Category: Business & Economy

Those who have been following the record surge in US public debt (excluding the roughly $100 trillion in off-balance sheet obligations), which exploded by $3 trillion in the three months following the covid shutdowns and which just hit an all time high $27.1 trillion this week, will be all too aware that the US budget deficit this year – and every year after – will be staggering.

Lower income coupled with higher spending in a time when the vast majority of Americans were looking forward to more stimulus meant that US consumers rapidly burned through savings. At the same time, the personal savings rate collapsed by 17.7%. This means that a whopping 60% of the personal savings built up in the aftermath of the COVID fiscal stimulus tide have now been used up. So, unless a new fiscal deal is in place, US consumption will crater unless somehow the millions of unemployed workers who still desperately rely on government stimulus find a job.

Revolving credit – i.e., credit card debt – shrank once again, the 5th consecutive monthly decline, dropping by $293 million to just below $1 trillion.