July 31, 2024

Debt Busters

Show Notes
Transcript

Ready to tackle the 800-pound gorilla in America's financial room? Tune in to this eye-opening episode where Divya Parekh welcomes guest Mitch Francis for a no-holds-barred conversation about America's $34 trillion albatross. He's got a foolproof plan to keep America's balance sheet in the black for good.
Don't overlook this transformative conversation. It's time to transform America's biggest liability into its most inspiring comeback story!

Beyond Confidence is broadcast live Tuesdays at 10AM ET on W4WN Radio - Women 4 Women Network (www.w4wn.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Beyond Confidence TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

Beyond Confidence Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/beyond-confidence--1885197/support.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:02.359
The topics and opinions expressed on the following show are

2
00:00:02.359 --> 00:00:04.240
solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not

3
00:00:04.280 --> 00:00:07.120
those of W four WN Radio it's employees or affiliates.

4
00:00:07.320 --> 00:00:10.919
We make no recommendations or endorsement for radio show programs, services,

5
00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:14.039
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability,

6
00:00:14.119 --> 00:00:17.359
explicit or implied shall be extended to W four WN Radio,

7
00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:20.199
its employees or affiliates. Any questions or common should be

8
00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:22.600
directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing W

9
00:00:22.679 --> 00:00:24.280
four WN Radio.

10
00:00:25.760 --> 00:00:29.160
This is Beyond Confidence with your host w Park. Do

11
00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:31.359
you want to live a more fulfilling life? Do you

12
00:00:31.359 --> 00:00:34.280
want to live your legacy and achieve your personal, professional,

13
00:00:34.399 --> 00:00:38.560
and financial goals? Well? Coming up on dvparks Beyond Confidence,

14
00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.200
you will hear real stories of leaders, entrepreneurs, and achievers

15
00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.679
who have stepped into discomfort, shattered their status quo, and

16
00:00:45.759 --> 00:00:48.200
are living the life they want. You will learn how

17
00:00:48.240 --> 00:00:52.079
relationships are the key to achieving your aspirations and financial goals.

18
00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:55.039
Moving your career business forward does not have to happen

19
00:00:55.079 --> 00:00:57.640
at the expense of your personal or family life or

20
00:00:57.759 --> 00:01:01.640
vice versa. Learn more at WWDS You Done Divpork dot

21
00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:05.560
com and you can connect with divants contact Dants divpark

22
00:01:05.640 --> 00:01:09.439
dot com. This is beyond confidence and now here's your host,

23
00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:10.400
div Park.

24
00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:17.120
Good morning listeners. So we were having some technical difficulty.

25
00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:20.599
I was having it so but that said, I just

26
00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:24.280
want to think one for his kindness. He is always there,

27
00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:29.000
so so appreciate you one. And for those of you

28
00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:33.359
who have got our books, they appreciate you. Please be

29
00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:36.400
sure to get our books because not only they're going

30
00:01:36.439 --> 00:01:40.359
to change your lives, you will be helping us help

31
00:01:40.599 --> 00:01:45.040
entrepreneurs change their lives because part of the profits go

32
00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:49.280
towards Kiva dot org. And I can tell you entrepreneurs

33
00:01:49.879 --> 00:01:56.480
are special and so are you. So let's get started

34
00:01:57.159 --> 00:01:59.920
with today's show and let's bring in our gain.

35
00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:03.000
Good morning do you?

36
00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:09.960
Good morning Madge. So we get started from you know,

37
00:02:10.039 --> 00:02:12.280
one of the earlier days in your life. Do you

38
00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:17.199
have from your childhood or early youth that you remember

39
00:02:17.400 --> 00:02:21.360
even now? It can be a moment, a person, an

40
00:02:21.400 --> 00:02:23.520
experience that left a positive mark on you.

41
00:02:25.719 --> 00:02:28.400
Yeah, I actually do. And it turned out to be

42
00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:32.120
the most intelligent thing that anyone has ever said to me.

