Did the US Government just become insolvent?

No. One of the more eye-catching claims doing the rounds this week comes from a Fortune article arguing that the U.S. government is “insolvent”. The evidence? The Treasury’s own financial statements for 2025 show roughly $6 trillion in assets against nearly $48 trillion in liabilities. Add in long-term “unfunded” obligations for Social Security and Medicare … Read more

Student Loans: The Accounting Trick That Got Out of Hand

At long last, the student loan system is being debated seriously. It should be. Few policies impose marginal tax rates that politicians would tolerate anywhere else: 37% on incomes over £25,000, 51% over £50,270, and 71% over £100,000, before you even factor in interest and postgraduate add-ons. The Conservatives have proposed scrapping interest rates of … Read more

Shrinking The State | Trump vs Starmer

How easy is it to cut the size of Government? The original strapline for my blog right at the start was “small business is good, big government is bad”. Part of my dislike of big government comes from my own experiences as a Civil Servant. This gave rise to Chadwick’s laws of public finance and … Read more