That’s what the debt clock is now, 2026 August 20th claiming. According to the Department of Treasury Debt to the Penny, the 40 trillion threshold was crossed on August 18th. I was expecting the limit to be broken in the autumn, but then, also the honking geese have flying south over northern California since July, which to me seems a bit early. I’m not a goose expert, maybe they are supposed to start migrating in summer, or maybe they are reacting to some environmental change. The pastures have withered under the drought and geese eat grass so maybe they are trying to find food. Or maybe the winter is coming early. The the geese are going south already in the summer, and so are US finances.
Treasury and Fed are at odds over economic policy. Fed is not changing rates but the Treasury started buying back (a type of QE) 30 year notes when the rates rose over 5.3%. Promise to double the treasury buybacks helped to push the price of dollar down but inflation is predicted. Meanwhile, 10 year note was at 4.68% when Treasury promised to increase buybacks to 4 billion, causing the yield to dip into 4.63% before rising in 24 hours to 4.71%.
If the interest rates on US treasuries rise too much, we cannot sell enough paper to pay the interest on existing paper and USA will become insolvent. I’m sure the US government will invent new, outrageous ways to cook the books for some while still, but USA is not Japan, and even Japan is faltering as eventually what is unsustainable will not be sustained.
Flower(s), I don’t know what species, 2026 August 18th
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