Muskonomics: The Art of Cutting Spending While Spending More
Musk’s government efficiency drive slashes jobs but fails to cut spending where it actually matters.
Elon Musk’s grand experiment in “government efficiency” is off to a start so rocky that even Tesla’s autopilot cannot swerve around it.
Despite promising to trim the federal budget with the kind of ruthless precision usually reserved for Twitter layoffs, the U.S. government just hit a record monthly spending high of $603 billion.
If this is what “efficiency” looks like, imagine what would happen if he wasn’t trying.
Musk’s pet project, the Department of Government Efficiency, was supposed to be the future of fiscal conservatism—a Silicon Valley-infused assault on bloated bureaucracy. But as the latest Treasury report makes clear, the savings he’s been bragging about are either hiding under an SEC investigation or simply nonexistent.
Let’s break this down, shall we?
The Doge That Didn’t Bark
According to Musk, Doge is “on track” to save a mind-blowing $1 trillion annually. But reality, ever the annoying party pooper, paints a different picture.
Despite Musk’s layoffs and cost-cutting frenzy, federal spending increased by $40 billion in the same month last year.
Firing 50,000 government employees doesn’t stop Social Security checks, Medicare payments, or debt interest from existing.
Take healthcare.
Even though Musk has reportedly been identifying $4 billion in daily cuts (which sounds more like a crypto price prediction than a fiscal policy), a mere 3% rise in healthcare spending wiped out $5 billion in savings. Similarly, Social Security rose 6%, adding another $8 billion to the bill.
So, while Musk is out here cutting the Department of Education’s funding by $6 billion—presumably to encourage students to learn from AI chatbots instead—the real money drains are left untouched.
Or, as Jessica Riedl from the Manhattan Institute bluntly put it, “Doge savings are so small as not to be identifiable in monthly spending totals.” Ouch.
Efficiency or Chaos?
Musk’s cost-cutting tactics have been compared to using a flamethrower (another one of his side projects) to trim a bonsai tree.
The cuts are fast, blunt, and sometimes disastrous. Case in point: critical government functions like nuclear safety have already had to rehire employees that Musk’s team unceremoniously axed.
Even Trump, who loves a good reality TV-style shake-up, is now telling Musk to slow down. At a recent cabinet meeting, he instructed the billionaire to use a “scalpel” rather than a “hatchet.” Translation: Stop firing people who keep the lights on in nuclear power plants.
And it’s not just Trump who’s getting nervous. Republican lawmakers, typically thrilled by the idea of spending cuts, realize that “efficiency” might mean “gutting agencies so hard they stop functioning.” Congress just passed a bill extending spending at current levels until September, essentially freezing Musk’s fiscal carnage in place.
The Doge Dividend Delusion
Musk has suggested that his cost-cutting will generate a Doge Dividend—a magical surplus that could put thousands of dollars back into the hands of American families.
But as a former Biden economic adviser, Brendan Duke points out, “There is zero indication that such savings have actually been identified.”
The real issue here is simple: 75% of all federal spending goes to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans, defense, and interest payments. These are politically untouchable unless Musk fancies explaining to millions of retirees why their checks are now payable in Dogecoin.
Make It Make Sense
Musk’s attempt to “disrupt” government spending would always hit the brick wall of reality.
Government budgets aren’t startups—they don’t pivot, downsize, or “fail fast” without real consequences for real people. And despite all his bluster, Musk has yet to prove that his version of fiscal efficiency is anything more than a marketing stunt wrapped in libertarian cosplay.
So what’s next?
More promises, more cuts that barely scratch the surface, and more unintended consequences. Because if there’s one thing Musk has mastered, it’s selling the illusion of revolution—until the numbers come in.
That’s the point.
Zahead, Chaos Analyst