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Jack Armstrong (3:19)

No, we're not working on Christmas Eve. We worked really hard to get it in our contract that we wouldn't be working today. So you're not hearing us live.

Joe Getty (3:27)

I'd hate to make both Jesus and Santa Claus angry. So, yes, we're taking the day off, but hope you're enjoying some really good A and G replays. Dig in. Merry Christmas.

Jack Armstrong (3:39)

Welcome to the Armstrong and Getty Show. If you want to donate to more people being able to get into scouting, just go To Armstrong and getty.com Armstrong and getty.com we made it easy.

Joe Getty (3:49)

First a witticism and then a new feature. Jack makes the Choice.

Jack Armstrong (3:53)

Oh boy.

Joe Getty (3:56)

Here is the witticism. It is actually a cartoon. Two fellows. One is obviously in terrible distress. The other looks very, very smug. The caption is leftist mentality in a nutshell. The distressed guy is screaming, help. I'm getting bitten to death by ants. This smug companion says, not all ants. Boy, it makes you stop. And welcome to Jack Makes the Choice.

Jack Armstrong (4:31)

Look, we're concerned there's going to be a concerned there's gonna be a backlash against all ants. So we don't want to sink. Anything about the ants that are biting you to death?

Joe Getty (4:40)

Yeah, just the radicalized ants really are biting us to death.

Jack Armstrong (4:46)

Is one of my choices going home?

Joe Getty (4:48)

Oh boy. If it were, you wouldn't be hearing my voice. So here's your choice. Why is South Korean fertility so low?

Jack Armstrong (5:00)

Yeah, it's the lowest in the world, isn't it?

Joe Getty (5:03)

Yes. Yeah. And well, they're both so good. Or J.D. vance is the white Ibram X Kendi, I'm sorry, I stumbled over that. Ibram X Kendi, as soon as you.

Jack Armstrong (5:16)

Said G.D. vance, I was thinking the other one I want because I don't want anything in politics. But that is intriguing just because I can't even imagine what it is.

Joe Getty (5:23)

You know, I'm going to give you a very capsule summary of that one. Then we'll do the South Korea story. JD who wrote so movingly and persuasively in hillbilly elegy about, about his people in rural Appalachia and their self defeating beliefs and attitudes. It was a look at, and I've made this quote several times. Great Elvis Costello song. The deep dark, truthful mirror. It was a good long stare into that mirror and it was remarkably candid. It seems as though he's decided it's much, much better politics to work the grievance side of the aisle and tell people you're being cheated and the world is stacked against you and I will be your savior. That might just be a reflection of the fact that yes, that sort of politics is much more popular than you need to take a look at yourself and solve your own problems. And kind of as an adjunct to that, there's an interesting story in the Journal today entitled the War on Poverty Failed this West Virginia county and they're no longer waiting for help. Well, good, good. And you know, someday I'd like to get back to discussing how the average American would move to find work many times in their lives. A very, very short time ago and now people seem to have some sort of belief that they have a God given right to stay where they are because it's familiar and comfortable. It's odd. It's a real change. Anyway, this is longish and we'll just touch on some of the main points.

Jack Armstrong (7:06)

Because South Korean men can't satisfy their women's.

Joe Getty (7:09)

I'm not sure that's it. Why is South Korean fertility so low? Listen to this now. Comprehend this if you can. Its population optimistically is projected to shrink by over two thirds in the next 100 years if current fertility rates persist. You've got a hundred South Koreans today. They will have only six great grandchildren between them. Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

Jack Armstrong (7:43)

I, I remember from reading America Alone by Mark Stein back in the days when you do the math on the spiral of dropping below 2.1 kids per woman, it's amazing math. It's like compound interest. Well, it's exactly like compound interest the way it works. And it's astounding how quickly you run out of people.

Joe Getty (8:03)

Yeah, yeah. So here are a couple of stats for you. The world fertility rate in 1960, which lines the world. Oh, there it is. Was around five children per.

Jack Armstrong (8:19)

That's because men back then could satisfy their women.

Joe Getty (8:22)

Oh boy. Interesting. They don't have the US Rate, it's most mostly about Asia, but in South Korea, it was actually in 1960, it was closer to six children per woman.

Jack Armstrong (8:32)

Wow, that's a lot of kids for the average.

