Cog wrote:Basically the US government will not be in a default situation as long as we can pay the interest on the debt.
Plantagenet wrote:Cog wrote:Basically the US government will not be in a default situation as long as we can pay the interest on the debt.
Or, more realistically, the US government will not be in default as long as we can borrow more money to pay the interest on the money we already owe.
C8 wrote:During this election year we have heard little about the US debt. Obama and Congress just agreed to raise the borrowing limit once again. There seems to be no end to this (although there must be).
In theory, I can see nothing wrong with it- after all, we could just vote for austerity and pay it down or off. But there is a part of me that, in my gut, feels this will never happen. Politically, this thing just seems like a one-way missile that has way to much velocity to change direction. The demand for more entitlements seems baked into democracy like a cancer engulfing cells. I can see no citizen based push to be responsible.
I have some questions that I am hoping folks here will help me with. I appreciate any responses.
1. If we continue at this course- how long before default?
....
Thanks
There is no unambiguous threshold at which public debt becomes unsustainable, and Argentina’s public debt/GDP ratio of 65% in 2001 was still lower than that observed in some European countries. However, given the history of defaults and macroeconomic instability in emerging markets like Argentina, their threshold sustainable public debt may be much lower than in advanced economies.
On January 26, 2016, debt held by the public was $13.62 trillion or about 75% of the previous 12 months of GDP.[10][6][7][8] Intragovernmental holdings stood at $5.34 trillion, giving a combined total gross national debt of $18.96 trillion or about 104% of the previous 12 months of GDP.
yellowcanoe wrote:The book "Running on Empty" by Peter G. Peterson, published in 2004, outlined a bleak financial future for the US unless changes were made. There was plenty of trouble on the horizon even if the financial crisis of 2008 had not occurred. Politicians are completely focused on todays deficits so nothing is being done to deal with future liabilities.
Cog wrote:The interest on the national debt in 2015 was around $229 billion.
Revenue $2.05 Trillion
Trust Funds like Social Security $1.1 Trillion
Spending $3.8 Trillion
Borrowing $583 billion to meet budget shortfall
Link to site https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budg ... /spending/
Basically the US government will not be in a default situation as long as we can pay the interest on the debt.
Plantagenet wrote:Cog wrote:Basically the US government will not be in a default situation as long as we can pay the interest on the debt.
Or, more realistically, the US government will not be in default as long as we can borrow more money to pay the interest on the money we already owe.
C8 wrote:During this election year we have heard little about the US debt. Obama and Congress just agreed to raise the borrowing limit once again. There seems to be no end to this (although there must be).
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