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Historic NY

(39,407 posts)
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 08:46 AM Oct 19

America is 'going broke slowly' says J.P. Morgan, as national debt balloons and tariff revenue looks shaky

J.P. Morgan’s David Kelly warned this week that while America is “going broke” it’s doing so slowly enough that markets aren’t panicking yet. With U.S. national debt now topping $37.8 trillion and interest payments exceeding $1.2 trillion, Kelly said the debt-to-GDP ratio—already at 99.9%—will likely keep rising even under moderate growth. Despite tariff revenues and temporary deficit relief, he cautioned that political choices or a slowdown could quickly worsen the fiscal picture, urging investors to diversify away from U.S. assets before “going broke slowly” turns fast.

https://www.aol.com/finance/america-going-broke-slowly-says-103935779.html]

Trump is a bankruptcy expert

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America is 'going broke slowly' says J.P. Morgan, as national debt balloons and tariff revenue looks shaky (Original Post) Historic NY Oct 19 OP
That's the downside of America becoming a Trump property. RedWhiteBlueIsRacist Oct 19 #1
We have a dotard as POTUS who daily demeans & degrades bronxiteforever Oct 19 #2
Yeah, Trump knows more about bankruptcy than anyone! ananda Oct 19 #3
Yes, this will be his ultimate bankruptcy, his crowning achievement PatSeg Oct 19 #11
Damage will become evident to magats long after trump exits..theyll blame Dems BlueWaveNeverEnd Oct 19 #15
Hopefully some will realize finally that PatSeg Oct 19 #42
You gotta hand it to Trump though bucolic_frolic Oct 19 #4
That's been a long-term goal of the Conservative Movement since Reagan Vogon_Glory Oct 19 #5
Says one of the people responsible for it. OldBaldy1701E Oct 19 #6
Why do you say that? Explain specifically with reference to David Kelly, Ph.D. Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #9
It is just cynicism. OldBaldy1701E Oct 19 #21
There are enough people actually responsible that we don't have to scatter-shot toss blame around Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #23
Well, we failures are known for our mistakes. (n/t) OldBaldy1701E Oct 19 #34
This message was self-deleted by its author Stacey Grove Oct 19 #39
Who does this benefit and how? Irish_Dem Oct 19 #7
The system works like this: Farmer-Rick Oct 19 #30
Thanks FR for the info. Irish_Dem Oct 19 #31
People in the US markodochartaigh Oct 19 #54
tariff revenue? dugog55 Oct 19 #8
No. Nothing in the statement makes it sound like "income from other countries". Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #16
TAX THE RICH! Chasstev365 Oct 19 #10
Beat me to it. Martin Eden Oct 19 #22
Dave Ramsey talks about getting out of debt. You make the hole (debt) smaller paying it down. You stop the hole from 3Hotdogs Oct 19 #12
So the answer is to invest outside the US???? AnnaLee Oct 19 #13
That should speed things along Strelnikov_ Oct 19 #24
The filthy-rich actually do invest their money in the US Farmer-Rick Oct 19 #32
Huh. With dozens of criminal finance geniuses in charge, sucking our blood dry with interest and fees librechik Oct 19 #14
The guy J.P. Morgan supported for POTUS MLWR Oct 19 #17
Please reference the specific report you saw about who they supported for president. Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #20
Morgan and Dimon always supports tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans Autumn Oct 19 #41
Please show specifics. I've searched (have you?) and I'm not finding support for your contention. Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #44
So where the link where your Dimon says he votes for Democrats? Autumn Oct 19 #45
Your contention is NOT supported by facts. My facts show that Morgan and Dimon were neutral. Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #46
Your facts are about the same as my opinion. No proof that Autumn Oct 19 #47
My facts show roughly equal funding and no endorsement. You have no facts. Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #48
David Walker has been preaching about this for a very long time nitpicked Oct 19 #18
Kelly, not Walker. Where do you get Walker involved in this? Not a hint of JP Morgan in Walker's bio. Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #37
To be fair some of the recent expenditures were driven by events nitpicked Oct 19 #19
planned poozwah Oct 19 #25
America is 'going broke slowly' Mr.Bee Oct 19 #26
All their citizens are happy? Your France can't be the one in Europe. DFW Oct 19 #57
And yet Morgan has been the team that promoted $trillion tax cuts for the richest Americans dlk Oct 19 #27
Link please. Kelly rightly condemns tariffs for being a regressive tax that hurts the poor Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #43
I don't recall Morgan opposing tariffs before tbey were implemented dlk Oct 19 #50
Your claim about JP Morgan could not be backed up with credible facts. I am judgemental about unsupportable claims. . nt Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #51
JP Morgan, March 3, 2025, month before announcement & two before implementation, Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #53
Condescension noted dlk Oct 22 #68
This message was self-deleted by its author Celerity Oct 20 #63
That is only HALF the story Bluetus Oct 19 #28
Well said Farmer-Rick Oct 19 #33
Your second paragraph nails it, ... the historically unsustainable concentration of wealth & income in the 1%. . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #40
The orange asshole is running the nation like one of his casinos. nt Javaman Oct 19 #29
The mistake is decades old... WarGamer Oct 19 #35
Expenditures already require 60 votes in Senate. . . . nt Bernardo de La Paz Oct 19 #38
There was a lot of discussion in the 90's of what a debt free US would mean underpants Oct 19 #52
But not the size of debt that the service on it... costs more than the Pentagon. WarGamer Oct 19 #55
Are you for automatic tax hikes to make up any shortfall? W_HAMILTON Oct 20 #59
In 1936, conservatives sought to use mandatory taxes to close a deficit... in an attempt to kill the new deal. WarGamer Oct 20 #60
So you'd prefer automatic spending cuts, which is what conservatives want to do TODAY. W_HAMILTON Oct 20 #62
the national debt is very similar to the CO2 hockey stick... WarGamer Oct 20 #67
Let's cut taxes for rich people more Johonny Oct 19 #36
Everything Krasnov touches dies. Joinfortmill Oct 19 #49
Tariff REVENUE is higher taxes on Americans. Norrrm Oct 19 #56
BILLIONAIRES ARE LOOTING THE US Treasury, thanks to TRUMP and his GOP accomplices! Jack Valentino Oct 19 #58
tRump has only been repeatedly successful at one thing: BANKRUPTING Blue Owl Oct 20 #61
Trump is ballooning hildegaard28 Oct 20 #64
"Gradually, then all at once." hatrack Oct 20 #65
Quit giving tax cuts to people who don't pay taxes. Emile Oct 20 #66

