The Debt Ceiling Crisis Joke: Punchline

The so-called debt crisis was a joke. You knew that, right? 

The drama was played up to the hilt. Politicians in both parties played the parts. They got face-time a-plenty. You do know it was all staged, right?

Upon resolution, the stock market melted up. For those who pay attention to the financial media, it was an extra spike - as if the regular show wasn't exciting enough. For the daily observer, specifically he or she who brings no background, context or perspective to the theater in the round production, the week may have signaled that all is well with the economy and the financial markets. After all, we've not had a 700+ point rise in the Dow for a long time now. 

So the Bear Market is dead, right? Combine this with the Friday jobs report, which came in hot - or at least hotter than anticipated - and you've got buckets of white wash splashed on the Bear Market and Recession graffiti that's weighed on economists and traders.

Of course, that's all fiction. You know that, right? Indeed, a technical approach would have the S&P driving towards 4,300. It got to 4,282. Not quite there yet. 

Will it power up next week? Who knows? Seriously, if you know, please weigh in. We could use some infallible predictions. It's been tough making money if you're not invested in the NASDAQ, even better the 5 or 6 stocks that drive the Index; even better the stocks that are identified with AI - like Microsoft (MSFT), blah, blah, blah. 

OK. Let's get back to the debt ceiling joke. Now, some of you may already know about the joke and/or the phony drama. But for those of you who - for some unfathomable reason - were drawn into the various scenes in the 4-Act Play of the Debt Ceiling Crisis, here's what you need to know. (OK, maybe it was a 3-Act Play.)

This comes from E.B. Tucker. Well, he didn't make these numbers up. But he had the presence of mind to connect with them. (He's an interesting guy - a relatively original thinker in a morass of B.S.)

The following basically says that there is not real debt ceiling. It confirms the drama that's conjured up every few years or so. Check these numbers. They go back to Reagan. For 2-term administrations, the national debt has more or less doubled. There were debt ceilings through the whole mess. Didn't mean a thing. The debt rose, ceiling or no ceiling:

• Reagan 1980-1988 – $850 billion to $2.5 trillion
• Bush Sr 1988-1992 – $2.5 trillion to $4 trillion
• Clinton 1992-2000 – $4 trillion to $5.5 trillion
• Bush Jr. 2000-2008 – $5.5 trillion to $10 trillion
• Obama 2008-2016 – $10 trillion to $19 trillion
• Trump 2016-2020 – $19 trillion to $25 trillion
• Biden 2020-2024 – $25 trillion to $31.5 trillion

All along the way, when the opportunity presents itself, politicians pull out the script from their archives and stage their drama.

You see that, right?

So we covered the drama. What about the joke? It's simple: The whole thing is a joke. You know what that means. The thing is, there's no real punchline. So it's not a joke in the good sense - where we get to laugh at the punchline. It's a joke in the bad sense - where we get to the punchline and realize we've been had.

Don't let this happen to you again. If you haven't realized what's going on with this debt ceiling thing before, realize it now. Next time it comes up - and it will - ignore it. 

Instead of being distracted by the B.S., focus on your work, spend time with your family, pursue any meaningful avocations you might have, or just take a nap. 

Anything but getting sucked into the debt ceiling crisis drama/joke.