Our National Debt

The National Debt has just past $40 Trillion.  Before we get into the meat of this factoid, who are the Debt’s creditors?  Japan, Germany, the UK, France, owners of Treasury notes, owners of securities that own Treasuries, very likely YOU are one of the Debt’s creditors.   But even so, the argument that I am about to set forth doesn’t care about who are its creditors because your piece of the credit pie is vanishingly small.  The plain fact is that America – and that includes you – oweS $40 Trillion to others.

The population of the United States of America is, at this moment – Augst 21, 2026 at 3:30pm ET – 342,787,505.  If we spread the Debt equally onto every American, each of us would owe $116,690.37.  For a family of four, $466,761.47, more than the value of a typical house in the USA, $403,200.

“But, what effect does the size of the National Debt have on me?”

The interest (!) on the Debt (at 3% interest, we’re adding $1.2 Trillion annually to the Debt, or $3500/$14,000 for each of us/our household.  And we get nothing in return for this increase in taxes) adds to the size of the Debt, which increases how much the IRS would like you to contribute to them in the future in the form of taxes.  The size of the Debt undermines the international value of the US Dollar, so the price of foreign goods.  The Debt is a significant driver of inflation, sometimes invisible inflation.

Let’s pretend that we, or our federal government, came to our senses and decided to pay down the Debt.  Not in one fell swoop, but across the next 50 (not a totally random number, as President Reagan was the first to advocate unnecessarily large deficits, aka unnecessary tax cuts) years.  The annual (mortgage calculation) payment would be $1,545,492,000,000, one and a half trillion bucks plus.

if we raised the top marginal federal income tax rate to 70% (this was the top marginal federal income tax rate from JFK to Ronald Reagan, who then began dropping this tax rate to 50% then 35% then 28%.  And this top tax only affected the top 1% of us), the IRS would collect an extra $200 to $700 billion, over ten years’ time.  In other words, this legislative action would fail dramatically to address our issue, how to pay off the Debt in 50 years.

So, what do we have left, besides closing our eyes to a problem we don’t really want to deal with?  A wealth tax on the uber wealthy, of course!  How about a 5% surtax on wealth in excess of $10 million?  That would do it!  (Google: if we assessed a wealth tax of 9% on wealth above 10 million, how much extra tax would be collected?) (I am NOT set on a 5% surtax on wealth above $10 million.  We could graduate the tax, and we could up the bottom threshold of $10 million.  Whatever ways upset the poorest millionaires (!) the least and still collect additional annual tax revenues of $1,545,492,000,000 is fine with me.)

Being Elon Musk

This post is an update on Being Jeff Bezos, which I posted on February 19th, 2020, some six plus years ago.  I have changed the name and updated the numbers.  The logic remains 100% the same.

Let’s pretend.

Why Musk?  Because he is the wealthiest man in the world.  Let’s assume his net worth to be $750 billion (an average of publicly available estimates), which is more or less accurate as of today (Musk's wealth is highly variable as it is based on the value of Tesla and SpaceX stocks which – like the rest of the stock market lately – has been highly volatile.  The exact value of Musk's wealth does not affect my argument in the slightest).

Let’s pretend his fortune is yours!

An Open letter to Bill Maher

Bill, with fondness and respect, sometimes you don't know what you're talking about!

Vermont is not a socialist’s paradise, or a liberal stronghold.  Vermonters chose Bernie Sanders for their senator by 65.41% in 2006, by 71% in 2012, by 67% in 2018 and 63.16% in 2024, quite a record!  But Phil Scott, a moderate Republican, won the governorship by 60.50% in 2016, 55.19% in 2018, 68.49% in 2020, 71.29% in 2022, and 73.60% in 2024.  In the most recent election where Sanders and Scott were on the ballot at the same time – 2024 – the Republican Phil Scott outperformed progressive Bernie by more than 10 percentage points.  Maybe Vermont is not such a liberal hotspot.

Mamdani’s Co-ops

The planned first store in the Bronx

On May 19th, New York City’s Democratic Socialist Mayor, Zohran Mamdani, announced that “the first city-run grocery store is coming to the Bronx”.

In the interest of full disclosure, I had (mis-)remembered that the first store was soon to open when I heard the mayor’s announcement on C-Span, rather than the first store will open in the Bronx in late 2027.  This error will not undermine my argument, but it will move back the test of its predictions by more than a year.

Our Gangbusters’ Economy

Our GDP (Q3, 2025) stands at $31,095 billion, up from $19,958 billion (Q2, 2020), a total increase of 55.8%, for an annual increase of 8.8%; up from $1,089 billion (1970), for an annual increase of 6.4%.

The Dow Jones Industrials stands today (12/26/2025) at $48,176, up from $21,917 at 03/2020, a total increase of 120%, for an annual increase of 14.7%; up from $839 (1970), for an annual increase of 7.8%.

Low-Income Housing

A hypothetical.  Imagine, ...