RedWhiteBlueIsRacist

(1,410 posts)
1. That's the downside of America becoming a Trump property.
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 09:01 AM
Oct 19

White supremacy isn't what it's cracked up to be.

bronxiteforever

(10,883 posts)
2. We have a dotard as POTUS who daily demeans & degrades
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 09:02 AM
Oct 19

the Country. He exercises military power like a toddler and uses economic policy to enrich himself and his grifting offspring. The middle class is on its last legs while the wealthy party the coming deluge away.

All this self inflicted economic damage is going to bring us down. It doesn’t take a Nobel prize to know that the dry rot has infiltrated the structure. Time is short. We need both houses in 2026.

PatSeg

(51,360 posts)
11. Yes, this will be his ultimate bankruptcy, his crowning achievement
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:00 AM
Oct 19

He truly has outdone himself this time - definitely deserves a trophy!

PatSeg

(51,360 posts)
42. Hopefully some will realize finally that
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 01:24 PM
Oct 19

Donald Trump is the primary source of their problems, plus the republican politicians who wouldn't stand up to him. But yeah, some will blame Democrats out of habit. Hard to undo the many years of brainwashing.

bucolic_frolic

(53,022 posts)
4. You gotta hand it to Trump though
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 09:06 AM
Oct 19

He hollows out everything without all that M&A legalese scaffolding.

Vogon_Glory

(10,119 posts)
5. That's been a long-term goal of the Conservative Movement since Reagan
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 09:08 AM
Oct 19

That’s why right-wingers practice “borrow and spend” funding practices and run up deficits and debt. It’s been a flagrant part of the MO since Buckaroo Bush was inaugurated back in 2001. They want to cripple the federal government’s abilities to respond to crises either to enrich billionaires or for their faulty ideologies.

This has been around for DECADES, Mr. Kelly. And you only noticed it NOW???