Joe Getty (8:38)

And I will tell you, South Korea is more severe than the world. But the world's fertility rate has been declining quite significantly. But anyway, I'm just going to go one decade at a time for South Korea. In 1960, it was a little over six children per woman. In 1970 it was about four and a half. In 1980, it was about 2.7. 1990 it was 1.8. 2000. 1.5. 2010, about 1.2. And 2020, it's like, what is the figure now? 0.8, I think.

Jack Armstrong (9:15)

You know, my theory, which I. It's not even really a theory. It's just a fact, isn't it, that for whatever reason successful safe cultures stop having kids? South Korea, in 1960, they were coming out of the Korean War, not that many years earlier. When was the armistice? 53. So, I mean, they're, they're all, you know, children of war and they're cranking out kids. As soon as you become very successful and safe, you stop having kids.

Joe Getty (9:45)

You know, in contrast to Jack's old bluesman theory, Scientists take a different view. Although it is, like so many things cultural, in every developed country, I'm quoting now from the science newsletter I'm reading here, women struggle to reconcile their careers with a satisfying family life and their preferred number of children. This trade off is exceptionally severe in South Korea. Despite its very high level of female education, South Korea has the largest gender employment gap in the developed countries. There is almost no employment gap between men and unmarried women. I mean, the numbers are almost precisely the same. It's around 73% employment. The gap is driven by the fact that large numbers of women stop working when they have kids. Only 56% of mothers work, the fourth lowest in the OECD, which I can't remember what that stands for. It's your developed countries. In South Korea, mothers employment falls by 49% relative to fathers over 10 years. In the US it falls by 25%. In Sweden, by only 9%. South Korean women face a steep motherhood penalty partly because of their insane work culture. South Koreans work more hours per year. It's about a thousand more. It's about. Well, I'm sorry, it's about 130 hours more a year than Americans and about 430 more than Swedes, for instance. How many more makes it harder to balance work in motherhood or work or anything else.

Jack Armstrong (11:32)

How many more hours a year than Americans?

Katie (11:35)

Three.

Joe Getty (11:36)

Where? Oh, 130. Wow. Yeah.

Jack Armstrong (11:40)

So more than two hours a week?

Joe Getty (11:43)

More. Yeah. Yeah.

LG Gram Advertiser (11:46)

Wow.

Joe Getty (11:47)

There is intense pressure from employers for women not to have children. In surveys, 27% of female office workers report being coerced into signing illegal contracts, promising to resign if they become pregnant or get married. Korean work culture is notoriously sexist, blah, blah, blah.

Jack Armstrong (12:06)

But this is different than the fact that they're not having kids in like Italy or France, where you have so much time off and you could say, well, you like, you want to, you know, you want to vacation and eat and blah, blah, blah and self indulge and you don't have kids. South Korea, they're working their asses off and not having kids.

Joe Getty (12:24)

Yeah, it is interesting. You're right. These, these facts about South Korea cannot be applied universally. I mean, the insane, insane work culture.

Jack Armstrong (12:35)

So you can have more stuff, starting.

Joe Getty (12:37)

When you're a child, but so you.

Jack Armstrong (12:39)

Can have more stuff. The two of you or the one of you with no kids.

Joe Getty (12:43)

They mentioned that there's intense competition for university places. Cram schools and private tuition are popular in many low fertility Asian countries. Taiwan, Singapore, China, they mentioned. But South Korea is even worse. Almost 80% of children attend a Hagwon, which is a type of private cram school, operating in the evening, in, on weekends. Almost 80%. In 2023, South Koreans poured billions of dollars into the shadow education system. They're just absolutely obsessed with material success.

Jack Armstrong (13:18)

How happy are they?

Joe Getty (13:20)

Oh, miserable. They've got the highest suicide rate in the world, I think.

Jack Armstrong (13:24)

Wow, that's something.

Joe Getty (13:26)

Yeah, there's giant decline in marriage. You know what I think is underappreciated. And I think about this a lot and I don't think people feel it. I have, let me put it this way, I have trouble running into people who see it the same way I do. Not that they disagree, they just haven't thought about it. Cultures are like individuals. They can get diseased. And just because a culture is something doesn't mean it should be something or that there's nothing. I mean, there's little you can do as an individual about it. But, but you've got to look at your culture like you're in a group of five friends and your five friends make a terrible decision about what they're going to do. It's like the proverbial if your friends jumped off a bridge, you've got to look at yourself separate from your culture. Cultural going around with the cultural. Going along with the cultural current needs to be a choice. We started the show by talking about living. What the hell?

