Casper Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 http://www.chrismartenson.com/blog/how-explain-current-economic-situation-friends-and-family/54409 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jblosser Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocks Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 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!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alienpi Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disclaimer Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 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". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawi kid Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Sometimes the hardest problems are fixed with the easiest solutions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad324 Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Sometimes the hardest problems are fixed with the easiest solutions.population control? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawi kid Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Or instead of saying we can't cut that, start saying we can't spend that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casper Posted March 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 Or instead of saying we can't cut that, start saying we can't spend that.Amen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonzie Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 fb'ing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shittygsxr Posted March 17, 2011 Report Share Posted March 17, 2011 problem solved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Or instead of saying we can't cut that, start saying we can't spend that.B.S. for president! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kawi kid Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Hell write me in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Hell write me in!Well, we actually have B.S. in there now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disclaimer Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jporter12 Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Just because we have an unlimited time to pay it off, aren't there any other adverse effects for holding it in limbo?*EDIT*: I'm asking because I don't know, and it's a bit more than my feeble mind is able to learn right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chevysoldier Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 When the world ends all debt will be paid in full. Monetary and other. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buildit Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disclaimer Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buildit Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 (edited) I say we sell Hawaii to China for $8 trillion. Problem solved! Edited March 18, 2011 by buildit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buildit Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 (edited) I'd say sell California to Mexico, but I think they already have squatter rights. Edited March 18, 2011 by buildit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mello dude Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 (edited) 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 March 18, 2011 by mello dude Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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