$200 Pizza and the Death of the Dollar

I don’t usually pay attention to the bill when I eat out.

That’s not something I usually think twice about. I’ve been fortunate in life, and I try to stay grounded in that. But this past weekend, something hit me hard, and I haven’t been able to shake it since.

We were celebrating my niece’s high school graduation with family. It was a warm and casual day filled with laughs, backyard photos, and enough hugs to last the month.

At one point, someone said, “Let’s order pizza,” and I volunteered.

I ordered three large pies, a small one, and an artichoke dip.

When the total popped up, I blinked.

$193.

For pizza.

This wasn’t a rooftop dinner in Manhattan. It wasn’t artisanal Wagyu-crusted anything. It was damn good pizza from a place we all like but it was still just pizza.

And for the first time in a long time, I asked myself: What the hell is going on?

It’s Not the Pizza. It’s the Money.

The truth slapped me across the face: it’s not that prices are high. It’s that the dollar is low.

We talk about inflation like some spooky economic force that floats in, ruins everything, and disappears. But inflation isn’t some random hurricane. It’s policy. It’s consequence. It’s math that doesn’t add up anymore.

The U.S. government is spending like there’s no tomorrow—literally. This year alone, it will roll over $9 trillion in debt.

And it’s not stopping.

Deficits climb every year, yet we promise more. We need more bond buyers every year, but foreign investors are walking away.

For decades, countries like China and Japan propped up U.S. markets by recycling trade surpluses into Treasury bonds.

It was a quiet deal: we buy your exports, you buy our debt. But that cycle is breaking because they see what we refuse to admit:

America has no plan.

We’re now running $2.5 trillion annual deficits on top of a national debt nearing $40 trillion. Interest alone on that debt is expected to surpass military spending this year. Our own Congressional Budget Office says we’re on track for a fiscal cliff with no brake pedal.

What happens when you overspend and overborrow with no intent to stop?

You kill the value of your currency.

And it doesn’t happen all at once. It happens like that $200 pizza quietly, invisibly, until it smacks you in the face.

The Math Doesn’t Work. And Everyone Feels It.

We’re living in what I now call The No-Math Zone.

Nothing pencils out.

The government can’t fund its promises without printing more money. Social Security doesn’t add up. Medicare doesn’t add up. Interest on the debt? Doesn’t add up.

Meanwhile, the Fed talks about “cooling inflation,” but the numbers lie. While the CPI may show 3%, your reality—your groceries, your rent, your takeout—says otherwise.

Inflation didn’t go away. It just hid inside substitution tricks and statistical contortions.

Ask yourself this: Does your life feel 3% more expensive or 30%?

Because for most people, especially those without real assets, the climb is unbearable. I’ve made it. But most haven’t. And when I saw that receipt, it made me angry for everyone in that house, and every home across America.

How are people doing this?

How do you raise kids, fill a gas tank, go to the dentist, and occasionally celebrate life, when everything costs more and your paycheck buys less?

The truth is, most people aren’t doing it. They’re quietly and desperately drowning. Proudly pretending they’re fine while living one unexpected expense away from collapse.

The System Isn’t Failing. It’s Rigged.

Let’s be clear. This is by design.

When the government needs to fund endless programs, it leans on the Fed. When the Fed needs to suppress borrowing costs, it buys Treasuries. That pushes rates down, inflates asset prices, and punishes savers.

You? You get 4% on a savings account while your real costs rise 8–15%+. That’s not policy.

That’s theft with a polite tone.

And now, they’re floating ideas like “revenge taxes” aimed at foreign governments that impose what U.S. lawmakers view as unfair tax policies. The proposal would target foreign-held U.S. assets as leverage, escalating financial tensions.

Think about that. We’re threatening the people who fund our debt. Why? Because we’re addicted to spending, and we’re running out of buyers.

It’s a desperate move. A sign that the house of cards is shaking. But most Americans will never hear about it.

They’ll just keep paying $200 for pizza and wondering why life feels heavier every month.

This Is Why the Rich Are Opting Out

There’s a reason capital is fleeing.

Private equity is investing in farmland, energy, and infrastructure, and sovereign wealth funds are buying up real assets.

Billionaires are buying the “rails” of the new economy—data centers, fiber networks, and power corridors. I wrote about it here and here.

Not because they want to innovate. Because they want to escape.

You don’t have to believe in collapse to see this trend. All you have to believe is that unsustainable things don’t last.

And our current model—print, borrow, suppress, repeat—is unsustainable.

That’s why my team has been focused on companies that benefit not despite but because of this breakdown.

We’ve identified two companies (both still in buy range) that are quietly rising while the old system decays:

One is helping the world’s biggest cloud platforms scale AI infrastructure with custom hardware that isn’t optional—it’s essential.

The other owns the towers and infrastructure that carry digital traffic across the U.S., locking in 20-year contracts while quietly raising dividends.

We haven’t picked momentum plays. We’ve picked necessities.

Because when everything gets more expensive, the only companies that win are the ones that provide what must be bought, no matter the price.

Premium Members can see the full write-up below in the Premium Section.

You’re Not Broke. The Measuring Stick Is.

That pizza receipt broke something in me. And I hope it breaks something in you, too.

Not because of the cost, but because of the clarity.

The dollar doesn’t buy what it used to because it isn’t what it used to be.

And until we face that, we’ll keep spinning in circles, earning more, saving more, and still falling behind.

The answer isn’t to work harder. The answer is to measure differently.

Measure your wealth in ownership, sovereignty, and things they can’t print.

Because the system will not save you. But the truth can.

Double D

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