Jack Armstrong (14:29)

That's funny.

Joe Getty (14:30)

I couldn't remember the term awarely in the moment. What's the mindfulness? Mindfulness, right. Mindfully. Participate in your culture mindfully. Yeah.

Jack Armstrong (14:43)

It's like I made this joke kind of a couple weeks ago on our friend Tim, who's a famously childless. Him and his wife, two very smart, successful people who have no interest in having kids, is just, you know, how upset can you be about kids that aren't born? I mean, you'd have to care about your culture carrying on. And that's not the same as, like, a lot of what you and I do probably is because we got kids out there that are going to have to live in this country. And so I care a lot. The direction goes. It's a hell of a motivator. It's a. It's one of the biggest motivators in world history. So nobody knows what it's like to have a society where you don't have kids, where you feel like, when I'm dead, what the hell do I care what happens to this country? Or everybody else is going to be dead too.

Joe Getty (15:29)

Oh, my.

Jack Armstrong (15:30)

None of my friends have kids. I mean, it's. It's a. It's pretty hard to get super motivated to care about what the country is going to be like in 50 years if I'm gone and none of. I've got no offspring.

Joe Getty (15:41)

So, interestingly, back to Korea briefly, like China, they decided in the very early 60s, as a new regime came to power, that families were way too big, there are too many people, and shrinking family sizes would fuel economic development by freeing up more women to work and decreasing the number of dependents per worker. And so they had all sorts of, you know, societal pressure and tax breaks and slogans. Have few children and bring them up well. Later, posters encouraged parents to prioritize quality over quantity with mottos such as, let's have two children and raise them well. Or the frantic two children is already too many. And it was absorbed into Asian culture, including South Korean culture, and they just stopped having kids. It's interesting, but as you point out, that ain't the story in Italy, for instance, Germany, the U.S. it's an interesting phenomenon.

Jack Armstrong (16:34)

Gotta learn to satisfy your woman.

Joe Getty (16:36)

Yeah. Or your women's women's got satisfy you women.

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Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available@public.com Disclosures A new year.

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Jack Armstrong (19:48)

National Review has got an editorial board piece out. If Trump wants to use military force to topple Maduro, he needs to cut a Congress and ask for authorization. That's their take.

Joe Getty (19:59)

Yeah, I don't, I don't know if you'd get it.

Jack Armstrong (20:01)

Would he get it?

Joe Getty (20:03)

No, no, I would guess not. Because there's nobody in America who's running around pitching the idea of attacking Venezuela. I mean, it has no constituency. I mean, we might not like drug cartels and that sort of thing, but what happens next? Unless we have like their top three generals have said, oh, yeah, I'm totally down with the plan. I would love to be allied with the United States. Let's get this done. It would be a quagmire.

Jack Armstrong (20:31)

Given our recent experiments with regime change, I don't think a majority of Americans.

Joe Getty (20:36)

Probably want to give that a world be my guess. I think you're absolutely right. Oh, speaking of Maduro, this is, this is amusing. Establishments like cnn, the Associated Press, and the New York Times have all in various articles embraced the new narrative about Venezuela's cartel de La Solis. It doesn't actually exist. It's not real. It's, it's, it's been made up. In spite of the fact that all of them covered the Biden administration prosecuting successfully a higher up known as El Pollo the chicken. Back in 2023, this guy got extradited and, and prosecuted.

Jack Armstrong (21:23)

I want a better nickname. If I'm going to be a high up drug kingpin, I don't want to be the chicken.

Joe Getty (21:28)

Yeah, that's kind of weak, dudes. Look, I'm not going to shoot anybody over this, but the chicken. Really?

Jack Armstrong (21:34)

The. You don't even get to be that.

Joe Getty (21:37)

No, it just says El Pollo anyway. So, yeah, back when that was happening in the Biden administration, US Labels Maduro Tide Cartel de La Solas as a terror organization. It's not a cartel per se is the current headline in the the ap. But back in the day when the Biden administration was prosecuting them, it was dangerous.

