Jump to content

This is sobering


Casper

Recommended Posts

A wee bit easier for us common folk to understand.

"Our national financial picture 101", or "The financial mess we're in for Dummies".

Assuming the writer did the math correctly, that relative is in deep doo-doo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yup, why they're protesting in the ME + layin on their peters here staggers the imagination. We lost 58K guys in VN cuz the NV attacked the USS Maddox. Only problem, it never happened. Who went to prison? Easily killed 100K Iraqis cuz they had WMDs, only problem, they didn't? Who went to prison? (Actually, he should have still been in prison for deserting in the first example) All the homes destroyed in NOLA which were approved by engineers when the French knew better than to build there hundreds of years ago. Who went to prison? My government makes me PUKE! I've made mine + am comfortably retired. But, my children + GC don't stand a chance + that pisses me off!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The government has figured this out. They need to devalue the dollar to the point where the debt is practically nothing, through hyper-inflation. This is why gold prices are becoming astronomical. It's not so much that gold has gone up as our money is worth less.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi5hmwQJ9YU

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This has been discussed before.

Your personal budget and the economics that go along with that is NOT equivalent to the macroeconomic theories that drive gov't spending and budgeting. You're using the wrong analogy and evaluation tools through the OPs "simple math".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This has been discussed before.

Your personal budget and the economics that go along with that is NOT equivalent to the macroeconomic theories that drive gov't spending and budgeting. You're using the wrong analogy and evaluation tools through the OPs "simple math".

What is so different? I know that the federal budget is MUCH more complex, but to put it in a nutshell that we all can understand, to know the proportions of the huge numbers that we hear is fine. Once you get into the millions, billions, and trillions, it's tough to get the perspective of how far off they are in relationship to each other, and being balanced.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is so different?

Do I need to google it for you? I'm sure you can do your own research on it.

But, just one right off the top of my head that I remember from Econ is that there is an unlimited amount of time to pay off debt on a macro scale. You, as a person, have all your debts cleared when you die (if your estate doesn't cover them, they can't go after your family for your debt) -- when does a country die? You think America will die? I think we'll have an indefinite period to pay off this debt. So that's one of the bigger issues that changes things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The biggest problem, like most indebted people learn, isn't the total amount due but the payments required to pay the interest on the debt. If I heard the news correctly, our interest alone is about $150 Billion per year.

And NO debt can not just be put off forever as suggested above. --->

fully 40% of the over $9 trillion in Treasury debt currently outstanding to the public has a maturity of 3 years or less. Put another way, it means that we are rapidly approaching $4 trillion in U.S. debt that matures by 2014 or sooner. As I write this, the yield (interest rate paid) on a 2-year Treasury note is 0.645% or about 2/3 of one percent. The yield, at the same time, on a 10 year Treasury note is 3.4%, and on a 30 year is 4.55%. In bond parlance, this is called a "steep yield curve" where interest rates get much higher as you go farther out in time.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are consequences to having high debt, yes, but you have to look at it relatively. Debt only becomes an issue when your investors don't think you'll be able to pay your bills. The US bonds and their rates are still the threshold for setting the baseline (I.e. The risk-free rate of return) because 'investors' still haven't lost faith in our gov'ts ability to pay it's bills.

We had a surplus prior to Bush, and after chasing Bin Laden for a decade with nothing to show for it, along with bailing out Wall Street so they don't fall on their asses without their golden parachutes, we ARE in a period of financial pain and on a path of an unsustainable financial future. Changes will need to be made, for sure, but this is akin to you getting rocked with unplanned medical expenses one year and having trouble paying your 30yr mortgage. You'll adjust, get your finances back on track, and pay your mortgage company - they know it's just a temporary issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The biggest problem, like most indebted people learn, isn't the total amount due but the payments required to pay the interest on the debt. If I heard the news correctly, our interest alone is about $150 Billion per year.

And NO debt can not just be put off forever as suggested above. --->

The number that gets me is the annual interest. $413 billion. Money pissed into the wind. And growing. When is it too much as a percent of revenue? 25%? 40%? Where we are headed is unsustainable.

And we have the congress pissing and moaning over $61 billion cuts. Um, I'm sorry but they are ignoring the real problem.

Edited by mello dude
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...