I worked at Cantor Fitzgerald for many years. During that time I had some key insight into Howard Lutnick; he was an egomaniacal doofus. He was a tennis instructor before he wooed Bernie cantor into signing his firm over to him. Bernie’s widow sued Howard for the move, as Bernie was on his death bed and Howard shoved documents in his face-
Employees were exploited and intimidated. Howard lorded over the firm like he was a royal.
Now I have heard 9-11 changed Howard. He lost thousands of employees and his own brother, and if he had been in the office that day, he too would have died. That would certainly change most men-
But I don’t trust anyone with power of the magnitude a SWF would create-
Look at social security- FDR created a “piggy bank” for all of us, and now it’s possibly going to bankrupt us all…..the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Our government needs to stick to the basics and not be so high flying with their plans.
We actually have a sovereign wealth fund in the US. It's the State of Alaska's Permanent Fund.
Bit of history: The gigantic Prudhoe Bay oil field was discovered in 1968 and the state passed a constitutional amendment in 1976 creating the Alaska Permanent Fund and allocated 25% of state energy revenues to the APF.
In 1980, the State of Alaska created the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation to oversee the APF and began paying dividends in 1982 ($1000 to every Alaska citizen).
The APF distributes annually 5% of its average value over the last 5 years to be allocated to state government (makes up 40% of budget) and dividends to citizens.
That allocation between the state budget and dividends has become a political controversy as the allocation is set every year. In 2024, it was $1702 per citizen.
The APF holds its wealth in the normal instruments: stocks, bonds, and other equities. The fund is $76B today and grows from both revenues and investment return.
In this instance, the source of funding is substantial and regular.
The State of Alaska has less than $500MM in General Obligation bonds, so the APF is an absolute surplus to the state coffers.
In many ways, public employee pension funds are similar to sovereign wealth funds -- I state this as to the ability to oversee the public good.
I can see an argument for a creatively and carefully structured US sovereign wealth fund as a means of imposing financial discipline, but then I think about the lousy stewardship of the Social Security Trust Fund (which was never supposed to have been commingled with the general acc't) and the fact we're $33T in debt.
I think we can wait on the US Sovereign Wealth Fund for a bit more.
Our sovereign wealth reserve is a combination of our productive resources (natural and people) and our willingness to defend it. Mediums of exchange do not constitute wealth. Ask Weimar Germany how that worked out.
Very good analysis Mr. Carter. I would add that our government has proven itself to be grossly incompetent in most things it does, but that applies especially to money management. They seem to have no restraint when it comes to taxpayers' money.
I suspect Trump muses about seemingly everything out loud as a means to float trial balloons. He's very tuned in to public perception in almost an obsessive way. He is a populist.
If people don't like it and it's not popular, he moves on. This is essentially how he built his campaign messaging and his platform. It's why some things seem "extreme" and "outrageous." It is truly democratic (small "d") and one of the reasons that the elites really don't like him. These things used to be their purview and only theirs.
There is no question that the mechanism by which Trump engages and obtains info -- even on big issues -- is to broach them and see what happens.
He also takes bold steps when he really wants something. Clearly he is focused on fentanyl and the cartels.
He threw out the tariffs and got exactly what he wanted -- serious engagement and responses from Canada, Mexico, and China.
He is the only politician who understands the power of access to the US economy. Everybody else thinks we should give it away under the guise of free trade.
Let's charge admission to the biggest and most powerful economy on the planet.
I agree with your comments, Mr. Carter. As usual, Trump comes out with shock statements and people take him literally and not seriously. He is a very serious businessman, give it some time.
Still mulling over your arguments.. which are always a good start.. A question arises then... How does the government rationalize spending for lunar, mars, or space missions? I believe Its spending to help our citizens and companies gain access to IP before anyone else, right?
They are spending money on programs that will return something to us... citizens and businesses. AND, we know the government is "Spending" money, directly (like USAID), and indirectly through unaccountable NGOs, on things of importance as defined by administrators and politicians (and in some cases not disclosed and transparent), in it current model.
Perhaps limiting investment spending through a couple of departments will keep the projects that are personally and politically motivated by individuals, to be more accountable and transparent, and tied to the strategies, policies, and directions agreed to? As an example, USAID should not be independently giving out our $'s. It should go away, but the State Department should be the manager to ensure that any funding efforts are in line with current risks and policies that align with ever-changing geo-political changes around the globe.
The Dems would weaponize both of these two entities if given the chance. It would be an order of magnitude greater than what they did weaponizing the green energy scam. Think Solyndra and Rivian and other scams.
As strong of an advocate as I have been for cryptocurrency for a decade plus, closer to a decade and a half, I still definitely agree with you on the fund ideas. It is a case of nothing to gain and everything to lose.
As one of the most active independent cryptocurrency traders in the world in 2021 I will clearly state and go on the record that it is a foolish idea because every trade I made, without exception, before going in I knew was a speculative venture. Allow government some oversight to protect consumers and investors and speculators, but don't "invest" and risk taxpayer dollars.
10Kw dollar 💵, finish the half done logic of the petrodollar, restore value to money, and bend the energy cost curve down. The energy cost curve is the big picture and big monster of inflation.
Unless energy is money (it already is with the petrodollar) in which case inflation means cheaper energy… not to mention we can really get out of our debt problems.
This already happened with telecom deregulation; bandwidth exploded while the cost plummeted. The internet and Substack exist because AT&T was broken up in 1984. Bandwidth and telco transmission are rather similar to the energy grid, energy is already money via the petrodollar- how about a petrodollar for all of us?
