An Imaginary Budget and Debt Crisis

[noviapriani]

How is the U.S. different from Argentina?

How about in every possible imaginable way? The dollar is the reserve currency. People buy our debt with 0% real return. And people do so in large quantities.

with the US massaging many of their fiscal figures and stats most of the time (usually debt and annually adjusted monthly gdp figures), plus a drop in the strength of € to $ now 1.33, and an emerging housing bubble, the forecast is a bit grim for the next few years ahead

Republicans refuse to undo the the Bush tax cuts which are largely responsible for our budget deficits as government spending as a percentage of GPD is about what it was under Reagan.

yeah sure. How much of a percentage of the Deficit has come since 2008?

Which by the way had a Democrat House and Senate? Even before Obama took over?

your pathetic attempt to try and blame everyone else but Obama is amusing.

You think Obama must be the bestest strongest president evar!! to be able to pass obamacare, but "those damned republicans" are keeping him from doing anything about the 99.8% increase in govt debt since he took office.
If you wanted to be honest about it you'd look at deficit changes, not debt changes.

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[zolace]

How is the U.S. different from Argentina?

How about in every possible imaginable way? The dollar is the reserve currency. People buy our debt with 0% real return. And people do so in large quantities.

with the US massaging many of their fiscal figures and stats most of the time (usually debt and annually adjusted monthly gdp figures), plus a drop in the strength of € to $ now 1.33, and an emerging housing bubble, the forecast is a bit grim for the next few years ahead

Republicans refuse to undo the the Bush tax cuts which are largely responsible for our budget deficits as government spending as a percentage of GPD is about what it was under Reagan.

yeah sure. How much of a percentage of the Deficit has come since 2008?

Which by the way had a Democrat House and Senate? Even before Obama took over?

your pathetic attempt to try and blame everyone else but Obama is amusing.

You think Obama must be the bestest strongest president evar!! to be able to pass obamacare, but "those damned republicans" are keeping him from doing anything about the 99.8% increase in govt debt since he took office.
If you wanted to be honest about it you'd look at deficit changes, not debt changes.

and you show your ignorance by trying to say

"FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE CONSTITUTION"

by that alone you show your stupidity. The whole constitution is one document; and it all has to be taken into consideration. But you want to claim otherwise so that you can twist it to your own strange agenda.

Your stupid crap about congress making no laws about anything ever is such total typical libtard stupidity its hilarious.

You want to make the world the way you want it and anything that gets in the way is 'wrong' or 'misinterpreted' etc. of course you want to go that way; not admit that most of the debt we have right now came from your messiah Obama.

[zolace]

National debt and Social Security, among other topics:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/01/op...ting.html?_r=0
Every month, my mom receives a yellow and green benefit check for $1,600 from the Treasury. I expect she’ll keep collecting those Social Security checks for a long time. She’s crushing 50-year-olds at bridge and doing yoga. Apart from their amount, the checks look identical to the $400 checks she receives every six months on her small remaining holdings of Treasury bonds. Yet Uncle Sam’s obligation to send her the $400 checks is recorded on its books, whereas his obligation to send her the $1,600 checks is not. (I’m 63, but not collecting benefits yet.)

True, Social Security benefits could be cut by Congress and the president. But so can official debt, as Argentina’s likely default reminds us. The prospect of formal default by the United States is remote. Informal default via the inflationary, easy-money policies of the Federal Reserve since 2007, is more likely. (Social Security is pegged to inflation, so while inflation would help with our official debts to creditors, like China, it is far from a panacea.)

Social Security’s hidden debt is just a small part of the story. Two weeks ago, the Congressional Budget Office released its annual long-term budget outlook. The good news: This year’s deficit — about 3 percent of gross domestic product — is the smallest since 2007 and way down from the peak of almost 10 percent in 2009. The bad: Without action, the deficit will grow “notably larger” starting in about four years, a result of our aging population, rising health costs and the new subsidies for health insurance.

