The Julia La Roche Show #321 Carol Roth: America's Broken Fiscal Foundation & The Inflation That's Coming
Dec 22, 2025
Carol Roth, a former investment banker and two-time New York Times bestselling author, shares her insights on America's fiscal challenges. She discusses the implications of a K-shaped economy, where wealth is unevenly distributed, and explains how rising costs in housing and education contribute to national stress despite apparent abundance. Carol predicts inflation will serve as a release valve for the debt crisis. She also makes a bullish case for gold as central banks shift their strategies and outlines potential economic scenarios for 2026.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Broken Fiscal Foundation Drives Everything
- The U.S. sits on a broken fiscal foundation with debt-to-GDP over 120% and sustained large deficits.
- That structural fragility underpins the K-shaped economy and rising inequality driven by policy, not merit.
The Wealth Paradox Explained
- Wealth abundance hasn’t bought Americans stress relief because housing, education, and healthcare costs erode freedom.
- The “wealth paradox” means nominal access to goods masks rising financial insecurity and reduced quality of life.
Administrative Class Wealth Transfer
- An expanding administrative class extracts wealth via higher education and healthcare without improving outcomes.
- Government intervention and subsidized lending enabled an administrative layer that transfers wealth from younger and working people.