Thread: The Deficit Isn't Really A Big Problem for the US

Originally Posted by jpn

Unemployment is. The deficit isn't. At least not for the next ten years or so.



Risking a second recession now in order to "solve" a "crisis" that MAY appear sometime around 2030 is pretty silly.

Over the last few years we've cut projected spending over the next ten years by about $2.4 trillion. Some of those cuts are already biting. Here's a rundown of the deficit reduction already signed into law:



In this widely-cited analysis, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concludes that “policymakers can stabilize the public debt over the coming decade ... with $1.4 trillion in additional deficit savings”.



Current law is the gold line. Add another $1.4 trillion and we're there.

As Martin Wolf writes in the Financial Times:

$87 trillion and increasing by the minute, but it's no big deal.

Here's a hint for you that your idol Krugman has forgotten to tell you about: when people lose confidence in a currency, it happens fast, and it is terribly hard to reverse.

Last night Mark Cuban said he has never heard the Deficit or Taxes being brought up when discussing new or existing business ventures.

The deficit isn't a big problem? Hmmm...that's interesting as the cost of only the interest payments on our national debt has cost us more than the Iraq war.

Yeah, lets just kick the can down the road a decade or two and wait for it to come crashing down. After all, acting responsibly and living within your means is so passe. We'll all be dead by the time our kids have to suffer for our excess now so we won't have to feel bad about it then.

Originally Posted by OldmanDan

Yeah, lets just kick the can down the road a decade or two and wait for it to come crashing down. After all, acting responsibly and living within your means is so passe. We'll all be dead by the time our kids have to suffer for our excess now so we won't have to feel bad about it then.

So no one should ever take out a loan.
The issue is, and has always been, is that the government is so laden with legislation and procedure that no one can figure anything out.

Originally Posted by USCitizen

Last night Mark Cuban said he has never heard the Deficit or Taxes being brought up when discussing new or existing business ventures.

I don't doubt that.

That is why so many (even wealthy businessmen) will be blindsided when the currency collapses.

What do you mean I'm not rich anymore? I have millions of dollars!

So do most Zimbabweans.

Originally Posted by smurf

I don't doubt that.

That is why so many (even wealthy businessmen) will be blindsided when the currency collapses.

What do you mean I'm not rich anymore? I have millions of dollars!

So do most Zimbabweans.

I think businessmen who produce an actual product or service will not be undermined near the extent that those who rely on currency based transactions.

JPN... You are still wrong, the core problem we face is demand. Our economy did not respond well enough to our government spending to date. It is obvious as the private sector is not strong enough to take the baton and keep on working forward without government spending. So, we are now stuck with a crawling and fragile economy totally dependent upon continued deficit spending getting us questionable results. Even Paul Krugman himself will say that deficits are a concern, just not the main problem we face making your OP of course false and misleading. Typically partisan. Deficits are a problem, the money we spend on our military is a problem, the demand on our entitlements going forward are problems, our growing debt in terms of percentage of GDP is a problem, our tax code is a problem, etc. These issues cannot be dismissed so quickly, no matter how much you say otherwise.

Originally Posted by USCitizen

I think businessmen who produce an actual product or service will not be undermined near the extent that those who rely on currency based transactions.

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "currency based transactions"?

If history is any guide, we will see the necessities like food and fuel increase significantly.

Originally Posted by jpn

Unemployment is. The deficit isn't. At least not for the next ten years or so.

You keep saying things that are not true. Now you are contradicting yourself. The deficit IS a problem, by your own admission. WHAT is a problem. WHEN is now or 10 years from now.

Government overspending IS a problem for everyone. Unemployment is a problem for the individual AND those tyrants whose diabolical plans involve the unrealized slave labor of the unemployed.

I imagine jpn is on the leading edge of the newest left wing talking point. "The deficit is not really a problem."

Everyone knows it is a huge problem, even Obama has said so. The only way they can keep on spending and buying votes is by somehow convincing people that there is no problem. They have their tax increases on the rich now so there has to be a new talking point.

Originally Posted by jpn

Unemployment is. The deficit isn't. At least not for the next ten years or so.



Risking a second recession now in order to "solve" a "crisis" that MAY appear sometime around 2030 is pretty silly.


In this widely-cited analysis, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities concludes that “policymakers can stabilize the public debt over the coming decade ... with $1.4 trillion in additional deficit savings”.


Current law is the gold line. Add another $1.4 trillion and we're there.

A significant, and very Bushesque, flaw in Krugman's theories is he uses the CBO projections for GDP growth. That CBO projected 4.4% growth in GDP for 2012. George Bush characteristically relied on a growing GDP to overtake the increase in debt his tax cuts, tax rebates and social programs cost which would (he and Krugman and Obama affirm) reduce the debt to GDP ratio.

This is dangerous "counting chickens before they hatch" economic policy and, as we have seen, we can go through several years in a row where no, or very few, chickens are hatched. While I respect his earned Nobel Prize in economics, I don't think in this case that has assured us that his calculations and assumptions are accurate.

The problem with CBO predictions is that they only look at numbers. They don't look at human behavior. When taxes are increased, they don't take into consideration what people will do to avoid those increases. When taxes are cut, they don't look at the changes in behavior or a stimulated economy.