Bernardo de La Paz

(59,949 posts)
9. Why do you say that? Explain specifically with reference to David Kelly, Ph.D.
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 09:56 AM
Oct 19

Or is it just reflex cynicism?

OldBaldy1701E

(9,372 posts)
21. It is just cynicism.
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:28 AM
Oct 19

Between looking at the nothing that my life is and learning that I will have to forgo another drug or service because I cannot afford to even think about them, I should not have said anything.

Not exactly a fountain of praise for our socioeconomic situation these days, I am afraid.

Bernardo de La Paz

(59,949 posts)
23. There are enough people actually responsible that we don't have to scatter-shot toss blame around
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:35 AM
Oct 19

Cynicism is one thing, often a cautionary thing, but reflex cynicism leads to false statements and mistakes.

If you had looked up, like I did, you'd find that Kelly is against tariffs, for example.

Response to OldBaldy1701E (Reply #21)

Farmer-Rick

(12,245 posts)
30. The system works like this:
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 11:28 AM
Oct 19

Taxes are reduced on the filthy-rich. The US government doesn't have revenue to carry out necessary functions. The US government borrows money......guess who they borrow from?

The major owners, some say as much as two thirds, of US debt are other Americans, very very rich Americans who don't pay their fair share of taxes. The filthy-rich lend money to the US and get interest on their money. Money they should have paid in taxes. It's a win win for them. The more debt the US takes on, the better for the filthy-rich, the more interest they get from their stolen loot.

Look at how Greece crashed in the last great recession. They owed so much money because they didn't get their filthy-rich to pay their fair share in taxes to avoid having to take out loans, though they also bought into the credit default swap which didn't cover them in the crash. Eventually they couldn't get any more loans... Even the filthy-rich will stop lending to a government that they suspect won't pay them back.

Irish_Dem

(77,065 posts)
31. Thanks FR for the info.
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 11:35 AM
Oct 19

And then when everything crashes the filthy risk have enough money to be OK.
The rest of us will suffer.

dugog55

(356 posts)
8. tariff revenue?
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 09:55 AM
Oct 19

What does that mean exactly? That Americans aren't paying enough for imported goods? We are already paying tax on income and now food and other goods. Now we should be paying more for everything to support his stupid tax cuts for the wealthy. That is a stupid statement by J. P. Morgan. They act like we are getting additional income from other countries. Does no one of supposed economic intelligence understand how tariffs work?

Bernardo de La Paz

(59,949 posts)
16. No. Nothing in the statement makes it sound like "income from other countries".
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:08 AM
Oct 19

They didn't say it, so don't pretend they said it. If you actually did a search, like I did, you'd find that David Kelly, Ph.D. Economics, is against tariffs because they are a regressive tax on Americans.

I think you have misidentified a target.

Martin Eden

(15,085 posts)
22. Beat me to it.
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:34 AM
Oct 19

Repukes only look at the spending side of the ledger when addressing the deficit. They keep CUTTING TAXES FOR THE RICH, which ALWAYS adds to our national debt.

Are they TOO STUPID to realize that trickle-down economics has never worked, and the policies of Republican administrations add more debt than Democratic policies?

Some of them, maybe. But their long term strategy has been to STARVE THE BEAST. Choke off government revenues, point to budget deficits, then proclaim we can no longer afford the "ENTITLEMENTS" that hard working Americans have already paid for with deductions from every paycheck.

3Hotdogs

(14,759 posts)
12. Dave Ramsey talks about getting out of debt. You make the hole (debt) smaller paying it down. You stop the hole from
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:01 AM
Oct 19

getting bigger bigger by spending less. OR you get a bigger shovel (Added income).

Now the maggots and Repuke politicians all talk about making the hole smaller (We gotta cut out wasteful spending and handouts and entitlements and welfare and free medical care for illegal immigrants (another lie).

But getting a bigger shovel? Nothing mentioned about that. Dave's wealth is estimated to be $300m. Does he need that? Could he ever spend it all? And then there's the billionaires and the corporations that pay no tax. A

And guess who doesn't pay tax? TRUMP !



No mention on any of the shovel part of the equation.

AnnaLee

(1,327 posts)
13. So the answer is to invest outside the US????
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:05 AM
Oct 19

Maybe to preserve personal wealth as US wealth is drained in the process.

