What do you think of the US national debt?

Question

Currently, it is calculated at around $9 trillion. GDP is calculated around $13.2 trillion. The debt is roughly 68% of GDP. What are your feelings? I'd like to see what kind of opinions are out there...

A little more information...There has been a time in the last 50 years (I'm not sure what the date is) that the debt was 94% of GDP....

Is having debt such a bad thing?? I would argue its neither good nor bad. If GDP is still greater (and increasing by a greater amount) than inflation, then it seems to be in check. If the government starts printing money to pay off debt, this could be bad because it will result in hyperinflation and the value of the dollar will tank (down that is). But buying bonds from the US is the safest investment in the world. To pay people off all the government has to do is sell more bonds to investors.

European, how are my calculations off by 48 trillion?? They seem to be correct.

with $9 trillion in debt, and about 300 million civilians, it equates to about 30,000 per person.

good point meg. looks like you know your stuff. Thank you for the input

Answer 1

I don't understand the situation entirely, but it may not actually be that much of a worry. There's a technique governments use called 'rolling over' debt. It's borrowing enough money to perpetually pay interest payments. You are always in debt, yet you never have to pay it back in full. You can read more about it in the source below.

Also, if the Government has induced this debt from waging a costly war (i.e. the Iraq War), it is bad for the US and the US dollar (USD). However, if the Government's widening deficit from Presidents Clinton to Bush had been the result of expansionary fiscal policy, then the debt incurred is presumably worth less than the benefit gained.

For those who don't know what expansionary fiscal policy is, if the Government wants to increase GDP, the Government increases Government Spending. This creates more demand in the economy which has a multiplier effect, causing GDP to increase. It could have been that in the post-9/11 US economy, the Government wished to strengthen the economy by encouraging GDP growth after it had slowed down. It is known that after 9/11 the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, had implemented expansionary monetary policy and had cut the wholesale interest rates to encourage growth.

My View

My take on this is that the Iraq War has been far too costly and the increase in the US Government expenditures is largely attributable to the long-term occupation of Iraq by US military forces.

Answer 2

The debt was very high after WWII and as a percentage of GDP fell steady reaching 30% in 1980. The current debt is more of a problem now because running large deficits have become a habit, not something we do in times of national emergency, we now are borrowing from other countries, instead of owing it to ourselves, and the retirement of the baby boomers will put extra demands on the budget which is already strecht by making interest payment on the debt.

Answer 3

your figures are wrong try 48 trillion, And its not the National debt that is crushing the Dollar and the economy it's America's senseless Wars, Racist foreign policies, failing domestic industries America does too little business in Emerging Markets and in Africa, and Emerging economies are getting richer, and the world no longer trusts or cares what America has to say, The Foreign Debt is America's problem, you can print all the money you want, it's worthless on the global market, and nothing the Fed does will change that. If America continues to print worthless paper, because your congressmen will not raise taxes, because they want to get re-elected and keep their mistresses and mister's in mercedes and Designer clothes money

Answer 4

by my calculations every American family would have to pay atleast $471,428.57 to break even...even if we could pay that off, forign investors would get too impatient, and would start selling their US securities...and the treasury would start printing more money which would result in exponantial inflation and exponantial bear markets. Actually i heared the debt is only 2.1 trillion...that might just be from the war.

Answer 5

I mean wtf? These people need some serious reigning in on the spending.... I don't own a mansion and a boat - do you??

These are OUR tax dollars and I am SICK and TIRED of the B/S answers that we receive from our "administrators" regarding where the money goes too - I think that you are to.

WHY are we helping these other countries to re-build themselves when we have needy people here??

Do people even realize that 25% of the homeless in our backyards are VETERANS???? I mean, c'mon ~ we need to take care of our own here. Am I WRONG?

Answer 6

Call me crazy and kooky, but...

I think we should "balance" the damn thing for a change, how about you?!?

I mean...

If they don't want Americans to go into deep credit card and mortgage debt...

I think it would help if the U.S. government itself would set a good example, ya think?!?

Sheesh!

Answer 7

well...i just think the us should stop the war and stop oil production and make ALL hybrid style cars FOREVER, that would save us a lot of money because wars ar eexpensive and oil SUCKS and its gonna end EVENTUALLY

Answer 8

no wonder the dollar bill is worth nothing now

Answer 9

wooah i didnt know that.. that sucks