Was This The Beginning of The End For America.... Economically?

Thanks to Monarch for partnering with me! Start your free trial and get 50% off your first year of total money clarity using my link https://monarchmoney.yt.link/R1KB1VK or code hbw50 for 50% Off Monarch Core tier ------ Sign up for my FREE newsletter! - https://www.compoundeddaily.com/ ------ #debt #History #business Link To Our Other Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/HowMoneyWorks Written By: Sam Video Created By: Svibe Multimedia Studio Editor: Cardan Media Gatherer: Andrea Rivas Footage Courtesy of: Getty Images Music Provided By: Epidemic Sound 📩 Business Inquiries ➡️ [email protected] ----- Sources (In order) https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?end=2001&locations=JP-US&start=1960 https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/107th-congress-2001-2002/reports/entire-report.pdf https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1004548380881711360 https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2011/10/20/LifeAfterDebt.pdf https://finance.yahoo.com/news/heres-why-us-doesnt-pay-035612736.html https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A091RC1Q027SBEA https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A091RC1Q027SBEA https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/06/upshot/balancing-budget-painful-spending-cuts.html https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1YyCL https://files.taxfoundation.org/20230125101530/FedData2023_2.png https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/the-legacy-of-the-2001-and-2003-bush-tax-cuts https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL32502.html https://www.congress.gov/bill/107th-congress/house-bill/1836/text https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-108publ27/pdf/PLAW-108publ27.pdf https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1YyEv https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-115publ97/pdf/PLAW-115publ97.pdf https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-119publ21/pdf/PLAW-119publ21.pdf https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2025/06/myth-vs-fact-the-one-big-beautiful-bill/ https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2000/06/2000b_bpea_fleming.pdf https://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2001/20010427/default.htm https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1Yz1x https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/FDEFX https://www.macrotrends.net/1320/nasdaq-historical-chart https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/great-recession-and-its-aftermath https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/infocus/achievement/chap7.html ------ At the start of the new Millennium, it's hard to express just how truly dominant the American economy was. Externally, the fall of the Soviet Union and the cold war was a decade old memory, and the new economic challenge from Japan had largely fizzled in the aftermath of the Asian Financial Crisis. The American economy was more than twice as large as the runner up, which was a lead not seen by any other nation in history outside of the end of the second world war (which was arguably influenced a lot more by international destruction than domestic prosperity) Internally things were arguably even better. The markets were booming, people were seeing meaningful quality of life increases and this was all achieved while ALSO running the largest fiscal surplus in history. In 2001 the congressional budget office estimmated that by 2009 the national debt (which was already modest at the time) would be fully paid off, thanks to over 5.6 trillion dollars in surplus revenue coming in over that time… At the time this seemed almost so guaranteed to happen that the treasury even stopped issuing 30 year bonds, because well… they didn't want to have a debt burden that would be around longer than the country needed it. The assumed inevitability of America being debt free was such a big deal, that a lot of economists were actually freaking out about what this could mean for the global economy and the nature of money itself… But of course… that never happened… In just 10 years America went from assuming that its debt would be gone for good… to assuming that it will never be paid back… ever… In retrospect the following few years pushed the country down an economic path that was so different it effectively reversed these assumptions. Massive deficits, widespread outsourcing, the loss of global dominance, over-financialisation, the biggest economic downturn since the great depression and all of these miss steps seem to be blamed on one man…