U.S. Economy

President Biden announced recently to much fanfare that his administration will transform the US economy through central planning. This does not end well.

While many economists claim that high overall debt levels can lead to economic recessions, irresponsible government spending and money expansion are the real culprits.

Governments do two things: they grow and they deprive citizens of their wealth. That process has not changed for more than a century in the USA.

The "2 percent" inflation target is purely arbitrary, and mainstream economists can't agree on the "right" level. It's all folly, and Austrian economics explains why. 

Fitch's downgrade of US government debt is a good thing, but not good enough.

Jonathan Newman joins Bob to explain why the data still support the case for recession and point out the eerie similarity to the calm before the storm in 2008.

Mark discusses the record levels of credit card debt.

Speculators are reviled in the media and by politicians and academics. Yet the speculators are the ones taking risks to ensure the rest of us can have more economic certainty.

Student debt is a huge social problem, but the reason is that higher education costs themselves have become a major problem and are a financial burden whose costs outweigh its benefits.

While FedNow seems benign, there is the larger problem of the entire banking system itself being built on a foundation of sand. FedNow can only make that problem worse.