43
00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:35.759
I was a commercial real estate broker and I had

44
00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:39.479
just started and I had done a couple of transactions,

45
00:02:39.599 --> 00:02:44.719
successful transactions, very very quickly, and there was a secretary

46
00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:48.479
at the company that I was with, and you know,

47
00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:51.039
she was congratulating me, and you know, I was being

48
00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:54.199
kind of, you know, modest, and I said, you know,

49
00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:56.120
I was just in the right place in the right time,

50
00:02:57.039 --> 00:02:59.879
and she got angry at me, and she actually said,

51
00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:04.840
that's not it. And I was really taken aback, and

52
00:03:05.719 --> 00:03:10.080
she said, that's not what's important. What's important is not

53
00:03:10.199 --> 00:03:12.479
being in the right place at the right time, but

54
00:03:12.800 --> 00:03:17.879
knowing you are. And it's stuck with me. It's just

55
00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:22.240
always stuck with me, that opportunities pass all of us

56
00:03:22.360 --> 00:03:26.759
like a river all the time, and it's recognizing what

57
00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:31.719
opportunities are right for us for who we are and

58
00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:34.879
capitalize on those. And again, I apologize for kind of

59
00:03:34.919 --> 00:03:37.639
going on and on, but it really was and still

60
00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:41.719
is the most important interesting thing that anyone's ever said

61
00:03:41.719 --> 00:03:41.879
to me.

62
00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:46.360
Well, that is very profound and very true. If you

63
00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:49.840
think about it, it's sort of contrainitive. But at the

64
00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:52.159
same token, how can you be at the right place

65
00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:55.240
and at the right time unless you recognize that the

66
00:03:55.319 --> 00:03:58.800
opportunity is right for you and that comes when you're

67
00:03:58.800 --> 00:04:00.000
in alignment with yourself.

68
00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:05.400
Yes, yeah, you're right, know yourself, know what you can do,

69
00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:10.719
and recognize that something is an opportunity. Yeah, it's pretty

70
00:04:10.719 --> 00:04:11.319
heavy stuff.

71
00:04:12.120 --> 00:04:15.080
It is. It is. So tell us you started out

72
00:04:15.080 --> 00:04:17.319
in real estate, so I'm assuming that was the first

73
00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:21.720
part of your career, and did you continue in real

74
00:04:21.839 --> 00:04:23.839
estate or did your career take a charm.

75
00:04:24.839 --> 00:04:29.279
Well, I've actually always been in real estate. As a kid,

76
00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:34.040
I recognized the power of real estate. I was always

77
00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:38.120
interested in architecture. I was actually one of the first

78
00:04:38.199 --> 00:04:40.240
real estate majors in the country. I went to the

79
00:04:40.319 --> 00:04:41.959
University of Colorado, and there are only a couple of

80
00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:46.720
places in the whole country universities that offered a major

81
00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:52.240
in real estate. So I did. I was a major

82
00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:56.519
and got all that information. I moved to California, became

83
00:04:56.519 --> 00:05:00.000
a real estate broker, and then I became a developed

84
00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:03.000
not very long after. Just after a couple of years

85
00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:06.120
as as a commercial broker, I kind of felt I

86
00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:08.920
knew what I was doing. Like like all young people,

87
00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:11.680
they you know, they think more highly of themselves and

88
00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:14.680
there is probably appropriate, but I did it, and uh,

89
00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:17.920
and I've always been involved ever since. In commercial real

90
00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:21.800
estate too, uh to where I've I've I've actually had

91
00:05:21.959 --> 00:05:24.600
lots of other business interests that you know, that have

92
00:05:24.680 --> 00:05:28.319
really taken my pretty much my full time energies, but

93
00:05:28.519 --> 00:05:31.560
always been involved in in real estate, you know, more

94
00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:35.480
in the background. And today I still own commercial real

95
00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.600
estate across many states in the US.