I worked at Cantor Fitzgerald for many years. During that time I had some key insight into Howard Lutnick; he was an egomaniacal doofus. He was a tennis instructor before he wooed Bernie cantor into signing his firm over to him. Bernie’s widow sued Howard for the move, as Bernie was on his death bed and Howard shoved documents in his face-
Employees were exploited and intimidated. Howard lorded over the firm like he was a royal.
Now I have heard 9-11 changed Howard. He lost thousands of employees and his own brother, and if he had been in the office that day, he too would have died. That would certainly change most men-
But I don’t trust anyone with power of the magnitude a SWF would create-
Look at social security- FDR created a “piggy bank” for all of us, and now it’s possibly going to bankrupt us all…..the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Our government needs to stick to the basics and not be so high flying with their plans.
You're someone who I not only liked personally, but you were brighter than 98% of the floor, too. :)
"egomaniacal doofus"😄🤣👏💯
Thank you for putting a smile on my face Peter with one of the greatest descriptions ever
We actually have a sovereign wealth fund in the US. It's the State of Alaska's Permanent Fund.
Bit of history: The gigantic Prudhoe Bay oil field was discovered in 1968 and the state passed a constitutional amendment in 1976 creating the Alaska Permanent Fund and allocated 25% of state energy revenues to the APF.
In 1980, the State of Alaska created the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation to oversee the APF and began paying dividends in 1982 ($1000 to every Alaska citizen).
The APF distributes annually 5% of its average value over the last 5 years to be allocated to state government (makes up 40% of budget) and dividends to citizens.
That allocation between the state budget and dividends has become a political controversy as the allocation is set every year. In 2024, it was $1702 per citizen.
The APF holds its wealth in the normal instruments: stocks, bonds, and other equities. The fund is $76B today and grows from both revenues and investment return.
In this instance, the source of funding is substantial and regular.
The State of Alaska has less than $500MM in General Obligation bonds, so the APF is an absolute surplus to the state coffers.
In many ways, public employee pension funds are similar to sovereign wealth funds -- I state this as to the ability to oversee the public good.
I can see an argument for a creatively and carefully structured US sovereign wealth fund as a means of imposing financial discipline, but then I think about the lousy stewardship of the Social Security Trust Fund (which was never supposed to have been commingled with the general acc't) and the fact we're $33T in debt.
I think we can wait on the US Sovereign Wealth Fund for a bit more.
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
Our sovereign wealth reserve is a combination of our productive resources (natural and people) and our willingness to defend it. Mediums of exchange do not constitute wealth. Ask Weimar Germany how that worked out.
Very good analysis Mr. Carter. I would add that our government has proven itself to be grossly incompetent in most things it does, but that applies especially to money management. They seem to have no restraint when it comes to taxpayers' money.
I suspect Trump muses about seemingly everything out loud as a means to float trial balloons. He's very tuned in to public perception in almost an obsessive way. He is a populist.
If people don't like it and it's not popular, he moves on. This is essentially how he built his campaign messaging and his platform. It's why some things seem "extreme" and "outrageous." It is truly democratic (small "d") and one of the reasons that the elites really don't like him. These things used to be their purview and only theirs.
There is no question that the mechanism by which Trump engages and obtains info -- even on big issues -- is to broach them and see what happens.
He also takes bold steps when he really wants something. Clearly he is focused on fentanyl and the cartels.
He threw out the tariffs and got exactly what he wanted -- serious engagement and responses from Canada, Mexico, and China.
He is the only politician who understands the power of access to the US economy. Everybody else thinks we should give it away under the guise of free trade.
Let's charge admission to the biggest and most powerful economy on the planet.
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
I agree with your comments, Mr. Carter. As usual, Trump comes out with shock statements and people take him literally and not seriously. He is a very serious businessman, give it some time.
Still mulling over your arguments.. which are always a good start.. A question arises then... How does the government rationalize spending for lunar, mars, or space missions? I believe Its spending to help our citizens and companies gain access to IP before anyone else, right?
They are spending money on programs that will return something to us... citizens and businesses. AND, we know the government is "Spending" money, directly (like USAID), and indirectly through unaccountable NGOs, on things of importance as defined by administrators and politicians (and in some cases not disclosed and transparent), in it current model.
Perhaps limiting investment spending through a couple of departments will keep the projects that are personally and politically motivated by individuals, to be more accountable and transparent, and tied to the strategies, policies, and directions agreed to? As an example, USAID should not be independently giving out our $'s. It should go away, but the State Department should be the manager to ensure that any funding efforts are in line with current risks and policies that align with ever-changing geo-political changes around the globe.
The Dems would weaponize both of these two entities if given the chance. It would be an order of magnitude greater than what they did weaponizing the green energy scam. Think Solyndra and Rivian and other scams.
So might the Republicans!
Great points Mr Carter! Thanks for the observations.
As strong of an advocate as I have been for cryptocurrency for a decade plus, closer to a decade and a half, I still definitely agree with you on the fund ideas. It is a case of nothing to gain and everything to lose.
As one of the most active independent cryptocurrency traders in the world in 2021 I will clearly state and go on the record that it is a foolish idea because every trade I made, without exception, before going in I knew was a speculative venture. Allow government some oversight to protect consumers and investors and speculators, but don't "invest" and risk taxpayer dollars.
Energy Money
Energy money is our way out of many difficulties.
10Kw dollar 💵, finish the half done logic of the petrodollar, restore value to money, and bend the energy cost curve down. The energy cost curve is the big picture and big monster of inflation.
Unless energy is money (it already is with the petrodollar) in which case inflation means cheaper energy… not to mention we can really get out of our debt problems.
This already happened with telecom deregulation; bandwidth exploded while the cost plummeted. The internet and Substack exist because AT&T was broken up in 1984. Bandwidth and telco transmission are rather similar to the energy grid, energy is already money via the petrodollar- how about a petrodollar for all of us?