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> "You feel like, you guys [the government] never have money for people that really need it, and all of a sudden you have money for everybody," The government

> "You feel like, you guys [the government] never have money for people that really need it, and all of a sudden you have money for everybody," The government doesn't have this money, they are borrowing it. Debt levels are increasing like we are in wartime [1] but there is a massive negative impact on jobs, not a positive one like in a war. I have seen more than one person echo this sentiment and I wish people acctually understood where this money is coming from before complaining. (Yes I know the quote also talks about essential workers not getting more, which I can agree the distribution is skewed incorrectly) [1] https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/economy/coronavirus-debt-deficits/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/economy/coronavirus-debt-defi...

commandlinefan 6y ago
> they are borrowing it People have been saying that deficit spending will catch up to us since I was a kid, 30+ years ago. Every time deficit spending starts "catching up to us", the government responds with more deficit spending. It seems unsustainable to me, but there are people like Krugman who assure us that this can go on forever.
- gerbal 6y ago
  If the economy grows by ~3% per year on average, and the interest rate is ~1% on government debt, can the debt actually "catch up"?
  - contravariant 6y ago
    Depends how big a deficit you're running each year. But 'catch up' is a really vague term. As long as you can keep borrowing at low interest rates there's no problem, you can just borrow more to pay the interest, but eventually people will start to doubt your ability to pay it all back (yes this is irrelevant if a country exists forever, but infinity is weird like that).
ixvvqktiwl 6y ago
The cool thing about debt is that you can make it go away by printing more money (which is exactly what the government does). Ever wonder why homes cost so much? It's inflation caused by cheap debt and money printing.
- frockington1 6y ago
  Im really excited for the next few years. If we get some real inflation rental properties are going to be a huge cash cow with the low interest mortgages being handed out now
  - anon73044 6y ago
    Until the proles rise up and kill all the landlords. /sarcasm

commandlinefan 6y ago

> they are borrowing it People have been saying that deficit spending will catch up to us since I was a kid, 30+ years ago. Every time deficit spending starts "catching up to us", the government responds with more deficit spending. It seems unsustainable to me, but there are people like Krugman who assure us that this can go on forever.

gerbal 6y ago
If the economy grows by ~3% per year on average, and the interest rate is ~1% on government debt, can the debt actually "catch up"?
- contravariant 6y ago
  Depends how big a deficit you're running each year. But 'catch up' is a really vague term. As long as you can keep borrowing at low interest rates there's no problem, you can just borrow more to pay the interest, but eventually people will start to doubt your ability to pay it all back (yes this is irrelevant if a country exists forever, but infinity is weird like that).

ixvvqktiwl 6y ago

The cool thing about debt is that you can make it go away by printing more money (which is exactly what the government does). Ever wonder why homes cost so much? It's inflation caused by cheap debt and money printing.

frockington1 6y ago
Im really excited for the next few years. If we get some real inflation rental properties are going to be a huge cash cow with the low interest mortgages being handed out now
- anon73044 6y ago
  Until the proles rise up and kill all the landlords. /sarcasm