Jack Armstrong (21:58)

Everybody always overplays their hand. You can go ahead and be against regime change in Venezuela. You don't have to pretend that they're not a narco state to do it.

Joe Getty (22:10)

Right, Right. Yeah, yeah. Got this story I wanted to touch on. There is a homeless encampment near the Space Needle in Seattle. It's gained international media attention. Well, Seattle, after a very brief jog toward the right, and not just toward the right from like openly communist to reasonable liberal, is now going to veer back leftward as Mayor elect Katie Wilson, who is just a treat, takes office in January of 26. The Space Needle homeless camp is growing like a weed and she has vowed to end junkie camp cleanups. They call them homeless camps to hide the fact that it's almost entirely junkies. But but the growing camp highlights Seattle's worsening homeless crisis as Microsoft just announced it's moving its Build 2026 conference to Las Vegas and away from Seattle. It is widely believed this is due to safety concerns around the Seattle Convention.

Jack Armstrong (23:05)

Center, Microsoft itself having their conference in a different town.

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Joe Getty (26:20)

Came across this piece, Katie, by Freya India. Her name is. It's an interesting name. It was in the, in the Free Press and she says and jump in anytime. I keep hearing about how there's too much pressure to settle down as a young woman. Apparently everyone wants to know when you're getting married, when you're having kids. Being single is stigmatized, shamed, pitied. We supposedly feel so rushed to find partners that we choose wrong. And that's why relationships are failed.

Jack Armstrong (26:52)

Did she write this in 1950?

Joe Getty (26:55)

Well, that's kind of her point. It's this pressure to couple up, this feeling of being alone, blah, blah, blah. But this has never been my experience. She writes. My whole life I've only ever felt the opposite.

Jack Armstrong (27:06)

Yeah.

Joe Getty (27:07)

An overwhelming pressure to be single. Yeah.

Jack Armstrong (27:10)

And, and, and looking people giving you the side eye. If you want to get married young.

Joe Getty (27:13)

And have kids, definitely right in the sec. Go ahead, Katie.

Katie (27:18)

Well, I'm just thinking like, I mean I know it varies by age. You know, I know a bunch of people that are in their 20s that that's the last thing on their mind. And I also have friends that are around my age that are like, I better get going.

Joe Getty (27:31)

Yeah. But that's their.

Jack Armstrong (27:32)

That's an internal feeling, isn't it? As opposed to an extra internal push?

Katie (27:36)

Not completely, no. No. Because, you know, then there's the pressure. All your friends around you are. Mariel. When. When are you gonna find your guy? You know, it's. I. I mean, that happens.

Joe Getty (27:46)

Well, in societal, pressure forms people's desires all the time.

Katie (27:50)

Yeah.

Jack Armstrong (27:50)

Your clocks start to tick and scream really loud. When you get to be.

Katie (27:54)

No, it's deafening.

Joe Getty (27:57)

So she writes. In the secular liberal world, I used to think there were no expectations, no pressures. There is, though. The pressure today is to avoid anything that might stick, to run through life without getting snagged on any responsibilities, without getting tethered to someone else too early. I'm sure in some cultures there's some pressure to find someone, but I have felt rushed to do many things in modern life, and settling down has never been one of them. Huh.

Jack Armstrong (28:26)

Yeah. Well, I live in a liberal enclave, so I don't know how much it represents the rest of the United States on this topic, but there's certainly not community pressure to find a man, get married and have kids around here.

Joe Getty (28:39)

Yeah. And. And she points out that in a recent podcast, Emma Watson, the intelligent yet utterly unwise Harry Potter galaxy who's been slandering J.K. rowling, even utterly unjustifiable, said something about, women are made to feel like they have no worth or haven't succeeded in life until they settle down and fry again. Writes I. I have a hard time understanding this. In my world, it's the opposite. The young woman who settles down has always been seen as wasting her potential.

Jack Armstrong (29:07)

Right.

Joe Getty (29:08)

The single child, free, even divorced woman is strong, wise, and knows her worth.

Jack Armstrong (29:13)

Absolutely. Yeah. That is just completely made up scenario.

