63 The Real Game of Missing Money I should have added General Kelly as well. With large appropriations achieved, the General— who also had the good sense to oppose mercenary armies—was replaced by the head of OMB who had led the Administration approval for FASAB 56. As the Department of Defense and the U.S. government were failing once again in 2018 to sup- ply audited financials as required by law, U.S. Treasury debt grew by 6%. U.S. Treasury debt is expected to grow by 8% in 2019. That is despite many years of what is being called an “economic recovery.” If the economy slows or goes into recession, the debt growth is going to accelerate. If you add unfunded liabilities, the picture deteriorates further. One important question is, who will buy this debt? Especially if they know that assets are free to transfer out through the back door? As I write this, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin is being sued for his role as a private investor in allegedly asset stripping Sears before it went un- der. Given the power of FASAB 56 to implement a similar process in the U.S. government, it is telling that Treasury did not stop the implementation over concern for the credit or marketability of the U.S. debt. Currently, U.S. investors own 33% of U.S. Treasuries, the Federal Reserve Bank owns 11%, and the U.S. government owns 27%, for a total of 71% owned domestically. That leaves 29% owned by foreign investors who are currently net sellers. In addition, the U.S. government holdings are expected to shrink as the cash flow in the Social Security Trust Fund goes negative, and in the next two years, markets will experience a significant volume of corporate maturities. Given high global government debt levels, the competition for capital is going to be fierce. In December, the ascension of the Bush team and neocons continued. William Barr, At- torney General during the George H.W. Bush administration, was nominated for Attorney General in the Trump administration. Barr served in the office of legal counsel at the CIA in 1976 when George H.W. Bush was confirmed as Director of Central Intelligence as a result of support from Dick Cheney, the Chief of Staff, and Donald Rumsfeld, then Secretary of Defense. Barr’s job included helping Bush shut down the Church Committee hearings. As his confirmation hearings proceeded, I wondered, did he see the lists of Americans scheduled for assassination to shut the Church Committee hearings down? Did he see my mother’s name on the list? It’s amazing how events keep coming back around to a few simple things. Perhaps time is circular. As I pondered the challenges of explaining to global investors and citizens the importance of in- tegrating FASAB 56 into their strategies, I decided to focus the Solari Report 2018 Annual Wrap Up on the $21 trillion missing money. We needed a hard copy that integrated important material on these events. Investors also needed to take responsibility for what was underway. We have always known this day would come. Now it’s here. I called my attorney, Carolyn Betts, and we wrote “Caveat Emptor: Why Investors Need to Do Due Diligence on U.S. Treasury and Related Securities.” It is long, it is dense, and it is important. You should read it. The time has come for me to pass the baton to you. I am not going anywhere. However, I stopped financing this machinery as much as possible decades ago. So have lots of other people. You probably are financing it—as are our banks, insurance companies, pension funds, towns,