U.S. Government Spent 51% More Than It Took In Last Month

President Trump is happy that tariff taxes reaped by the government continue to grow.

For August, the U.S. government collected $30 billion in tariffs.

That’s good news if you’re a government bean counter.

However, tariff revenue still only makes up 10% of total government revenue. Back in April, Trump flirted with the idea that tariffs could lower or eliminate income taxes.

Politically, the idea sounds great.

In reality the numbers don’t come close.

The $344 billion the government collected from all forms of taxes last month is just 49% of the $689 billion it spent:

Turn Your Images On

The U.S. continues to run massive peacetime deficits. (Source: U.S. Treasury)

In other words, the government spent more than half of the money again, as much as it earned last month. Imagine how long spending like that would last if it were your family budget.

This week, the semi-annual budget theatre returns to Washington, D.C. House Speaker Mike Johnson will be making his rounds trying to justify another continuing resolution to keep the government open. All the while, the hard math of demography will grind away at the fabric of U.S. empire.

~ Addison

P.S. Politics are exerting pressure on money market funds, too.

This week on Grey Swan Live! with Adam O’Dell – at 2 p.m. ET, Thursday, September 18, 2025 — we’ll be investigating the $10 trillion pile of cash sitting on the sidelines during the terrifying bull market on Wall Street.

Mr. O’Dell has been warning investors how impending changes to monetary policy are going to force savers out of cash and into the markets… or gold. More details to come. Sign up now to become a member and join us for this week’s call.

If you have any questions for us about the market, send them our way now to: feedback@greyswanfraternity.com.

President Trump is happy that tariff taxes reaped by the government continue to grow.

For August, the U.S. government collected $30 billion in tariffs.

That’s good news if you’re a government bean counter.

However, tariff revenue still only makes up 10% of total government revenue. Back in April, Trump flirted with the idea that tariffs could lower or eliminate income taxes.

Politically, the idea sounds great.

In reality the numbers don’t come close.

The $344 billion the government collected from all forms of taxes last month is just 49% of the $689 billion it spent:

Turn Your Images On

The U.S. continues to run massive peacetime deficits. (Source: U.S. Treasury)

In other words, the government spent more than half of the money again, as much as it earned last month. Imagine how long spending like that would last if it were your family budget.

~ Addison

P.S. Politics are exerting pressure on money market funds, too.

If you have any questions for us about the market, send them our way now to: feedback@greyswanfraternity.com.

The stock market “rebalancing” is a polite way to put it. Energy and health care are getting a healthy boost. But tech hardware and software makers are still getting dressed down and have been asked to report to the principal’s office.

The great rotation underway has triggered a series of “Hindenburg Omens.” Five have occurred in recent weeks.

The S&P 500 has traded in a 3.7% range over the past two months — less than half the 20-year median of 8.6%. One of the tightest ranges in modern history.

In trader parlance, the indexes are “flat,” a setup that often materializes before a sell-off at the top after a multi-year bull market.

Goldman Sachs told its own traders to be aware that institutional trading activity resembles a VIX reading near 35. Rather than a reading of 20, where the VIX has been trading over that same 2-month period.

The U.S. software ETF, IGV, tested its April 2025 lows last week and trades roughly 35% below its peak. The “SaaS-pocalypse” in software companies reflects the fear of Citrini’s 2028 scenario happening in real time. That divergence now exceeds the spread seen at the peak of the Great Financial Crisis.

Under the surface, the “great rotation” we wrote about last week is threatening to widen.

Despite its overly-educated 40-million-plus population, on a GDP per capita basis Canada is null. Collectively, the Great White North would rank as America’s second-lowest state, coming in above Mississippi, but below Alabama.

SpaceX is the most valuable private startup in history — and if its success continues, it might become the most valuable public company in history.

After all, as Musk famously said in 2023, “I have never lost money for those who invest in me and I am not starting now.”

For investors, SpaceX has been a wild, joyful ride — and now the journey continues!