Farmer-Rick

(12,245 posts)
32. The filthy-rich actually do invest their money in the US
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 11:37 AM
Oct 19

If you consider loaning money for interest to the US that should have been paid in taxes to the country. Some say over 2 thirds of the debt is owned by America's filthy-rich.

They just hoard their wealth in tax dodges outside the US. Hording wealth is what led to the Republican Great Depression.

librechik

(30,925 posts)
14. Huh. With dozens of criminal finance geniuses in charge, sucking our blood dry with interest and fees
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:07 AM
Oct 19

and crazy tariffs, I wonder how that happened Jamie (Secret Pervert) Diamond? I'm sure you got your cut.

MLWR

(644 posts)
17. The guy J.P. Morgan supported for POTUS
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:10 AM
Oct 19

is wasting money right and left like it flows from a spigot. Now he wants to start two wars in South America, which will also cost billions. Take your complaints to Mr. Waste, Fraud and Abuse.

Bernardo de La Paz

(59,949 posts)
20. Please reference the specific report you saw about who they supported for president.
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:25 AM
Oct 19

I don't think you can. Are you indulging in reflex cynicism?

I found reputable reporting from multiple sources that directly refutes your claim, specifically referencing Dimon, CEO of J P Morgan.

Please post your reference or if you can't, then please self-delete your false statement.

Autumn

(48,522 posts)
41. Morgan and Dimon always supports tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 01:14 PM
Oct 19

It's possible and likely they support any president that promises those tax cuts. I don't think anyone knows who he voted for but if it quacks like a duck...

Bernardo de La Paz

(59,949 posts)
44. Please show specifics. I've searched (have you?) and I'm not finding support for your contention.
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 01:37 PM
Oct 19

You are not reflexively cynical, right? You are fact based, right? This may help you: https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmorganchase/documents/about/political-engagement-report-2024.pdf Search it for the words president or trump. Compare the weight of Ds and Rs.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-jamie-dimon-endorsement-jpmorgan-chase/

More facts? https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/jpmorgan-ceo-jamie-dimon-backs-surprising-tax-change/ar-AA1FSegu

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-jamie-dimon-endorsement-jpmorgan-chase/

JPMorgan Chase denies Trump's claim that CEO Jamie Dimon has endorsed him

Updated on: October 4, 2024 / 5:17 PM EDT / CBS News

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has not endorsed Donald Trump, the financial giant said Friday after the former president claimed in a social media post that the executive, America's most prominent banking industry leader, was supporting him.

"Jamie Dimon has not endorsed anyone. He has not endorsed a candidate," Joe Evangelisti, a spokesperson for the New York-based bank told CBS News in a statement.

The denial came after the Republican presidential nominee posted a screenshot on his Truth Social account falsely stating, "New: Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has endorsed Trump for president."

Trump told NBC News he didn't know about the post, which was still visible on his account as of 5:10 p.m. Eastern Time.


Your turn, if you have any facts now is the time to post your facts. You have facts, right?

Autumn

(48,522 posts)
45. So where the link where your Dimon says he votes for Democrats?
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 01:56 PM
Oct 19

Jefferies hasn't endorsed Mamdani yet. Does that mean he doesn't support him?

I'm not playing your game of someone said what he did or did not do. . I stand with what I posted . If it quacks like a duck... it's a fucking duck.


.
Morgan and Dimon always supports tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans

It's possible and likely they support any president that promises those tax cuts. I don't think anyone knows who he voted for but if it quacks like a duck...


That is my specific option

Bernardo de La Paz

(59,949 posts)
46. Your contention is NOT supported by facts. My facts show that Morgan and Dimon were neutral.
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 02:01 PM
Oct 19
You have no facts for your contentions. I have posted facts that prove the opposite (the third option): that Dimon and JP Morgan were essentially neutral in the 2024 election.

Autumn

(48,522 posts)
47. Your facts are about the same as my opinion. No proof that
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 02:14 PM
Oct 19

Morgan and Dimon were neutral in that election other than they said so. . No proof that they didn't vote for him.

I don't need to prove my opinion. I didn't brag about any facts.

There is a bit of a difference there.