Even worse, the budget office raised what’s called the alternative fiscal scenario, the most realistic projection of fiscal outcomes absent major policy changes. Based on these estimates, I calculate that the “fiscal gap” — a yardstick of total government indebtedness that I’ve worked on with the economists Alan J. Auerbach and Jagadeesh Gokhale — was $210 trillion last year, up from $205 trillion the previous year. Thus $5 trillion was the true deficit.

The fiscal gap — the difference between our government’s projected financial obligations and the present value of all projected future tax and other receipts — is, effectively, our nation’s credit card bill. Eliminating it, would require an immediate, permanent 59 percent increase in federal tax revenue. An immediate, permanent 38 percent cut in federal spending would also suffice. The longer we wait, the worse the pain. If, for example, we do nothing for 20 years, the requisite federal tax increase would be 70 percent, or the requisite spending cut, 43 percent.

The section that you quoted was a compilation from working with the Cato Institute; one which they didn't bother linking to. I tend not to trust studies done by authors who like to cite themselves unless I can look over their methodology myself. This author doesn't seem to be that interested in the transparency of his work and simply wants us to take his word for it.

your arrogance is hilarious. You try and make yourself look like some kind of intelligent person when in reality you probably are a 75 watt bulb who cuts and pastes.

the REALITY is there for all that want to see it. We have huge problems coming as regards debt and deficits and we need to start handling them NOW. You and other Pollyanna's could care less as long as your messiah and his ilk stay in power.

[sana8410]

How is the U.S. different from Argentina?

How about in every possible imaginable way? The dollar is the reserve currency. People buy our debt with 0% real return. And people do so in large quantities.

with the US massaging many of their fiscal figures and stats most of the time (usually debt and annually adjusted monthly gdp figures), plus a drop in the strength of € to $ now 1.33, and an emerging housing bubble, the forecast is a bit grim for the next few years ahead

Republicans refuse to undo the the Bush tax cuts which are largely responsible for our budget deficits as government spending as a percentage of GPD is about what it was under Reagan.

yeah sure. How much of a percentage of the Deficit has come since 2008?

Which by the way had a Democrat House and Senate? Even before Obama took over?

your pathetic attempt to try and blame everyone else but Obama is amusing.

You think Obama must be the bestest strongest president evar!! to be able to pass obamacare, but "those damned republicans" are keeping him from doing anything about the 99.8% increase in govt debt since he took office.
If you wanted to be honest about it you'd look at deficit changes, not debt changes.

and you show your ignorance by trying to say

"FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE CONSTITUTION"

by that alone you show your stupidity. The whole constitution is one document; and it all has to be taken into consideration. But you want to claim otherwise so that you can twist it to your own strange agenda.

Your stupid crap about congress making no laws about anything ever is such total typical libtard stupidity its hilarious.

You want to make the world the way you want it and anything that gets in the way is 'wrong' or 'misinterpreted' etc. of course you want to go that way; not admit that most of the debt we have right now came from your messiah Obama.

When seeking to see how much debt the Obama administration itself is adding to the US government, it is a bit disingenuous to attempt to tack on the accumulation and growth of debt from previous administrations. If you are interested in President Obama's spending, why not look at the year to year actual budget deficits that his government operated under?

Do you really need the dishonesty in order to justify your dislike for his presidency?

[zolace]

There is no justification at all for the size of the federal government, NONE. We could shrink it to half the size it is and most people would never notice the difference. But you and yours want that power; and nothing will stop you. Even as it inevitably will destroy the country. And then you will blame it on bush even if it comes in 50 years.

[noviapriani]

How is the U.S. different from Argentina?