Joe Getty (29:18)

Yeah. Most of the time, people aren't wondering why young women aren't having kids, but why we would at all. Nobody really mentions it, let alone pushes it. And I'm sure it wasn't always like this, but lately I see young men praised for committing, while young women are warned. We are proud of young men. We pity young women.

Katie (29:38)

That's an interesting way to look at it, but I can see. I can see where she's coming from. Especially, you know, a lot of the people that are. Or the women that are single. It's like that independent woman.

Jack Armstrong (29:50)

Yeah.

Katie (29:50)

Right. Yeah.

Jack Armstrong (29:51)

You're calling your own shots. You're not answering.

Katie (29:52)

Right.

Jack Armstrong (29:53)

Patriarchy. Who tells you you need to get married and have a kid.

Joe Getty (29:58)

Are you implying that the patriarchy is supposed to be running the household. Because if that's the case, I've gotten it wrong. Announce you're getting married in your twenties and complete strangers will rush to tell you horror stories about affairs and divorce and heartbreak. Why would you do that to yourself? Don't do what I did. Throw those years away. We don't scrutinize the 25 year old who is still single, but the one who settles down. In fact, it feels like the only life decision left to disapprove of, the only one acceptable to judge. Wanting to commit is the one desire that is discouraged. Treating with suspicion the only thing in the modern world we are ever told to delay.

Jack Armstrong (30:36)

I agree with that. Based on my observation.

Joe Getty (30:40)

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jack Armstrong (30:42)

And then you can add another layer to, of it. As a guy from the rural Midwest, there's the. If you, you only do that because there's nothing else to do, there's nothing better to do. Like the better things are what, I.

Joe Getty (30:56)

Don'T know, more money for a corporation having exotic vacations.

Jack Armstrong (31:02)

Well, you can do, you can make, make money for a corporation anywhere. So I think they, they mean like the entertainment options that exist on the coasts. Like, I don't know, concerts and ball games is a better thing to do than get married, have a kid, raise a family.

Joe Getty (31:17)

Right? Yeah. And have a career.

Jack Armstrong (31:20)

Look at it.

Joe Getty (31:21)

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's funny, I, I don't, I don't feel that. I have three kids. One is married, one maybe at some point. Oh, my dad, who turned 85 on Thanksgiving Day. I don't know if he has lost his filter or just doesn't give a crap because those are two different things. If you think, you know, this is going to make people uncomfortable, but it needs to be said, or you've just lost the sense of how uncomfortable it's going to make people. Those are two different situations. But he was utterly shameless in quizzing my youngest daughter Delaney and her man about what's going on here. What's, what's the timetable? What are we thinking here? You gonna make an honest woman of her or what?

Katie (32:11)

Oh, it's always a good time.

Joe Getty (32:13)

And it was playful. It was definitely playful, but it was, it was, it caused a great deal of rolling of eyes and hands and heads in hands.

Jack Armstrong (32:27)

How did the male handle it?

Joe Getty (32:32)

With a pretty good sense of humor. Yeah, it's an uncomfortable. Which is one of the reasons I like him. Yeah, it was shameless.

Katie (32:41)

I can't wait any time in my.

Jack Armstrong (32:42)

Life what I like with those kind of Things is how some people just look like couples. Like I got one niece and she's had several long term boyfriends but her current long term boyfriend. They look like they've been married for 30 years. They just do.

Joe Getty (32:54)

They just, they just, they should.

Jack Armstrong (32:56)

They're out. They're probably going to get married and they just look like they, they are married couple. So many of people. Some people just fit together.

Joe Getty (33:04)

Yeah. You know, as this piece goes on, she gets more philosophical about there's this pressure to delay, pressure to keep searching, pressure to do life alone. Don't fall too hard, too fast. Not to intertwine and entangle. Never to lose control, to keep lives and hearts uncrossed. This impossible tightrope we're trying to walk. This vain attempt to fall in love while standing perfectly upright without ever losing our footing. Depending on someone without losing an inch of independence. The pressure and pain of holding each other at arm's length at all times. Our lives perfectly partitioned, the stakes permanently low. That's really good writing.

Jack Armstrong (33:50)

When's the timetable changed that clearly they mean in your 20s at least.

Joe Getty (33:55)

Yeah.

Jack Armstrong (33:56)

Really making a mistake if you get married and have kids. But. So by 42 you should. Or what does they get to that there are.

