We are back at 2008 levels.
Household insolvency is moving faster than at any time since the financial crisis.
Credit card highs with no signs of cooling inflation.
Energy prices give you a break over the weekend, then boom.
Trump headline ruined. https://t.co/5Ti4zNWKoj
— Business Nature (@BusinessNMedia) May 26, 2026
U.S. Credit Card Accounts delinquent by 90+ days have jumped to 13.1%, the highest level in 15 years and closing in on the highest level in history 🚨🚨🚨 pic.twitter.com/hXkpLl8WpT
— Barchart (@Barchart) May 23, 2026
Look at the math.
We have $38.9 trillion in federal debt.
Households are drowning under $18.8 trillion in debt.
It is a double squeeze.
The government borrows to survive, keeping rates high.
Your credit card balance gets wrecked by those same rates.
The S&P 500 is more concentrated than at any time since 1932.
Ten companies hold 39 percent of the index.
Wall Street calls it a bull market.
The reality is a fragile, AI-driven bubble.
The Fed is trapped.
In 2008, they slashed rates to zero.
Today, inflation is 3.8 percent.
They cannot cut rates without destroying the dollar.
They cannot hike rates without causing a total default cycle.
The consumer drives 70 percent of the economy.
The consumer is broke.
I don’t care what the “official” statistics tell you, when you go to a Home Depot on Memorial Day and you don’t see a single other soul in the entire store, something is wrong with the economy pic.twitter.com/EylvjWZd3A
— Bryan Beal 🎧 (@bryanrbeal) May 25, 2026
The University of Michigan index just hit 44.8 in May.
This is the lowest reading since the survey began in 1952.
Americans now report feeling worse about the economy than during 9/11, the Great Recession, and the pandemic.
The data confirms the depth of the rot.
Gas prices have topped $4.50 a gallon, a 50 percent jump since the Iran conflict began in February.
High prices are no longer just a fuel issue.
57 percent of consumers report that inflation is actively destroying their personal finances.
The Fed is out of ammunition.
In 2008, they had the room to slash rates to zero to stop the bleeding.
Today, with inflation entrenched, they cannot cut rates without torching the dollar.