96
00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:44.959
That's fantastic. So what made you stay with commercial real estate?

97
00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:54.879
You know, I've I've learned that if you're smart about

98
00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:57.519
the assets you buy, and you know, that's true with

99
00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:02.720
with any investment, if you are you know, selective on

100
00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:06.720
what you buy and how you manage it, you can

101
00:06:06.800 --> 00:06:10.759
you can make pretty safe bets. And and over the years,

102
00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:16.199
I've recognized that that the commercial real estate that I've

103
00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:20.480
been focused on has been actually a very very safe investment.

104
00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:23.040
And it's you know, continued to go up as rents,

105
00:06:23.120 --> 00:06:26.360
you know, increase every you know, when Lisa's turnover every

106
00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:28.639
you know, five years or ten years, you know, keep

107
00:06:28.680 --> 00:06:31.759
getting more money. And I will say that that one

108
00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:34.959
of the things that has worked really really well for me,

109
00:06:35.160 --> 00:06:38.199
and maybe of interest to your audience, is I have

110
00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:43.160
no debt on my properties. And they did start with debt,

111
00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:46.199
most of them, but as we were able to pay

112
00:06:46.199 --> 00:06:48.560
off debt and you know, and and uh and get

113
00:06:48.600 --> 00:06:51.800
free of that, it became also very clear to me

114
00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:57.000
that there's incredible safety in that that. You know, the

115
00:06:57.040 --> 00:07:00.399
economy cyclical. Real estate is cyclical. Most every everything in

116
00:07:00.439 --> 00:07:05.240
life and certainly in business goes through cycles. And if

117
00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:07.879
those cycles are not going to hurt you, you know,

118
00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:10.680
if you have a vacancy and all you have to cover,

119
00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:14.519
you know, are some utilities and property taxes, you're probably

120
00:07:14.519 --> 00:07:17.199
going to survive. But if you also had debt service,

121
00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:20.680
you might lose your property, lose your investment. So that

122
00:07:20.800 --> 00:07:25.240
was one of the major keys for me in recognizing

123
00:07:25.319 --> 00:07:30.720
the safety and the I guess the good business tactic

124
00:07:30.920 --> 00:07:32.439
of not having debt.

125
00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:40.079
Yeah, no, definitely. So you talked about how business and

126
00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:45.639
lives are cyclical, So going to the pandemic. Since post pandemic,

127
00:07:46.079 --> 00:07:51.600
there has been definitely an impact on commercial real estate

128
00:07:51.720 --> 00:07:56.920
because so many companies have gone fully remote because of

129
00:07:59.240 --> 00:08:04.600
the employee is having that freedom to work from outside.

130
00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:06.040
And like you know, there are a lot of young

131
00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:09.560
employees who are traveling and working because they can work remote,

132
00:08:09.879 --> 00:08:12.000
and a lot of companies have come back as well

133
00:08:12.600 --> 00:08:16.439
where they've created hybrid because they have recognized the value

134
00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:20.759
of having people in the office. That said, there's still

135
00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:26.839
a lot of properties that are becoming vacant. And I'm

136
00:08:26.920 --> 00:08:29.879
sure a lot of people will have this question that, Mitch,

137
00:08:30.680 --> 00:08:35.480
but all these changes going on, what advice can you

138
00:08:35.600 --> 00:08:38.159
give to someone if they were looking to invest in

139
00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:40.679
commercial real estate and how would they go about it?

140
00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:45.879
Well, I, you know something, there's a saying in golf

141
00:08:46.120 --> 00:08:49.240
it's better to be lucky than good, and I have

142
00:08:49.320 --> 00:08:52.440
to say that I've been pretty lucky in.

143
00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:57.120
Keying in on a type of real estate that I have.

