Debt Doesn't Have to Be A Burden [Good for laugh/barf]

The Washington Post Company ^ | Wednesday, March 4, 2009 | Steven Pearlstein

[Dick Holmes]

By the middle of 2008, for example, American households had build up debt of $13.9 trillion, more than double what it was a decade before. Businesses had accumulated debt of $10.9 trillion, also doubling in a decade. And financial institutions had piled up debt of $16.6 trillion, up from $6.3 trillion in 1998.

And the federal government? During that same period -- drum roll -- its debt rose from $3.8 trillion to $5.3 trillion.

The thing to remember is that debt is debt, no matter where it is, and unless it's paid back, all of it will get passed on to our grandchildren in some way. So if we are in the process of cutting back on the much bigger categories of household debt, corporate debt and bank debt, then even if we add an extra $2 trillion to federal debt, the little tykes are likely to end up with a smaller pile of debt than before.

....

In the meantime, the federal government is one of the few entities that is still able to borrow in the current environment, and given the perceived safety of buying government bonds, the cost of that borrowing is about as low as it has ever been. From a purely cash-flow point of view, substituting 18 percent credit card debt with 3 percent Treasury bond debt is a positive development for the grandchildren.

[Dick Holmes]

Well, I feel so much better, now! 0 and the dim congress have rolled over our credit card debt to T-bills at a much lower vig! Now all you need to do is show this article to your credit card issuer: BILL PAID!

[USNBandit]

American households $13.9 Trillion, Businesses $10.9 Trillion, Banks $6.3 Trillion, and the Government $5.3 Trillion.

Of those numbers, which is worse?By far the $5.3 trillion, because the government doesn't do anything to make money or pay off debt, it only takes money from the other three.

[boroman]

Nonsense and stupidity, put forth by a failed writer at a failing newspaper.

[Dick Holmes]

Right. And what's more, he says, "The thing to remember is that debt is debt, no matter where it is, and unless it's paid back, all of it will get passed on to our grandchildren in some way."

Really? If A owes B some money, the debt gets passed on to C's grandkids??? And what about B's grandkids? They stand to benefit, don't they? But if A is the government, and has to tax everyone and their grandkids...

[genghis]

government doesn’t use standard accounting, so no one has any clue what government owes.

[Dems_R_Losers]

This guy has been waving the pom-poms for Obama ever since the election.

[Dems_R_Losers]

Exactly - how about the $52 trillion in Social Security and federal employee pension liability?

[donaldo]

This reminds me of Mencken’s Law - “Whenever A takes money from B under the pretense of helping C, A is a scoundrel.”

[Timeout]

The U.S. economy is in the midst of a painful adjustment from spending the equivalent of 106 percent of what we produce each year...to spending 96 percent of what we produce and putting aside a modest 4 percent for savings.

Total nonsense. The savings rate is going up because FIFTY PERCENT of all our previous savings has disappeared! Pearlstein totally ignores the evaporation of "wealth". Never mind that higher taxes will make it all the more unlikely that those increased savings will continue.