Carol Roth

Yes. So, you know, we've talked about before that the economic situation is not really what it was presented to be. You know, we heard under Biden and certainly during election season, what a wonderful economy we had, all of these really great statistics on employment and growth.

And it's become very clear, well, it was very clear to all of us before we've talked about it, something that Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bassett talked about in a speech a couple weeks ago, is that really the economic foundation is incredibly fragile.

And it's become very clear, well, it was very clear to all of us before we've talked about it, something that Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bassett talked about in a speech a couple weeks ago, is that really the economic foundation is incredibly fragile.

And it's become very clear, well, it was very clear to all of us before we've talked about it, something that Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bassett talked about in a speech a couple weeks ago, is that really the economic foundation is incredibly fragile.

And what we've had the Biden administration do, which was exceptionally nefarious, is that they decided that they were gonna spend to paper over the weakness of the economy. So if you remember, I think it was back in 2022, we had those two down quarters of GDP, which is a technical recession, which for some reason, by the way, they said was not a recession.

And what we've had the Biden administration do, which was exceptionally nefarious, is that they decided that they were gonna spend to paper over the weakness of the economy. So if you remember, I think it was back in 2022, we had those two down quarters of GDP, which is a technical recession, which for some reason, by the way, they said was not a recession.

And what we've had the Biden administration do, which was exceptionally nefarious, is that they decided that they were gonna spend to paper over the weakness of the economy. So if you remember, I think it was back in 2022, we had those two down quarters of GDP, which is a technical recession, which for some reason, by the way, they said was not a recession.

I'm sure if Trump had two down quarters, they would say it was, but it had a D in front of it, so it wasn't. And then we came out of it, and then it was pretty clear that we were gonna go into this double dip recession. And so what did they do? They decided to increase government spending. which is very inefficient spending.

I'm sure if Trump had two down quarters, they would say it was, but it had a D in front of it, so it wasn't. And then we came out of it, and then it was pretty clear that we were gonna go into this double dip recession. And so what did they do? They decided to increase government spending. which is very inefficient spending.

I'm sure if Trump had two down quarters, they would say it was, but it had a D in front of it, so it wasn't. And then we came out of it, and then it was pretty clear that we were gonna go into this double dip recession. And so what did they do? They decided to increase government spending. which is very inefficient spending.

And we've been running deficits as a percentage of GDP that are at wartime levels. We're talking 6% to 7% of GDP. The historical average is somewhere around 3% or 3.5%. So about double what you might see on average. When you have a good economy, you would actually expect that to be much lower because you're getting more receipts. And that's what happened. We had more receipts.

And we've been running deficits as a percentage of GDP that are at wartime levels. We're talking 6% to 7% of GDP. The historical average is somewhere around 3% or 3.5%. So about double what you might see on average. When you have a good economy, you would actually expect that to be much lower because you're getting more receipts. And that's what happened. We had more receipts.

And we've been running deficits as a percentage of GDP that are at wartime levels. We're talking 6% to 7% of GDP. The historical average is somewhere around 3% or 3.5%. So about double what you might see on average. When you have a good economy, you would actually expect that to be much lower because you're getting more receipts. And that's what happened. We had more receipts.

We were taking in almost five trillion dollars. We were spending U.S. government and they're spending even more. They're spending almost seven trillion dollars. So that was done to mask the weakness and the economy. Now that we don't have the ability to continue to kick up even more and more to show growth, the consumer continues to be tapped out from all the Biden-era policies.

We were taking in almost five trillion dollars. We were spending U.S. government and they're spending even more. They're spending almost seven trillion dollars. So that was done to mask the weakness and the economy. Now that we don't have the ability to continue to kick up even more and more to show growth, the consumer continues to be tapped out from all the Biden-era policies.

We were taking in almost five trillion dollars. We were spending U.S. government and they're spending even more. They're spending almost seven trillion dollars. So that was done to mask the weakness and the economy. Now that we don't have the ability to continue to kick up even more and more to show growth, the consumer continues to be tapped out from all the Biden-era policies.

And the fact that we have Doge, which is trying to cut down government spending, We're at a situation where things could get uglier before they get better or they could get uglier and they could take away the political will to make them better. And that's this delicate dance that we've been talking about, why we need this careful choreography.

And the fact that we have Doge, which is trying to cut down government spending, We're at a situation where things could get uglier before they get better or they could get uglier and they could take away the political will to make them better. And that's this delicate dance that we've been talking about, why we need this careful choreography.

And the fact that we have Doge, which is trying to cut down government spending, We're at a situation where things could get uglier before they get better or they could get uglier and they could take away the political will to make them better. And that's this delicate dance that we've been talking about, why we need this careful choreography.

The craziest thing that's happened over the past several days is that the Atlanta Fed, one of the branches of the Federal Reserve that has a tool that predicts GDP for each quarter, they went in the last four weeks, okay, four weeks time from predicting that we were going to have almost 4% GDP growth in the first quarter to now negative 3%. in the first quarter.