144
00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:00.639
I own virtually you know, all all that I own

145
00:09:01.159 --> 00:09:07.080
are single tenant, triple net properties, so like like stores,

146
00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:12.159
like freestanding stores, gas stations, things like that. So I

147
00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:16.159
haven't had the kind of exposure that you're talking about

148
00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:19.000
that that is very very real, very very serious. And

149
00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:22.320
I've you know, I've been been very fortunate, probably more

150
00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:26.960
fortunate than smart, in having those kind of investments in

151
00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:29.240
my real estate portfolio. But I will say and answer

152
00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:35.720
your question that it's important to be flexible, be creative.

153
00:09:36.080 --> 00:09:38.240
If you've got a property, if you have an office

154
00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:42.120
building that's got vacancies, Well, what other use can you

155
00:09:42.200 --> 00:09:46.399
bring in you know, can it be low income housing.

156
00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:49.200
You know, there's a big trend in that of converting

157
00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:54.480
you know, empty ghost buildings into low income housing. Get

158
00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:58.360
people you know who are homeless off the streets and

159
00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:01.120
the you know, the local journey stictions in the states

160
00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:04.320
and even the federal government are trying to find housing

161
00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:08.360
for people. Maybe that's an answer. There's all kinds of

162
00:10:08.360 --> 00:10:11.759
different different things going on with with office space. I've

163
00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:17.440
seen I've seen where they're actually using indoor uh uh farming,

164
00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:21.879
you know, in commercial buildings to take up the space

165
00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:27.559
and have multi tiered levels of farming, hydroponic farming. And

166
00:10:27.600 --> 00:10:31.639
it's you know, again, be creative. Whatever works, whatever you

167
00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:34.639
can pull into a vacant space, you got to go

168
00:10:34.759 --> 00:10:35.000
for it.

169
00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:39.960
Hmm. That's very creative. And it's also about thinking outside

170
00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:42.120
the box. I know it's a cliche.

171
00:10:42.120 --> 00:10:44.320
And well I do badass solutions.

172
00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:51.279
So going back to what you mentioned about single tenant,

173
00:10:51.840 --> 00:10:55.480
that is very very small because if you think about it,

174
00:10:56.519 --> 00:11:00.159
no wonder what people cannot have haircut remotely. It's it's

175
00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:04.840
almost like I had read this joke somewhere that somebody

176
00:11:04.840 --> 00:11:07.720
has been in the in the tooth and then then

177
00:11:07.799 --> 00:11:10.679
this is like showing in the joke. Of course I'm

178
00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:16.639
really bad joke delivery. It's fine. So there are some

179
00:11:16.720 --> 00:11:21.120
things which are never never going to go out of business,

180
00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:26.159
so looking at single tenants. So that's that's that's really good. Now,

181
00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:30.840
moving towards as you grew in your career, you mentioned

182
00:11:30.840 --> 00:11:33.879
that you have other business interests as well. So what

183
00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:36.240
made you go for diversification.

184
00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:41.799
Well, I think I think we already touched on this,

185
00:11:41.799 --> 00:11:46.360
this openness that I learned very very long ago of

186
00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:52.879
being open to opportunities, and and several different opportunities passed

187
00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:56.639
me by, you know, in the course of my business

188
00:11:56.679 --> 00:12:00.360
life that I said, oh, that's a really interesting opportunity.

189
00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:02.279
I'm gonna I like this, I'm going to pursue this.

190
00:12:02.360 --> 00:12:07.960
I could see this working, and I've created businesses around

191
00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:13.320
that realization of an opportunity. So you know, I know

192
00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:21.759
that that's a little nebulous in specifics, however, I've been

193
00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:26.159
able to see, like, let me give you example. There's

194
00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:31.399
a very very famous, well known ticket brokerage in New

195
00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:36.080
York City. It's called TKTS and they sell last minute,

196
00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:40.000
unsold seats for all the Broadway shows, and they're anywhere

197
00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:44.279
from twenty five to fifty percent off. And every day

198
00:12:44.320 --> 00:12:47.159
at three o'clock before they open, there's a line down