I am a retired senior, and my sole source of income is my monthly Social Security check.  I rent an apartment on the South side of town, and I pay probably less than most of you because I cannot afford to pay much more.  But I do not live in low-income housing, and this is NOT a quibble.  Low-income housing is government subsidized housing.  The reason that I can pay so little to rent my apartment is manifold: I live far from the cultural center of town, I do not live very close to any big box stores (where I typically shop due to their low prices), I am not close to any hospital, and I have no luxuries.  If some low-income housing was less desirable than my apartment, it would cost less to rent than my apartment without a government subsidy.  So, by definition, low-income housing – housing that is partly paid for by the government – is more desirable than my place but costs its tenants less than what I pay for my place.  Which means, partly, that someone who could afford the rent of a place more desirable than mine is losing out to someone who cannot afford the rent.  And that is a solution that no classical economist would favor.

On Cancelling Student Debt

In my email Inbox, "Can Bernie send you a "'Cancel ALL student debt' sticker?"

Hell, NO!

Bernie Talks ...

Bernie Sanders wants us to cancel all student debt.  I agree with several of Sanders’ progressive ideas, but this idea is an AWFUL idea!

The Fight Against Inequality

Republicans talk about “inequality” more often than Democrats. Republicans’ talking point is that Democrats favor Equality of Outcomes while Republicans favor Equality of Opportunity and consequential Inequality of Outcomes. This is, of course, political posturing, as NO Democrat (not Robert Reich, not Bernie Sanders, not Elizabeth Warren, not even AOC) has ever suggested that he wishes for Equality of Outcomes; and when they have had the power, Republicans have never advanced any legislation to address Equality of Opportunity for disadvantaged persons.

Dems ... Losing ... Messaging ... Socialism

I spoke this unforgettable quip years ago, maybe more than ten years.  “What do Democrats do best?  They lose elections.”

"But they own the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives.  So how can you say that?”

Indeed, they “stole” the White House from the most reviled presidential candidate in U.S. history, they took the Senate by a few Georgian hairs' breadth, and they lost thirteen seats in the House while maintaining a slim majority of seats.

Our Plague

Once again, unchecked human population growth is at war with Nature – and Nature is fighting back!

Today – late-May of 2020 – our nation and the rest of the world is in lockdown.  Because of a virus, an invisible enemy.  We stay at home (involuntarily), we keep “social distance,” we wear masks, we avoid crowds (no theatre, no concerts, no restaurants, no church worship, no ball games), tens of millions have lost their jobs and their income, many get sick, many die, and we wonder when it will end, when will things return to normal?

Being Jeff Bezos

Let’s pretend.

Why Bezos?  Because he is the wealthiest man in the world.  Let’s assume his net worth to be $130 billion, which is more or less accurate as of today (Bezos' wealth is highly variable as it is based on the value of Amazon stock which – like the rest of the stock market lately – has been highly volatile.  The exact value of Bezos' wealth does not affect my argument in the slightest).

Let’s pretend his fortune is yours!

A Wealth Tax

I have been thinking about a Wealth Tax for a few years now.  Indeed, I think about it so often that I imagined that I had already written a blog post about it.  I checked and I had not!  So, here it is. 

I got kicked in the head when I learned, just a few months ago, that Senator (and recently declared candidate for President from the Democratic Party) Elizabeth Warren was proposing a wealth tax.  All of a sudden, my idea was not original, Warren had beat me to the punch.  Not so!  Her idea was a surcharge on the wealthiest men in the land, while my Wealth Tax replaces the federal Income Tax and the federal Capital Gains Tax altogether.  No more taxation of incomes and no more tax on capital gains!  Got that?

The Tail that Wags the Tail …

Not ready for prime time, come back later!

When the tail wags the dog, the dog is in ... trouble. When a small and relatively insignificant part (the tail) of the whole (the dog) is so powerful that the whole does what the part dictates, something is wrong. Cancer works this way; a few cells begin to multiply out of control and the body begins its march toward inevitable death. But when the tail wags the tail that wags the dog, it is as though a flea in the tail is wagging the tail that wags the dog; here, things are really not the way they should be. The Dog in our parable is the Economy, the national economy or the world economy. The Tail is Finance, or the Financial System. The financial system is those “industries” whose sole “product” is money. Banking, insurance, brokerage and – lest we forget – gambling. All other industries deal in real products and services, things we can actually touch and see and feel; only Finance has no real product and no service that is not an instance of Paul trading money with Peter. Banking pays you interest for your deposits, and gives you loans and mortgages for your promise of future payments of returned principal and the interest thereon. Insurance isolates you from low-risk but high cost phenomena in your lives, like your home burning down or your needing major heart surgery. Brokerage lets you invest in some piece of the overall economy, taking a small risk to get better returns on your capital than would otherwise be available with a savings account from your local "commercial" bank. And gambling, an industry of negative social utility that seduces you into the belief that you can get rich with no real effort and then swallows all your money, but not before assuring you that you will do better next time, guaranteed! This is Finance.

