{"id":31535,"date":"2025-06-12T13:01:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T13:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=31535"},"modified":"2025-06-12T13:01:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T13:01:44","slug":"americas-debt-is-a-symptom-not-the-disease-how-investors-can-position","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=31535","title":{"rendered":"America&#8217;s Debt Is a Symptom, Not the Disease: How Investors Can Position"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/contributor-assets.benzinga.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/11201223\/Two-Subways.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/contributor-assets.benzinga.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/11201223\/Two-Subways.jpg 500w,https:\/\/contributor-assets.benzinga.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/11201223\/Two-Subways-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A Tale of Two Subway Stations<\/h3>\n<p>Clips of grimy New\u202fYork platforms versus sleek Moscow or Shanghai stations highlight\u00a0<strong>capacity to deliver public goods<\/strong>\u00a0rather than mere aesthetics. They hint at structural problems that precede\u2014and ultimately produce\u2014America&#8217;s $34\u202ftrillion federal debt.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Problem #1: Resources Flow to Low\u2011Productivity Services<\/h3>\n<p><em>The care\u2011giving boom in New\u202fYork City<\/em><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Between 2018 and mid\u20112023, service hours in New\u202fYork&#8217;s\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.ny.gov\/health_care\/medicaid\/program\/longterm\/cdpap\/\">Consumer\u2011Directed Personal Assistance Program (CDPAP)<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0more than doubled, even as traditional agency hours fell 19%.\u00a0<strong>This is a program that basically pays people $20 to $28 per hour to do errands for their elderly relatives<\/strong>\u2014in some cases, on a fulltime basis..<\/li>\n<li>CDPAP wages now account for roughly\u00a0<strong>one in eight<\/strong>\u00a0private\u2011sector paychecks in NYC.<\/li>\n<li>Home\u2011health jobs grew by 57\u202fk last year (\u224810\u202f%).<\/li>\n<li>Medicaid reimburses most of those wages, so the dollars come from federal borrowing, yet the output shows up mostly as consumption\u2014<strong>not<\/strong>\u00a0capital formation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Problem #2: Tradables Hollow\u2011Out<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Tradables share of 2023 GDP (manufacturing\u202f+\u202fmining\/drilling\u202f+\u202fagriculture):<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u2022 United\u202fStates\u202f\u2248\u202f19\u202f%<br \/>\u2022 China\u202f\u2248\u202f46\u202f%<br \/>\u2022 Russia\u202f\u2248\u202f37\u202f%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Trade balance, 2023:<\/strong><br \/>\u2022 United\u202fStates:\u00a0<strong>\u2212$1.1\u202fT<\/strong>\u00a0goods &amp; services deficit<br \/>\u2022 China:\u00a0<strong>+$800\u202fB<\/strong>\u00a0surplus<br \/>\u2022 Russia:\u00a0<strong>+$235\u202fB<\/strong>\u00a0surplus<\/li>\n<li>The U.S. goods\u2011and\u2011services gap widened to\u00a0<strong>$140\u202fB in March\u202f2025<\/strong>, the largest monthly shortfall on record.<\/li>\n<li>Borrowing to fund imported tradables is a double drag: it swells federal debt\u00a0<strong>and<\/strong>\u00a0diverts purchasing power abroad instead of into domestic plant, equipment, and infrastructure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Problem #3: Cost Disease in Public Works<\/h3>\n<p><em>Where did the $1.2\u202fT Infrastructure Bill money go?<\/em><\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Two\u2011plus years after passage, most &#8220;projects&#8221; remain in design or permitting. DOE progress reports celebrate\u00a0<strong>jobs created<\/strong>, not roads or bridges finished.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Francis Scott Key Bridge (Baltimore):<\/strong>\u00a0struck in March\u202f2024, geotech surveys began Jan\u202f2025, full reopening\u00a0<strong>target\u202f2028<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Crimean Bridge (Russia):<\/strong>\u00a0bombed\u202fOct\u202f2022, one lane reopened in 3\u202fmonths, rail traffic restored in 9\u202fmonths.<\/li>\n<li>The contrast underscores America&#8217;s permitting maze, &#8230;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.benzinga.com\/markets\/cryptocurrency\/25\/06\/45903055\/americas-debt-is-a-symptom-not-the-disease-how-investors-can-position\" alt=\"America's\" debt is a symptom not the disease: how investors can position>Full story available on Benzinga.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Tale of Two Subway Stations Clips of grimy New\u202fYork platforms versus sleek Moscow or Shanghai stations highlight\u00a0capacity to deliver public goods\u00a0rather than mere aesthetics. They hint at structural problems that precede\u2014and ultimately produce\u2014America&#8217;s $34\u202ftrillion federal debt. Problem #1: Resources Flow to Low\u2011Productivity Services The care\u2011giving boom in New\u202fYork City Between 2018 and mid\u20112023, service [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-31535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31535\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}