Bernardo de La Paz

(59,949 posts)
48. My facts show roughly equal funding and no endorsement. You have no facts.
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 02:22 PM
Oct 19

As if pointing to facts is "bragging". Maintaining an opinion against facts is confirmation bias.

I don't need to prove my opinion. I didn't brag about any facts.


You have no facts for your claim and the facts that do exist point to a neutral stance. But what do you care about facts? Not much it seems.

Morgan and Dimon always supports tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans


You have presented no facts for something that you state as if it were a fact. If it was "always", you would have lots of facts. You have nothing.

nitpicked

(1,529 posts)
18. David Walker has been preaching about this for a very long time
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:11 AM
Oct 19
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_M._Walker_(U.S._Comptroller_General)

Since the 2000s, if not before.

His bio indicates that he was appointed by Bill Clinton in 1998 to head GAO (back in the days when the US tried to balance discretionary spending with revenues).

Bernardo de La Paz

(59,949 posts)
37. Kelly, not Walker. Where do you get Walker involved in this? Not a hint of JP Morgan in Walker's bio.
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 01:07 PM
Oct 19

nitpicked

(1,529 posts)
19. To be fair some of the recent expenditures were driven by events
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:13 AM
Oct 19

The initial response to 9/11.

Then much later COVID.

poozwah

(378 posts)
25. planned
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 10:51 AM
Oct 19

bankruptcy was planned long ago. republicans have long hated social programs that helped the middle and lower classes. in the seventies they realized that outright opposition to those policies would be suicidal and they adopted a starve the beast strategy then began to implement it with reagan’s tax cuts. tax cuts were and are enormously popular even though they only benefit a few, and the democrats, political expedient assholes that all politicians are, jumped on board the debt train which increased the speed of our decline into the financial hell we now reside. before reagan the total accumulated debt from our founding to the beginning of reagan’s 1st administration was about 3/4 of a trillion dollars. now we find ourselves some $30+ trillion in debt.

Mr.Bee

(1,403 posts)
26. America is 'going broke slowly'
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 11:14 AM
Oct 19
by NOT taxing the wealthy
FDR had it right - A progressive tax system
The "ability-to-pay" principle, those people pay more in taxes
simply because they can afford to pay more.

Most European Countries have a 50% tax rate
and all their citizens are happy and well taken care of
including covered medical and health care.
As of 2025, the highest top personal income tax rates in Europe are
Denmark (55.9%), France (55.4%), and Austria (55%).

but America, tax cuts and tax cuts and tax cuts and...
'going broke slowly'

DFW

(59,253 posts)
57. All their citizens are happy? Your France can't be the one in Europe.
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 09:58 PM
Oct 19

I’m in France at least three times a month for my job, and I speak the language. The French, while they are mostly content with their health care system, despise their tax system. They hate their wealth tax, which kicks in at under a million euros, their gold tax, which is 11.5% of anything you sell, and any number of tiny taxes that chip away at the purchasing power of the middle class. They especially dislike the sky-high 50% payroll tax (varies slightly with the salary level), which puts a serious damper on full-time jobs in the private sector. This excepts government bureaucrats, of which there are far too many. That last, by the way, goes for many EU countries, including Germany, where I live.

Though the French are the original Chauvins, there are no greater critics of the French government than the French, themselves, and their multiple-times-year strikes back that up. When the working man in France, of which we have a couple, so this comes from them, not some blog, nets a third of what his employer shells out to employ him, both employer AND employee are angry about it. No French government dares to offer major reform, either, because it never finds enough support in the parliament to pass. Goscinny and Uderzo, when they made up their fiercely resistant Gallic village that would not submit to Cæsar’s will, pretty much composed a perfect microcosm of France, itself.

dlk

(13,004 posts)
27. And yet Morgan has been the team that promoted $trillion tax cuts for the richest Americans
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 11:15 AM
Oct 19

The hypocrisy and ignorance are breathtaking.

Bernardo de La Paz

(59,949 posts)
43. Link please. Kelly rightly condemns tariffs for being a regressive tax that hurts the poor
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 01:28 PM
Oct 19

You would not want to be reflexively cynical, would you? So you have some facts before posting before posting, right? Please show your homework.

https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/adv/insights/market-insights/market-updates/notes-on-the-week-ahead/the-trouble-with-tariffs/

(emphasis added)

Tariffs would provide a new source of revenue for our government. However, if these higher tariffs were used to pay for cuts to income tax, they would be replacing a progressive form of taxation with a very regressive one. That is to say, income taxes disproportionately hurt the rich. Tariffs disproportionately hurt the poor.


