I have some very good news for the pandemically-challenged! We Americans are just swimming in cash. So says one Jon Hilsenrath, writing in the WSJ today amount our collective and growing “mountains of debt.”
The Federal Reserve, the nation’s central bank, will play the critical role of navigating the nation through the rising tides of debt. It sways the cost of debt service, whether inflation emerges and whether banks and other financial institutions can bear the burden of lending that the nation demands.
So far the Fed is getting high marks from President Trump and many economists and investors for moving quickly to make credit widely available, though it faces challenges and uncertainties deciding how far to extend itself and when and how to pull back. On Thursday, it announced more programs to support $2.3 trillion in lending.
I for one, am not tired of the winning! This is known as borrowing your way to prosperity. And, buddy, we’re there! The nifty chart Mr. Hilsenrath embedded in his article shows the grand fact that the nominal debt (not even including the really shady stuff) is now around 250% of the precious GDP. Praise be to someone! You’ll recall that we owe this to ourselves, so we are very wealthy from the accounts receivable point of view. In addition to whatever else they might own, each and every one of our 330,000,000 people in the nation-shaped kind of place can count as an asset nearly $200,000 from that mountain of golden debt.
And, as his strength
Failed him at length,
He met a pilgrim shadow—
‘Shadow,’ said he,
‘Where can it be—
This land of Eldorado?’
Right here in the good old US of Empire, Eddie! The news gets even better! The Fed has announced – maybe more than once – that they’re flooding in another $2.3 Trillion in “gold” so as to “help” us. Something about Alexander Hamilton – and he’s a cool hip-hopper from Broadway or something. This adds a new Everest to the Himalayas of debt they’re created (for us!) in the past few months.
Now, don’t worry if you’re not Goldman Sachs. The money will trickle down to you little, unimportant plebs sooner or later. And, pay no attention to the negative Nancy’s talking about the worse depression ever. Just keep your eyes and your hearts set on your big piece of the mountainous pie. Tell ’em about it down at the breadline. Remember to stand six feet apart.
*Note: This column does not contain echoes when maybe it should. Sorry, I blame the (((virus))).
