The Trillion-Dollar Fantasy at the Heart of the Global Economy

Jacob Bacharach / Truthdig Aug 8, 2018 It may be a heady time for the tech titans in Cupertino, but we should worry when a super-sized market sector is effectively fueled by magical thinking. Dig deeper ( 5 Min. Read )

U.S. Household Wealth Falls by $1.5 Trillion

Staff / Truthdig Sep 18, 2010 This just in: US households are getting poorer As the crisis continues to wreak havoc on our economy, new data from the Federal Reserve tells us that U net household worth has dropped $15 trillion in the second quarter of 2010 and is down more than $10 trillion since the recession began. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

U.S. Budget Deficit Climbs to Over $1 Trillion

Staff / Truthdig Jul 14, 2009 America's spend-a-thon has brought some inevitable consequences, not the least being that we now are looking at a federal budget deficit of more than $1 trillion for the first time ever, and that number is projected to nearly double by October. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Budget Deficit Hits $1.8 Trilly

Staff / Truthdig Mar 20, 2009 The current year's federal budget deficit, according to congressional economists, will top $1.8 trillion, the biggest ever by far. And their projection for the fiscal 2010 budget shortfall is tickling $1.4 trillion, putting both estimates much higher than they were in forecasts back in January. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

‘Democracy Now!’: Sen. Sanders, Scheer on the Bailout Boondoggle

Staff / Truthdig Sep 23, 2008 On Monday morning, as the aftershocks from Wall Street's worst week in decades continued to rock the national and global economy and the Bush administration scrambled to contain the fallout with a bailout plan that could cost American taxpayers over a trillion dollars, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Robert Scheer and Dean Baker joined "Democracy Now!" host Amy Goodman (above) to sort through the rubble and speculate about what might come next. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Paulson Bailout Plan Could Reach $1 Trillion

Staff / Truthdig Sep 19, 2008 If you thought the Iraq war was expensive, the Bush administration is also throwing an estimated $1-trillion bailout of major finance firms to prevent a meltdown of the U.S. economy. President Bush and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson outlined such a "bold approach" Friday morning, yet detailed plans still remain forthcoming. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Can YOU Spend $3 Trillion Better Than Bush?

Staff / Truthdig Apr 15, 2008 We've all heard of Publishers Clearing House, but this is a whole new ballgame, people. Robert Greenwald's Brave New Films team has come up with a game that offers each player the fictional (sigh) amount of $3 trillion, the same amount the Iraq war is projected to cost the U.S., and a whole virtual mall's worth of fun "shopping" items to buy. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Cheering for Ron Paul

Robert Scheer / Truthdig Nov 21, 2007 What can you get for a trillion bucks? Or make that $1.6 trillion, if you take the cost of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as tallied by the majority staff of Congress' Joint Economic Committee. Or is it the $3.5-trillion figure cited by Paul, whose concern about the true cost of this war for ordinary Americans shames the leading Democrats? Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Ron Paul: Iraq War Will Cost $3.5 Trillion

Staff / Truthdig Nov 20, 2007 It's difficult to fully comprehend the total price tag of the Iraq war, but Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has made some staggering calculations, coming up with a whopping $3.5 trillion -- including "hidden costs" such as interest on the money we're borrowing, and long-term health care for vets. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )