Double Nickels on the Dime

Posted on June 21, 2024 by MN Gordon

Lost in the election year noise and the zealous pursuit of World War III is one overarching fact.  The USA is rapidly going broke.  And no one can stop it.

We know digging into the particulars of Washington’s fiscal condition is a dreary and tedious undertaking.  There are certainly more exciting and fruitful ways you can spend your time.  But if you want to better understand why everything is broken, please indulge with us here.

So far in fiscal year 2024, from October 2023 through May 2024, the federal government has spent $4.49 trillion.  According to propaganda on the Treasury Department’s fiscal data website, this money was spent “to ensure the well-being of the people of the United States.”

How exactly all this spending ensures well-being is unclear.  Does it make your morning cup of joe taste better?  Does it enhance your health and ease your aches and pains?  Does it deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to your grocery store? Continue reading →

Posted in Government Debt, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Fulfill the Dream

Posted on June 14, 2024 by MN Gordon

“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”

– Henry Ford

“Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers.”

– Lynyrd Skynyrd

Big, Big Dreams

“I will employ one million workers at Muscle Shoals, and I will build a city 75 miles long.”

These were the wild declarations of Henry Ford following a trip to the North Alabama town with his pal Thomas Edison in 1921.  One can only speculate about the dreamy discussions the two had from the picturesque left bank of the Tennessee River that inspired these grand plans.

At the time, the town of Muscle Shoals, which wasn’t incorporated until 1923, was home to less than 750 residents.  And it still had cotton fields within its limits.  Likewise, the shallow waterway zone had been Cherokee hunting domain as recently as two generations before.

Nonetheless, Ford, along with the visionary Edison, saw opportunity.  In fact, Ford’s dream was to turn the quiet town into a Southern mecca – a “Detroit of the South.” Continue reading →

Posted in Business, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

This Recession Won’t Stop It

Posted on June 7, 2024 by MN Gordon

How would you feel about your monthly water bill increasing 44.47 percent by 2027?

Remember, consumer prices have already increased 21.5 percent over the last four years, per the government’s fabricated data.  So, would an additional 44.47 percent increase in your water bill by 2027 warm your soul?

This is the rate increase being proposed by California’s Golden State Water Company for residents within the Santa Maria Service District.  If approved, as stated in the public participation hearing notification that was sent to customers, the average residential user would see their monthly bill spike from $67.94 in 2024 to $101.81 in 2027, excluding surcharges.

Other service districts supplied by Golden State Water Company are facing similar increases.  These rate increases are being requested to fulfill the company’s General Rate Case (GRC) that was filed last year with the California Public Utilities Commission.  The GRC proposes local infrastructure investments and water rates for the years 2025, 2026 and 2027. Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Fed’s Harrowing Search for Ample Reserves

Posted on May 31, 2024 by MN Gordon

Inserted between the push and pull of consumer price inflation and interest rates is the direct market intervention of central planners.  Decisions made one day can have lasting penalties upon the next.  Yesterday’s monetary policy blunders by the Federal Reserve bring forth adverse conditions today.

If you recall, during the quantitative easing (QE) orgy that took place during repo-madness and on through the coronavirus fiasco, the Fed exploded its balance sheet.  Up from $3.7 trillion in September 2019 to $8.9 trillion in May 2022.

The Fed, in practice, created credit out of thin air and used it to buy U.S. Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities.  Moreover, having the collective wisdom of several thousand economics PhDs, the Fed found it proper and fitting to buy these assets while yields were at 5,000-year lows.

The results of that low-yielding asset buying binge are highlighted each week in the Fed’s H.4.1 data.  As of May 30, earnings remittances due to the U.S. Treasury tallied at minus $171.9 billion, up 163 percent from the same week a year ago. Continue reading →

Posted in Inflation, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment