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California economist says real US debt $70 trillion

Not really, no.

If i owe $100k on my house, but will repay a total of $240k by the time it is payed off, do i count the unfunded liability (amortized interest + principal) against my net worth?
Considering that you continue to buy houses that don't appreciate in value, only an idiot would ignore their liabilities.
 
When that happens our debt will be wiped out I suspect with inflation.

The country will be wiped out as well because the currency will be useless.

There are no stats available but, like Detroit, many who better understand economics are leaving and there is talk of secession from other States. This economic bungling, corruption and huge debt cannot end well for this generation of Americans.
 
So you cool with cutting the ginormous money sucking defense budget or should welfare and entitlement programs only be touched?
You mean, "so you cool with continuing to cut the ginormous money sucking defense budget or should we actually start touching welfare and entitlement programs"
 
You mean, "so you cool with continuing to cut the ginormous money sucking defense budget or should we actually start touching welfare and entitlement programs"

These programs, among many thousands of others, will either be cut by a responsible government or reality will cut them for you.
 
The formulas are tough to construe and you can play with them however you like. Some can show a 70 trillion shortfall and others 200 trillion. You are
correct in noting that most don't account for perceived growth in revenues, inflation, and some use current stagnation rates to illustrate a massive shortage
instead of a historical reference. I would like to see what these numbers would be with a 50 year average of GDP growth?

Now just because the libertarians like to play with unfunded mandate numbers does not mean overspending and $17 trillion in actual debt is not a problem.
It is a huge problem.

Our nation faces a big change ahead. That change is being hastened by incurring such a significant debt. That change is when the people in other countries
around the world decide they don't have faith in the US Dollar any longer and would prefer to exchange goods / products in another currency. When that happens
our debt will be wiped out I suspect with inflation.

Right, nobody is saying we should just totally ignore debt. I'm just saying we can talk about it like adults instead of making up fantasy numbers to make it sound scarier than it really is.
 
Considering that you continue to buy houses that don't appreciate in value, only an idiot would ignore their liabilities.

This is not even a response to my comment. The present value of the loan is a liability, the FV-PV would be considered the "unfunded liability".
 
These programs, among many thousands of others, will either be cut by a responsible government or reality will cut them for you.

You keep the faith. The yearly budget deficit (from Jan - Dec) is projecting a 51% decrease year over year.
 
No. Birth rates were also much higher when they were first implemented. Woman representation in the workforce as also a fraction of what it is today. The labor force/population ratio was much lower back then

fredgraph.png


We also pay more into these programs than we did when they began. Do you deny this?

Yet.... there are also a trend of less workers per recipient.
Because Medicare funds rely on employee payroll taxes to pay for recipient services, the ratio of those employed to those drawing on Medicare benefits is crucial to maintaining future solvency. Currently, there are 3.7 workers for every person receiving Medicare benefits. HI Fund trustees calculate that there will be 2.4 workers for every retiree in 2030 and only 2 workers per retiree in 2075; each individual employee will be responsible for a far greater share in supporting each recipient.

Online NewsHour: The Medicare System | Financing | PBS
 
in the late 60's we saw similar apologists pretending no issues were on the horizon.

in the mid 2000's, republicans liked to talk about the greatest story never told.

it is pretty obvious our fiscal policies are reckless. It has always been obvious that the majority of economists are nothing more then cheerleaders.
 
This is not a Republican-Democrat issue, folks. This is threatening to end this country as we know it, in the not-to-distant future.

And yet, we seem bent on piling on more and more burden and stress to the budget year after year.

I would not want to be a newborn baby in this country today. The future is bleak.

I agree it's not a partisan issue, but I'm also not sure one economist should be accepted at face value. That said, the deficit is huge no matter what numbers you use. We should be concerned. But we also still have business or obligations to address as a country, so it should be tackled with reason and not panic. But it should be tackled.
 
I agree it's not a partisan issue, but I'm also not sure one economist should be accepted at face value. That said, the deficit is huge no matter what numbers you use. We should be concerned. But we also still have business or obligations to address as a country, so it should be tackled with reason and not panic. But it should be tackled.

Of course it should be 'tackled', but who will do the tacking? The majority of the American electorate want their governments to promise more, not less, and any politician who wants to introduce responsible fiscal management will not be elected. Barrack Obama certainly understood that.
 
So the mortgage payments I have due next year are not debt because it is this year?

....and you are also wrong that it is a "huge stretch" because these projections take into account projected revenues and projected expenses under current policy. Since we never pay off any debt and just refinance it making interest only payments, the interest only payments are going to be eating up massive amounts of our federal budget.

Its not debt until you don't pay them.
 
Its not debt until you don't pay them.

Strange my credit report says otherwise and apparently we have Zero federal debt by your definition. Happy Days are here again :2party:
 
This is not a Republican-Democrat issue, folks. This is threatening to end this country as we know it, in the not-to-distant future.

And yet, we seem bent on piling on more and more burden and stress to the budget year after year.

I would not want to be a newborn baby in this country today. The future is bleak.

It's difficult to even imagine such a number...

Our money is basically useless. The only thing that keeps our economy going is economic ignorance on behalf of the general public hence the term "faith based economy."

We're bankrupt as a nation and have been for quite some time. People around the world just assume our money is worth something when it's not.

The only thing backing our monetary system is our workforce and spending power. Our workforce is basically nothing and our spending power is fueled by the uber rich...

Our present economy is the result of Keynesian economics.....
 
Of course it should be 'tackled', but who will do the tacking? The majority of the American electorate want their governments to promise more, not less, and any politician who wants to introduce responsible fiscal management will not be elected. Barrack Obama certainly understood that.

Oth sides understand that. And both use tricky rhetoric to keep the base happy, but not really do anything. The problem is us. We're on the whole not interested in making tough decisions. And like it our not, you can't balance this beast over night. So, we need a plan, and one that doesn't throw the least of us under the bus. I'm more than willing to listen to the right plan, but lack faith any politician will actually follow through with one. At least not until we as voters act like adults.
 
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