Dear Reader,
FORTY TRILLION DOLLARS.
That is the number Washington crossed this week. $40 trillion in national debt. The clock hit it Tuesday, August 19. Treasury Secretary Bessent called it a milestone. The news ran the story for six hours, then moved on.
I call it a confession.
Inside today’s issue:
- Why the Treasury is now buying its own debt — and what that tells you about everyone who stopped
- Walmart just posted its worst U.S. sales growth in six years. The strong-consumer story is over.
- The 30-year Treasury yield hit 5.19% this week. The highest since 2007. The bond market is saying something out loud.
- Larry Benedict just released a new presentation on a strategy called “Oil Skimming.” It’s worth a look.
Here is what Bloomberg told you on Tuesday:
"Our federal programmes spend much more than the government takes in, and the biggest-ticket items in the federal budget are all running on autopilot."
"Running on autopilot." That is the most polite way I have ever heard anyone describe a slow collapse.
$40 trillion. It doubled in a decade. We went from $23 trillion in early 2020 to $40 trillion in August 2026. A 74% increase in six years. Rome built roads with its surplus. We built debt with ours.
But here is what Bloomberg did not put in the headline:
The buyers are gone.
Treasury Secretary Bessent doubled the government’s bond buyback program this week. From $2 billion to over $4 billion. He called it a stabilization measure. I call it what it is: the U.S. government is now the primary buyer of its own debt.
When that happens, history has a name for it. It is not stabilization.
The 30-year Treasury yield hit 5.19% Thursday. The highest since 2007. The Dow dropped 703 points. Walmart reported its slowest U.S. comparable sales growth in six years. CFO John David Rainey said on CNBC: "Consumers have been more pressured than earlier this year."
The consumer is not resilient. The consumer is running out.
There is one number buried in the Congressional Budget Office report that I have not seen anyone explain. It changes everything about how you should position yourself over the next five years. But first, something worth your attention from our partners:
Just days ago, Robert Kiyosaki posted something on X that 443,000 people saw.
Most financial gurus tell you what to do. Robert Kiyosaki tells you what HE'S doing.
Just days ago, he posted this to 443,000 people: "During this last 'retracement' or 'crash' I bought more gold and silver." Not "you should buy." Not "consider buying." Not "this might be a good time." "I bought more."
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The buried number is this: U.S. debt as a percentage of GDP is 123%. And the CBO says we owe $1 trillion per year in interest alone.
ONE TRILLION DOLLARS. Every year. In interest. Not principal. Just the cost of carrying what we already owe. More than the entire Pentagon budget. More than Medicare. More than Medicaid. Just the interest bill.
History says what happens next. Not my opinion. The data:
1. Japan 1990. Debt hit 100% of GDP. Government became the primary buyer of Japanese bonds. The yen has lost 55% of its value against gold over the following 35 years.
2. Argentina 2001. Same playbook. Different currency.
3. The Weimar Republic. Different era. Same arithmetic.
I am NOT saying America becomes Argentina. I am saying that every time a government becomes the primary buyer of its own debt, the currency weakens. Not always fast. Sometimes slowly. Sometimes very slowly. Then all at once.
I have been saying this for 30 years: SAVERS ARE LOSERS.
Not because saving is wrong. Because when the government inflates its way out of debt, every dollar sitting in your savings account loses purchasing power. They do not take it from you directly. They dilute it slowly while calling it policy.
Gold is near $4,356 an ounce. Down from its January record above $5,500. Silver is at $63. Down 47% from its January record of $121. Both are pulling back because rate-hike fears are scaring the crowd out of hard assets.
I bought my first silver in 1965. The newspapers said hard assets were outdated then too.
$40 trillion. 123% debt to GDP. $1 trillion in annual interest. The government buying its own bonds. Walmart warning the consumer is failing.
The question is not whether this ends badly. The question is what you own when it does.
To your freedom,
Robert Kiyosaki
Author, Rich Dad Poor Dad
P.S. You asked. It's back.
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