199
00:12:47.200 --> 00:12:50.320
the street in the middle of Times Square for people

200
00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:55.559
to buy discounted show tickets. Fabulous. I stood there as

201
00:12:55.600 --> 00:12:59.600
a customer myself, and like shocked at myself, you know

202
00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:01.879
that I was standing in line for an hour, you know,

203
00:13:02.039 --> 00:13:04.720
to save, to save, you know, at that time was

204
00:13:04.840 --> 00:13:06.919
maybe you know, maybe thirty dollars a ticket, fifty dollars

205
00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:10.360
a ticket, and and I just thought it was a

206
00:13:10.360 --> 00:13:16.080
bit an amazing business model. And as my other business

207
00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:20.679
interests took me to Las Vegas, and I was involved

208
00:13:20.679 --> 00:13:26.519
in Las Vegas business market, and I got involved in

209
00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:29.759
sort of an aspect of ticketing. But I suddenly realized

210
00:13:30.480 --> 00:13:33.559
that that amazing model from New York had never been

211
00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:37.879
done in Las Vegas. And I thought that that's bizarre.

212
00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:40.559
I mean, I'm not the only one who understands this.

213
00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:46.159
There has to be a reason that this business model

214
00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:48.360
of last minute show tickets has never been done in

215
00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:50.840
the show. You know, the show capital of the world

216
00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:53.639
is Las veig seen me, Las Vegas. How could it

217
00:13:53.679 --> 00:13:56.799
not have been done? So I spent a lot of

218
00:13:56.879 --> 00:13:59.639
time trying to figure out was there some log some

219
00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:03.720
local mandate where the hotels against them. There was no reason.

220
00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:07.960
It's just honestly, nobody had ever done it. You know,

221
00:14:08.000 --> 00:14:09.879
I'm not that I'm not that much of a genius,

222
00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:14.159
but nobody had ever done it. Maybe that's the key

223
00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:20.559
here is do it. And it wasn't easy. I have

224
00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:24.720
to say. I was very committed, and it took me

225
00:14:24.919 --> 00:14:29.559
two years just to get twelve shows of the then

226
00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:33.600
sixty shows. To even try this. They thought I might

227
00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:35.879
ruin their business and all that kind of thing. And

228
00:14:36.720 --> 00:14:41.080
we opened the doors of our first location and honestly, dibya,

229
00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:43.080
there was a line down the street, just like in

230
00:14:43.080 --> 00:14:49.559
New York the first day, and we became the largest

231
00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:53.840
ticket broker in Las Vegas and sold over a billion

232
00:14:53.960 --> 00:14:58.720
dollars of show tickets and attractions and tours and dining reservations.

233
00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:03.799
Incredibly scessful business. And that was part of a publicly

234
00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:07.120
traded company at the time that that I founded. So

235
00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:13.480
you know, once again, it's recognize an opportunity and then

236
00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:18.120
you know, have the tenacity being stubborn as hell and

237
00:15:18.200 --> 00:15:18.840
make it happen.

238
00:15:19.720 --> 00:15:24.879
Yeah, it's that is really really powerful. So now going

239
00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:31.159
to you know, our country, that's a lot of debt,

240
00:15:32.360 --> 00:15:37.399
and you have mentioned that there are solutions that we can,

241
00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:41.799
you know, just work through it and it's gone. So

242
00:15:41.919 --> 00:15:44.799
tell us how did you arrive at that and what

243
00:15:44.919 --> 00:15:45.879
other solutions for that?

244
00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:53.080
Well, I recognized that a couple of years ago that

245
00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:57.120
I had solutions to some of our biggest problems. I'm

246
00:15:57.200 --> 00:15:59.960
kind of a newshound, and I'm really interested in current

247
00:16:00.080 --> 00:16:03.200
events and you know, not politics as much as you

248
00:16:03.240 --> 00:16:05.840
know what's going on, and and I recognize that I

249
00:16:05.919 --> 00:16:08.639
really have some ideas on how to solve a lot

250
00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:12.559
of the biggest problems that we have. And I and

251
00:16:12.600 --> 00:16:16.600
I actually wrote down an outline of all these problems,

252
00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:20.039
and having no intention of writing a book, I finished

253
00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:21.840
this and I said, oh my gosh, this is a book.

