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You're correct that the debt will continue to go up after 10 years if there are absolutely no cuts and no revenue increases. But 10 years is plenty time to brin
by gizmo 14y ago
You're correct that the debt will continue to go up after 10 years if there are absolutely no cuts and no revenue increases. But 10 years is plenty time to bring the budget in line with GDP growth, and after the depression is behind us there should be bi-partisan interest in reducing the deficit. I'll be very surprised if the US deficit is over 80% of GDP in 10 years.
The comment by Krugman about Republicans wanting a fiscal crisis to dismantle the welfare system is somewhat hyperbolic. However there are plenty Republicans who claim to care about the deficit but when push comes to shove go for tax cuts instead and then point at the lack of revenues to justify cuts in the welfare system.
- mseebach 14y agoKrugman is as "somewhat hyperbolic" as the GP. In fact, the GP qualifies his theories with "I think", Krugman states them as fact.
- digitalengineer 14y agoJust curious: Does the debt number include unfunded liabilities for social security, medicare, etc?
- mseebach 14y agoNo, "public debt" is at 73%, including "intragovernmental holdings" (social security etc) it's at 105% See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt#Measuring_debt_relative_to_gross_domestic_product https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_public_debt#Meas... and refer to the first paragraph of the article of a definition of the two debt types.
- mynameishere 14y agoBut 10 years is plenty time to bring the budget in line with GDP growth You are out of your mind. Absolutely, 100 percent out of your mind.