The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo: Government Budgets, Stimulus, and Public Spending

Episode 60 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo digs into why governments consistently pay significantly more for infrastructure projects than private firms. Lucas and Luna examine a recent study of 1,500 global projects showing that public roads, bridges, and transit systems average 50 percent cost overruns compared to private benchmarks. They focus on California's High-Speed Rail Authority, which spent $6 billion on 119 miles of track in the Central Valley — roughly $50 million per mile, triple the per-mile cost of Spain's high-speed rail. The hosts unpack the structural drivers: fragmented procurement rules, prevailing wage laws, environmental review layers, and political incentives to underestimate. They also explore a rare success story — Utah's Department of Transportation, which adopted private-style design-build contracts and cut cost overruns to 10 percent. The episode offers a clear, data-driven look at how public spending rules inflate costs, and what reforms might close the gap. #Infrastructure #PublicSpending #CostOverruns #CaliforniaHighSpeedRail #DesignBuild #PrevailingWage #NEPA #UtahDOT #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentEfficiency #Economics #PublicPrivatePartnerships #Transportation #BudgetOverruns #InfrastructureCosts #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FiscalPolicyPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 59 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast digs into the small but expensive fees that state and local governments pay on every electronic benefits transaction — from EBT cards to unemployment debit cards. Each swipe costs taxpayers roughly 3 percent in interchange fees, adding up to over $1.5 billion a year nationally. Lucas and Luna examine how New York state recently cut its payment-card cost by 40 percent by switching to a low-fee provider and renegotiating its contract. They also explore why most governments haven't followed suit — the opacity of payment processing contracts, the cozy relationship between banks and state treasuries, and a pending federal rule that could force transparency. A concrete look at how tiny transaction costs quietly drain public funds. #GovernmentSpending #PaymentCards #InterchangeFees #EBT #UnemploymentBenefits #NewYork #PublicFinance #FiscalPolicy #Economics #StateBudgets #TaxpayerCost #Banking #FeeTransparency #Procurement #PolicyReform #GovernmentEfficiency #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

In this episode of The Fiscal Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna take aim at a costly inefficiency in government spending: prescription drug pricing in public health programs like Medicaid and Medicare Part D. They zero in on a 2025 federal report revealing that government health plans pay on average 50 percent more than the Veterans Health Administration for the same brand-name drugs. They walk through how the VHA's statutory direct-negotiation authority drives prices down, while Medicaid's 'best price' rule and Medicare's non-interference clause lock in higher costs. They also examine why pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) exacerbate the problem through opaque rebate structures, and why bipartisan legislative attempts to close the gap have stalled. Finally, they consider whether the Inflation Reduction Act's Medicare price negotiation provision—set to affect 10 drugs by 2026—will actually move the needle. A focused look at how procurement rules, not partisanship, drive the biggest waste in federal health spending. #PrescriptionDrugPricing #GovernmentSpending #Medicaid #MedicarePartD #VeteransHealthAdministration #PharmacyBenefitManagers #InflationReductionAct #DrugNegotiation #FiscalPolicy #PublicHealth #Economics #Podcast #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #GovernmentEfficiency #HealthcareCosts #DrugRebates #Procurement Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Lucas and Luna dig into a staggering inefficiency: governments at every level pay 30 to 50 percent more for identical software licenses than private companies. They use the specific example of Microsoft 365 — where the US federal government's contract price per user is nearly double what a mid-size business pays — and trace the root causes to procurement rules, bundled contracts, and the absence of competitive bidding in legacy renewals. The episode also explores why agencies like the Department of Defense end up on 'enterprise agreements' that lock them into five-year commitments with automatic price escalators. Luna pushes back on whether this is just a US problem, and Lucas points to the UK's Government Digital Service as a rare success story in driving down software costs through open standards and shorter contract terms. The conversation ends with a concrete takeaway: if you work in or with government, ask your procurement office whether they're benchmarking prices against private-sector equivalents — because in most cases, they aren't. #GovernmentSoftware #ProcurementWaste #Microsoft365 #PublicSpending #DigitalGovernment #TaxEfficiency #UKGovernmentDigitalService #EnterpriseAgreements #SoftwareLicensing #BundledContracts #Benchmarking #GovernmentInefficiency #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FiscalPolicy #PublicFinance #CostSaving Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 56 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo examines why the US government—the largest buyer of prescription drugs in the world—pays higher prices than many European countries. Lucas and Luna unpack the legal barrier known as 'non-interference clause' that prevents Medicare from negotiating drug prices, compare it to how the Department of Veterans Affairs negotiates effectively, and explore the Inflation Reduction Act's limited Medicare negotiation provision that takes effect in 2026. They discuss the economics of volume discounts, the role of pharmacy benefit managers, and why bipartisan support for negotiation has historically failed. A concrete look at a trillion-dollar fiscal inefficiency. #Medicare #DrugPricing #PrescriptionDrugs #InflationReductionAct #PharmacyBenefitManagers #GovernmentSpending #NonInterferenceClause #VeteransAffairs #VolumeDiscounts #PriceNegotiation #FiscalPolicy #Economics #Healthcare #PublicSpending #Congress #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #PolicyDebate Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

