Debt and Deficits: How the US got where it is and where it is headed
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“Things will get worse gradually,” Mr. Auerbach predicts, “unless they get worse quickly.” Somehow, that statement really reduced the amount of credibility I'm willing to place in that article. As did the assertion that the Stimulus bill accounts for only 3% of the current deficit. (3% of the current debt I might believe, in part becaus most of it is not yet spent, so is not accounted as debt yet, but 3% of the current account deficit - this budget years spend minus revenue - not likely).
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That article is a bunch of backwash diarrhea. There is no valuable information presented, no real facts, just a bunch of NYT humpty dumpty. If anyone really wants to learn about the deficits, how we got here, and where we are headed I'd check out Millennium Money (Documentary).
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That article is a bunch of backwash diarrhea. There is no valuable information presented, no real facts, just a bunch of NYT humpty dumpty. If anyone really wants to learn about the deficits, how we got here, and where we are headed I'd check out Millennium Money (Documentary).
Your opinion on this subject, as on any other, is worthless.
John Carson
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Your opinion on this subject, as on any other, is worthless.
John Carson
John Carson wrote:
Your opinion on this subject, as on any other, is worthless.
No no John, the fact that you would post this NYT hogwash as some kind of fact proves your opinion on this subject is worthless propaganda.
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“Things will get worse gradually,” Mr. Auerbach predicts, “unless they get worse quickly.” Somehow, that statement really reduced the amount of credibility I'm willing to place in that article. As did the assertion that the Stimulus bill accounts for only 3% of the current deficit. (3% of the current debt I might believe, in part becaus most of it is not yet spent, so is not accounted as debt yet, but 3% of the current account deficit - this budget years spend minus revenue - not likely).
Rob Graham wrote:
“Things will get worse gradually,” Mr. Auerbach predicts, “unless they get worse quickly.” Somehow, that statement really reduced the amount of credibility I'm willing to place in that article.
It was an attempt at humour, with an underlying message that if people lose confidence in the ability of the US to manage its debt, then that will push up interest rates on the debt and cause things to get worse quickly --- much like the collapse in confidence in the financial system caused things to get worse quickly. Auerbach is a very respected name in public finance. http://www.econ.berkeley.edu/~auerbach/[^]
Rob Graham wrote:
As did the assertion that the Stimulus bill accounts for only 3% of the current deficit. (3% of the current debt I might believe, in part becaus most of it is not yet spent, so is not accounted as debt yet, but 3% of the current account deficit - this budget years spend minus revenue - not likely).
You have that wrong in two respects. 1. The article discusses the swing from a projected 800 billion surplus to a 1.2 trillion deficit --- a swing of two trillion. Thus all percentages refer to the two trillion swing, not the 1.2 trillion deficit. 2. The stimulus is said to account for 7% of that (and the other Obama measures another 3%). Thus the stimulus is said to be adding around 140 billion to the deficit (the author actually says 145 billion). There is a lot of publicity over the 800 billion total and rather less recognition that this is spread over many years. The figures in the article are meant to be an average for the four years 2009-2012. I wouldn't bet my life on the accuracy of the figures, but I suspect they are in the ballpark.
John Carson
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Do it the European way. It works: - Tax the shit out of rich people. They have nowhere to go. - Set gas price to $6 per galon. - Double the price on alcohol & tobacco. - Encourage pregnant teenagers to have an abortion - Put high taxes on unhealthy foods, e.g sugar - Never go to war. - Total ban on guns. That'll do :-D
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Do it the European way. It works: - Tax the shit out of rich people. They have nowhere to go. - Set gas price to $6 per galon. - Double the price on alcohol & tobacco. - Encourage pregnant teenagers to have an abortion - Put high taxes on unhealthy foods, e.g sugar - Never go to war. - Total ban on guns. That'll do :-D
Haakon S. wrote:
Do it the European way. It works: - Tax the sh*t out of rich people. They have nowhere to go. - Set gas price to $6 per galon. - Double the price on alcohol & tobacco. - Encourage pregnant teenagers to have an abortion - Put high taxes on unhealthy foods, e.g sugar - Never go to war. - Total ban on guns. That'll do
Pretty much. You got it wrong on one point, however. The abortion rate is much higher in the US than in many European countries. Freely available contraceptives is more the European approach.
John Carson
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Haakon S. wrote:
Do it the European way. It works: - Tax the sh*t out of rich people. They have nowhere to go. - Set gas price to $6 per galon. - Double the price on alcohol & tobacco. - Encourage pregnant teenagers to have an abortion - Put high taxes on unhealthy foods, e.g sugar - Never go to war. - Total ban on guns. That'll do
Pretty much. You got it wrong on one point, however. The abortion rate is much higher in the US than in many European countries. Freely available contraceptives is more the European approach.