Social Security: A Reality Check

You ask a Millennial about Social Security and he’ll tell you, with the utter certainty that Millennials everywhere can’t help but feel, “it won’t be there when I retire, so what is the point; and why should I pay into it when I won’t get anything back?”

And, of course, he is right.  If nothing is done to change how Social Security is collected and disbursed, it surely will go bankrupt well before our Millennial retires.  It is an excellent example, too, of a self-fulfilling prophecy, as Social Security will die for sure if enough Americans believe it is doomed, beyond rescue.  Because if you are sure it will die, why would you waste time and energy trying to save it?

White Collar Crime

Think Equifax and Wells Fargo.

Millions of American people were compromised, tens or hundreds of thousands were inconvenienced, and thousands were damaged beyond repair.

When a poor man steals an apple from a grocery stand, he earns himself a month in prison.  When an addict gets caught with the goods (cocaine, marijuana), in some states he is locked up and they throw away the key.  When a corporate big shot gets caught in a national scandal affecting millions of people, he may resign, but he still receives his golden parachute and he doesn’t forfeit any of his ill-gotten wealth.  And he never goes to prison (two Enron officials excepted).

At a Loss

I just bought a box of 100 “caplets” of OTC drug xxx (none of your business!) from Target, their generic store brand Up&Up, for $5.99.  Right next to it was the same exact drug, same store brand, in “softgel” form, with a count of 24, for $7.39!  The shelf labels accurately displayed the “unit cost” (per 100), $5.99 for caplets and $30.76 for softgels!  Softgels were more than five times more expensive than caplets, the same damn thing, 5x as expensive.  The cost for a year: $21.86 for caplets and $112.27 for softgels.  $90 / year difference, for an inconsequential item!

Taxes, Again

When will I stop writing the same damn thing about taxes?  When enough Americans really GET what I am trying to say.  Voting for the guy who promises to cut your taxes is the same thing as voting to have a (bigger) Budget Deficit, which is the same thing as voting to explode the National Debt.  There is a reason that we have a nearly unimaginable $20 trillion National Debt: for 35 years we have not raised enough taxes to cover what we as a nation have bought.  Voting for a tax cut is the same thing as choosing not to pay down your unpaid credit card balance, the same thing as choosing not to pay for what you bought last month.  This essay will examine the sometimes surprising consequences of low tax rates, which include that they don’t make us happier and they don’t make us more free either.

A Strong Dollar -- A Socratic Dialogue

“A strong dollar is a good thing, right?”

“Yes, sure.”

“Wrong.  But I think that you meant to agree with the statement, ‘a strong dollar is good for America, good for Americans,’ right?”

“Yes, exactly, that is what I meant to agree with.”

“Well, wrong there too.”

“A strong dollar is not good for us?  It is only common sense that a strong dollar will benefit Americans, so why not?”

“Well, a strong dollar benefits some Americans and it burdens other Americans.  For example, a strong dollar encourages American travel overseas, as our dollar will go farther than normal.  So, it also benefits the travel industry that specializes in foreign travel.  But it hurts American tourism as now our tourism is more expensive for foreigners.  In addition, a strong dollar benefits firms that import foreign merchandise as these items are now less expensive.  But it hurts exporting companies who sell American products that are now more expensive overseas than normal.  A strong dollar benefits retailers like Walmart that sell cheap foreign-made products, now even cheaper, and if those cost benefits are passed onto consumers it benefits them, too.  On the other hand, it hurts companies that manufacture goods for a foreign market and it also hurts workers that are employed by these companies.  In short, a strong dollar benefits foreign tourism, exporting companies, and consumers, while it hurts American tourism, importing companies, and workers.  And it hurts individual workers more than it benefits individual consumers, because there are fewer workers to absorb the loss.  One last thing: as a strong dollar sends dollars overseas, a strong dollar is more likely to induce a recession than a weak dollar.  OK, get it?”

“Ouch, that is complicated.”

“Yeah, but it is common sense, once you really think about it.”

“I guess so.”

Stop the TPP

Initially, as a loyal member of President Obama’s administration, Hillary Clinton was for the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership).  She changed her tune as a result of primary battles with Bernie Sanders, who strongly opposed it.  What will she do should she become President?  Who knows?  But here is one man’s views on this controversial treaty.

The issue is not trade.  Trade goes on, willy-nilly.  It is the lifeblood of the world’s economy.  Without trade, you will only have what you can produce yourself.  Trade is not the issue.

Income Inequality

All four (yes, four) Presidential candidates have mentioned “Income Inequality” as an important campaign issue.  Some seem to grasp what it means, but few have discussed its causes and none has proposed specific ways to address it.  Here is what Hillary Clinton has to say, here is what Donald Trump has to say, here is what Gary Johnson (Libertarian candidate) has to say and here is what Jill Stein (Green candidate) has to say.  If you read what they wrote on their campaign’s web sites, you will notice that none of them really addresses the issue head-on.  On the other hand, one-time Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders did address the issue head-on.