In this episode of The Fiscal Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore how the US government's drug-pricing system for Medicare and Medicaid results in overpayments of over 50 percent compared to other countries. They focus on a specific case: the drug insulin, which costs US taxpayers $6,000 per patient per year versus $1,200 in Canada. The hosts discuss the role of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the lack of direct negotiation, and recent policy proposals like the Inflation Reduction Act's Medicare negotiation provision. Lucas breaks down the mechanics of 'list price vs. net price' and explains why government procurement rules actually prevent the US from negotiating lower prices. Luna raises the question of why the government doesn't just set prices like other nations. The episode ties into broader themes of government spending inefficiency and the fiscal impact of healthcare costs. #Medicare #Medicaid #DrugPricing #Insulin #PharmacyBenefitManagers #GovernmentSpending #FiscalPolicy #InflationReductionAct #HealthcareCosts #PrescriptionDrugs #Negotiation #Procurement #Economics #PublicFinance #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #PolicyAnalysis #CostSavings Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Lucas and Luna examine why large government IT projects have a 70 percent failure rate, using the UK's National Health Service's abandoned 10-billion-pound patient records system as a central case study. They explore root causes: rigid procurement rules, misaligned incentives between contractors and agencies, and the lack of modular design. The episode also covers how smaller governments are succeeding with agile contracting and open-source alternatives, saving millions while delivering working software. #GovernmentIT #SoftwareFailure #NHSEngland #PublicSectorTech #AgileContracting #OpenSource #ITProcurement #TaxDollars #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentSpending #DigitalTransformation #ModularDesign #CostOverruns #TechProcurement #PublicFinance Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 53 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast digs into a specific case study: Kansas's 2012 income tax cut experiment. Lucas and Luna walk through the numbers—how the state projected $280 million in annual dynamic growth but instead lost $700 million in revenue, triggering budget cuts to education and infrastructure. They explore why the Laffer Curve logic failed in practice, the role of inelastic service-sector economies, and what other states like Oklahoma and North Carolina learned from Kansas's mistake. Fresh angle: why tax-cut simulations often overestimate behavioral responses when applied to state-level economies. No broad Laffer theory—just one state's real fiscal outcomes and the policy lessons for 2026. #KansasTaxExperiment #LafferCurve #StateBudget #TaxPolicy #FiscalPolicy #Economics #StateRevenue #TaxCuts #SamBrownback #KansasEconomy #DynamicScoring #FiscalResponsibility #StateFiscalCrisis #EducationFunding #InfrastructureSpending #PolicyLessons #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

When a hurricane or wildfire destroys a community, the federal government steps in with disaster relief. But the rebuilding process is notoriously inefficient, costing taxpayers 50 percent more than comparable private-sector projects. In this episode, Lucas and Luna examine why FEMA's own data shows that post-disaster reconstruction routinely overruns budgets, from temporary housing to infrastructure repair. They drill into specific examples: why a single bridge replacement in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria cost three times the state estimate, how the Stafford Act creates perverse incentives for local officials to inflate damage claims, and why a 2019 reform meant to speed up rebuilding actually made costs worse. Lucas and Luna also discuss a surprising success story—Florida's after-action reforms following Hurricane Andrew in 1992—and what lessons they might hold for the current disaster funding cycle. No clickbait, just the hard numbers on how public money flows after catastrophe. #FEMA #DisasterRelief #GovernmentSpending #PuertoRico #HurricaneMaria #StaffordAct #Infrastructure #Rebuilding #CostOverruns #PublicFinance #Economics #BusinessPodcast #FexingoBusiness #GovernmentEfficiency #NaturalDisaster #Florida #HurricaneAndrew #Reform Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

When a natural disaster strikes, the federal government typically reimburses state and local rebuilding costs — but a 2025 GAO investigation found that disaster recovery projects funded by federal grants come in at an average of 47 percent over budget, with some exceeding initial estimates by 300 percent. In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into why: from the 'use-it-or-lose-it' pressure on grant deadlines to the perverse incentives of cost-plus contracting and the fragmentation between FEMA, HUD, and state agencies that creates duplication and waste. They use the example of the 2023 Hurricane Idalia recovery in Florida's Big Bend region, where a planned $210 million school rebuilding project ballooned to $380 million. The conversation reveals how disaster spending becomes a hidden fiscal burden on taxpayers, and why fixing procurement rules could save billions without cutting aid. #DisasterSpending #FEMA #HUD #HurricaneIdalia #GovernmentWaste #CostOverruns #GAO #PublicProcurement #FederalGrants #Rebuilding #DisasterRecovery #FiscalPolicy #Economics #TexasWinterStorm #PuertoRico #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FiscalPolicyPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 50 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast explores how cities are using land banks to turn tax-delinquent vacant properties back into productive use. Lucas and Luna examine the case of Genesee County, Michigan, which started the first modern land bank in 2002 and has since returned over 10,000 parcels to the tax roll, generating an estimated $50 million in new property tax revenue. They discuss the mechanics of how land banks acquire properties, clear titles, and sell or redevelop them, and compare the model to other approaches like tax foreclosure auctions. The episode also touches on current challenges in 2026, including rising property values and gentrification pressures in cities like Detroit and Cleveland. No prior familiarity with land banks is assumed. #LandBanks #VacantProperties #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentFinance #PropertyTax #UrbanRevitalization #Detroit #GeneseeCounty #TaxForeclosure #Brownfields #Gentrification #MunicipalFinance #PublicFinance #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #CityBudget #HousingPolicy Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 49 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo examines why government data centers run at just 60 percent utilization on average, wasting billions in taxpayer money on unused servers, cooling, and power. Lucas and Luna dig into a 2025 GAO report that found federal agencies maintain over 8,000 data centers, many with utilization below 40 percent. They compare this to private-sector best practices at Google and AWS, which push utilization above 80 percent. The episode also explores the cultural and procurement barriers that prevent consolidation — including agency turf wars, multi-year contracts, and fear of job losses. A concrete case: the Department of Veterans Affairs' ten-year, $1.2 billion effort to close just 12 of its 120 centers. Lucas argues the real fix requires shifting from ownership to service models, moving from 'my servers' to 'commercial cloud'. Luna asks whether the government can ever match private-sector efficiency given its constraints. No hot takes — just a sharp, specific look at one of the biggest hidden costs in federal IT spending. #DataCenter #GovernmentWaste #GAO #FederalIT #CloudMigration #ServerUtilization #TaxDollars #PublicSpending #VeteransAffairs #AWS #GoogleCloud #ITProcurement #Consolidation #Economics #FiscalPolicy #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Efficiency Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

