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The governments of the world have had plenty of time since Keynes to spend themselves into insolvency, and they haven’t done so yet. The US debt-to-GDP ratio d
by sethg 16y ago
The governments of the world have had plenty of time since Keynes to spend themselves into insolvency, and they haven’t done so yet. The US debt-to-GDP ratio dropped steadily between the end of WW2 and the Reagan administration, and dipped again during the Clinton administration. The UK ratio dropped from the end of WW2 until around 1975, held steady, and then had another dip around 1985–1990. Canada’s ratio has been declining gradually since around 1995; the nominal debt has been pretty much steady, but GDP has risen.
So it looks to me like politicians are frequently resisting the temptation to borrow as much money as they can throw at their constituents.
- hga 16y agoHow about the PIGS, just for starters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIGS_%28economics%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PIGS_%28economics%29)? Not all the world is part of the Anglosphere like the US, U.K. and Canada. At the worst reasonable end, what about Argentina? They were epsilon from becoming a developed country ... when Peron gained power. Or Japan. Do you really expect them to pay back their debt, with a rapidly aging population that's actually been decreasing in absolute and accelerating terms since 2007 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan#Population http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Japan#Populatio...)?