254
00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:26.440
And I wrote it and it became bad Ass Solutions,

255
00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:31.919
which is it's badass solutions for our big ass problems,

256
00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:35.879
of which there are twenty big problems that I recognize

257
00:16:35.879 --> 00:16:38.840
in the book. And one of them, and one that

258
00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:43.720
you and I talked about, is the huge debt that

259
00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:47.039
we have in the United States. And as we talked

260
00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:50.679
about a little bit earlier, I'm pretty pretty much debt adverse.

261
00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:53.519
I don't have debt in my real estate. I don't

262
00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:56.320
think the country should have debt. So it's it's this

263
00:16:56.519 --> 00:17:00.320
massive problem where literally, you know, we've had we had

264
00:17:00.320 --> 00:17:03.120
thirty four trillion dollars of debt. Well this week it

265
00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:06.880
came out that now it's thirty five trillion dollars, and

266
00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:12.839
that debt is growing by another trillion dollars every hundred days.

267
00:17:13.759 --> 00:17:17.240
It's just it's just, you know, we're drowning. Our country

268
00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:23.640
is drowning in debt and its interest payments. So the

269
00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:27.559
incredible thing is that nobody's doing anything about it. You know,

270
00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:30.440
these politicians, you know, complaining and complaining, Oh we've got

271
00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:32.799
this problem, got this problem. It's like running around with

272
00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:34.480
their hair on fire. But they don't say, well, here's

273
00:17:34.480 --> 00:17:36.440
how we're going to solve it. You know, a couple

274
00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:38.839
of times they say, well, let's raise taxes or sometimes oh,

275
00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:43.559
let's reduce spending. You're in a deep hole, and what

276
00:17:43.599 --> 00:17:44.960
are we going to do to get out of this?

277
00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:50.200
The exciting thing for me is we can, we can

278
00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:55.000
actually get out of debt almost immediately. And and you know,

279
00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:56.920
if you'd like, I'd like to tell you how we

280
00:17:56.960 --> 00:17:57.440
can do that.

281
00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:02.599
Oh, absolutely, okay.

282
00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:07.519
You know when it's being kind of bantered around lately that, oh,

283
00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:10.079
the US is bankrupt. You know, we've got thirty now

284
00:18:10.119 --> 00:18:15.400
five thirty five trillion dollars in debt. We're bankrupt. But

285
00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:18.200
it's really very interesting. Let me let me pose a

286
00:18:18.240 --> 00:18:20.400
question to you and your audience. A couple questions that

287
00:18:20.519 --> 00:18:24.519
are I think kind of thought provoking, and it's that

288
00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:28.279
if we're we're if we're bankrupt, how can the United

289
00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:33.839
States have the strongest economy in the world. Is that possible?

290
00:18:35.039 --> 00:18:39.319
The next question to think about is, if we're bankrupt

291
00:18:40.359 --> 00:18:45.400
and we have so much debt, how can our debt instruments,

292
00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:50.599
the US Treasury securities be the safest investment in the world.

293
00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:52.480
It just doesn't make.

294
00:18:52.359 --> 00:18:55.960
Sense, right, Yeah, it doesn't add up. It's almost like

295
00:18:56.039 --> 00:18:59.079
two plus is equaltifinde exactly.