The federal government spends over $3 billion annually on software licenses it never opens — and state and local agencies add billions more. Lucas and Luna dig into a 2025 GAO audit that found one agency alone had $480 million in unused Microsoft Office allocations. They trace the problem to procurement rules that reward buying in bulk, a budgeting culture that treats 'use it or lose it' as gospel, and a perverse incentive where managers would rather waste money than risk running out. Then they look at three fixes: a shared-services model out of Utah, a federal pilot that ties license counts to actual active users, and a simple policy change — turning off auto-renewal — that saved one state $12 million in a single quarter. The episode closes on what the private sector does differently and whether the government can ever catch up. #GovernmentWaste #SoftwareLicenses #GAO #FederalProcurement #ITSpending #PublicSector #Economics #Budgeting #UseItOrLoseIt #SharedServices #Utah #Microsoft #TaxDollars #Audit #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Efficiency #TechDebt Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 47 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo looks at how one American city dug itself out of a pension funding crisis without cutting benefits or raising taxes. Lucas and Luna walk through the specific playbook used by Fort Worth, Texas, which had a funded ratio below 50 percent in 2024. Three years later, through a combination of a dedicated property tax override, a shift to a conservative investment glide path, and a five-year contribution ramp, the city pulled its funded ratio above 80 percent. The episode breaks down the numbers, the political trade-offs, and why the same approach might not work in a state with stricter tax limits. Also, a quick reflection on how listener support keeps the show independent. #FortWorth #PensionCrisis #PublicPensions #FiscalPolicy #Economics #StateAndLocal #FundedRatio #InvestmentReturns #TaxOverride #GASB #FiduciaryDuty #RiskManagement #GovernmentFinance #Budget #Retirement #Actuarial #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 46 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast digs into a seemingly small but staggeringly wasteful line item: the price the US government pays for standard light bulbs. Lucas and Luna trace how a single General Services Administration contract for 60-watt equivalents costs taxpayers 8 times what a warehouse club charges. They walk through the procurement maze — the Buy American Act, the Trade Agreements Act, the 50-page specification documents, the 90-day payment terms that bake in a risk premium — and show how a modest reform in one agency cut costs by 40 percent. A clear, concrete look at how well-intentioned rules inflate every light switch in a federal building. #GovernmentSpending #Procurement #GSA #TaxDollars #Waste #LightBulbs #BuyAmericanAct #TradeAgreementsAct #FederalContracting #PublicSpending #Efficiency #Economics #FiscalPolicy #Podcast #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #LucasAndLuna #June2026 Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

In this episode of The Fiscal Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna dig into a specific and costly problem in public spending: the federal government's sprawling real estate portfolio. The US government is the largest property owner in the country, with over 250,000 buildings. But the Government Accountability Office reports that dozens of agencies are using less than 25 percent of their office space, while still paying full maintenance and utility costs. Lucas walks through the numbers on a few specific buildings in Washington, DC, and explains why the government can't easily sell them off — political pressure, historic designations, and a famously broken disposal process. Luna questions whether the private sector could manage these assets better, and Lucas highlights a pilot program that let the Department of Energy lease out unused space. It's a concrete look at how bureaucratic inertia and misaligned incentives keep the government paying for square footage it doesn't need. #FederalRealEstate #GovernmentSpending #TaxDollars #EmptyBuildings #GAO #OfficeSpace #PublicSector #Bureaucracy #RealEstatePortfolio #WashingtonDC #DepartmentOfEnergy #HistoricPreservation #GSA #LeaseVsOwn #FiscalPolicy #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Every school day, thousands of yellow buses crisscross American neighborhoods — but many are running nearly empty. In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into a 2025 Government Accountability Office report that found school districts waste an estimated $4.2 billion annually on inefficient bus routing. They break down the specific case of one mid-sized district in Ohio that, by switching to a dynamic routing algorithm, cut its bus fleet by 18 percent and saved $1.4 million per year. They explore why most districts still use pen-and-paper planning, the perverse incentives that reward districts for running more buses, and what lessons this holds for other levels of government procurement. The conversation turns on a simple question: why does a government service that affects 25 million children every day still operate like it's 1975? #SchoolBuses #GovernmentWaste #PublicSpending #Efficiency #Procurement #Ohio #SchoolDistrict #Transportation #GAO #Budget #Economics #Business #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FiscalPolicy #PublicFinance #EducationSpending #WasteReduction Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 43 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast dives into the mechanics of government debt auctions, using the US Treasury's recent May 2026 ten-year note sale as a case study. Lucas and Luna explain how the auction process determines the interest rate taxpayers pay on the national debt, the role of primary dealers and indirect bidders, and what a high or low bid-to-cover ratio signals about market confidence. They also explore how the shift toward shorter-dated borrowing in 2025-2026 is raising rollover risk, and what the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee's latest report reveals about future debt management. A concrete breakdown of a process that moves trillions annually. #GovernmentDebtAuctions #USTreasury #TenYearNote #BidToCoverRatio #PrimaryDealers #IndirectBidders #TBAC #DebtManagement #FiscalPolicy #PublicSpending #Economics #InterestRates #RolloverRisk #AuctionMechanics #BorrowingCost #May2026 #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

In May 2026, Minnesota launched the country's first state-run generic drug manufacturing program, aiming to break monopolies on price-inflated generics. Lucas and Luna dig into how the state identified three drugs where prices had jumped 400% in five years, tracing the supply-chain bottlenecks that let a single middleman control 80% of a market. They explore the legal structure—a state-owned factory leased to a nonprofit—and why the pharmaceutical lobby calls it 'government overreach' while patient advocates say it's the only antidote to price-gouging middlemen. The episode also touches on how this 'public option for pills' fits into a growing movement by states to bypass the three pharmacy benefit managers that process nearly 80% of all US prescriptions. Specific numbers include: the $50 million initial investment, the 30-month timeline to first production, and the 90-day supply cost savings target of 60% below current retail. #Minnesota #GenericDrugs #PublicOption #PharmacyBenefitManagers #StateManufacturing #DrugPricing #PharmaceuticalLobby #PBMs #AlecGustafson #AminGulati #CostPlusDrugs #MarkCuban #GenericDrugManufacturing #HealthcareEconomics #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FiscalPolicy Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

