Worldview Investing - Ruminations on the World Economy

                        Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis      Governments around the world have proven themselves to be utterly unable to manage their affairs. The above chart shows the rapidly rising US federal government debt. All developed nations are doing the same thing to a greater or lesser extent. The US government has no honest means to repay its debt. It hopes to continue selling newly issued debt to raise enough money to repay maturing debt (plus extra debt to cover constant budget deficits). At some point, investors will become leery of the rising debt and the government's ability to service it.  The government will then have to raise interest rates to attract buyers. The consequence of doing so is that annual interest payments on the growing debt will consume an ever-larger portion of government revenues. At some point the house of cards collapses.      Prolific...

                                                               By:  Joseph Siffred Duplessis, 1767         Benjamin Franklin was one of the founding fathers of the United States. He attended the Constitutional Convention and signed the document that set out strict parameters for the nascent, national government. After exiting the convention, a woman (possibly Elizabeth Willing Powell) approached him and excitedly asked what kind of government they had established. He famously responded, "A republic, if you can keep it." A republic is the form of government in which supreme political power is vested in the people, to be exercised  on their behalf , by elected representatives. His remark was a warning that the new republic's future was uncerta...

                                    Javier Milei, President of Argentina       There is no doubt the United States is in dire need of dramatic change. Its city, state and national debts are largely unpayable, public pensions are woefully underfunded, regulations suffocate large and small businesses, home, auto, insurance and food costs continue to rise, health, welfare and defense costs consume an ever growing portion of tax revenues. The nation is knee-deep in military conflicts (Ukraine, Israel, Syria, etc), its major cities are rapidly decaying due to long-deferred maintenance of hundred-year old essential services such as water, electric, sewer and roads, and they are plagued by crime and failing public schools.      The poor quality public schools have produced a growing legion of former students who have dropped out and others that are failing to a...