America’s Just 12.3% of the Problem

Last week, the total debt in the U.S. topped $37 trillion.

Of course, that debt doesn’t include what’s owed on transfer programs – think Social Security and Medicare. The real numbers without the accounting gimmickry are far worse.

But the U.S. isn’t alone. Surging debt levels are a global issue. Total world debt has topped $300 trillion:

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Total debt has been soaring at an unsustainable rate for nearly 30 years.

That makes America’s debt look piddling by comparison – a mere 12.3% of the total. It’s a global crisis waiting to happen.

But that’s not the issue as the Senate debates the “big, beautiful bill” ahead of the 4th of July holiday weekend.

After a spike during the pandemic, U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio is still over 120% – and climbing again.

Historically, no country that crossed the 130% debt-to-GDP ratio has been able to survive long enough to “grow its way out” of a debt crisis.

Therein lies the tension. The Trump Reset formula requires an extension of his first-term tax cuts, low and fair tariffs… and low interest rates.

It’s a tall order. And why he’s pushing to get economic growth on the table before the mid-term elections in November 2026. (To understand it all, we’ve prepared this research: Trump’s Great Reset).

~ Addison

The Next 9/11 Won’t Come from a Plane…

America is facing its greatest war threat in more than 80-years. But the next 9/11 won’t come from a plane. It’ll come from something that could wipe the entire continental U.S off the map. That’s why President Trump is secretly fast-tracking this top-secret $2.5 trillion defense initiative. It will make America untouchable. And could create generational wealth for early investors. Click here now to find out how.

P.S.: High debt is a feature of “fiat” money systems. Money printing leads to higher inflation and more money printing. Which, in turn, creates more inflation.

You get the idea. It’s a doom loop.

As you know, that’s why we like gold. Gold holds its intrinsic value in the face of inflation. You can read our report on gold’s historic rise here.

That said, with the stock market back to all-time highs and many headline fears disappearing, gold is likely to take a breather this summer… and give you a chance to buy in at a discount. Keep an eye out.

As always, your reader feedback is welcome: feedback@greyswanfraternity.com (We read all emails. Thanks in advance for your contribution.)

Last week, the total debt in the U.S. topped $37 trillion.

Of course, that debt doesn’t include what’s owed on transfer programs – think Social Security and Medicare. The real numbers without the accounting gimmickry are far worse.

But the U.S. isn’t alone. Surging debt levels are a global issue. Total world debt has topped $300 trillion:

Turn Your Images On

Total debt has been soaring at an unsustainable rate for nearly 30 years.

That makes America’s debt look piddling by comparison – a mere 12.3% of the total. It’s a global crisis waiting to happen.

But that’s not the issue as the Senate debates the “big, beautiful bill” ahead of the 4th of July holiday weekend.

After a spike during the pandemic, U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio is still over 120% – and climbing again.

Historically, no country that crossed the 130% debt-to-GDP ratio has been able to survive long enough to “grow its way out” of a debt crisis.

Therein lies the tension. The Trump Reset formula requires an extension of his first-term tax cuts, low and fair tariffs… and low interest rates.

~ Addison

The Next 9/11 Won’t Come from a Plane…

P.S.: High debt is a feature of “fiat” money systems. Money printing leads to higher inflation and more money printing. Which, in turn, creates more inflation.

You get the idea. It’s a doom loop.

As you know, that’s why we like gold. Gold holds its intrinsic value in the face of inflation. You can read our report on gold’s historic rise here.

As always, your reader feedback is welcome: feedback@greyswanfraternity.com (We read all emails. Thanks in advance for your contribution.)

As copper flowed into the United States, LME inventories thinned and backwardation steepened. Higher U.S. pricing, tariff protection, and lower political risk made American warehouses the most attractive destination for metal. Each new shipment strengthened the spread.

The arbitrage, once triggered, became self-reinforcing. Traders were not participating in theory; they were responding to the physical incentives in front of them.

The United States had quietly become the marginal buyer of the world’s most important industrial metal. China, long the gravitational center of global copper demand, found itself on the outside.

Under the frost-crusted shrubs, the bears are sniffing around for scraps of bloody meat.

They smell the subtle rot of credit stress, central-bank desperation, and debt that’s beginning to steam in the cold. They’re not charging — not yet. But they’re present. Watching. Testing the doors.

Retail investors, last in line, await the Fed’s final announcement of the year on Wednesday. Then the central planners of the world get their turn: the Bank of England, Bank of Japan, and the European Central Bank.

Treasuries just suffered their worst week since June. And in Japan — the quiet godfather of global liquidity — something fundamental is breaking.

Silver continues its blistering ascent. Gold and bitcoin have settled in at $4,200 and $92,000, respectively.

It’s absurd, really, for any politician to be talking about “affordability.”

The data is clear. If higher prices are your goal, let the government “fix” them.

Mandates, paperwork, and busybodies telling you what you can and can’t do – it’s not a surprise why costs add up.

In contrast, if you want lower prices, do nothing– zilch. Let the market work.

For 30 years, Japan was the land where interest rates went to die.

The Bank of Japan used yield-curve control to keep long-term rates sedated. Traders joked that shorting Japanese bonds was the “widow-maker trade.”

Not anymore.

On November 20, 2025, everything changed. Quietly, but decisively.

The Bank of Japan finally pulled the plug on decades of easy money. Negative rates were removed. Yield-curve control was abandoned. The policy rate was lifted to a 17-year high.

Suddenly, global markets had to reprice something they had ignored for years.

What happens when the world’s largest creditor nation stops exporting cheap capital and starts pulling it back home?

The answer came fast. Bond yields in Europe and the United States began climbing. The Japanese yen strengthened sharply. Wall Street faltered.