Observations for 10 Dec 23

Interest payments on the National Debt have ballooned to $900 billion per year. For the first time in two decades, debt service now costs more than the entire military budget of the United States. This is not a sign of good economic times ahead. In other news, Hunter Biden's sweetheart deal from Federal prosecutors is dead as fried chicken, with a new series of indictments filed, though he is still getting a bit of a break. Other topics: UPenn's president resigned, Trump won't testify in NY, Ukraine funding got halted in Congress, and Blackrock's Larry Fink doesn't want to talk about ESG anymore.