Joe Getty (34:05)

Well, no, she doesn't really write about that. But the lie, and it's interesting why people would perpetuate, would be so enthused about this lie. The lie that you can wait as long as you want and have kids is, it's, that's, it's bad, it's damaging, it hurts people, particularly women. It gets more and more difficult. It's more and more prone to, you know, trouble for you and the baby. It's just, it's wrong. We're made, look, we're made to have babies and start producing them when we're like 16, 17, 18. Because we are even by myself. Well, right. We're at the peak of our physical health and did you tell. You can't, you can't kill an 18 year old if you want to. And granted, you know, okay, society's changing. Put that off. But the idea that. Oh yeah, yeah, have your career, establish your career, then at age 45, become a mommy. It happens and it's okay in a lot of cases. But as plans go, it's not nearly the best one. But again, if that has been your plan, you have a child and you love it dearly and you're doing your best, I, I bless you and wish you nothing but happiness.

Jack Armstrong (35:11)

That's good because you can answer those emails all day long.

Joe Getty (35:14)

You'll get generalized, though. I'm talking. Generally speaking, no. Are you? Please.

Jack Armstrong (35:17)

Sounds like you're attacking them to me.

Joe Getty (35:19)

It's like. No, it's like generally. It's like generalizing about whether it's a good idea to run off and join the circus or not. Generally speaking, no.

Katie (35:28)

Good comparison.

Joe Getty (35:29)

No, it is a good comparison. Unless you're a dope. Oh, now I'm insulting my co workers. Wow, I'm so sorry. I just. I wag out of control. No, you're taking a much higher set of risks. Pros and cons. But, you know, teach their own. That's the beauty of being a libertarian. I speak my piece now you go do you. And I don't particularly care what you do.

Promo Voice (35:54)

Jack Armstrong and Joe Getty the Armstrong and Getty show.

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Did you know Microsoft has officially ended Support for Windows 10? Upgrade to Windows 11 with an LG Gram laptop voted PCMag's Reader's Choice Top Laptop Brand for 2025. Thin and ultra lightweight, the LG Gram keeps you productive anywhere, and Windows 11 gives you access to free security updates and ongoing feature upgrades. Visit LGUSA.com iHeart for great seasonal savings on LG Gram laptops with Windows 11. PCMag reader's choice used with permission. All rights reserved.

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Ten athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental breaking points. You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave here with an IFIT contract worth $250,000.

Joe Getty (36:51)

This is where mindset comes in.

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Someone will be eliminated.

Joe Getty (36:55)

Pressure is coming down. Trainer Games on Prime Video January 8th. Watch the trailer on trainergames.com Season 2.

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Of Unrivaled Basketball is here and the talent is unreal. The best women's players on the planet are running it back with even bigger moments and bigger stakes. Don't miss as Paige Beckers, Nafiza Collier, Kelsey Plumb, Briana Stewart and more take the court and redefine the game. This isn't your regular season. This is unrivaled, where the pace is faster, the energy is higher and every athlete shines unrivaled. Basketball Season 2, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, tips off January 5 on TNT, TruTV and HBO.

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Max support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt from renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available@public.com Disclosures A new year.

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Joe Getty (39:17)

From the Department of why does nobody recognize we're driving toward a cliff at 100 miles per hour? Alicia Finley of the Wall Street Journal pointing out that America's buy now, pay later economy is showing signs of an emerging debt crisis everywhere.

Jack Armstrong (39:34)

I don't like this story. I'm not doing that. I'm a I don't buy it until I can afford it sort of guy.

Joe Getty (39:39)

But.

Jack Armstrong (39:41)

We all get brought down by a financial collapse. We all realize that. Right?

Joe Getty (39:45)

Right. The word inclusive is very hot these days. There certainly was a couple of years ago. That's the brilliant thing about a financial crash. It includes virtually everybody in misery. So anyway, so she points out that serious credit card and auto loan delinquencies have climbed to the level of the 200809 recession.

Jack Armstrong (40:04)

Okay, so right. Right after that giant crash.

Joe Getty (40:08)

Yes.

Jack Armstrong (40:08)

Not surprising that lots of people all of a sudden were in trouble and not quite making their payments on time and that sort of stuff. What is the reason now?

