musk is not "saving" anything. he's slamming the brakes on the economy [View all]

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government spending is a key component of economic growth. the economy doesn't really care if it's "waste, fraud, or abuse" or actually serves some intended policy. any government spending stimulates the economy because it goes into the hands of someone who then uses it to buy goods and services or invests it, and the money then circulates to create more spending and investing and so on.

now, some government spending is more effective than others; most notably, spending on poor people tends to be a very effective stimulus because they are more likely to spend it locally and quickly, as opposed to rich people who may save it or send it overseas whether as spending or investment. but that's a bit of a nuance. all government spending stimulates the economy.

now, the government shouldn't spend willy-nilly, it should certainly make sure spending aligns with intended laws and policies. but from an economist's point of view, even spending that goes to a fraudster stimulates the economy because the fraudster will spend it on goods and services or invest it.

so *even if* their lies about massive "waste, fraud, and abuse" are accurate (which they are very not), suddenly stopping all of it is slamming the brakes on the economy. it's part of why GDPNow is currently predicting a 2.4% *contraction* for the first quester of 2025. negative growth. not less positive growth, actual negative growth.

uncertainty from tariff whiplash is getting more attention, and yes, that's certainly putting a lot of private investment on hold, hurting the economy. but the reduction in government spending is also directly damaging the economy.

note that this isn't politics as usual -- typically an administration opposed to certain spending builds more conservative numbers into *next year's* budget. musk is coming in and stopping payments *right now*, so it has an immediate effect on government spending and the economy.


a sitting president often gets credit or blame for an economy when they didn't necessarily have a huge impact on it.

this recession, however, is practically engineered by donnie and musk. there was *no* reason for the economy to go into a recession now, until they showed up and immediately went about ruining everything.