U.S.-Canada relations haven’t been this strained in my lifetime. Like everyone else, I’m at the grocery store on the weekend checking labels, looking for Canadian products.
I’m not a fan of the chaos spinning out of the U.S. administration’s trade negotiations. However, when it comes to out-of-control government spending and debt, this is an issue that Western governments around the world need to address, especially now that the U.S. has first-mover advantage on addressing the issues that come from wasteful government spending.
Please note that this is not a comment on the U.S. government’s approach to the problem, this is a comment about the problem and the seriousness of the need to address it.
I’ve spent my career watching various money printing cycles play out, and if there’s one thing that helps put it into perspective, it’s satire.
A Reminder From 2011
Back in 2011, I had been advising people for more than a decade. The U.S. government had just finished doubling the money supply to bail out the nation’s banks and, by extension, almost anything listed on the stock market. The flood of capital created massive tailwinds for financial services professionals and their clients.
As the debt ceiling was being debated, a colleague introduced me to a hilarious but painfully accurate video: Raise the Debt Ceiling Rap by political-economic satirist Remy Munasifi.
This was three years after the financial crisis, when markets were still fragile, but those of us paying attention knew how the game worked—massive government stimulus was making a lot of people, especially in finance, very wealthy.
In his rap, Remy summed it up perfectly:
“Fourteen trillion in debt but yo we ain’t got no qualms
Droppin’ $100 bills and billion-dollar bonds,
Spending money we don’t have, that’s the name of the game
They call me cumulo nimbus because you KNOW I make it rain.”
A few verses later came his real message:
“We’re gonna default if we follow this road!
I should have thought of this 14 trillion dollars ago!”
It was funny. It was clever. We laughed at the imagery of bankers buying cars, yachts, dancing at clubs and playing tennis.
Fast forward ten years, and nothing had changed—except for the numbers.
2021: Same Problem, Bigger Numbers
By 2021, the debt crisis hadn’t been solved—it had doubled. Remy’s updated rap written at the time was aptly titled Raise the Debt Ceiling Rap (Again).
This time, the lyrics had changed, but the message hadn’t:
“Thirty trillion in debt and yo, we’re back again,
Still printing lots of money, telling all of your friends,
I told you this would happen, but you were a doubting Thomas,
Thirty is the last trillion I’ll ever need—I swear, I promise.”
Sound familiar?
For years, both Republicans and Democrats have taken the same approach:
• Kick the can down the road.
• Raise the debt ceiling.
• Pretend the problem isn’t urgent.
And we laughed at it. We made memes and shared satirical songs. Bankers and their clients made money while those in the know shook our heads at the absurdity of it all. But laughing at the problem can be a double-edged sword. Humour makes the problem seem distant, like an ongoing joke rather than a crisis. And when something becomes a joke, people become dismissive and stop taking it seriously.
We laugh at the ballooning debt, and because we laugh at it, we don’t demand real solutions. It has, in some ways, permitted us to keep delaying action—because after all, if we’re still laughing, it must not be that bad, right?
It is that bad. In a recent interview with CNBC, the founder of the hedge fund Bridgewater, Ray Dalio, described a “very severe supply-demand problem” when it comes to U.S. debt. ”[The U.S. has] to sell a quantity of debt that the world is not going to want to buy,” he said, calling it a problem of “paramount importance.”
Enter the Chainsaw
These two videos—hilarious as they are—make one thing clear: the debt problem isn’t just an economic issue, it’s a cultural one. We’ve normalized it, joked about it, and in doing so, made it easier to ignore.
But now, someone is actually doing something about it—and it’s not pretty.
Elon Musk has gone from cutting bloat at X/Twitter to helping lead a broader charge against perceived government waste. Musk is now actively involved in U.S. government spending reform, bringing the same “cut to the bone” mentality he applied at his companies to Washington.
He has called out massive inefficiencies in government contracts, defense spending, and bureaucratic waste. While politicians stall, Musk has taken action.
This isn’t about whether you like Musk or not—it’s about the fact that someone is finally addressing the elephant in the room.
The Reality Check Canada Needs
If you’re still skeptical about the urgency of this issue, consider this:
• As of today, U.S. national debt sits at $36.22 trillion and counting. ($6 trillion or 20% higher than 2021)
• Interest payments on the debt now exceed military spending.
• Canada is not far behind, with government spending and future obligations at record highs and no clear plan to rein it in.
For years, we in the financial industry have known this can’t continue forever. But the danger isn’t just in the debt itself—it’s in how we’ve learned to laugh at it rather than demand action.
Now, it looks like the U.S. is taking steps to correct course—whether through Trump, Musk, or sheer economic necessity. And it’s time that Canada gets the memo.
The addiction to debt-funded spending is like a drug—it feels good in the moment, but over time, it weakens the entire system.
If you want to criticize Trump, I get it—I have issues with many of his policies, politics and his approach as well. But know that the problem of unchecked government spending, worsening year in and year out, is finally getting addressed.
Canada needs to pay attention before we find ourselves in the same mess—except without the economic engine or first-mover advantage the U.S. enjoys.
