The Thursday Question 2:44: If not DOGE...

If you buy into the theory that Trumpian political rhetoric is 90% wrestling kayfabe, then I suppose Mr Musk’s turn from face to heel was to be expected. I don’t understand the kayfabe tradition, but I suspect that once the online exchanges escalated to allegations about the Epstein Papers, I figured DOGE was dead.

DOGE, the tech bro-culture infused effort to put an all-volunteer tiger team on the task of fixing America’s fiscal problem was a so-crazy-it-might-work story. Tony Stark and the Avengers meet their greatest foe, the federal budget deficit.

And goodness knows, America has a budget deficit big enough to need the Avengers. Appropriations committees couldn’t fix it. Budget committees and congressional audit agencies couldn’t fix it. Blue ribbon panels, red ribbon panels. Unified GOP government, unified Democrat government, divided government. High stakes negotiations in the White House. Nothing else reined in the deficit. Over the last eight years even US economic growth, the envy of the industrial world, hasn’t been able to keep pace with all the trillion dollar efforts to rebuild the American chip business, turbocharge the energy transition, forgive student loan debt and cut taxes while pushing ahead with richer retirement and health benefits.

Even if Mr Trump’s policy of mega tariffs and mega macroeconomic uncertainty don’t trigger a deep recession, US federal borrowing requirements have been destabilizing global bond markets for months. Other issuers are holding their breath and crossing their fingers. Alberta’s Treasurer spent an awful lot of time in Central Europe last week given that he had Double A stamped on his paper and a budget document to leave with investors. One wonders how far Mr Champagne will have to travel to cover his mid-twelve figure borrowing requirement.