Business

The U.S. federal government just passed a record $20 trillion in publicly held debt. That’s bigger than the entire economy of every country in the European Union, combined.

As HowMuch.net notes, the debt will only grow higher unless President Trump and the U.S. Congress can agree to unprecedented spending cuts combined with tax increases. 

Don’t count on that happening anytime soon. Most people think that an eye-popping $20+ trillion debt is insurmountable, and in fact, it is the largest in the world by far.

Authored by Brian Kalman, Daniel Deiss, Edwin Watson via SouthFront.org,

China has begun construction of the first Type 075 Class Landing Helicopter Dock (LHD).

Authored by Jim Quinn via The Burning Platform blog,

Do you ever hear something so startlingly mind numbingly ridiculous you realize it must be a sign things have gotten so fucked up something has got to give?

Via Global Macro Monitor,

“Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt.” – President Herbert Hoover

The Hoover administration thought there was no room and was ideologically opposed to fiscal expansion to stimulate aggregate demand.  Furthermore, Keynesian theory was not even developed at the time.  The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money  was not published until February 1936.

By Victor Shvets of Macquarie Capital

Japan Debt Mountain: does it matter?