Americans are famously optimistic. Europeans think we’re naïve and ridiculously cheerful. As global economic indicators race each other to the bottom, Americans remain hopeful that everything will be okay. Donald Trump has been telling us to be patient with his policies and his tariffs because we are all about to become fabulously rich. Of course, he doesn’t explain how spending more money on necessities could make us wealthy. But lately, even he has been hinting there may be pain ahead for us. He recently admitted to NBC moderator Kristen Welker that his tariffs could result in shortages and higher prices. Little girls, he explained, might have to get by with two dolls for Christmas instead of 30 and they might cost more. One wonders what child, he imagines, gets 30 dolls for Christmas — unless that was Ivanka’s standard childhood requirement. Then “Donny Two Dolls” (as commentator Laurence O’Donnell calls him) added that children may have to get by on five pencils instead of 250. I’m beginning to wonder if Trump really understands this whole kid thing. “Please, Santa, I’ve been so good. Every night, I dream about getting 250 pencils for Christmas!” Anyway, I’m not sure most Americans want to hear about how we’d better start scrimping and saving from a billionaire whose penthouse apartment looks like it was decorated by King Louis XIV, glistening with gold, complete with a goldplated toilet.

Not only are we supposed to believe that the voodoo economics of Trump’s tariffs will make us rich but that Elon Musk will save us $2 trillion dollars by indiscriminately slashing government services and firing thousands of highly trained employees. The folks at DOGE (which stands for the Department of Government Efficiency) aren’t showing us the numbers. But they claim they have saved us $160 billion already. So, let’s see what they’ve saved.

Meals on Wheels brings food to over 2 million seniors and Americans with disabilities. DOGE determined that there is no profit in feeding these people and cut the program 40 percent. They have ended funding to U.N. World Food Program, credited with keeping millions of starving people alive in Afghanistan, Syria and Yemen. (Recently USAID has partially reversed their death sentence and restored some limited funding.) DOGE has terminated 32,000 volunteers at AmeriCorps, including many in Iowa, who provided disaster relief, housing, education, nutrition and mental health support. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had to fire 3,800 employees working on HIV prevention and other medical research. The Food and Drug Administration was forced to eliminate 3,500 positions, affecting cancer research and oversight of medical devices. The Federal Aviation Administration has had to reduce its staff, compromising air traffic safety. Social Security, the IRS and Medicare have also been hit. And on and on.

But are we really saving money? Imagine if somebody showed up at your house and shut off your electricity and water, cancelled your insurance and phone service and took away your car and said, “Look how much I saved you!” You’d just have to go back and pay for all those things again, probably at a higher price. We can’t get by without air traffic controllers, food for disabled seniors, Head Start, nuclear safety inspectors and medical research. We still have to help starving children in Somalia—because it’s the right thing to do. So until the DOGE damage is reversed, it looks like private citizens are on the hook for making up that $160 billion. So far, that adds up to $632 for every adult in America. And you were worried about the price of eggs.