U.S. Deficit
For a half century, Harry Figgie has been warning of the dangers of deficit spending by the U.S. government. His plea has been simple and consistent: the federal government needs to stop living beyond its means or there will be a day of reckoning.
During recent prosperity, when the U.S. government had a golden opportunity to bring down the deficit and run a surplus to use for a rainy day, Congress and the White House spent like they had a printing press in their basement (oh right, they do.) Now, with the economy in the worst shape it’s been since the Great Depression, virtually all economists, both liberals and conservatives, agree that tackling the deficit will have to wait, that in the short term we’re going to have to spend our way out of our current situation. With a budget deficit that many observers believe will exceed $1 trillion before too long, will we ever again see a surplus?
Here is an interesting website that imagines the United States as a household with an annual income of $50,233 (the median household income). This “household” is about $190,000 in debt. The majority is owed to the people of the United States, but about $11,000 is owed to Japan and about $10,000 to China. Check it out at: Visualizing Uncle Sam’s Debt by WallStats.com
And here also are some independent reflections on the rising deficit.
From the International Herald Tribune:
U.S. deficit rises, and Consensus is to Let it Grow
From the Christian Science Monitor:
US stares at a $1 trillion deficit. How bad is that?
From Time Magazine:
Spend, Baby, Spend: US Budget Deficit to Soar Again