{"id":87141,"date":"2025-04-19T01:00:37","date_gmt":"2025-04-19T08:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=87141"},"modified":"2025-04-22T10:59:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T17:59:27","slug":"black-coffee-19-apr-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id87141-black-coffee-19-apr-2025.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Creative Accounting"},"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

Well … another busy week is behind us. So with that in mind, let’s get this party started!<\/p>\n

Fraud is the homage that force pays to reason.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Charles Curtis<\/strong><\/p>\n

Half-truths are the devil’s IOUs.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Sarah Ban Breathnach<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? Annual core prices rose at their slowest pace since March 2021; the March data showed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) core rate, which is the Fed\u2019s preferred inflation gauge, rose just 2.4%<\/a> year-over-year. Even so, the stagflationary signs in the manufacturing sector – higher price forecasts despite a sharp reduction in orders – aren’t abating. That being said, Internet-based consumer inquiries for new products don’t seem to be abating\u00a0 …<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news, Elon Musk says that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is now targeting a $150 billion cut<\/a> in government waste, fraud and abuse for the 2026 fiscal year. While this is an impressive figure, the bad news is that it hardly makes a dent in the US deficit, which far exceeds $1 trillion. The good news is, we\u2019ve been told a combination of tariffs and higher taxes will fix this – especially after the rich are finally made to pay their \u201cfair share.” So there\u2019s that. In the meantime …<\/p>\n

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h\/t: @sallymayweather<\/p><\/div>\n

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h\/t: @SpencerHakimian<\/p><\/div>\n

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h\/t: @Pinellas_LP<\/p><\/div>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> When DOGE is finished in DC – regardless of how much they ultimately save – they should head to New York, where a recent audit shows the state paid $453 million for 247,343 ventilators, x-ray machines, and other devices during the pandemic. The punchline? Three<\/strong><\/em> pieces were used<\/a>. Since then, state bureaucrats have been content to store the remaining equipment in a warehouse – wasting even more<\/strong><\/em> taxpayer dollars. Is anyone<\/strong><\/em> surprised by this level of government fiscal malpractice anymore? Curiously, the usual government-run healthcare proponents are the same folks complaining about DOGE. That being said …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, a big reason for the federal government\u2019s surging deficits<\/a> – besides the obligatory government waste, fraud and abuse – is the interest payment on the gargantuan $37 trillion National Debt. Since the 2020 pandemic, America\u2019s annual interest payments have more than doubled. In fact, the federal government\u2019s debt service cost now exceeds $1.1 trillion – consuming more than a quarter of all tax revenue. That breathtaking expense is exceeded by only Social Security, which costs roughly $1.5 trillion per year. It\u2019s all so incredible when you understand that all<\/strong><\/em> of it is just an enormous mountain of IOUs, all piled atop of each other.<\/p>\n

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h\/t: @SP_Holman<\/p><\/div>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Speaking of IOUs, James Howard Kunstler pointed out the obvious this week – at least for those who have been paying attention. \u201cThings are breaking<\/a> out there,\u201d he says. “The financial world\u2019s feedstock is promises. In a trusting world, promises are a splendid technology, allowing you to borrow hamburgers from next Tuesday to have a hamburger today – and all else that follows from that. In a not-so-trusting world, promises go up in a vapor with the morning dew.\u201d True dat. And here we are. Rock … meet hard place. This guy certainly knows:<\/p>\n