When a mid-sized American city tried to balance its budget by raising property taxes, it accidentally triggered the fastest local economic contraction since the 1970s. Lucas and Luna unpack the case of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, which hiked millage rates by 22 percent in 2023 only to see assessed values collapse, business licenses drop by 14 percent, and sales tax revenue fall below pre-hike levels within 18 months. They trace how the county's own economic model failed to account for behavioral feedback—and what happened when officials reversed course, cutting rates by 9 percent and replacing the lost revenue with a modest local services tax. The episode walks through the multiplier dynamics of local taxation, the difference between static and dynamic scoring in municipal budgeting, and why the 'Laffer curve moment' for property taxes may be lower than most city managers assume. A concrete case study in how fiscal policy at the local level can misfire—and how smart corrections can stabilize without austerity. #AlleghenyCounty #PropertyTax #LafferCurve #LocalTaxation #FiscalPolicy #MunicipalBudgeting #TaxMultiplier #DynamicScoring #StaticScoring #EconomicContraction #Recession #MillageRate #SalesTax #BusinessLicenses #PublicFinance #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 40 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast examines a quiet revolution in public pension fund investing: the shift from expensive active fund managers to low-cost passive index strategies. Lucas and Luna break down the numbers behind this trend, focusing on the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), which moved over $50 billion into passive strategies in 2025. They explore why active managers have struggled to beat benchmarks, how this saves billions in fees for taxpayers, and what it means for the future of public pension fund returns. The episode also touches on the broader implications for Wall Street and the asset management industry. #PublicPensionFunds #PassiveInvesting #ActiveManagement #CalPERS #IndexFunds #InvestmentFees #TaxpayerSavings #PensionReform #FiduciaryDuty #BenchmarkPerformance #WallStreet #AssetManagement #Economics #GovernmentFinance #FiscalPolicy #LucasAndLuna #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 39 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo digs into government procurement — why public agencies routinely pay two to three times more than private companies for identical goods. Lucas and Luna walk through a concrete example: how the US Department of Defense was paying over $1,000 for a single coffee maker while commercial buyers paid $50. They explore the root causes: outdated regulations, risk-averse contracting officers, and the absence of market incentives. The episode also highlights a little-known reform — the Commercial Products exception in the Federal Acquisition Regulation — that has saved billions but is underused. Finally, they ask whether AI-driven procurement tools could finally crack the inefficiency code, and share how listener support at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo helps keep the show ad-free. #GovernmentProcurement #PublicSpending #FederalAcquisitionRegulation #FAR #DefenseSpending #DoD #WastefulSpending #ProcurementReform #CommercialProducts #AIinGovernment #FiscalPolicy #Economics #BudgetEfficiency #TaxDollars #PublicSector #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #LucasAndLuna Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Argentina was the world's most stubborn inflation story — annual price growth above 200 percent, a currency that lost half its value every year, and a public that had learned to treat the peso like a hot potato. Then Javier Milei took office and did what economists said was impossible: he crushed inflation without a full dollarization. This episode walks through the specific mechanism — how the central bank stopped printing to finance the deficit, how the Treasury switched to peso-denominated debt that investors actually trusted, and how a country that had suffered hyperinflation since the 1940s finally broke the cycle. Lucas and Luna unpack the numbers, the political calculus, and whether this is a genuine turnaround or just another Argentine false dawn. Plus, a listener-supported segment on why covering fiscal policy without ads matters. #Argentina #JavierMilei #Inflation #CentralBank #FiscalPolicy #MonetaryPolicy #Deficit #Peso #Hyperinflation #EconomicReform #Treasury #DebtMarkets #Economics #GovernmentSpending #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FiscalPolicyPodcast #Macroeconomics Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 37 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast dives into the absurd world of government procurement: why a simple box of paper clips can cost the federal government five times what you'd pay at an office supply store. Lucas and Luna trace the problem from the 1930s Buy American Act through complex bidding rules, procurement officers who fear auditors more than waste, and the perverse incentives that drive public-sector purchasing. They focus on a 2025 Government Accountability Office report that found a single agency was paying $87 for a $15 office chair, and a small pilot program in Tennessee that cut costs by 30 percent by simply requiring staff to use a commercial credit card. Listeners come away understanding one concrete reason government is expensive—and a fix that actually works, with no new legislation required. #GovernmentProcurement #BuyAmericanAct #PublicSpending #GAO #OfficeSupplies #Waste #TennesseePilot #Economics #FiscalPolicy #FexingoBusinessPodcast #LucasAndLuna #GovernmentWaste #ProcurementReform #TaxpayerDollars #SupplyChain #Audit #Efficiency #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