How about in every possible imaginable way? The dollar is the reserve currency. People buy our debt with 0% real return. And people do so in large quantities.

with the US massaging many of their fiscal figures and stats most of the time (usually debt and annually adjusted monthly gdp figures), plus a drop in the strength of € to $ now 1.33, and an emerging housing bubble, the forecast is a bit grim for the next few years ahead

Republicans refuse to undo the the Bush tax cuts which are largely responsible for our budget deficits as government spending as a percentage of GPD is about what it was under Reagan.

yeah sure. How much of a percentage of the Deficit has come since 2008?

Which by the way had a Democrat House and Senate? Even before Obama took over?

your pathetic attempt to try and blame everyone else but Obama is amusing.

You think Obama must be the bestest strongest president evar!! to be able to pass obamacare, but "those damned republicans" are keeping him from doing anything about the 99.8% increase in govt debt since he took office.
If you wanted to be honest about it you'd look at deficit changes, not debt changes.

and you show your ignorance by trying to say

"FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE CONSTITUTION"

by that alone you show your stupidity. The whole constitution is one document; and it all has to be taken into consideration. But you want to claim otherwise so that you can twist it to your own strange agenda.

Your stupid crap about congress making no laws about anything ever is such total typical libtard stupidity its hilarious.

You want to make the world the way you want it and anything that gets in the way is 'wrong' or 'misinterpreted' etc. of course you want to go that way; not admit that most of the debt we have right now came from your messiah Obama.

So you are too cowardly and/or too stupid to answer the question?

You fool libtards are all the same. You're afraid to just come out and state your position and be shown for the complete and utter fool you are.

[sana8410]

There is no justification at all for the size of the federal government, NONE. We could shrink it to half the size it is and most people would never notice the difference. But you and yours want that power; and nothing will stop you. Even as it inevitably will destroy the country. And then you will blame it on bush even if it comes in 50 years.

I'm in favor of a smaller government and a reduction of government spending too there pumpkin, I simply have standards when it comes to data You should try it sometime.

[Rigon]

How is the U.S. different from Argentina?

How about in every possible imaginable way? The dollar is the reserve currency. People buy our debt with 0% real return. And people do so in large quantities.

with the US massaging many of their fiscal figures and stats most of the time (usually debt and annually adjusted monthly gdp figures), plus a drop in the strength of € to $ now 1.33, and an emerging housing bubble, the forecast is a bit grim for the next few years ahead

Republicans refuse to undo the the Bush tax cuts which are largely responsible for our budget deficits as government spending as a percentage of GPD is about what it was under Reagan.

yeah sure. How much of a percentage of the Deficit has come since 2008?

Which by the way had a Democrat House and Senate? Even before Obama took over?

your pathetic attempt to try and blame everyone else but Obama is amusing.

You think Obama must be the bestest strongest president evar!! to be able to pass obamacare, but "those damned republicans" are keeping him from doing anything about the 99.8% increase in govt debt since he took office.
If you wanted to be honest about it you'd look at deficit changes, not debt changes.

and you show your ignorance by trying to say

"FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE CONSTITUTION"

by that alone you show your stupidity. The whole constitution is one document; and it all has to be taken into consideration. But you want to claim otherwise so that you can twist it to your own strange agenda.

Your stupid crap about congress making no laws about anything ever is such total typical libtard stupidity its hilarious.

You want to make the world the way you want it and anything that gets in the way is 'wrong' or 'misinterpreted' etc. of course you want to go that way; not admit that most of the debt we have right now came from your messiah Obama.

Do you think "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" means "congress shall make no laws (period)" or "congress shall make no laws about religion"?

At first you said the former, now you seem to be backpedaling.

[zolace]

How is the U.S. different from Argentina?

How about in every possible imaginable way? The dollar is the reserve currency. People buy our debt with 0% real return. And people do so in large quantities.

with the US massaging many of their fiscal figures and stats most of the time (usually debt and annually adjusted monthly gdp figures), plus a drop in the strength of € to $ now 1.33, and an emerging housing bubble, the forecast is a bit grim for the next few years ahead

Republicans refuse to undo the the Bush tax cuts which are largely responsible for our budget deficits as government spending as a percentage of GPD is about what it was under Reagan.

yeah sure. How much of a percentage of the Deficit has come since 2008?

