On August 30, 2024, Elon Musk issued a stark warning on X (formerly Twitter) about the dangerous trajectory of U.S. government spending.
Musk warned, ‘At current rates of government spending, America is in the fast lane to bankruptcy. Government overspending is what causes inflation.’
This statement was made in response to a tweet by a user known as Farad, who highlighted a concerning forecast: “Did you know the US Government is planning on adding another $16 trillion to our national deficit through 2035?” The tweet referenced the U.S. government’s Budget for the Fiscal Year 2025, raising serious concerns about the nation’s fiscal future.
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U.S. Economist is concerned about inflation under a Harris Presidency
This warning from Musk comes amid growing concerns over Vice President Kamala Harris’s proposed economic policies, which many consider to be even more aggressive than those currently in place under President Biden.
Harris’s economic strategies have been met with significant criticism, particularly from prominent figures like economist Peter Schiff.
Schiff, in a recent post on X, expressed deep concern about Harris’s approach, arguing that her policies would likely intensify inflation rather than control it.
He pointedly remarked, “Kamala Harris’s economic agenda can be boiled down to one word: inflation. She presents it as the cure-all for the issues she aims to tackle, but in reality, inflation is the very problem, not the solution. If she were to implement these plans as President, it would likely exacerbate the challenges she claims to address.”
Harris has also indicated her intention to further the Biden administration’s tax reform efforts, including a proposal to increase the top rate of capital gains tax from 37% to 39.4%, which has sparked further debate and concern among economists and policymakers, who fear that such measures could stifle economic growth and add to inflationary pressures.
U.S. National Debt is increasing at an unprecedented rate
Warnings from Musk and Schiff come on the heels of a report by Finbold on August 27, which revealed that the U.S. National Debt is increasing at an unprecedented rate.
According to the report, the U.S. has been accumulating debt at a staggering rate of $62,607 per second in 2024, underscoring the unsustainable nature of current fiscal policies.
Since the beginning of the year, the total American public debt has ballooned from $33.96 trillion to $35.25 trillion—a total increase of $1.29 trillion in just 240 days.
The report further highlights that the U.S. has been borrowing an average of $5.4 billion every day in 2024. While these figures are in line with the trends observed since 2020—when U.S. debt surged from $23.2 trillion at the end of 2019 to over $33 trillion by the end of 2023—the current year’s borrowing rate indicates that the financial strain is far from easing.
Despite these alarming figures, 2024 may not end up being the worst year on record, but Musk’s warning underscores the urgency of addressing the nation’s fiscal challenges before they spiral out of control. As the debate over government spending continues, the focus on sustainable financial practices becomes ever more critical.
