In the latest sign that the U.S. Government has absolutely no intention of ever addressing its finances until after the system has crashed, the debt ceiling was just raised again.
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the debt ceiling was raised enough to buy 3 months of time, while adding that a package of $8.5 billion worth of funding will go towards aiding the victims of Hurricane Harvey.
Hopefully that $8.5 billion will actually get to the people who have been affected by the hurricane. The government’s track record of actually dispersing funds honestly and getting it to the people who have actually been affected isn’t great, but again let’s hope for the best.
However it’s interesting how what was looming on the calendar as another potential financial black swan has once again been pushed off into the future. Which might be alright, if that wasn’t the same outcome every single time. Because most likely when the extension runs out in 3 months or so, it will just be lifted and extended again.
Which obviously really defeats the purpose of having a debt ceiling anyway. And surely there are many in the political class who might well wish it weren’t there at all. But in the end, it’s stunning how year after year goes by, and there’s literally no legitimate effort to ever even address the continuously growing deficits.
Keep in mind that when the government talks about deficit reduction, they aren’t actually talking about reducing the debt load. But rather just referring to reducing the latest estimate of how much additional debt they plan to tack on. Which unfortuantely never actually happens either.
Consider that the debt doubled under both presidents Bush and Obama, and the one thing that usually brings both sides together is a love of spending more money they don’t have.
Which is why supposed “safe haven” assets like the dollar and U.S. treasuries are anything but, and planning for a future that doesn’t count on the dollar being the world’s reserve currency becomes more prudent by the day.