296
00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:01.000
It just doesn't make sense. But there's a really interesting

297
00:19:01.039 --> 00:19:03.319
answer that I think all of us feel in our

298
00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:08.960
inside ourselves. Oh, well, the US is so strong, has

299
00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:15.599
so many assets, it could never default, really, and we

300
00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:18.680
all kind of know this, and there's sort of proof

301
00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:25.759
of it. Every single week the Federal reserve auctions, US debt,

302
00:19:25.920 --> 00:19:29.599
US treasury notes right, and billions and billions, tens of

303
00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:33.559
billions of dollars a week of US debt is purchased

304
00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:38.240
by people from all over the world, individuals, corporations, even

305
00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:44.839
foreign countries by US debt because it's so safe. Well,

306
00:19:44.839 --> 00:19:49.480
that's pretty profound, it's pretty interesting. But it led me

307
00:19:49.559 --> 00:19:57.400
to realize that the US has always considered that our

308
00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:00.720
assets are gold. The gold we have at Fort Knox.

309
00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:06.000
It was actually called the gold standard, the gold standard

310
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:08.400
that the US used to be on. Actually, it was

311
00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:12.240
an interesting concept. It actually allowed us to print paper

312
00:20:12.279 --> 00:20:16.400
money that was equal to the amount of gold reserves

313
00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:19.839
that we had at Fort Knox. So we had one

314
00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:22.279
hundred dollars of gold in Fort Knox. We can print

315
00:20:22.279 --> 00:20:28.559
one hundred dollar bill one hundred dollar paper money, and amazingly,

316
00:20:28.799 --> 00:20:33.240
early on it was even possible for people, for American

317
00:20:33.279 --> 00:20:38.160
citizens to take paper money and exchange it for actual gold.

318
00:20:39.359 --> 00:20:45.000
The gold standard was that, and we have the US

319
00:20:45.400 --> 00:20:52.279
if you look at it in any traditional accounting principles,

320
00:20:52.920 --> 00:20:56.839
the US has metch the hundreds of times more assets

321
00:20:57.240 --> 00:21:01.880
than just its gold. The US has vast land reserves,

322
00:21:04.119 --> 00:21:15.200
oil reserves, untapped minerals, military installations, planes, huge ships, buildings, massive,

323
00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:22.039
massive assets. And what's really fascinating is if we say

324
00:21:22.079 --> 00:21:29.680
that a country US can actually print paper money equal

325
00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:35.519
to its assets. Well, we've already done that for you know,

326
00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:38.160
for our whole history when we were on the gold standard.

327
00:21:38.519 --> 00:21:41.519
But we said our only asset was gold. But that's

328
00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:45.480
really not the case, and we internally and the whole

329
00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:48.000
world kind of knows. Well, they asked, the country is

330
00:21:48.000 --> 00:21:50.480
good for it. The country's got assets, so I'll buy

331
00:21:50.519 --> 00:21:52.319
their debt. You know, it's a save at investment in

332
00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:58.440
the world. Well that's pretty fascinating. So what if we

333
00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:02.680
do something what I call the assets standard instead of

334
00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:06.799
the gold standard and the asset standard. Is that the

335
00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:14.440
US has this massive reserve of assets and we simply

336
00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:19.799
write checks paper money, if you will, against those assets

337
00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:26.000
and pay off the debt. So everyone who's holding US

338
00:22:26.039 --> 00:22:31.720
treasuries gets a check. China has a trillion dollars of

339
00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:35.960
our debt, we send China a check for a million

340
00:22:36.039 --> 00:22:40.079
for US, sorry, a trillion trillion dollars and a thank

341
00:22:40.119 --> 00:22:45.119
you note. Here's your trillion dollars back China, thanks very much.

342
00:22:46.839 --> 00:22:52.960
Enjoy So the question becomes will China catch the check

343
00:22:53.480 --> 00:22:59.559
and will it clear? Yes, it will both. So China

344
00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:04.240
and your aunt Betty go and deposit their checks, and

345
00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:07.880
the check goes through the normal banking system all the

346
00:23:07.880 --> 00:23:11.519
way to the Federal Reserve where it's drawn on the

347
00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:16.359
Federal Reserve Bank, and it clears. How would it not clear?