John Carson
John Carson wrote:
Pretty much. You got it wrong on one point, however. The abortion rate is much higher in the US than in many European countries. Freely available contraceptives is more the European approach.
You're right. I just put it in to rattle the chain on some conservatives that are lurking around here.
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John Carson wrote:
Pretty much. You got it wrong on one point, however. The abortion rate is much higher in the US than in many European countries. Freely available contraceptives is more the European approach.
You're right. I just put it in to rattle the chain on some conservatives that are lurking around here.
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The Great Debt Scare: Why has it returned? Robert Reich[^] A defence of deficit spending. I would tend to agree, were the USA starting from a manageable deficit base, but I fear that a more immediate deficit reduction is required.
Bob Emmett
Bob Emmett wrote:
I would tend to agree, were the USA starting from a manageable deficit base, but I fear that a more immediate deficit reduction is required.
I don't think so. They should be spending like crazy now, and then taking tough action to trim the deficit later.
John Carson
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Haakon S. wrote:
rattle the chain on some conservatives that are lurking around her
Well your post sounded sarcastic(but in a good way), and you sounded conservative. You may be the first LINO (liberal in name only) that I've ever heard from. :)
kmg365 wrote:
Well your post sounded sarcastic(but in a good way), and you sounded conservative. You may be the first LINO (liberal in name only) that I've ever heard from.
I consider myself conservative, or right wing or whatever you wish to call it. But it is relative. If you use Stan's meassuring stick I'm probably a raving communist.
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Haakon S. wrote:
Do it the European way. It works: - Tax the sh*t out of rich people. They have nowhere to go. - Set gas price to $6 per galon. - Double the price on alcohol & tobacco. - Encourage pregnant teenagers to have an abortion - Put high taxes on unhealthy foods, e.g sugar - Never go to war. - Total ban on guns. That'll do
Pretty much. You got it wrong on one point, however. The abortion rate is much higher in the US than in many European countries. Freely available contraceptives is more the European approach.
John Carson
John Carson wrote:
The abortion rate is much higher in the US than in many European countries.
Percentage or raw numbers? The US has a higher population so its numbers would be higher.
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Bob Emmett wrote:
I would tend to agree, were the USA starting from a manageable deficit base, but I fear that a more immediate deficit reduction is required.
I don't think so. They should be spending like crazy now, and then taking tough action to trim the deficit later.
John Carson
John Carson wrote:
I don't think so. They should be spending like crazy now, and then taking tough action to trim the deficit later.
Tough action? Such as nationalizing industries and a ~70% tax rate? Your ideas on bankrupting America.
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John Carson wrote:
The abortion rate is much higher in the US than in many European countries.
Percentage or raw numbers? The US has a higher population so its numbers would be higher.
CaptainSeeSharp wrote:
John Carson: The abortion rate is much higher in the US than in many European countries. CaptainSeeSharp: Percentage or raw numbers? The US has a higher population so its numbers would be higher.
Even if John Carson's claim should be true ... the US *also* has more babies per capita than the European countries do.
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kmg365 wrote:
Well your post sounded sarcastic(but in a good way), and you sounded conservative. You may be the first LINO (liberal in name only) that I've ever heard from.
I consider myself conservative, or right wing or whatever you wish to call it. But it is relative. If you use Stan's meassuring stick I'm probably a raving communist.
Haakon S. wrote:
If you use Stan's meassuring stick I'm probably a raving communist.
Anyone who doesn't want to see the U.S. fall apart so that the Aryan Nation can take over Indiana is a raving communist according to him.
Jon Smith & Wesson: The original point and click interface Both democrats and republicans are playing for the same team and it's not us. - Chris Austin
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John Carson wrote:
The abortion rate is much higher in the US than in many European countries.
Percentage or raw numbers? The US has a higher population so its numbers would be higher.
CaptainSeeSharp wrote:
Percentage or raw numbers?
I think you mean percentage or absolute. I mean percentage. The figures vary significantly from one European country to the other and different sources given somewhat different figures. From the source below, Holland has less than 1/3 the abortion rate of the US (abortions per 1,000 women aged 15-44). Overall, the rate for Western Europe is about 1/2 the US rate. (Eastern Europe, by contrast, has much higher abortion rates than the US.) http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/25s3099.html[^]
John Carson
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CaptainSeeSharp wrote:
John Carson: The abortion rate is much higher in the US than in many European countries. CaptainSeeSharp: Percentage or raw numbers? The US has a higher population so its numbers would be higher.
Even if John Carson's claim should be true ... the US *also* has more babies per capita than the European countries do.
Ilíon wrote:
Even if John Carson's claim should be true ... the US *also* has more babies per capita than the European countries do.
This is relevant because...? Surely you are not suggesting that if one woman has an extra child, then that morally cancels out an abortion (of her own or someone else's child).
John Carson