The True Foundation of the American Economy

It occurs to me, as we view the smoldering wreckage of what was once a thriving economy, that it's not only Der Furor who has no clue of the actual granite foundation of the American economy. It is not manufacturing, which was long ago offshored* in an attempt to increase profitability by reducing labor costs. It is not small businesses, which are routinely driven out of business by giant competitors. It is not trade, which is being strangled by Der Furor's fever dream of prosperity through tariffs. It is not agriculture, which is no longer profitable for individual farms.

The true foundation of the American economy is lawsuits. 

Consider just the number of lawsuits filed against Der Furor's administration. At the time of this writing, the Litigation Tracker of the online law and policy journal Just Security is following 673 (!) lawsuits opposing various actions taken by the GOP-led government**. In the words of opinion writer Jill Lawrence, writing in The Bulwark,

These lawsuits and legal complaints are a sinkhole of time and money that we’ll never get back. But they are essential, as are the countless lawyers, watchdog groups and others flooding the courts to defend—even save—American rights, freedoms, laws, values, science, and modernity itself.

According to a January, 2026 article in Reuters, the average hourly rate for attorneys arguing complex cases in federal courts can range from $400 to over $1,000 for experienced partners, while rates charged by top attorneys for high-stakes federal litigation can quickly exceed $3,000 per hour***. 

I don't think anyone is trying to - or even could - calculate the full cost to you and I (as taxpayers^† and as  consumers^††) of this towering mountain of litigation, but it must run to the tens of millions of dollars, with no end in sight. How much better could this staggering amount of money have been spent? How many schools and hospitals might have been funded? How many items of crumbling infrastructure could be repaired? How many new immigration judges could be hired to help adjudicate asylum cases?

Lawsuits. They're the true foundation of the economy, but you have to be a lawyer to really benefit from them.

Have a good day, and try to avoid being sued, as difficult as that is nowadays.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* An awful term, indeed.

** A similar compilation and tracking done by the New York Times follows 650 lawsuits ... 20 fewer than the Just Security number, but still "respectable."

*** These are, of course, "billable hours," each of which can be a lot shorter than the traditional 60 minutes, depending on how the individual attorney calculates them. 

† You do realize that we're paying the tab for the government to respond to all these lawsuits, don't you?

†† Of course, you pay twice for the lawsuits - in your taxes that pay for the government's lawyers, and in higher consumer prices that pay for the lawyers on the other side.