Biden Aides Working On Plan for American 'Sovereign Wealth Fund': Report

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: IBT

Published 09/07/24 AT 4:24 PM EDT


President Joe Biden's top national security officials have reportedly been crafting a plan that would allow the country to invest in emerging technologies, energy and critical links in the supply chain.

The project has been in the works for months but didn't surface until Friday, the day after former President Donald Trump floated a similar idea for an investment fund to finance "great national endeavors," according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the effort.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan and his deputy, Daleep Singh, have reportedly been holding weekly brainstorming sessions, including with economic experts. Planning documents have been circulated among White House staffers and key agencies, but many critical details remain unclear, including the structure, funding source and strategy of the potential fund, Bloomberg said.

The administration officials involved in the project are eager to formalize it before Biden leaves office and Trump's remarks at the Economic Club of New York could lead to bipartisan support, Bloomberg said. The plan would create something like the sovereign wealth funds run by nations including Kuwait, Abu Dhabi and Norway, or the independently managed funds created by Canada and Australia.

Read more: https://www.ibtimes.com/biden-aides-working-plan-american-sovereign-wealth-fund-report-3742337

[Shipwack]

1. I have no idea how they would manage it, though ..!

The United States government can’t even produce a budget anymore. How is it going to manage a wealth fund when the two sides are pulling in nearly opposite directions?

I fear we’ll have the same situation monetarily as our budget:

1) Democrats invest in green energy and infrastructure.
2) After four (or at most 12) years the Republicans come into power and emphasize drilling and border wall building.
3) The money dwindles away as the Republicans purposefully waste it. When the Democrats get back in charge, the account is empty. The Republicans grin and say,”Awww shucks… I guess you can’t do anything now.”

This is exactly what they do with the Treasury. They run up so much debt with their giveaways to the 1% that the Democrats are never able to enact any of their major priorities.

I’m not saying it’s a bad idea; I feel just the opposite. The Devil is in the details, though. There’s a reason we can’t have the nice things other developed nations do.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Here is an aggregator wtih the Bloomberg article

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/biden-aides-working-proposal-us-194426393.html

[Shipwack]

14. Thank you. nt

[cstanleytech]

10. You mean the Republicans cannot produce a budget.

[Mawspam2]

3. Sounds like another opportunity for Republicans to crash and loot..

...then leave Dems to take the blame and fix.

[LymphocyteLover]

5. there's no doubt that Donald and his cronies would totally loot this thing if they got into power

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. It needs one of: raising taxes, cutting spending, or borrowing more

and if you can find one of those that's acceptable, it then has to be preferable to reversing one of the others.

Given the apparent impossibility of doing any of the latter, it seems unlikely this could go anywhere.

[LymphocyteLover]

6. So did Donald hear about this and try to promote this idea as his own?

[peggysue2]

9. That's what I'm wondering

I heard Trump say this just the other day. Although in his hands, this could easily become a slush fund to line his pockets.

[LymphocyteLover]

12. exactly

[ancianita]

7. I don't see why it can't work, when our allies, Australia and Canada, have set them up independent of

annual budget decisions.

Sovereign wealth funds are simply the state savings that are invested by various entities for investment return, and that may not have a significant role in fiscal management.These wealth funds are run by central banks...

Sovereign wealth funds can be characterized as maximizing long-term return, with foreign exchange reserves serving short-term "currency stabilization", and liquidity management. Many central banks in recent years possess reserves massively in excess of needs for liquidity or foreign exchange management.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_wealth_fund

Which means that the authoritarian tools in our midst can't get their grubby hands on American sovereign wealth -- not a president alone. As I understand it, a sovereign wealth fund doesn't work that way people here think it would.

Such a sovereign wealth fund would offset grubby Republican tools' enriching their owners as they impoverish the People.

[4catsmom]

8. Maybe I'm cynical

but americans are too corrupt to have something like this

[cstanleytech]

11. We do not actually need this as Congress and Senate can already invest in things that help the nation grow.

They can pass infrastructure spending bills which help the economy both in providing jobs and in assisting with the transportation of goods from one area of the country to another.
They can also pass education spending bills to assist people with gaining a higher education which also then lifts them up and provides more money into the economy because they earn more money thus spend more money.
So really Congress can already invest in the country if they choose to or they can choose to loot the country like the Republicans have been doing for the last 40 plus years

[jmbar2]

13. Fantastic idea!

Other countries such as Norway keep some of the profits from natural resources/oil to invest for the public good. I have always wondered why the US allowed big oil to get all the benefits from a resource that they didn't create.

They should specify that the funds would be for education, raising retirement benefits, giving each newborn a savings account, public housing and poverty reduction.

It would help rebalance the inequities of extreme wealth accumulation.

[Aussie105]

15. Future Wealth fund?

Yep, done!

Australia has 2 of them:

Super funds - working people have compulsory employer contributions paid into a Super fund (think compulsory 401K) with people being able to contribute themselves as well.
Currently holding A$3.5 trillion in retirement savings.
Those dollars are invested in the stock market and infrastructure projects eg toll roads.

Future fund - A$290 billion in the bank.
Earmarked for future spending as needed.

Medical Research Future Fund: $23.1 billion
Disability Care Australia Fund: $19.1 billion
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Land and Sea Future Fund: $2.3 billion
Future Drought Fund: $4.9 billion
Disaster Ready Fund: $4.7 billion
Housing Australia Future Fund: $10.4 billion


EDIT:
Notice the focus is on benefitting people?
I'm currently retired and benefitting from my Super fund as a regular tax free income.
Returns have averaged 7% over the last 20 years, no bank account can equal that.