What’s in This Week’s Issue…

Good morning. At this point, you all know that the US spends more on its military than any other country in the world. Some of you may have heard about how we sell weapons to 103 countries.

But what you may not know, is how the US funnels this money into global wars today and why the US incentivized itself to constantly be at war.

So this week…

• 🏆 The Big Play: How the U.S. funnels money into the Ukraine War

• 💪 The Power Move: Charlie Munger’s method for solving tough problems

• 💵 Follow the Money: The business of monetizing a U.S. passport

-GEN

🏆 The Big Play

The biggest money power story of the week.

How War Gets Funded in the Shadows

Gone are the days of tax hikes, a specific “war budget”, and Congressional Debates….today it’s a lot more quiet.

The modern war is funded by a Ghost Budget - a hidden system of emergency funds, classified spending, and financial loopholes that ensure conflicts never truly end.

And it’s done in 3 steps, and it starts by creating urgency.

1. The “Emergency“ Spending Loophole

• When war breaks out, Congress approves "supplemental appropriations" (aka emergency funds).

• It’s urgency bypasses normal budget rules, spending caps, and public debate.

• This is how the U.S. sent $183 billion to Ukraine without it ever becoming an official defense budget item.

So now they avoid noise. No Tax Hikes, means No Protests (Past wars, like the Vietnam War and Korean War, required tax hikes, which led to protests.)

So now that this emergency is created, the next step is to keep it off the books.

2. The Pentagon’s Off-the-Books War Chest

• The Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) budget started as a temporary Iraq & Afghanistan fund after 9/11.

• But eventually, it became a permanent second defense budget—a financial black hole for military spending.

• Since then, The OCO has funneled trillions into war efforts with zero accountability.

Now that the money is flowing, the final step is to create recurring revenue.

3. Arms Transfers that Refill Themselves

• The Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) allows the U.S. to "loan" weapons directly from military stockpiles.

• But here’s the trick: for every missile, tank, or rocket "loaned" to Ukraine, the Pentagon immediately orders new ones.

• Who gets paid? The likes of Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon.

So just like that, the defense contractors always win and every conflict means billions in Pentagon contracts for weapons, logistics, and cyber warfare.

And the best relevant example today is what is happening in Ukraine.

So how are we seeing this play out in the Ukraine War?

💪 The Power Moves

Playbook for understanding the game of power.

How Charlie Munger Thought “Backwards” to Win

Charlie Munger, the legendary investor and business partner of Warren Buffett, popularized the inversion mental model.

The inversion mental model says that it is not always the best way to think through difficult problems—forward. You need to also look at it in a backwards way.

Let me explain. Here’s how you can apply it in real life:

• If you want to build a successful career, think about all the ways you could ruin it (not taking ownership, burning bridges, overpromising and underdelivering, etc.) — and then avoid them.

• If you want to get rich, think about all the ways you could be dumb with money (buying get-rich-quick schemes, buying expensive things to show-off, buying an OF subscription lmao, etc.) — and avoid them.

• If you want people to like you, think about all the ways you could ruin that (trying too hard, not expressing your true opinions/thoughts, hanging around people that don’t appreciate you, etc.) — and avoid them.

And as Charlie used to say, trying to be consistently not stupid can give you remarkable long-term success, instead of trying to be very intelligent.

So next time when you face a problem or a decision, try inverting it.

💵 Following the Money

Few of the wildest financial and corruption stories from around the world.

#1 - Trump’s ‘gold card’ lets rich immigrants pay $5 million for US residency 💰

#2 - Divers in Poland find $15 million worth of cocaine at bottom of Baltic Sea 🚨

#3 - ‘It’s real this time’: Fyre Festival 2 tickets on sale for up to $1.1M 🤯

✨ Poll time!

📰 Keep Reading…