{"id":66573,"date":"2021-05-15T02:15:39","date_gmt":"2021-05-15T09:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=66573"},"modified":"2021-05-18T05:29:08","modified_gmt":"2021-05-18T12:29:08","slug":"black-coffee-15-may-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id66573-black-coffee-15-may-2021.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Weekend at Bernanke’s"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe<\/em> …<\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

I hope everybody had a terrific week. Now that the hardest part of it is over, let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

The opposite of courage is not cowardice; it’s conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Jim Hightower<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? According to none other than Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Public Welfare, Gary Alexander, government has distorted the economy<\/a> so badly that single moms in his state are “better off earning a gross income of $29,000 with $57,327 in net income and (welfare) benefits, than earning a gross income of $69,000 with net income of $57,045.” Imagine that.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Then again, that’s assuming anyone can find<\/strong><\/em> a job paying $69,000 annually. After all, the US has sent most of its high-paying manufacturing jobs overseas to hold costs down after the dollar was de-anchored from gold<\/a> in 1971. As a result, there’s an ever-increasing proportion of Americans who find themselves trying to earn a living in low-paying low-skill entry-level jobs that were never<\/strong><\/em> meant to support a family in the first place.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> On a somewhat related note, with the US federal deficit for April nearly one quarter of a trillion dollars, the overall budget picture has never been uglier: For the first seven months of fiscal 2021, the US Treasury collected $2.1 trillion in receipts — but spent $4.1 trillion. For those counting at home, that means America is now spending 90% more than it earns<\/a>. Even more shocking, that kind of gross fiscal indiscretion is typically only found in banana republics. Oh, wait.<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Unfortunately, financial analyst Simon Black points out that the federal government is just going to continue its insane borrow-and-spend binge<\/a>: “This is the big one. Between the regular budget, COVID stimulus, and proposed legislation, the US is hoping to spend a whopping $11 trillion<\/strong><\/em> this year — and it’s only May. Obviously, Uncle Sam doesn’t have the money; so they have to borrow it.” Uh huh. And I thought this<\/strong><\/em> was a bad idea …<\/p>\n