Listen to my last two Alternative Visions shows of December 19, 2025 (Year End Review of the US Economy 2025) and January 2, 2026 (Predictions for US Economy 2026) on the condition of the US economy during the first year of the Trump regime–and my predictions where it’s headed in 2026 and beyond.
REVIEW OF THE US ECONOMY 2025
Today’s show reviews the performance of the US economy the past year. Topics covered include actual inflation, jobs and likely GDP numbers. Special focus on Trump’s 2 main economic initiatives: the $5 trillion tax cut package and Trump tariffs offensive. What have been the actual impact of both thus far? Likely impact in 2026 and beyond? Trump monetary policy browbeating the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. Why neither corporate cost reduction via tax cuts and interest rate cuts will have much effect on the real economy. Contradictions in 21st century US capitalism that negate stimulative effects of fiscal and monetary policies. Trump record on war spending and social program spending. US Deficits, National Debt, and interest payments 2025. State of AI investing and financial bubbles (tech stocks, gold-silver, cryptos). What’s the Trump record on the trade deficit, FDI financial flows, and US dollar.
https://alternativevisions.podbean.com/e/alternative-visions-2025-us-economy-review/
PREDICTIONS FOR THE US ECONOMY 2026
As a follow up to last show’s ‘Review of US Economy 2025’, this week the show makes predictions where it’s headed in 2026. Topics include US GDP for next year, jobs & unemployment, Inflation (CPI & PCE), Fed interest rates (short & long term), continued devaluation of the US dollar and its consequences, direction of financial asset bubbles (gold, silver, crypto, stocks), AI investment & real business spending, government spending (defense vs social programs), budget deficits and national debt, US trade deficit. Impact of global trends (BRICS, sanctions, dollar demand, demand for US Treasuries by China, BRICS, etc. also discussed).
https://alternativevisions.podbean.com/e/alternative-visions-1-2-26/
Dr. Jack Rasmus @drjackrasmus









This financial summary from the present back to the early 2000’s is critical to understanding how balmy Trump’s National Security Strategy of the USA is despite its superficial attraction in refocusing the US away from Europe and toward the Western Hemisphere and Pacific.
What makes the plan utterly balmy is that you cannot divorce economic fundamentals from military planning; you can’t continue military spending by trillions and at the same time continue to run up trillions of dollars in various deficits. Trump’s financial answer to the $38 trillion dollar deficit is chicken feed: his tariffs or proposed taxes on defense sales or taxes on foreign work visas won’t make any real dent in that astonishing number of $38 trillion—and rising.
And of course it is the same elites who are obsessed with military action——-currently against Iran and Venezuela and ultimately China—as ludicrous and deadly as all that is—-who are equally obsessed with maintaining and expanding tax cuts for the rich and businesses. To use the mild metaphor “contradiction” to describe this “planning” does not capture the scale of the underlying madness.