The success of Elon Musk’s D.O.G.E will send the US economy into a depression

Contents 1. National debt increases by $12 trillion in five years 2. Cutting down on office buildings, fraud, and blockchain proposals

On day eight of D.O.G.E’s operations, Elon shared on X that $1 billion in daily savings had already been achieved. The Tesla CEO promised he could eventually get to $4 billion per day by 2026. By his estimates, that would reduce the projected $1.87 trillion deficit to just $410 billion—a 78% drop.

If Elon’s daily cuts reach $2 billion, inflation could decline, but GDP would collapse. Reducing federal spending by $1.8 trillion in one year would cut GDP by $2.8 trillion, or 9.4%. The Great Recession of 2008 only saw a 4% drop. Millions of jobs (both government and private) would vanish.

Bankruptcies would surge and industries dependent on federal contracts would crumble. The worst-case scenario? A depression larger than anything since the 1930s. But the US has few options left.

Cutting down on office buildings, fraud, and blockchain proposals D.O.G.E is going after two of the government’s largest money pits: unused office space and fraudulent spending. Elon’s plan to cut up to two-thirds of federal office space comes at a critical time.

Real estate prices for office buildings have already fallen more than 30% from their peak, and no major government agency currently uses more than 50% of its available space.

With 511 million square feet of federal property, maintenance alone costs $76 billion per year. Factoring in other expenses, that’s over $100 billion annually—roughly 6% of the FY2024 deficit.

But of course, a lot of people don’t agree with his method. Three weeks after D.O.G.E’s spending cuts began, Elon’s access to federal spending databases was blocked. Elon said, “When I asked if anyone at Treasury had a rough guess for what percentage of that number is unequivocal and obvious fraud, the consensus in the room was about half, so $50B/year or $1B/week!! This is utterly insane and must be addressed immediately.”