Wake Up America!

[ATLien247]

When it gets to the point where the US is about to default, I'm sure there will be some kind of military conflict which results in the debt being forgiven...

 

[LegendKiller]

The debt/GDP ratio is a false measurement. You are comparing the debt of *ONLY* the government to the output of the *ENTIRE* economy. That's like comparing the debt on one credit card to your entire income, ignoring your mortgage, student loans, and every other credit card you have.

A more accurate measurement would be to take the aggregate debt that a country *AND* it's citizens owe privately and compare that to GDP. The measurement would be quite different for the US, considering that the entire GDP number has been driven by out of control spending from consumers, equity cash-out, and a housing bubble that is not sustainable.

The biggest problem though, is that neither number includes the whole universe of reality. The debt only includes current owed, but fails to include all future liabilities. Companies are required to report contingent liabilities if they are under contract and are expected to be paid back. The government does not.

If the government were reported like the companies it regulates, the people would be demanding the ousting of most politicians.

 

[FoBoT]

the Republicans and the Democrats don't want to address the issue, so what are we supposed to do about it?

 

[OS]

Originally posted by: LegendKiller
The debt/GDP ratio is a false measurement. You are comparing the debt of *ONLY* the government to the output of the *ENTIRE* economy. That's like comparing the debt on one credit card to your entire income, ignoring your mortgage, student loans, and every other credit card you have.

A more accurate measurement would be to take the aggregate debt that a country *AND* it's citizens owe privately and compare that to GDP. The measurement would be quite different for the US, considering that the entire GDP number has been driven by out of control spending from consumers, equity cash-out, and a housing bubble that is not sustainable.

The biggest problem though, is that neither number includes the whole universe of reality. The debt only includes current owed, but fails to include all future liabilities. Companies are required to report contingent liabilities if they are under contract and are expected to be paid back. The government does not.

If the government were reported like the companies it regulates, the people would be demanding the ousting of most politicians.

This is key, what's supposedly more worrisome is not what we see, but what we don't.

The numbers the gov publishes is actually optimistic, think enron style accounting, what they don't publish is what future likely SS obligations are, and the fact that we've been raiding and using SS receipts for decades to pay the general budget.

As implied already, if businesses were run how our politicians are running the country's budget, they'd all have their collective asses parked in jail.

 

[fitzov]

As implied already, if businesses were run how our politicians are running the country's budget, they'd all have their collective asses parked in jail.

Meh...if the country were run like a business I'd be having soylent green for breakfast.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Originally posted by: JSFLY

Wake Up America!

Im awake!! Im awake!!