Joe Getty (40:20)

Nobody's sure we like spending money, she says. The housing market shows cracks while the labor Market is weakening, but you wouldn't know it from the buoyant stock market and consumer spending. America's buy now, pay later economy increasingly fueled by leverage as consumers, investors, businesses and the government are all taking on more debt, which she points out. And there's always one person like this at the party. She points out, you have to pay for debt later with interest.

Jack Armstrong (40:51)

Thank you for that.

Joe Getty (40:53)

What a drag, man. Oh. As Americans max out their credit cards after years of inflation, buy now, pay later offers are popping up everywhere, from concert tickets to vacations to grocery stores.

Jack Armstrong (41:06)

Boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. I could see how it'd be appealing if I'm 21 year old Jack and they'll never tour again or whatever.

Joe Getty (41:15)

It's their farewell tour, man.

Jack Armstrong (41:18)

Do not buy your concert tickets on I can't afford it now, but I'll magically have more money six months from now.

Joe Getty (41:25)

No, don't do that. I guess there are now apps where you can split the cost of your purchases into installment payments over weeks or months. Some are currently interest free. For now, just include fees.

Jack Armstrong (41:39)

Here's what you do. You borrow against your used car. Is that still a thing that people are doing where you take out equity from your used car? Yeesh.

Joe Getty (41:47)

Right? Yeah. And unlike credit cards, a lot of these services don't report the loans to the credit bureaus. So folks are in much more debt than their credit rating might indicate.

Jack Armstrong (41:58)

But so these, all these different entities that are giving people these deals must feel like they're going to get paid back.

Joe Getty (42:07)

Oh, yeah, yeah. Certainly in the short term. And they, they, they have carefully calculated their default rates and you know, price their services. Excuse me, accordingly. And, and you know, if somebody ends up not being able to pay, they just put them their name on the blacklist.

Jack Armstrong (42:23)

And boy, my, my oldest son has got a, a life lesson coming on. I don't even remember what it was now. It's been so long. And something he really, really wanted and kind of fronted him the money. Kind of fronted him the money on that with the idea that you will owe me and I will be keeping track of it. And I have been keeping track of it and he still owes me And Christmas might just be here. I've wiped off half your debt. Merry Christmas.

Joe Getty (42:48)

That would be a lesson in how.

Jack Armstrong (42:50)

That whole thing works.

Joe Getty (42:51)

That would be a great gift in a way. Yeah, sure. Not to be appreciated at the time. According to a recent survey, about half of consumers have used a buy now, pay later service. This is not a niche. This is half wowed Toward the young.

Jack Armstrong (43:09)

Concert tickets, your vacation. I mean, everybody kind of does that on vacation, right? Because you put everything on your credit card, whether you pay it off that month or over a couple of months.

Joe Getty (43:19)

Good point. Yeah. Let's see. Federal Reserve paper last December found such users are more likely to have low credit scores, carry a balance on credit cards, have incurred checking overdraft fees, and have more delinquent credit accounts. Financially vulnerable consumers may be overextending themselves. And let's see. One of the bigger buy now, pay later services announced an ipo, which is expected to be one of the biggest of the year. Such services make money by capitalizing on financially stretched consumers, especially young people who don't want to tighten their belts. Wow.

Jack Armstrong (44:02)

According to the Babylon B, as we told you, the Social Security Administration is going to be renamed the Charles Ponzi Memorial Retirement Plan, which I like.

Joe Getty (44:12)

That is great.

Jack Armstrong (44:13)

The Department of Justice will be changed to the Department of Revenge on All Losers and Haters. I don't think that's appropriate.

Joe Getty (44:22)

And yet somewhat accurate in these days of lawfare.

Jack Armstrong (44:26)

This is one that hurts. The Department of the treasury will be changed to the Chinese Loan Office.

Joe Getty (44:33)

Oh, one more that I liked.

Jack Armstrong (44:40)

Housing and Urban Development will retitle as Department of the Poors the Pores.

Joe Getty (44:49)

Wow.

Jack Armstrong (44:50)

By the way, we got a text from somebody who said they always appreciate when I do my Porky Pig routine not being able to pronounce a word.