When California's state auditor ran a computer match of employee IDs against payroll records in 2025, the result was stunning: over 6,000 people were receiving paychecks even though they hadn't logged into a state system in more than a year. Some hadn't worked a day in three years. This episode walks through how the audit worked, why the overpayments went undetected for so long, and what other governments can learn from the fix — including a new real-time cross-check system that saved $42 million in the first six months. Lucas and Luna also discuss the broader pattern: governments are terrible at finding their own mistakes because the incentives to look are weak. A rare case where sunlight actually cut waste. #GhostEmployees #GovernmentAudit #California #PayrollFraud #PublicSpending #Waste #StateBudget #AuditorGeneral #PayrollSystem #GovernmentEfficiency #TaxDollars #FiscalPolicy #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Podcast #LucasAndLuna #FiscalPolicyPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 35 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast dives into the machinery of government debt auctions. Lucas and Luna explain how the U.S. Treasury sells over $5 trillion in securities every year, why it uses a single-price auction format, and what happens when a bidder tries to bid a penny. They walk through a real example: the October 2024 10-year note reopening that had a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.6. Luna challenges whether the process is rigged for big banks, and Lucas breaks down the role of primary dealers, the Treasury's parallel offering schedule, and why the system hasn't changed since the 1990s. A focused episode for anyone who's ever wondered where the money comes from when the government issues debt. #TreasuryAuctions #GovernmentDebt #FiscalPolicy #SinglePriceAuction #PrimaryDealers #BidToCoverRatio #USTreasury #DebtManagement #FOMC #LiquidityFutures #PublicDebt #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #LucasAndLuna #AuctionMechanics #FiscalPolicyPodcast #SovereignDebt Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 34 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast with Fexingo takes you inside the shadowy world of government off-balance-sheet entities — the public corporations, special-purpose vehicles, and quasi-autonomous agencies that let governments borrow without reporting the debt. Lucas and Luna drill into a single concrete case: the UK's Network Rail, which was classified as a private company for a decade despite being entirely state-backed, allowing the British government to keep £30 billion off its books. They explain the mechanics of how these entities work, why the IMF and investors are increasingly calling for transparency, and what it means for your tax bill. The episode closes with a look at how the U.S. Federal Financing Bank and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have played similar games, and why the next financial crisis might start in a government's off-balance-sheet garage. If walking through the economy with us has made something click, listener support at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo keeps this show free and independent. #OffBalanceSheet #HiddenDebt #GovernmentAccounting #NetworkRail #PublicFinance #FiscalPolicy #IMF #FederalFinancingBank #FannieMae #FreddieMac #SovereignDebt #Transparency #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #GovernmentSpending #FiscalTransparency #SpecialPurposeVehicles Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 33 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast explores why government treasuries overwhelmingly borrow short-term debt despite decades of warnings. Lucas and Luna walk through the specific mechanics of how the US Treasury issues bills, notes, and bonds, and why the average maturity of federal debt has fallen from about 70 months in 2001 to under 50 months today. They dig into the trade-off: short-term debt is cheaper but exposes taxpayers to refinancing risk — as the UK learned in the 2022 gilt crisis when a sudden jump in rates forced the Bank of England to intervene. They also look at a case from Japan, where decades of low rates have made short-term borrowing seem costless, but the real risk is locked in. By the end, you'll understand why your government's debt management desk may be the most consequential finance shop you've never heard of. #USDebtManagement #TreasuryBonds #ShortTermDebt #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentDebt #RefinancingRisk #GiltCrisis #BankOfEngland #JapanDebt #MaturityStructure #DebtManagementOffice #TreasuryBills #FiscalPolicyPodcast #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Economics #GovernmentFinance #PublicSpending Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Why do government IT projects routinely blow past their budgets by 10x or more? In this episode, Lucas and Luna drill into the specific case of California's MyCalPAYS system—a $9 million payroll project that ballooned to over $1 billion before being abandoned. They explore the root causes: optimistic cost estimates, vendor lock-in, changing requirements, and the lack of accountability when projects are funded by taxpayer money. Lucas cites a 2023 study by the Institute for Government that found 70% of large government IT projects in the U.S. exceed their original budgets by an average of 45%. Luna brings up the UK's National Health Service's £10 billion IT modernization failure as a parallel. The conversation connects these failures to broader issues in public procurement and suggests why the problem persists despite decades of reform efforts. This episode will change how you think about government efficiency. #GovernmentIT #PublicProcurement #MyCalPAYS #California #NHS #ITFailures #TaxpayerMoney #CostOverruns #BudgetBlowout #ProjectManagement #VendorLockIn #EconomicPolicy #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentSpending #Politics #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

In this episode of The Fiscal Policy Podcast, Lucas and Luna uncover a bizarre quirk in government healthcare spending: federal programs like Medicare and the VA can pay wildly different prices for the exact same prescription drug. Using a concrete example—a common cholesterol-lowering statin that costs the VA $12 per month but Medicare Part D $95—they explore how fragmented purchasing power, legal restrictions on price negotiation, and administrative silos create this inefficiency. The conversation digs into the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act's 'non-interference' clause, the VA's centralized formulary system, and the estimated $15 billion in annual savings if all federal programs paid the VA's prices. Lucas and Luna question why Congress hasn't closed this gap and what it says about the government's ability to get a good deal for taxpayers. A sharp, specific look at an overlooked fiscal waste. #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentSpending #DrugPricing #Medicare #VA #PrescriptionDrugs #HealthcareEconomy #TaxpayerWaste #PriceNegotiation #Congress #PharmaceuticalIndustry #Statins #PartD #FederalBudget #Economics #PublicFinance #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 30 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast investigates a strange but costly inefficiency: government health programs in the US often pay far more for the exact same generic drugs than private insurers do. Lucas breaks down a 2025 Government Accountability Office report finding that Medicare Part D paid an average of 2.3 times more than commercial plans for 40 common generics in 2023 — costing taxpayers an extra $1.8 billion a year. He explains the structural reasons: opaque pharmacy benefit manager rebates, statutory pricing floors, and a reimbursement formula that was originally designed for brand-name drugs. Luna pushes back on the assumption that government procurement is always wasteful, noting that the VA and Department of Defense negotiate much better prices through a centralized formulary. The episode ends with a real-world reform proposal from the bipartisan Senate Generic Drug Pricing Act, introduced March 2026, which would cap Medicare Part D generic reimbursements at 150% of the national average commercial price. #GenericDrugs #MedicarePartD #GovernmentWaste #DrugPricing #PharmacyBenefitManagers #GAO #SenateGenericDrugPricingAct #FiscalPolicy #TaxpayerDollars #PublicSpending #Economics #LucasAndLuna #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #HealthEconomics #Procurement #BipartisanReform #Episode30 Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

