Implode-o-Meter News - Stockman: U.S. "LBO'd" Itself To Death

The trend level of real GDP growth captured by the gray bars has been heading south since the early 1970s. And during the last 10 years it's averaged only 1.2% annually, or just one-third of the 3.8% average recorded during the American heyday (1953-1971).
This stunning deterioration occurred precisely as the national LBO hit full stride (red line), rising from the historic 1.5X to the current 3.5X.

Ultimately, all this debt and financial suppression is the enemy of investment and productivity.

It encourages massive financial engineering in the form of stock buybacks and merger and acquisition (M&A) deals. This diverts economic resources from productive investment on main street to leveraged speculation in existing financial assets on Wall Street.
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In short, the national LBO of 1980-2017 has saddled the nation with a giant Welfare State (health care and retirement pensions) because the bottom 90% of the population has no material savings.

And financing that mushrooming Welfare State will mean, in turn, higher taxes and more public debt as far as the eye can see.

Relevant:

Stockman: U.S. "LBO'd" Itself To Death