Hey, I get to kill two birds with one post.
First, no bank, “Wall Street” or otherwise (or combination of them) owns the Fed. The Fed is, and always has been a government operation.
Second, the entire idea of securitizing a stream of future payments is based on the iron-clad fact that the stream of payments will actually happen.
Unfortunately, for the states that securitized, the income stream is diminishing. Oops.
As a long-time smoker, I’m happy to help that process along. Instead of paying $6 or more per pack, I make my own for about 75 cents.
The combined federal and state tax in Florida on commercial cigarettes is about $2.34/pack.
On the last 10,000 I’ve made for personal use, instead of paying about $1,200 in taxes, the 25 pounds of tobacco I used incurred $25 of federal tax, initially paid by the manufacturer. And then by me, of course.
What I make for myself are the equal of anything produced commercially, and better to the extent that there are no additives at all. 100s. 1” filter. Indistinguishable from commercial, except that they taste much better.
Think Florida is bad? NY state is far worse. Total tax of $5.36/pack.
NY city? $6.86/pack. Almost $70/carton in taxes alone. No wonder there is a thriving contraband trade. Hijacked cigarettes, anyone?
NYC prices are over $10/pack. No wonder they sell “loose” cigarettes on the street, they’re worth 50 cents each.
Apparently, that sort of stuff can get you killed. Just another reason I don’t like NY, even having been there many times over the decades.