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The week's question
In March 2025, in the thread "Re: OT, out", Umm asked the members: "Do you think it is because America is made up of magical soil that makes businesses based in America magically profitable?" This week it is put to everyone again. The button below opens the small thread re-asking it - read what others have said so far, then give your own answer as an ordinary reply.
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Stocks A to Z / Stocks B / Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
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Author: elann ✸✹🐝  😊 😞
Number: of 22347 
Subject: Re: O/t, American debt and the betting sites
Date: 02/25/26 5:57 PM
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“ $45 Trillion in Debt: There is an 81% chancethat the debt reaches $45 trillion.
• $50 Trillion in Debt: There is a 52% chancethat the debt will reach $50 trillion before the end of the term in 2029.“. For years the betting sites have been the best predictors of outcomes. For Americans with kids and grandkids these numbers are frightening. Should interest rates drop into these debt levels? A trillion plus in annual interest , forever? Shameful.


I'm not debating the numbers themselves. I'm telling you that a betting site is a poor choice for getting these types of numbers. Yes, betting sites have provided good predictions for things that are based on public opinion, like election results. And they are also fun to watch when the betting is about something unknowable. But with budget predictions, all the bettors are doing is synthesizing information that is given by sources like this -
Congressional Budget Office: Publication 62105

I don't go to betting sites to get tomorrow's weather forecast, or the time of sunset this evening, or the federal deficit projection.
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This community has written 21,850 posts about Berkshire Hathaway. The article-length ones it recommended most:
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