This and That---December 22, 2023 Edition

A few random observations, charts and factoids to provide some context on what is going on in the world as we close out 2023.

Student Debt

Despite having been given a pause in making student loan payments for over three years, 40% of student debt holders did not make a payment on their loans once payments were required to be made again beginning in October.

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-18/student-loan-bills-restart-millions-of-borrowers-benefit-from-biden-leniency

Perhaps it was not the best idea for Joe Biden to keep saying that he is going to find a way to forgive student loan debts even though the U.S. Supreme Court has stated it cannot be done without the approval of Congress?

You can also be sure that he will soon be saying that he will be forgiving student loan debt as part of his 2024 campaign promises.

Why would anyone pay if someone keeps telling them their debts will be forgiven?

Talk About a Generation Gap

I don't know that I have ever seen a larger generation gap than what is reflected in this survey.

67% of the 18-24 age group see Jews as oppressors. Only 9% of those age 65+ do.

Mind you this is not a survey about the state of Israel or Zionists as oppressors. They are just referring to ordinary Jewish people you see everyday in your community.

It makes you wonder exactly what is being taught to young people for all of that student debt they have accumulated.

What is really ironic is that 67% of this age group voted for Biden in 2020 and many still believe that Donald Trump and his supporters are Nazis.

Another Gigantic Gap

Another gigantic gap is shown in this graph that tracks the level of satisfaction that U.S. 12th graders have with their parents compared to how satisfied they are with life as a whole.

Teenage satisfaction with the world as a whole used to generally track how satisfied the teen was in the relationship they had with their parents.

That correlation ceased to exist beginning about 2014. 

I wonder what might have contributed to this?

Credit: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/08/23/most-u-s-teens-who-use-cellphones-do-it-to-pass-time-connect-with-others-learn-new-things/

Failure to Launch

It appears that it is getting more difficult for the newest generations to launch their lives.

Credit: https://twitter.com/bp22/status/1736912653551837246/photo/1

Many compounding effects flow from this fact and almost none of them are positive.

Some state that this is the result of the internet giving everyone too many choices and making it harder to commit to mate.  

The thinking is that someone better must be one click away.

I Think We Needed That Debt Ceiling Limit

Almost $2.5 trillion has been added to U.S. national debt in the last seven months since the debt ceiling limit was done away with.

Does anyone else think this might have been a mistake?

$36 trillion may be owed by the time we get to 2025 when the debt ceiling limit is set to again be a point of discussions in Congress. 

That would be $4.5 trillion higher than the previous debt ceiling dollar limit.

All is proceeding as I predicted it might in my blog post in May, "Debt Deal Disappointment" right after it was agreed to.

...the McCarthy-Biden proposal has no dollar-denominated debt ceiling limit.

Instead, it allows the federal government to borrow as much as it needs or wants until January 1, 2025.

This will mean that the debt ceiling could go up another $2 trillion, $3 trillion, $4 trillion or higher without  requiring additional Congressional approval.

If we were to face a recession in the next 18 months there is no telling what the debt limit might end up being.

Notice as well that the debt ceiling limit will expire after the 2024 elections but before a new Congress will be sworn in during the first few days of January, 2025.

This means the next debt limit ceiling discussions will occur during a lame duck session of Congress and what could also involve a lame duck President.

You also have to wonder what would stop the Biden administration Secretary of Treasury from issuing as many debt obligations as they could right before the January 1, 2025 deadline?

None of this is conducive to being in the best interests of the American people.

On the other hand, it is all rather convenient for the politicians involved don't you think?

The interest costs on $36 trillion at an average 4% interest rate is almost $1.5 trillion per year.

By comparison, the defense spending bill for 2024 that was just passed is $842 billion for fiscal 2024.

The federal government is projected to collected $2.2 trillion in individual income taxes in fiscal 2023.

Something has to give very soon.

It is called math.