Joe Getty (44:58)

Hey, I got another statistic for you. That's enough fun. Back to the misery. So in 2012, mortgage, you know, holders had debt to income ratios considered risky, right? 28% of people had a debt to income ratio. That was pretty risky. 28% last year, 69%. Oh my God. For Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, it was 38%, up from 16% in 2012.

Jack Armstrong (45:30)

Seven out of 10 of you us. Yeah, I don't think. I do have a risky debt to income ratio.

Joe Getty (45:39)

And if I haven't driven you to buy gold and bury it in your backyards yet. How much? How about one more? The FHA Federal Housing Association. Do we have a fancy new name for them? From the Babylon Bay? Too bad. They've waived or reduced monthly payments on 1.2 million mortgages over the past two years. That's about 15% of the total that they hold. And without that forgiveness passed during the Biden administration, delinquencies would be near the level of the 2008.09 meltdown. Fannie and Freddie have also been slashing and deferring payments on hundreds of thousands of mortgages.

Jack Armstrong (46:16)

So I go into my son's room last night to talk to him, which is one of the grooviest high schooler bedrooms I have ever seen in my life. He's put a lot of effort into it and it's very cool and dark. It's always very dark in there. But anyway, I go into my high schoolers room last night. It did not smell pleasant. I said, what is the deal in here?

Joe Getty (46:35)

An aggressive scent.

Jack Armstrong (46:37)

And he must have taken that to heart because now the entire house smells like high school boy cologne. And what did you do? And he said, well, you sit at smell bed. So I sprayed around some of my cologne. I thought that would help. Some of your cologne? It smells like you're on a date with four high school sophomore boys right now in my house.

Joe Getty (47:01)

Wow. Way too much important to ascertain the source of the funk first.

Jack Armstrong (47:08)

It's funny, I don't know what it is about the scent, but it just, it smells like if you had to name the smell, you'd say I'm on a date with a boy who's about old enough to get his driver's license.

Joe Getty (47:20)

That's what it smells like.

Jack Armstrong (47:21)

Its own scent.

Joe Getty (47:23)

You wow. Axe Bedroom spray or something like that.

Public Investing Advertiser (47:28)

Yikes.

Jack Armstrong (47:29)

Among the stories I hope you bought.

Joe Getty (47:30)

It for cash and didn't borrow the money or, you know, break up the payments. It's the Armstrong and Getty show. Armstrong and Getty, Armstrong and Gettysburg.

LG Gram Advertiser (47:54)

Did you know? Microsoft has officially ended Support for Windows 10? Upgrade to Windows 11 with an LG Gram laptop voted PCMag's Reader's Choice Top Laptop Brand for 2025. Thin and ultra lightweight, the LG Gram keeps you productive anywhere, and Windows 11 gives you access to free security updates and ongoing feature upgrades. Visit LGUSA.com iheart for great security seasonal savings on LG Gram laptops with Windows 11. PCMag reader's choice used with permission. All rights reserved.

Promo Voice (48:24)

Ten athletes will face the toughest job interview in fitness that will push past physical and mental breaking points. You are the fittest of the fit. Only one of you will leave here with an IFIT contract for $250,000.

Joe Getty (48:44)

This is where mindset comes in.

Promo Voice (48:45)

Someone will be eliminated.

Washington Post Advertiser (48:47)

Pressure is coming down.

Joe Getty (48:50)

Trainer Games on Prime Video January 8th. Watch the trailer on trainergames.com Season 2.

Announcer (48:55)

Of Unrivaled Basketball is here and the talent is unreal. Paige Beckers, Nafiza Collier, Kelsey Plumb, Brianna Stewart and more are back to redefine the game. Unrivaled basketball season two, sponsored by Samsung Galaxy, tips off January 5 on TNT, TruTV and HBO.

Public Investing Advertiser (49:09)

Max support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like EFTs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc, LLC SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available@public.com Disclosures A new year.

Washington Post Advertiser (50:19)

Is on the horizon and your 2026 savings start here. Right now you can access the Washington post for just $2 every four weeks. Head into the new year with six months of savings at the special intro rate. After that, it'll cost $12 every four weeks. Cancel anytime. You'll get unlimited access to trusted journalism that helps you understand the year ahead and the world around you. Now's the perfect time to subscribe because great habits and great savings start together. Go to washingtonpost.com iheart that's washingtonpost.com iheart and start your year informed with the Post.

Announcer (50:54)

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.