In the beginning of each year the US federal government always release their annual financial report to the public. This report is now available on fiscal.treasury.gov.
You probably haven't heard anything about this report on the mainstream media (MSM) so I don't blame you if you don't believe me when I tell you the US government’s net loss more than doubled in 2016 to over $1.0 trillion. "But believe me, it's true. So true", as Donald Trump would say.
According to the report (page 10):
Net operating cost more than doubled by $533.2 billion or 103.7 percent to $1.0 trillion, due largely to a $551.1 billion increase in net cost, offset by a slight $11.3 billion increase in tax and other revenues.
Source: Financial Report US Government
2015 may seem a relative good year, but even $514 billion is an extreme net loss if you ask me. In 2016 the government even managed to double it. This is extraordinary! Bear in mind, there was no major war to fight last year. The US was not in a crises or a recession. Last year was a fairly good year economically. What will happen in the next recession?
This isn't fake news or some wild conspiracy theory. The US government published the publicly available facts itself, but mainstream media keep silent about the subject.
It's concerning that the US federal government is insolvent or actually bankrupt, but it’s even more concerning that most people aren’t concerned at all. I don't think we should just hope for the best or expect the central banks to intervene in the markets for our sake when necessary.
I know the US has their own currency so they can always turn on their money printing machine, but they can't do this endlessly. No government anywhere can have an indefinitely annual $1.0 trillion deficit without any consequences. Each debt has to be repaid, in the end. When a company goes broke, there are consequences. It's that simple. Will it be different for a nation?
U.S. Dollar purchasing power since 1913
Image source: libertyclick.org
The main point in my humble opinion is that our debt based monetary system is running to an end. The pieces of paper we call money are actually federal reserve notes. Our money is a note and a note is a liability and not an asset. Until 1971, when president Nixon closed the gold window, we were able to redeem these paper notes to a bank and get gold (the real money) in return. Since then the world's reserve currency is no longer backed by anything. As the French historian Voltaire once said: "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value: zero".
TL;DR: Seriously guys, we're doomed. Especially when interest rates are going up the debt will be unsustainable. There's no way to grow our way out of this. Be prepared!
Source: Financial Report US Government
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