In an era of Venmo and FedNow, the U.S. federal government still issues over 140 million paper checks each year. Lucas and Luna dig into why — from the Treasury's legacy payment systems to the 1.2 million Americans who rely on mailed checks because they lack bank accounts. They look at the 2023 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's push for digital payments, the 2025 Treasury pilot that cut check costs by 40 percent in four states, and the surprising reason the IRS still mails refunds. A concrete look at fiscal inertia and the hidden costs of cash flow. #PaperChecks #TreasuryDepartment #FedNow #DigitalPayments #BipartisanInfrastructureLaw #UnbankedAmericans #IRS #FiscalInertia #PaymentModernization #CheckVolume #CostPerCheck #2026Budget #TreasuryPilot #DirectDeposit #CashEconomy #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 28 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast uncovers a strange asymmetry in US government spending: the Department of Veterans Affairs pays dramatically less for prescription drugs than Medicare Part D does — sometimes two to three times less for the exact same medication. Hosts Lucas and Luna trace the root cause to a 1992 law that explicitly banned Medicare from negotiating prices, a restriction that doesn't apply to the VA. They walk through the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act's attempt to close the gap, the legal challenges from pharmaceutical companies, and why the Congressional Budget Office scored the negotiation provision as saving $98 billion over a decade. The episode also explores how this pricing puzzle reflects deeper tensions in federal fiscal policy: one agency paying market forces, another paying a near-monopsony price, and the taxpayer caught in between. A focused look at how a single legal carve-out distorts billions in public spending. #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentSpending #Medicare #VeteransAffairs #DrugPricing #InflationReductionAct #PrescriptionDrugs #CongressionalBudgetOffice #Monopsony #PharmaceuticalIndustry #PriceNegotiation #PartD #VA #FederalBudget #TaxpayerCost #HealthcareEconomics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

The US Treasury issues roughly $1.5 trillion in new debt every year. Most people never think about how that actually works. In this episode, Lucas and Luna walk through the Treasury's regular auction cycle — the schedule, the primary dealers, the bidding process, and the surprising role of the 'when-issued' market. They explain why the government can borrow $100 billion in a single day without breaking a sweat, and what happens when demand suddenly dries up. No jargon, just the mechanics of the world's most liquid financial market. If you've ever wondered where Treasury bonds actually come from and who really buys them, this episode gives you the concrete steps. #US Treasury #Treasury Auctions #Government Debt #Primary Dealers #When-Issued Market #Public Debt #Bond Auctions #Scheduled Auction #Treasury Bills #Treasury Notes #Treasury Bonds #Debt Management #Fiscal Policy #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Fiscal Policy Podcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

