“In total, Trump's budget calls for $4.75 trillion in federal spending for 2020, up 5% from what's expected in 2019.”
“The budget, which is expected to become a major issue in the 2020 race, calls for a $17 billion reduction in food stamps, and a $22 billion reduction in welfare programs. It would cut foreign aid by $13 billion, while raising total defense spending by 4% to $750 billion.”
Here are some of the biggest cuts:
- 5% domestic spending cut
- 31% cut to the EPA
- 11% cut to the Energy Department
- 22% cut to Department of Transportation
- 12% cut to Department of Health and Human Services
- Foreign aid reduced by $13 billion
These government department cuts reveal a new direction for the Trump administration. Until now, Trump has not been cutting any departments very much and in most cases he has increased expenses.
Perhaps the most alarming part of the budget is that it reveals that the U.S. government will need to spend at least $1+ trillion deficits each year forever.
“The budget projects $1.1 trillion deficit in 2019, 2020, and 2021, and a $1 trillion deficit in 2022.”
This is admitting that the U.S. is in a debt spiral without any way of saving the currency.
“With the massive amount of debt that the US and other developed economies have accumulated, they will either have to default, print money or increase taxes significantly to repay debts. Most likely they will choose some combination of all three.” – Philip Haslam, “When Money Destroys Nations”
The problem is that the US has not seen a recession or stock market crash in over ten years and there is now an entire generation that does not realize the dangers of printing money. It looks like printing money saved the economy from the 2008 recession so why not print more money to pay for more things, like healthcare and college. That is what the next generation wants to do.
Since money has been printed on an ongoing basis for so long and much of the inflation has not been realized by the middle class (because it has mostly been exported into other nations), inflation has become a culturally accepted norm.
But inflation is already eating our lunch. Inflation is the cause for the wealth inequality by pushing up wealthy asset bubbles and inflation is the cause for sectors of the economy that are experiencing decline.
“The companies most affected by this were those at the end of the supply chain who couldn’t raise prices as fast as others – first retailers and then manufacturers. Their costs rose much faster than their selling prices.” – Philip Haslam, “When Money Destroys Nations”
Retail Apocalypse Continues
US Manufacturing output falls again in February
Inflation is quietly eating the foundation of the economy and as the inflation monster gets better, we are going to have to feed it more and more printed money.
This cannot go on much longer. The US cannot expect the nations of the world to borrow $1+ trillion per year without any plan to ever pay it back. The foreign nations are going to look for other places to invest their money, especially if the US consumer stops spending money.