348
00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:23.559
It will clear. So it's fascinating in its simplicity but

349
00:23:23.799 --> 00:23:28.880
also thoroughness. We do not have to have debt. It's

350
00:23:29.000 --> 00:23:35.079
very interesting. Literally, one hundred years ago, Thomas Edison, you know,

351
00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:41.200
probably the greatest thinker of the day, actually said that

352
00:23:42.440 --> 00:23:45.640
a country that issues a debt instrument in this case

353
00:23:45.720 --> 00:23:51.519
treasury treasury notes, treasury bonds, and it's paper money. Those

354
00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:55.440
two are the same thing because they're a promise to pay.

355
00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:00.480
So he was advocating one hundred years ago with the

356
00:24:00.599 --> 00:24:04.720
US take on debt if it can also just pay it,

357
00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:07.799
you know, print the money based on its assets. He

358
00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:10.599
was right one hundred years ago, and I think that

359
00:24:10.839 --> 00:24:17.240
still applies right now. It's it's it's really really very interesting. However,

360
00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:25.480
I add a strong note of caution, this is doable.

361
00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:28.880
This is very doable, and I also think that we

362
00:24:28.960 --> 00:24:34.079
can we can fund additional things that we need in

363
00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:41.599
our country. We can our social Security is underfunded, funded

364
00:24:41.680 --> 00:24:47.240
so that it's not vulnerable, help public schools, fund great

365
00:24:47.319 --> 00:24:51.839
things that we need in our country. Once, here's the caution.

366
00:24:52.599 --> 00:24:55.400
If we just keep having a Congress so we know

367
00:24:55.519 --> 00:24:59.599
will keep spending money, if they can write blank checks

368
00:24:59.599 --> 00:25:02.559
and if they're going to clear, it will not stop.

369
00:25:03.200 --> 00:25:07.200
And at some point it's a dangerous thing for the economy.

370
00:25:08.359 --> 00:25:12.519
Then it becomes at a point it becomes inflationary and

371
00:25:13.319 --> 00:25:18.559
ruins the value of the dollar. However, if we pay

372
00:25:18.599 --> 00:25:21.880
off the debt, fund things that we really have to

373
00:25:21.920 --> 00:25:25.200
take care of right now, and actually create a reserve,

374
00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:30.279
so reserve like for the money we needed during COVID

375
00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:33.480
for a major crisis, we've got that set aside as

376
00:25:33.480 --> 00:25:35.359
a reserve. We don't have to we don't have to

377
00:25:35.359 --> 00:25:38.519
go into debt again. We fund all those things right

378
00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:44.279
now with the asset standard. However, in my opinion, we

379
00:25:44.359 --> 00:25:47.480
can only use this magic wand once.

380
00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:51.160
So you have to use it very carefully, very.

381
00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:56.960
Carefully, and I believe that to do it, we would

382
00:25:57.039 --> 00:26:01.319
have to pass as strong as it gets a constitutional

383
00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:08.039
amendment that requires the federal government to have a balanced budget.

384
00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:13.279
It cannot deficit spend, it can't borrow money it has

385
00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:16.880
to It can only be limited to spending the amount

386
00:26:16.880 --> 00:26:19.960
of money that it takes in really from taxes, that's

387
00:26:19.960 --> 00:26:23.920
its revenue, and never have this problem again. But can

388
00:26:23.960 --> 00:26:28.480
you imagine how much this country and our population can

389
00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:33.920
thrive if the US is out of debt and all

390
00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:39.160
of its important programs are funded.

391
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:45.640
It'll be unheralded, so to be transparent, all of this

392
00:26:45.799 --> 00:26:46.920
is still sinking in.

393
00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:50.759
You know, it's this person.

394
00:26:51.119 --> 00:26:54.279
I'm more of a you know, I'm a visionary and

395
00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:57.000
all that. So it's still sinking in. So now let's

396
00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:02.160

Debt Busters

Listen On

Featured Episodes

Recent Episodes

Support On