When officials in rural Douglas County, Oregon, faced a $2 million shortfall in 2023, they did something unusual: they opened the books to a citizen audit committee. This episode follows how a group of retired accountants, a school teacher, and a small-business owner spent six months digging into property tax assessments, software contracts, and a mysterious line item labeled "miscellaneous professional services." They found $340,000 in annual savings on software nobody used, $78,000 in double-paid vendor invoices, and a property tax error that had been costing homeowners an extra $120,000 a year. Lucas and Luna walk through what the committee did, how the county fixed the problems, and why this model of participatory budgeting hasn't spread further. The episode uses this one concrete case to ask a bigger question: should more local governments let citizens audit the line items? #CitizenAudit #DouglasCounty #Oregon #ParticipatoryBudgeting #LocalGovernment #PropertyTax #GovernmentWaste #BudgetTransparency #PublicFinance #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentSpending #Audit #CivicEngagement #TaxDollars #GovernmentEfficiency #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 25 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast digs into the quiet machinery of government loan guarantees — the kind that back mortgages, student debt, and small business lending. Lucas and Luna trace the $2.3 trillion in contingent liabilities sitting off the US federal balance sheet, using the 2023 collapse of Silicon Valley Bank as a case study. They explain how the FDIC's deposit insurance fund works, why the Congressional Budget Office scores guarantees differently than direct spending, and what happens when a guarantee gets called. You'll learn why fiscal hawks call this 'the billion-dollar loophole' and why most voters never see it coming. A grounded, numbers-first conversation about the debt you didn't know you owed. #LoanGuarantees #ContingentLiabilities #FederalBudget #FDIC #SiliconValleyBank #DepositInsurance #CBO #HiddenDebt #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentSpending #StudentLoans #SmallBusinessLending #Economics #PublicFinance #BudgetTransparency #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FiscalResponsibility Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 24 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast digs into a hidden drain on public budgets: unused software licenses. Lucas and Luna reveal that governments at all levels collectively waste billions of dollars annually on software subscriptions and licenses that sit idle. They focus on a 2025 audit of the U.S. federal government by the Government Accountability Office, which found that agencies spent over $3.2 billion on software licenses that went unused in a single fiscal year. The hosts break down why this happens — from fragmented procurement to lack of usage tracking — and compare it to how private-sector companies manage similar waste. They also explore reform efforts, including a 2026 executive order aimed at centralizing software purchasing. This episode offers a concrete look at a mundane but massive fiscal inefficiency that rarely makes headlines. #GovernmentWaste #SoftwareLicenses #PublicSpending #FiscalPolicy #GAO #BudgetEfficiency #GovernmentAudit #SoftwareProcurement #TaxDollars #PublicSector #WastefulSpending #ITSpending #FederalBudget #StateAndLocal #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FiscalPolicyPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 23 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast examines the delicate art of pension discount rate assumptions. Lucas and Luna dissect how a one-percentage-point change in the assumed rate of return can swing a city's reported liability by hundreds of millions of dollars. Using the case of the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund, they walk through the math that turns a 7-percent assumed return from a forecast into a political decision. They explore why most public plans use rates near 7 percent when risk-free rates hover around 4, the incentives that keep assumptions high, and what happens when reality underperforms. The episode also touches on the Governmental Accounting Standards Board's role and why some economists argue for risk-free discounting. No jargon, no scaremongering, just the concrete lever that dictates whether your city's pension is 'funded' or 'underfunded'. #FiscalPolicy #PublicPensions #GovernmentAccounting #PensionAssumptions #IllinoisMunicipalRetirementFund #GASB #DiscountRate #UnderfundedPensions #StateBudgets #FiscalSustainability #ActuarialScience #Economics #PublicFinance #RetirementSecurity #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #EconomicsPodcast #PensionReform Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 22 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast digs into a strange but massive line item in federal budgets: intragovernmental payments. Every year, the U.S. Treasury pays itself hundreds of billions of dollars in interest on trust fund holdings. Lucas and Luna unpack how this circular accounting works, why it matters for Social Security and the debt ceiling, and what happens when the government owes itself trillions. They walk through the mechanics using the Social Security Trust Fund as a concrete example, explain why these payments inflate the deficit without changing net wealth, and ask whether the whole system masks real fiscal risk. Specific, clear, and jargon-light — an economics conversation for anyone who wants to understand what 'the government owes itself' actually means. No hot takes, just the numbers and the logic. #IntragovernmentalPayments #SocialSecurityTrustFund #USFederalBudget #CircularAccounting #DebtCeiling #Treasury #FiscalPolicy #FiscalIllusion #EconomicShow #GovernmentDebt #TrustFund #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #Economics #BudgetAccounting #PublicFinance #FedAccounting #AccrualAccounting Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Economist John Cochrane argues that fiscal stimulus has a lower multiplier than most policymakers assume. This episode drills into one overlooked mechanism: when the government borrows to spend, it crowds out private investment by raising interest rates. We walk through a concrete example from the 2009 Recovery Act and explain why the CBO's multiplier range of 0.5 to 2.5 is so wide. Lucas shares a paper by Valerie Ramey showing that defense spending multipliers are consistently below one. Luna pushes back with evidence from state-level studies where multipliers hit 1.5 during recessions. They reconcile the two views by looking at monetary policy response: when the Fed holds rates near zero, crowding out is weaker. The episode closes with a question about how fiscal rules like balanced-budget amendments change the game. No hot takes, just a clear walk through the mechanism that divides economists. #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentSpending #MultiplierEffect #CrowdingOut #JohnCochrane #ValerieRamey #RecoveryAct #CBO #StimulusDebate #InterestRates #MonetaryPolicy #Recession #DefenseSpending #Econometrics #PublicFinance #FexingoBusiness #EconomicsPodcast #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 20 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast dives into the quiet scandal of official revenue forecasts: the ones governments use to build their budgets. Lucas and Luna walk through how the US Congressional Budget Office, state finance departments, and even local municipalities routinely overestimate revenue by 2 to 8 percent — and why that matters for bond markets, public services, and your tax bill. The anchor is the CBO's 2025 projection miss on corporate tax receipts, which were off by $63 billion in the first year alone. We look at the incentives: political pressure to balance the budget on paper, the rise of dynamic scoring, and why private-sector forecasters consistently beat official models. Plus: a concrete case from California's 2021 budget surplus that no one saw coming — because the state's own forecast said it wouldn't happen. Listeners walk away understanding why the phrase 'official estimate' is often closer to guesswork than science. #RevenueForecasting #CBO #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentBudgets #BudgetProjections #TaxRevenue #DynamicScoring #CaliforniaSurplus #CorporateTax #PublicFinance #Economics #BudgetGimmicks #ForecastError #StateBudgets #FederalBudget #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FiscalPolicyPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Lucas and Luna unpack the fiscal multiplier—the concept that every dollar the government spends should generate more than a dollar of economic activity. But recent data from the Congressional Budget Office and academic studies suggest multipliers are often below 1, meaning stimulus can actually shrink the economy over time. They look at the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the 2021 American Rescue Plan, and the post-COVID infrastructure spending to see why results vary: crowding out, Ricardian equivalence, and supply constraints. A sharp, numbers-driven look at why not all government spending is created equal. #FiscalMultiplier #GovernmentSpending #Stimulus #CBO #AmericanRecovery #AmericanRescuePlan #Infrastructure #RicardianEquivalence #CrowdingOut #SupplyConstraints #Economics #PublicFinance #GDP #FiscalPolicy #Podcast #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #EconomicGrowth Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Every year, governments around the world appropriate billions of dollars for projects that never break ground. Lucas and Luna explore the strange economics of 'zombie appropriations' — budget line items that persist year after year with no tangible output. Using the example of India's long-delayed bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, they trace how political incentives, sunk-cost bias, and weak oversight allow phantom projects to consume real resources. The episode also touches on the US Navy's littoral combat ship program and the UK's HS2 rail project as parallel cases. By the end, you'll understand why cancelling a failed project is often harder than starting it, and what that says about how we measure government productivity. #ZombieAppropriations #GovernmentBudgeting #PublicSpending #PhantomProjects #BulletTrain #IndiaInfrastructure #SunkCostFallacy #FiscalPolicy #HS2 #LittoralCombatShip #Economics #BudgetOversight #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #FiscalPodcast #GovernmentWaste #InfrastructureSpending #PolicyFailure Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 17 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast dives into a wonky but crucial question: why do most governments still budget on a cash basis when every private company uses accrual accounting? Lucas and Luna walk through a concrete example—a $500 million bridge project that looks cheap in year one but carries $2 billion in future maintenance liabilities that never appear on the government's books. They explore how New Zealand became the first country to adopt full accrual budgeting in the 1990s, and how the U.S. federal government's own financial statements—prepared under accrual rules—show a very different picture from the official budget. The episode also touches on the political incentives that keep cash-based budgeting in place, and why voters rarely see the long-term costs of today's spending decisions. If you've ever wondered why politicians can promise a 'fully funded' program that still blows a hole in future budgets, this episode explains the accounting trick that makes it possible. #AccrualAccounting #CashBasis #GovernmentBudgeting #NewZealand #FiscalAccounting #PublicFinance #InfrastructureSpending #FutureLiabilities #BudgetTransparency #CongressionalBudget #FederalFinancialStatements #GAAP #PoliticalIncentives #LongTermCosts #Economics #FiscalPolicy #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

