Why does the world’s richest man want you to have less money?

For many rich people, acquiring wealth has become so ingrained in their lives that they don’t feel comfortable unless they are searching for ways to acquire more. I have acquaintances like that. They already have far more than they ever will spend in their remaining years, yet they are frugal to the point of absurdity.

They tip at the lower end of the scale. They give only minimally to charity. They search grocery ads for sales.

For the ultra-wealthy, the top 0.1%, the easiest path to growing their fortunes is to create distance from those beneath them, often by pushing for the government to spend less on supporting people with fewer resources.

Elon Musk is a classic example, as this article demonstrates:

When Musk made the comments last year, the federal government was already running deficits near $1.8 trillion annually. Fiscal year 2025 ultimately closed with a deficit of roughly $1.8 trillion, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates.

The numbers now are not much better.

The CBO and other fiscal watchdog groups project fiscal year 2026 deficits to land around $1.9 trillion, with some estimates climbing above $2 trillion. In just the first six months of fiscal year 2026, the federal government had already borrowed about $1.2 trillion.

The public does not understand two key facts:

1. The federal government can run deficits indefinitely by simply creating money electronically, so it can never run out of dollars.
2. Deficits are crucial for economic growth, as every depression in U.S. history has followed periods of government surpluses, and nearly every recession has been caused by deficits that were too small.

The formula for economic growth is: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) = Federal Spending + Non-federal Spending + Net Exports. A drop in Federal Spending also impacts Non-federal Spending and results in reduced GDP. Simple algebra.

Interest payments are becoming an even bigger issue. Recent projections show annual interest costs on the national debt topping $1 trillion, meaning more taxpayer money is being spent servicing existing debt instead of funding government programs or infrastructure.

Federal interest payments stimulate economic growth by channeling money from the government, which has unlimited funds, to businesses and individuals who then spend it.

America’s debt bill has grown so large that even the world’s richest man, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, sounded less like a tech mogul and more like someone warning the country its financial engine was starting to smoke.

No, he sounded more like a rich Trump appointee, parroting the party line that the rich are America’s honest heroes, while the rest of us are lazy slackers, responsible for “corruption and waste.”

Musk framed the debt problem in terms most households already understand.

Long ago, sailors were cautioned not to venture too far, for fear they might fall off the edge of the world—a warning framed in terms everyone could grasp.

Similarly, by equating corruption with waste and falsely claiming the federal government is going bankrupt, Musk exploited the public’s misunderstanding of how federal finances actually work.

When Musk made the comments last year, the federal government was already running deficits near $1.8 trillion annually. Fiscal year 2025 ultimately closed with a deficit of roughly $1.8 trillion, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates.

The numbers now are not much better.

Pumping less money into the economy isn’t “better” — it’s actually much worse. If not from the federal government, where else can the economy get the growth dollars it needs?

The CBO and other fiscal watchdog groups project fiscal year 2026 deficits to land around $1.9 trillion, with some estimates climbing above $2 trillion. In just the first six months of fiscal year 2026, the federal government had already borrowed about $1.2 trillion.

More than a year after the Fox News interview, the central issue Musk raised remains largely unchanged. Deficits are still approaching $2 trillion, debt interest costs continue climbing, and Washington still has not found a clear path to slow either one down.

These warnings are nothing new. In fact, the post, “Historical BULLSHIT Claims the Federal Debt Is a ‘Ticking Time Bomb’”: From Sept. 26, 1940 to April 20, 2026, highlights that the same false claims have been repeated for the past 86 years. Yet, despite their consistent inaccuracy, many people still believe them.

Interest payments are becoming an even bigger issue. Recent projections show annual interest costs on the national debt topping $1 trillion, meaning more taxpayer money is being spent servicing existing debt instead of funding government programs or infrastructure.

This is where inconsistency turns from ignorance to comedy. First, they gripe about deficits; then, they gripe about taxpayer money. But the two are opposites—deficits mean there isn’t enough taxpayer money.

In short, the federal government can’t run out of dollars, and the more it puts into the economy, the more it fuels economic growth. The wealthy spread falsehoods about our economy to cut back the benefits we get from the government, ultimately making themselves even richer.

The result is a litany of lies, including:

1. The federal government “can’t afford” to pay for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps and other social benefits.
2. Taxes supporting social benefits must be increased, especially the taxes paid by the lower 90% income groups.
3. When the government spends, that is “socialism,” which is bad for the economy.

Folks, it simply is not true. These believing those claims are the suckers the rich believe them to be.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell

Monetary Sovereignty

Twitter: @rodgermitchell

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