The logic of democracy is to spend other people's money faster than they can kick you out of office.

The more corrupt your country is, the more that spending goes to cronies and to Swiss bank accounts via fake invoices and overbidding. The lesser-corrupt democracies, like the U.S., or the "high-trust" Scandis or the U.K., just wrap their crony spending in fancy words about society and improvement and good for this or that or WE HELP X, or boost our national industry blahblah.

It's all just a farce.

Rich nations are turning on the fiscal taps. On Friday, Donald Trump is set to finally sign his “big, beautiful bill” into law. The tax-cutting legislation is estimated to add more than $3tn to the US deficit over the next decade.

(yes, I'm late to the party on this FT piece... too many tabs open)

For the Japanese upcoming election, FT's editorial team tells us,

parties kicked off campaigns for upper house elections promising cash handouts and cuts to sales taxes

Democracy is the delusion that everyone can live at the expense of everyone elseDemocracy is the delusion that everyone can live at the expense of everyone else

just a few weeks ago Nato members — with the exception of Spain — agreed to raise investments in defence from 2 per cent of GDP to 5 per cent by 2035. The large debt piles already built up in the Covid pandemic no longer seem to matter.

The public debt-to-GDP ratio across all advanced economies is at around 110 per cent, and rising. Sooner or later governments will have to face the music.

It doesn't seem to matter... because it doesn't. We got money printers, dudez; and the rich are our captives, we can always just expropriate them.

This is a disgusting notion, but whatever:

In France, the government is seeking billions of euros in savings to cut its high deficit, yet the nation’s divided parliament has struggled to agree on where the cutbacks should land. In recent weeks, Britain’s Labour government has reversed £6.25bn in planned cuts to benefits following an uproar from voters and its own MPs.

"Politicians seem unable to make the necessary cutbacks""Politicians seem unable to make the necessary cutbacks"

I don't know why they write this like it's some form of news or surprise. Yes, duh, that is their purpose and role. And precisely why they need to gooooo.

Fucking depressing to read. Anyone have any good candidates for escaping? (since Europe is a museum etc, #1020250)

My anarchist preconceptions coming through well?? #755215

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