When the US government wants to get rid of surplus property — old office furniture, decommissioned vehicles, seized assets — it doesn't just throw them away. It runs a massive, little-known auction system managed by the General Services Administration. In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into the economics of government surplus auctions: how the GSA sells everything from used sedans to military-grade equipment, why the auction format sometimes raises more money than expected, and what happens when the government underprices its own goods. They walk through the specific case of the GSA's 2024 auction of 12,000 vehicles from the federal fleet — a sale that netted the government nearly $200 million but also left millions on the table due to auction design flaws. Along the way, they explore how surplus auctions compare to municipal asset sales, why private auction houses like Ritchie Bros. often outperform the government's own efforts, and what taxpayers should know about these hidden revenue streams. #GSA #GovernmentSurplus #AuctionEconomics #PublicFinance #FederalBudget #AssetSales #TaxpayerValue #VehicleAuction #GeneralServicesAdministration #RitchieBros #SurplusProperty #RevenueOptimization #Economics #FiscalPolicy #GovernmentEfficiency #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #PolicyDeepDive Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Lucas and Luna explore the hidden economics of government travel reimbursement rates, or per diems. Using the US General Services Administration's 2026 figures for Washington DC — $316 per day for lodging and meals — they unpack how these administrative numbers become a massive fiscal drag. They trace how per diems inflate costs for conferences, training, and routine field work, creating a perverse incentive for agencies to spend up to the cap. The episode compares the federal system to private-sector corporate travel policies and examines a 2024 Government Accountability Office report that found agencies could save $480 million annually by tightening meal reimbursement rules. They also look at how local governments in California and New York set their own rates, often exceeding what private employers pay. A concrete look at how small bureaucratic numbers add up to big budget trouble. #GovernmentTravel #PerDiem #GSA #FederalBudget #TravelReimbursement #GAO #FiscalPolicy #Economics #PublicSpending #AdministrativeCosts #BudgetWaste #WashingtonDC #California #NewYork #CorporateTravel #GovernmentEfficiency #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Municipal bonds are the building blocks of American infrastructure, but the credit ratings on them are often surprisingly misleading. In this episode, Lucas and Luna dig into a 2025 paper from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showing that roughly 40 percent of all muni bonds carry a split rating from Moody's and S&P Global, and that the divergence can cost a medium-sized city hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra interest — year after year. They walk through the case of Jefferson County, Alabama's sewer debt debacle, how pension underfunding distorts ratings, and why the SEC is now quietly investigating the 'ratings shopping' that happens when cities hire their own agencies. A specific, practical look at the hidden friction in public borrowing. #MunicipalBonds #CreditRatings #Moodys #SPGlobal #JeffersonCounty #SewerDebt #PensionCrisis #SEC #BondMarket #Infrastructure #FiscalPolicy #PublicFinance #NewYorkFed #Economics #BusinessPodcast #FexingoBusiness #GovernmentBorrowing #SplitRating Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

The US Department of Defense has never passed a full financial audit. In this episode, Lucas and Luna unpack why the largest single organization in the federal budget can't account for trillions of dollars — and what that means for taxpayers. They focus on the 2025 audit results: the DoD received a disclaimer of opinion for the eighth consecutive year, meaning auditors couldn't verify $3.8 trillion in assets. Lucas walks through the structural problems — legacy IT systems from the 1970s, fragmented accounting across 1,400 separate systems, and the sheer complexity of tracking everything from tank parts to troop pay. Luna questions whether reform is even possible, pointing to the 1990 Chief Financial Officers Act and decades of failed modernization efforts. They discuss the real-world consequences: wasted procurement, delayed maintenance, and the hidden cost of a budget that Congress approves but cannot track. A concrete look at the biggest black box in American public spending. #PentagonAudit #DefenseSpending #FederalBudget #GovernmentAccounting #DoD #TaxpayerMoney #FinancialTransparency #AuditFailure #PublicFinance #ComptrollerGeneral #BudgetOversight #ITModernization #ChiefFinancialOfficersAct #DisclaimerOfOpinion #Economics #FiscalPolicy #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

This episode dives into the pension crisis facing many US cities, using Houston as a case study. In 2017, Houston faced $8 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, threatening city services and bond ratings. Through a combination of voter-approved reforms, increased employee contributions, and a new governance structure, the city cut its unfunded liability by 40% in just five years. Lucas and Luna break down the mechanics of the crisis, how Houston pulled off the turnaround, and whether other cities like Chicago or Los Angeles can follow suit. Specific numbers include the 60% funded ratio improvement and the 2 percentage point reduction in the assumed rate of return to 6.5%. Listeners will learn how pension accounting works, why discount rates matter, and what it really takes to fix a public pension plan. #PensionCrisis #Houston #PublicPensions #MunicipalFinance #FiscalPolicy #UnfundedLiabilities #PensionReform #GovernmentBudget #Economics #Retirement #CityBudget #DiscountRate #TaxpayerRisk #PensionObligation #HoustonFirefighters #HoustonPolice #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo

Episode 11 of The Fiscal Policy Podcast digs into inflation as a hidden tax. Lucas and Luna explain how the U.S. government benefits from inflation by paying back its debt with cheaper dollars, and why this 'inflation tax' hits lower-income households hardest. They walk through the concept of seigniorage, the real-world impact on Social Security recipients, and why central bank independence matters. Specific numbers: the $28 trillion national debt and how a 2% inflation rate effectively reduces its real value by $560 billion per year. No jargon, just clear economics. #InflationTax #Seigniorage #NationalDebt #FiscalPolicy #CentralBankIndependence #SocialSecurity #CostOfLiving #PurchasingPower #HiddenTax #FederalReserve #Treasury #RealReturns #BracketCreep #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast #GovernmentSpending #MonetaryPolicy Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo