4 ms·

They're comparing GDP which is $/year, with debt, which is $. You can't compare different units like that.

RA2lover 3y ago
It's being compared with debt interest, which can be converted to $/year.
tjrgergw 3y ago
> debt held by the public will surpass gross domestic product > They're comparing GDP which is $/year, with debt, which is $. You can't compare different units like that. Hopefully it's obvious to everyone else here that they're comparing the debt with the GDP of a year.
- kristianp 3y ago
  That's not what it says: "The Congressional Budget Office regularly updates its long-term budget forecasts and says that U.S. debt held by the public will surpass gross domestic product this fiscal year and that interest on that debt will equal about three-quarters of discretionary, nondefense spending. "
  - tjrgergw 3y ago
    If debt SURPASSES gdp that means you need to be able to compare them, regardless of what else the phrase goes on to say about interest. The way I would explain it to webdevs on this website is: the >= has been defined for these two types. If instead they had written "debt interest will equal three-quarters of etc.." then you'd be 100% correct. As it is, the above poster is correct that a) debt and gdp have different units, b) the word surpass implies a comparison. All I'm adding is that there's an implied conversion: it's obvious that they mean the gdp of a year.
    - tjrgergw 3y ago
      *hasn't been. That was a typo, in case it wasn't bleeding obvious.
kbutler 3y ago
You are correct that Debt-to-GDP is not dimensionless, but the ratio is a common comparison in evaluating national finances. It has units of time: $ / ($/year) = years of full GDP required to pay off the debt. Similarly power-to-mass ratio is not dimensionless, but it is useful to know the possible acceleration. Think of Debt-to-GDP > 1 year as "credit card debt exceeds annual salary". Yes, credit card debt is $, and salary is $/year, and exceeding 1 is not a particular tipping point, but lower values are better than higher.

It's being compared with debt interest, which can be converted to $/year.

> debt held by the public will surpass gross domestic product > They're comparing GDP which is $/year, with debt, which is $. You can't compare different units like that. Hopefully it's obvious to everyone else here that they're comparing the debt with the GDP of a year.

kristianp 3y ago
That's not what it says: "The Congressional Budget Office regularly updates its long-term budget forecasts and says that U.S. debt held by the public will surpass gross domestic product this fiscal year and that interest on that debt will equal about three-quarters of discretionary, nondefense spending. "
- tjrgergw 3y ago
  If debt SURPASSES gdp that means you need to be able to compare them, regardless of what else the phrase goes on to say about interest. The way I would explain it to webdevs on this website is: the >= has been defined for these two types. If instead they had written "debt interest will equal three-quarters of etc.." then you'd be 100% correct. As it is, the above poster is correct that a) debt and gdp have different units, b) the word surpass implies a comparison. All I'm adding is that there's an implied conversion: it's obvious that they mean the gdp of a year.
  - tjrgergw 3y ago
    *hasn't been. That was a typo, in case it wasn't bleeding obvious.

kbutler 3y ago

You are correct that Debt-to-GDP is not dimensionless, but the ratio is a common comparison in evaluating national finances. It has units of time: $ / ($/year) = years of full GDP required to pay off the debt. Similarly power-to-mass ratio is not dimensionless, but it is useful to know the possible acceleration. Think of Debt-to-GDP > 1 year as "credit card debt exceeds annual salary". Yes, credit card debt is $, and salary is $/year, and exceeding 1 is not a particular tipping point, but lower values are better than higher.