Every president for the last 50 years has promised to fix the deficit.
Every single one.
Carter in '78. Reagan in '81. Bush Sr. in '89. Clinton in '93. Bush Jr. in '01. Obama in '10. Trump in '16. Biden in '22. Trump again in '24.
Same script. Different actor.
The deficit? It just kept growing.
Why? Because cutting spending means cutting someone's program. Raising taxes means losing votes. Kicking the can down the road means staying popular.
So they all say the right thing, then do nothing.
Meanwhile, the national debt went from $800 billion in 1978 to over $36 trillion today.
That's not a policy failure. That's a system feature.
Markets have priced this in for decades. Rates, inflation expectations, currency dynamics — they all assume deficits never get fixed.
So when you hear the next politician promise fiscal discipline, just remember: we've been hearing that line since disco was still cool.
And the beat goes on.
Every single one.
Carter in '78. Reagan in '81. Bush Sr. in '89. Clinton in '93. Bush Jr. in '01. Obama in '10. Trump in '16. Biden in '22. Trump again in '24.
Same script. Different actor.
The deficit? It just kept growing.
Why? Because cutting spending means cutting someone's program. Raising taxes means losing votes. Kicking the can down the road means staying popular.
So they all say the right thing, then do nothing.
Meanwhile, the national debt went from $800 billion in 1978 to over $36 trillion today.
That's not a policy failure. That's a system feature.
Markets have priced this in for decades. Rates, inflation expectations, currency dynamics — they all assume deficits never get fixed.
So when you hear the next politician promise fiscal discipline, just remember: we've been hearing that line since disco was still cool.
And the beat goes on.