Billionaire Elon Musk has issued a stark warning about the US economy, claiming the country is heading towards “bankruptcy” due to widening deficits between government spending and revenue.
In a recent post on X, the CEO of Tesla echoed concerns raised by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which reported that the US government spent $6.16 trillion in the financial year 2023, compared to $4.47 trillion in revenue, creating a significant budget gap.
“America is currently headed for bankruptcy super fast,” Musk posted, sharing the DOGE post on X.
The DOGE post also emphasised that the last budget surplus for the United States was in 2001.
“This trend must be reversed, and we must balance the budget,” said the post dated Saturday, November 23.
According to the post, the US government's revenue comes from sources like individual income tax, payroll tax, corporate income tax, customs duties, sales and excise tax, and others.
Meanwhile, spending is largely directed towards social security, national defence and veterans, medicare, assistance to individuals, net interest on debt, transfers to State and other spending.
In another post on November 24, DOGE highlighted the US government's spending, $28 million on things like licensing fees for a green “camouflage” pattern on Afghan National Army uniforms, $2.5 million on a Super Bowl advertisement for the Census, $1.7 million for holograms of dead comedians, and $500,000 to build an IHOP in Washington, DC among other things.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) appears to be an outside advisory department set up by US President-elect Donald Trump's administration and billionaire Elon Musk to provide transparency to the people of America.
The department will be led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and failed Republican presidential candidate. The Musk-owned platform X gave the department official government credentials, according to earlier media reports.