Man Without A Face

As the U.S. economy miraculously continues to not completely implode in mid-2026, I find myself asking the question…when does the music stop.

Despite “Liberation Day” tariffs and the chaos they have sewn…a never ending story of political grift coming from Washington, the Republicans in particular… the U.S. Economy marches on and carries much of the hope for the global economy as well.

The U.S. deficit has eclipsed 120% of GDP. It is estimated that sixty-cents of every federal dollar goes to servicing the debt.

The reason this is so high is because of the higher interest rates we have experienced since the end of the Covid era. When money was “cheap” to borrow (lower interest rates), the “minimum payment” on the debt was much smaller, almost manageable despite its massive number of $36 trillion plus dollars.

When Joe Biden left office, the Federal Reserve had predicted that it would be able to start cutting interest rates significantly because employment, inflation, and GDP were moving in the right directions to do so…enter Donald Trump and the Republicans.

Republican Criminal Mismanagement of Economy

Campaign promises abounded about how the deficit would be fixed with the use of tariffs, prices would be lowered because of less regulation and tax cuts, plus a draw down of America’s military from NATO outposts and a more isolationist foreign policy.

Well…that didn’t work…tax cuts fueled economic growth, but increased the deficit making money more expensive to borrow due to higher interest rates required. Tariffs fueled inflation, which made the Federal Reserve slam on the brakes in regards to potential rate cuts.

Yet still, the American economy still marched ahead behind a “booming” less regulated stock market and modest GDP growth until March with the start of the Iran War.

The Straight of….What?

The American people were told this would be a short decisive war that would end in Iran becoming less of a threat to the region, or possibly even some sort of democracy after stoking the fires of internal revolt. I guess no one bothered to look at a map…

There was this place called The Straight of Hormuz, where oil tankers are sitting ducks for Shaheed drones and ballistic missiles. Only like 100 cargo ships pass through there a day…. who could of seen this coming besides all the generals who testified to Congress in the weeks before the start of the war that this would happen if we went to war with Iran? War is the health of the state, right?

Fast forward to today and we are faced with an ever dwindling emergency reserve of oil to keep prices in the realm of affordability for Americans.

How Does the U.S./Israel/Saudi Arabia vs. Iran/China/Russia war end?

With the end of the war nowhere in sight, how does this end?

Does the economy eventually collapse of fuel becomes more and more scarce? Do nuclear weapons get used in Iran? Will there be large scale terrorist actions. Will there be a diplomatic settlement? After killing the Iranian Supreme Leader, equivalent of someone killing the Pope for Christians, it seems unlikely.

Walk Away From Trump Grrrlll…. He No Good For You

The best solution. Trump and Republicans largely started this war, removing them from power or at least Trump and arresting him for war crimes would be the best option in my view. This man has shown himself repeatedly to be a traitor to the Republic on an hitherto unimaginable scale. This would be the best thing the U.S. could do to restore its credibility with the rest of the world. Immediately, rescind all Trump legislation, tax cuts, executive agreements, executive orders, and root out any and all grift corruption involved therein.

If the U.S. leaves the Trump/Republican machine in tact, even if they are voted out of power, it is saying that in the future this is still an option. Of course, this is unlikely as it may lead to a second Civil War given the blind obedience of Trump’s hordes of followers and acolytes.

Stop Funding Israel’s War Machine as a Sign of Goodwill (or at least some will)

Another option would be to reign in Israel significantly. We are complicit in everything they do militarily in the eyes of the Arab world. Stepping away from them in a meaningful way could be a solution, although I don’t see how anything ever gets resolved there peacefully.

Use Nuclear Weapons! The Most Terrible Idea

I have heard it put forth the U.S. should just use nuclear weapons to force capitulation of Iran. Nuclear weapons used in today’s world, even tactical nukes, would likely set off a global Armageddon. In every scenario where nuclear weapons are used, our simulations tell us this. A nuclear strike against Iran would likely accomplish little other than to inflame the situation more, kill more innocent Iranians, and invite large reprisals against the U.S. and its allies, even if it didn’t result in the destruction of most of the Northern Hemisphere in three hours.

That is a non-starter for any sane person hopefully… although there have been credible reports of Trump running around the Oval Office demanding the nuclear codes to launch and being stopped by the Joint Chiefs of Staff according to a CIA analyst. Maybe its my confirmation bias, but I don’t have much trouble believing that given the state of America’s “Mad King” and even madder Republic.

What Will Probably Happen

So I guess the U.S. will just keep bombing Iran and they can continue retaliating against our Gulf Allies with relative impunity. This will be great for oil companies profits as well as defense industry companies and of course Trump and the U.S. Congress portfolios.

We will have on and off “cease fires” until some sort of diplomatic solution in reached after someone may actually get in trouble for what used to be called “insider trading”. The U.S. will have to accept a humiliating expensive defeat or continue being the pariah that is ruining the world economy.

It will be emblematic of the U.S. as a flailing Superpower due to its own hubris and foolishness. Perhaps it will rise again…perhaps not…its going to be tough going convincing the world that “we have changed” and to “give us one more chance” after the abuses that have been inflicted over the past 18 months. China seems like a much more reliable security and trading partner, don’t you think?

What We Really Should be Doing Right Now

Not to mention, our biggest problems as a species are the A.I. Alignment Problem, which is getting swept under the rug as well as climate changed. By all means though, lets keep putting all our resources into fighting each other over the resource that is threatening our continued existence on this planet in a fully nuclear armed world and see what happens…. How much would it cost to cover the 3-4% of the Sahara Desert with solar panels again (in case you were wondering $200 to $500 trillion). Maybe the U.S. could start with the 500 billion of the 1.5 trillion in defense spending a year as a gesture of global good will…just a thought… I’m crazy, I know…

Author’s Notes in No Particular Order

In a way, we as a species would probably be better off without unlimited access to fossil fuels right now given the state of the climate…random thought.

History will look back at us with utter disdain, if there is anyone left to write about us….