Comments on: Someone Else Who Wants Us to Remain in Deficit Crisis Mode

By: perplexed

perplexed — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 07:17:16 +0000

Really, unfunded liabilities? And just what % of GDP are these “unfunded liabilities” (even if they did turn out to be accurate which would be a first) over the time in which they’re due? How much easier would it be to “fund” them if we closed the output gap?

Its probably safe to take off the hard-hat, the sky is pretty likely to stay up there. There are serious, immediate problems that should be getting our attention. http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-cure-for-budget-deficits-train-more-deficit-hawks.

By: Tyler Healey

Tyler Healey — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 03:37:11 +0000

If our debt is not stable, why are interest rates so low? Oh, right, because the Fed has exercised its total control over interest rates and made them low.

Why does even Bill Clinton not understand this?

By: Pablo

Pablo — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 03:29:16 +0000

US National debt = $16 trillion
Unfunded liabilities = $122 trillion

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

By: Ogden Wernstrom

Ogden Wernstrom — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:13:50 +0000

When public approval of Congress remains low over a long period of time, as it has recently, the cartoon might cheer up most people.

By: perplexed

perplexed — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:37:16 +0000

When the fear mongers keep suggesting that we risk disaster by not acting now to cut deficits and debts, why don’t any economists just explain that we have almost $70 trillion in wealth in this country and, if the crisis we are being threatened with really ever develops as they project, we have the power to implement a wealth tax and can solve it almost immediately with such a tax? Why are we not talking about the ratio of our debt to our wealth? Is there a secret pact among card-carrying economists to never bring it up?

A wealth tax would impact a very small percentage of the electorate and draw attention to what the real priorities are of the fear mongers. When everyone understands this a real option for this “pending disaster,” those who would allow us impose these indefensible costs on a huge number of unemployed people will stop bringing it up and allow us to focus on the real problems.

By: Bearpaw

Bearpaw — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 08:29:48 +0000

It’s true that the population is aging and healthcare costs are growing, but it does not automatically follow that the “inevitable adjustments” constantly and repeatedly pushed by the Very Serious People are the best solutions … or are even solutions at all.

When someone says, “We have to do it My Way and we have to do it Now or Really Bad Things will happen”, it’s a pretty fair guess that they’re trying to sell something that the prospective buyer might not actually want. This is especially true if the person has a history of participating in similar cons in the past.

By: Pablo

Pablo — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 07:37:13 +0000

Stabilizing debt is not an adequate goal. It leaves us incredibly vulnerable to inevitable interest rate increases.

Isn’t it a truism that the population is aging and healthcare costs are growing faster than inflation. Waiting several years to address the obvious just makes the inevitable adjustments harder to pass and more severe.