Progressive taxation rates are higher on the rich, which is as it should be, disproportionately "hurting" them by design instead of hurting the poor.

If tariffs are levied as a flat-rate import tax on goods, and assuming the import share of goods consumption is the roughly the same for rich and poor, the percent of pre-tax income paid as tariffs by the poorest 90% of households would be more than twice as high, (that is to say in a ratio of 28% to 13%), compared to the top 10%.


For another perspective, here is JP Morgan's 2024 political contribution / lobbying report. See if you can find the word "president" or the word "trump" in there. See if you can find a bias between D versus R in there.
https://www.jpmorganchase.com/content/dam/jpmorganchase/documents/about/political-engagement-report-2024.pdf

dlk

(13,004 posts)
50. I don't recall Morgan opposing tariffs before tbey were implemented
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 07:07 PM
Oct 19

Please keep your judgmental pronouncements and comments to yourself. They are not accurate and they do not add anything to the discourse.

Bernardo de La Paz

(59,949 posts)
51. Your claim about JP Morgan could not be backed up with credible facts. I am judgemental about unsupportable claims. . nt
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 07:10 PM
Oct 19

Bernardo de La Paz

(59,949 posts)
53. JP Morgan, March 3, 2025, month before announcement & two before implementation,
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 07:18 PM
Oct 19

... written by the same David Kelly of the OP:

https://am.jpmorgan.com/us/en/asset-management/adv/insights/market-insights/market-updates/notes-on-the-week-ahead/the-trouble-with-tariffs/

The Trouble with Tariffs

The trouble with tariffs, to be succinct, is that they raise prices, slow economic growth, cut profits, increase unemployment, worsen inequality, diminish productivity and increase global tensions. Other than that, they’re fine.


That sure sounds like opposition. Do you not agree that it is opposition?

DU posters would do well to fact check before making claims.

Response to dlk (Reply #50)

Bluetus

(1,785 posts)
28. That is only HALF the story
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 11:20 AM
Oct 19

Yes, our finances are becoming critical, and as a consequence the Dollar is no longer the international standard and New York is no longer the financial capitol of the world. But those are all just symptoms of the real problem.

The real problem is that this concentration of vast amounts of wealth into the hands of a few, most of which don't give a shit about the USA in the first place, has created the situation where we are no longer the leading innovator in the world. In fact, we haven't been for more than a decade. Now the center of innovation for the most important industries in the 21st Century is in Asia.

Since WWII, Japan and Korea have steadily gained in technology and manufacturing. And in the past 20 years, China has come to dominate global manufacturing, first as a contractor to western companies, but now leading in their own products and companies. The US has become largely just a country of consumers that don't make much that anybody else wants. We are maintaining a lifestyle by rolling up debt, but that will soon come crashing down.

Think about it. What industries does the US dominate?

Autos? No way. We are down to just GM and Ford. Rivian is a rounding error. Tesla is a scam and moving into other areas. The big players (Toyota, Hyundai, VW) manufacture here, but the profits go abroad.

Computers and chips? Intel is a shell of what it once was. NVIDIA is big, but the fab is mostly elsewhere, and there are competitive companies popping up everywhere. IBM is mostly a service business now. Microsoft and Google are strong. So we are still a player here, but not dominant.

Pharma? Not so much. We still have some players like Lilly, but this is a truly global industry now. We could have a place in biotech, stem cells, vaccines, and other emerging fields, but Trump is whacking the research that enables that kind of leadership, so the future is not bright in this area.

Telecom? No real leadership here. We see the same technologies everywhere. Networking companies like Cisco are no longer dominant.

Entertainment? Yes, we love to entertain ourselves, and still spend lots of money on football, gambling, movies, but none of these things creates any value internationally -- well OK, the movie industry is still a net plus.

We are declining in all of the traditional industries as other countries advance. So where is our big investment? It is in stuff like crypto and AI. Crypto creates no value at all. Insiders get rich off that, but it is a zero some game. There is no underlying product with any intrinsic value. it is financial masturbation.