Which by the way had a Democrat House and Senate? Even before Obama took over?

your pathetic attempt to try and blame everyone else but Obama is amusing.

You think Obama must be the bestest strongest president evar!! to be able to pass obamacare, but "those damned republicans" are keeping him from doing anything about the 99.8% increase in govt debt since he took office.
If you wanted to be honest about it you'd look at deficit changes, not debt changes.

and you show your ignorance by trying to say

"FORGET EVERYTHING ELSE IN THE CONSTITUTION"

by that alone you show your stupidity. The whole constitution is one document; and it all has to be taken into consideration. But you want to claim otherwise so that you can twist it to your own strange agenda.

Your stupid crap about congress making no laws about anything ever is such total typical libtard stupidity its hilarious.

You want to make the world the way you want it and anything that gets in the way is 'wrong' or 'misinterpreted' etc. of course you want to go that way; not admit that most of the debt we have right now came from your messiah Obama.

Do you think "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances" means "congress shall make no laws (period)" or "congress shall make no laws about religion"?

At first you said the former, now you seem to be backpedaling.

only under pressure from Congressional Republicans. You and the other messiah worshippers are so stupid.

What part of the massive amount of public debt that Obama has run up do you not understand?

[RoadTrain]

National debt and Social Security, among other topics:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/01/op...ting.html?_r=0
Every month, my mom receives a yellow and green benefit check for $1,600 from the Treasury. I expect she’ll keep collecting those Social Security checks for a long time. She’s crushing 50-year-olds at bridge and doing yoga. Apart from their amount, the checks look identical to the $400 checks she receives every six months on her small remaining holdings of Treasury bonds. Yet Uncle Sam’s obligation to send her the $400 checks is recorded on its books, whereas his obligation to send her the $1,600 checks is not. (I’m 63, but not collecting benefits yet.)

True, Social Security benefits could be cut by Congress and the president. But so can official debt, as Argentina’s likely default reminds us. The prospect of formal default by the United States is remote. Informal default via the inflationary, easy-money policies of the Federal Reserve since 2007, is more likely. (Social Security is pegged to inflation, so while inflation would help with our official debts to creditors, like China, it is far from a panacea.)

Social Security’s hidden debt is just a small part of the story. Two weeks ago, the Congressional Budget Office released its annual long-term budget outlook. The good news: This year’s deficit — about 3 percent of gross domestic product — is the smallest since 2007 and way down from the peak of almost 10 percent in 2009. The bad: Without action, the deficit will grow “notably larger” starting in about four years, a result of our aging population, rising health costs and the new subsidies for health insurance.

Even worse, the budget office raised what’s called the alternative fiscal scenario, the most realistic projection of fiscal outcomes absent major policy changes. Based on these estimates, I calculate that the “fiscal gap” — a yardstick of total government indebtedness that I’ve worked on with the economists Alan J. Auerbach and Jagadeesh Gokhale — was $210 trillion last year, up from $205 trillion the previous year. Thus $5 trillion was the true deficit.

The fiscal gap — the difference between our government’s projected financial obligations and the present value of all projected future tax and other receipts — is, effectively, our nation’s credit card bill. Eliminating it, would require an immediate, permanent 59 percent increase in federal tax revenue. An immediate, permanent 38 percent cut in federal spending would also suffice. The longer we wait, the worse the pain. If, for example, we do nothing for 20 years, the requisite federal tax increase would be 70 percent, or the requisite spending cut, 43 percent.

The author of this article is better off learning how modern monetary systems operate before writing such gibberish.

Learning at least the accounting basics would do I think.

[CoinDiver]

Krugman is a shill... Brainless idiots are the only ones who continue to pay attention to him.