US debt held by the Federal Reserve surpassed 25% of GDP in 2021!

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According to the economic database of St. Louis Federal Reserve (FRED), the US debt held by the Federal Reserve surpassed the unthinkable percentage of 25% of GDP (25.48%) for the first time in the third quarter of 2021!

We observe that from the beginning of the related recorded data in 1970, the US debt held by the Federal Reserve remains almost flat and at much lower levels (~ 3.5%-5.5% of GDP). And this is the case even during the recession right after the 1973 oil crisis depicted by the shaded area in the graph.

 

Then, during the big financial meltdown of 2007-2008, we observe a shallow dive of the debt. After that period, we can see clearly that the US debt held by the Federal Reverse breaks one record after another, reaching unprecedented levels.

 

For the first time, the debt surpasses 10% of GDP in the second quarter of 2011 (10.41%), and in the first quarter of 2014 surpasses 15% of GDP (15.25%). Then, we have a dive in the third quarter of 2019 at 11.33%, and after that, an unprecedented sharp rise in new record levels.

The debt skyrockets at 23.7% of GDP in the second quarter of 2020, 25.48% in the third quarter of 2021 as we saw above, and hits new record at 25,65% in the first quarter of 2022!

 

Recall that according to a 2021 report from the Institute for Policy Studies:

                         U.S. billionaires have seen their wealth surge $1.8 trillion during the pandemic, their collective fortune skyrocketing by nearly two-thirds (62 percent) from just short of $3 trillion at the start of the COVID crisis on March 18, 2020, to $4.8 trillion on August 17, 2021, according to a report from Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) and the Institute for Policy Studies Program on Inequality (IPS). [...] Elon Musk has seen his wealth increase by an eye-popping $150 billion during the pandemic, a gain of over 600 percent.

While according to a 2021 Financial Times article [Emphasis added]:

                        As the virus spread, central banks injected $9tn into economies worldwide, aiming to keep the world economy afloat. Much of that stimulus has gone into financial markets, and from there into the net worth of the ultra-rich. The total wealth of billionaires worldwide rose by $5tn to $13tn in 12 months, the most dramatic surge ever registered on the annual billionaire list compiled by Forbes magazine.

                        The billionaire population boomed last year as well. On the 2021 Forbes list, which runs to April 6, their numbers rose nearly 700 to a record total of more than 2,700. The biggest surge came in China, which added 238 billionaires — one every 36 hours — for a total of 626. Next came the US, which added 110 for a total of 724. The top 10 gainers in the US and China each saw already vast fortunes grow in just one year by sums that not long ago would have seemed impossible in a lifetime: from $25bn to more than $150bn for Tesla founder Elon Musk.

Now, compare the data and figure out how these billionaire oligarchs overboosted their fortunes at such a short period with the working class being financially squeezed even more.