In a previous post, we mentioned that stagflation is a risk that central planners are ignoring. However, this risk is not just an isolated challenge focused on economies like Mexico, India or Argentina. Even in countries like Germany and Japan the trend of inflation, particularly in non-replicable goods, is diverging from economic growth. Inflation is picking up, while growth is slowing down.
We are in very interesting times. We live what is probably the most surprising bull market in history. Excess of demand-side policies, massive liquidity injections, and low rates have zombified the economy and driven debt to all-time highs, while the economic slowdown is evident.
Central banks have tried to create inflation at any cost under the misguided view that this will boost growth and help reduce the debt burden. Just as a pilot driving a Ferrari with the instructions of a Ford T, central banks are pushing the accelerator looking at the rearview mirror and screaming “go faster, we have not crashed yet!”.
Every time there is a budget debate, politicians from both parties will discuss the deficit and spending as if the first one did not matter and the latter could only increase. However, the main problem of the US budget in the past four decades is that total outlays rise significantly faster than receipts no matter what the economic growth or revenue stream does. For example, in the fiscal years 2018 and 2019 total outlays rose mostly due to mandatory expenses in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. No tax revenue measure would have covered that amount.
Continue reading U.S. Budget: Spending Is The Problem