Infrastructure? The worst. Period. We are now many decades behind most of Europe and Asia. And that makes those other economies fundamentally more efficient than the USA.

Aeronautics? One word: Boeing.

Military weapons? Yes, that has been a big strength. Many countries have wanted our fighter jets. Some of that is still in demand, but the Ukraine war has shown that those old weapons are often far less effective than low-cost drones, In a very real way, the balance of military innovation is shifting to Iran, Turkey, Ukraine and others who have the means to develop these now, more agile systems quickly at a fraction of what the US weapons cost.

AI you say? 80% of the stock market gains (not profits, there are no profits) in the past quarter are directly related to speculation on the AI bubble. Maybe this will turn out to be enormously profitable, but people like Jamie Dimon are warning us that this is vastly over-hyped and after the carnival barkers take their billions from the rest of society, we will be left much poorer as a nation.

Bottom line, we have no national strategy and we are going against countries that have focused and aggressive national strategies. Our strategies are to enable the polluters in old, dying industries because they have the cash flow to pay the biggest bribes in DC.

Farmer-Rick

(12,245 posts)
33. Well said
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 12:03 PM
Oct 19

We are a nation of waiters and store clerks. The supposed wonders of a service economy have never come to pass, though "free" traders claimed they would. Service jobs never pay what manufacturing jobs do. US manufacturing disappeared with every "free" trade agreement pushed through by greedy and passive politicians.

Our economy is hollow. It will fail yet again as out of control capitalism always does. We have had the Republican Great Depression...the Reagan deregulation idiocy...the tech bubble bust...the Bushs' S&L crash and great recession. I'm getting ready for the pedo Trump economic collapse.

Bernardo de La Paz

(59,949 posts)
40. Your second paragraph nails it, ... the historically unsustainable concentration of wealth & income in the 1%. . . nt
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 01:11 PM
Oct 19

WarGamer

(18,061 posts)
35. The mistake is decades old...
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 12:53 PM
Oct 19

There should be a law that requires a deficit of ZERO annually... and overages can only be approved via a 2/3 majority vote in Congress in case of emergencies or major projects/initiatives.

underpants

(193,666 posts)
52. There was a lot of discussion in the 90's of what a debt free US would mean
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 07:17 PM
Oct 19

As I remember it, the consensus was that the US needs to carry debt. It has to do with bonds and the dollar mostly.

WarGamer

(18,061 posts)
60. In 1936, conservatives sought to use mandatory taxes to close a deficit... in an attempt to kill the new deal.
Mon Oct 20, 2025, 01:12 AM
Oct 20

So no... it's not a good idea.

W_HAMILTON

(9,753 posts)
62. So you'd prefer automatic spending cuts, which is what conservatives want to do TODAY.
Mon Oct 20, 2025, 05:49 AM
Oct 20

Not to mention making an annual deficit "illegal" is yet another conservative idea of today...

WarGamer

(18,061 posts)
67. the national debt is very similar to the CO2 hockey stick...
Mon Oct 20, 2025, 06:17 PM
Oct 20

Rising at an unstoppable rate and no way to reduce it.

Any sort of monetary policy, aka printing money or austerity campaign aka cutting DoD, SS or MC would be catastrophic.

The only remaining solutions are too clever ideas like long term low interest rates or new taxes...

The neocon concept of "just build the economy larger" to absorb the cost of servicing the debt is insane.

Already we spend more on interest than on the DoD and it gets worse every year.

Jack Valentino

(3,812 posts)
58. BILLIONAIRES ARE LOOTING THE US Treasury, thanks to TRUMP and his GOP accomplices!
Sun Oct 19, 2025, 11:17 PM
Oct 19

And THEY don't even have to WORK!


hildegaard28

(792 posts)
64. Trump is ballooning
Mon Oct 20, 2025, 06:25 AM
Oct 20

The debt by an insane amount. He’s spending taxpayer money like a drunken sailor. Just where is he getting all this money for all the illicit schemes he’s pulling? 40 billion to bail out Argentina, millions for new jets for Noem, endless National Guard mobilizations. There’s no way any of this has been approved. The money printer is going to burn out soon.

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