http://www.newsweek.com/id/220163 I like Samuelson because he has the gift of explaining arcane economic concepts is a simple, clear manner. In this article he discusses the folly of government borrowing as a tactic to not make painful decisions. However, you can only stave them off. They'll eventually come back stronger than ever. If you're interested in an economic parallel, look at Japan's government policies in the 1990s. It's been 20 years of failed policies, and a once great economy is still stagnant.
"Wealthy societies everywhere face a similar dilemma. Debt is ballooning from already-high levels. In the United States, the Congressional Budget Office reckons the Obama administration's planned budgets would increase the debt-to-GDP ratio from 41 percent in 2008 to 82 percent in 2019. Annual interest payments on the debt would rise from $170 billion in 2009 to $799 billion in 2019. But to contain deficits and debt by cutting spending or increasing taxes would involve wrenching and unpopular measures that might, perversely, weaken the economy and worsen deficits." I am not concerned. We will simply tax the rich (those making more than $30,000 per year) and raise taxes on all business that do not have unions by 800%. There, problem solved.
When Al Gore invented the internet it expanded our economy so much that it took care of our debt problem. We just all need to relax and wait for Al's next great invention.
Glad to see all this sudden deficit worry in the media, after 8 years of silence. Seems we're moving from a deficit to a surplus in attention given to the subject, for some reason.
I felt the past nine years it's been like a frog placed into a pot of cold water slowly being brought up to a boil, and now we've just noticed we're being poached. Now, there's no way to avoid the pain--we're all going to have 3rd degree burns from these policies.
