[Vision2020] Debt to Rise to 152 percent of GDP; Greece at 170 percent

[Ted Moffett]

As many political economic analysts have stated. the goal of some
anti-government "free market fundamentalists" is to create a
financial crisis so daunting they can justify massive cuts or even the
elimination of Medicare, Social Security, etc.  Thus a debt crisis
may be exactly what they want!

Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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plus 70 years, Ted Moffett.  Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or
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On Tue, Jun 26, 2018 at 3:31 PM, Nicholas Gier <ngier006 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Trump, the self-proclaimed King of Debt, along with the tax-cutting GOP
> have received their "rewards."
>
> Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times
>
> Tax cuts championed by President Donald Trump are pushing the nation
> toward an unprecedented level of debt, heightening the risk for another
> financial crisis, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
>
> The budget office's annual look at the government's long-term financial
> outlook paints a grim picture, projecting soaring deficits in the coming
> years, with debt ultimately peaking at more than 152 percent of the
> nation's gross domestic product.
>
> "The prospect of large and growing debt poses substantial risks for the
> nation and presents policy makers with significant challenges," Keith Hall,
> director of the budget office, said in a statement.
>
> The biggest problem in the coming decade stems from last year's tax cut.
> It is estimated to increase the deficit by more than $2.3 trillion over
> that period.
>
> The spiraling price of providing subsidized health care and social
> security for the nation's aging population adds to the problem, the budget
> office said.
>
> The federal debt already stands at the highest level relative to the size
> of the economy that it has been since the aftermath of World War II. At
> that point, the nation was deep in the red from the war effort and the
> public works projects implemented in response to the Depression.
>
> More recently, America plunged back into a high level of debt to combat
> the Great Recession, when Congress passed major spending increases to pull
> the nation out of it.
>
> But Washington not only failed to wipe out the red ink when the economy
> rebounded, after a few years of progress in President Barack Obama's second
> term, the government under Trump has reversed course, moving toward even
> higher debt levels.
>
> The national debt is projected to surge upward, bringing the nation into
> uncharted territory unless the government adopts far-reaching policy shifts
> that could include deep cuts in spending on entitlement programs or
> significant tax increases.
>
> The report lays out precisely what it would cost to keep the long-term
> debt from soaring.
>
> To bring the red ink down to the historical average level, taxes would
> need to increase 17 percent - $2,000 per household - or government spending
> would need to be cut by 15 percent. Over the last 50 years, federal debt
> has average about 41 percent of the gross domestic product.
>
> Just keeping the federal debt at its current, historically high level,
> would require increasing taxes by 11 percent - $1,300 per household - or
> cutting spending by 10 percent.
>
> The heavy level of debt is already taking a toll on taxpayers. The report
> projects that government borrowing costs are on track to exceed the amount
> the government spends each year on social security.
>
>
> --
>
> A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they
> shall never sit in.
>
> -Greek proverb
>
> “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.
> Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance
> from another. This immaturity is self- imposed when its cause lies not in
> lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without
> guidance from another. Sapere Aude! ‘Have courage to use your own
> understand-ing!—that is the motto of enlightenment.
>
> --Immanuel Kant
>
>
>
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