We can achieve bursts of growth from the next age of hyper-technological advances in areas like energy production, robotics, artificial intelligence, and gene therapy that could make the internet revolution look like a blip. New billion-dollar factories will be filled with very fewer workers and a lot of robots – which translates into gigantic leaps forward in productivity that could make 3% growth a layup.
Republicans are obsessed with plans to cut wasteful government spending and we are all for that. Most government subsidy programs are simply trillions of dollars of misallocated resources – i.e., the green energy debacle.
But we want PROSPERITY. This will make future generations of Americans much richer AND will erase deficits and eventually the debt as shown in the chart below from our economic advisory board member Louis Woodhill.
We’ve noted many times on these pages that credit rating agencies are corrupt and incompetent, and it’s one of life’s great mysteries why any investor would listen to their analysis.
It was absurd that credit ratings would ever include compliance with a political agenda. S&P will still include all the usual politically-correct nonsense in the narrative sections. But eliminating the numeric ESG rating is a major retreat from climate craziness. We're winning.
3) “Net Zero” Climate Radicalism Is Dying Everywhere – Except In America?
All over the world, there are resets and rethinks about Net Zero, the quixotic goal of lowering net emissions of carbon dioxide to net zero by 2050. “A backlash is simmering against some of the world’s most ambitious green targets,” the Washington Post concludes.
Consider:
Wind and solar projects are finally getting more scrutiny. A new offshore wind project in the North Sea has been canceled due to high costs. Another in Sweden is being rejected due to the “negative effects on the environment” it would create.
Then there is this bombshell revelation from the Daily Mail in the U.K.:
On electric vehicles, two huge automakers just announced their EV divisions are in trouble. Ford Motor posted a $4.5 billion loss on theirs this year, while Volkswagen is cutting EV production due to slumping demand.
French President Emmanuel Macron recently called for “a European regulatory break.” If that doesn’t happen he warned “we are going to lose all our industrial players.” Germany is already abandoning green energy.
Britain’s Unherd magazine has nailed the problem for the radical green agenda: “Public support for goals like Net Zero are a bit like world peace or ending poverty: almost everyone likes the idea, but no one wants to pay for it.”
4) We Told You So: Credit Card Debt Hits $1 Trillion
Here's a dubious milestone from the latest New York Fed report:
Total household debt increased to $17.06 trillion, the latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit shows. Credit card balances saw brisk growth, rising to a series high of $1.03 trillion. Other balances, which include retail credit cards and other consumer loans, and auto loans increased to $0.53 trillion and $1.58 trillion, respectively. Student loan balances fell to $1.57 trillion, while mortgage balances were largely unchanged at $12.01 trillion.
Americans’ credit card debt is up roughly 30% in 30 months. That’s twice the inflation rate – which is what drove up this borrowing in the first place. When prices rise by 15% and incomes grow by 12%, then consumers can only pay bills by going further into debt. Gee, Bidenomics really is a success story, Joe.
The more we learn about the Cuomo family, the more sleazy they appear.
Monday’s New York Times reports that Madeline Cuomo — younger sister of Andrew, the disgraced former New York governor — directed a relentless social media smear campaign against women who dared point the finger at Andrew after he resigned in August 2021, following multiple allegations of sexual harassment.
We have no idea of the veracity of all these claims against the former governor.
But wait a minute? Did she attack the accusers? That’s verboten. Whatever happened to the “Me Too” movement and the “believe all women” narrative?
Who does Madeline think she is? Hillary Clinton?
The episode is also the latest reminder that the Cuomo family needs to permanently exit stage left from the political arena. Remember that in the early days of the Covid pandemic, it was Gov. Cuomo who pushed senior citizens to leave hospitals and return to nursing homes – a disastrous decision that led to more than 13,000 deaths by February 2021. Oh, and the Cuomo administration intentionally under-reported the death total, according to an audit by New York’s state comptroller.
It’s hard to believe that this time three years ago the Democrats were pleading with the great statesman Andrew Cuomo to run for president.
