The U.S. Is Not Drowning In Debt

Time Moneyland ^ | July 15, 2011 | Zachary Karabell

[lbryce]

Uhh....Somebody tell Congress.

[YHAOS]

Fine Zach . . . You can pay my share of the debt . . . when/if it comes due.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

I’m sure it’s been posted, but I got a link yesterday about what 114 trillion looks like (the true unfunded liabilities which must be paid or turn into debt). The ability of liberals to completely ignore plain facts never ceases to amaze me.

[clove]

If that is the case then.....nothing to see here....everyone just go on and keep on spending....why all the excitement and worry about deadlines...LOL

What country is this guy writing about?

[cripplecreek]

In my opinion the government has far more of our money than they should have.

If it were cut back to 10% of what they’re taking now they would still have money left over after paying for the things they’re constitutionally mandated to pay for.

[freekitty]

Geez.

[Cringing Negativism Network]

Sure. What’s $14,000,000,000,000.00 between friends?

[ReleaseTheHounds]

What neither side seems to recognize — or at least acknowledge — is that what matters about the debt isn’t the dollar amount per se, but how much it costs us to service it. And by that measure, the debt isn’t nearly as big a problem as it’s being made out to be.

What's this guy drinking? Servicing the debt may seem reasonable at today's historic and panic-stricken low rates, but what happens when rates go up thanks to a downgrade and/or economic growth forces the Fed to start increasing rates. Then servicing the debt will become more than uncomfortable.

Where do these people come from?

[marktwain]

What neither side seems to recognize — or at least acknowledge — is that what matters about the debt isn’t the dollar amount per se, but how much it costs us to service it.

That is because the interest rates are at amazingly, historically low levels at the moment. It is virtually impossible to keep those rates that low for a long period of time. In fact, when the rates rise to historical levels, the amount required to service the debt explodes.

[Truth29]

So following the logic of this article, Obama can blow up the country by forcing a crisis that increases the interest rate. Cloward and Piven would be proud. This is a more direct way to destroy the country than the overwhelm the system approach.

[Jim Robinson]

Zachary Karabell is an idiot.

[marktwain]

You beat me by a bit!

[Keith in Iowa]

>>>Where do these people come from?

Public education.

[mlocher]

Right.....

I have a credit card with a limit of $150,000 (OK, I made that up). It is not in my best interest to keep a balance of $150,000 on my card, even if I was only paying 4%. Sooner or later the interest rate will go up and some unexpected medical bill will cause me financial ruin.

The market may suggest how much I can borrow, but it is still my responsibility to manage my finances prudently. The same analogy applies to the Treasury Bond Market and the US Government.

[SunkenCiv]

Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m very relieved. ;’) Thanks lbryce.

[mlocher]

What's this guy drinking?

He is trying to force others to drink kool-aid. This is a pure propaganda piece telling Americans that it is okay for the US to go further into debt and to subtlely smear the Tea Party.

[YHAOS]

"What neither side seems to recognize — or at least acknowledge — is that what matters about the debt isn’t the dollar amount per se, but how much it costs us to service it."

I didn't say it, but I'll second the motion.

[tennmountainman]

Uhh....Somebody tell Congress.

Apple has more cash in the bank than the US Govt.

What does that tell u?

[JPG]

Looks like what this guy does in his personal life is wrack up massive CC debt and then rest easy because he’s still is able to make the minimum payments due.

[Tolsti2]

The problem will really come when interest rates skyrocket. And not for consumers, only for standing debt.

Apparently these guys think that it’s impossible for us to get in bad shape no matter how much we borrow. I used to be like that and then went bankrupt almost 10 years ago.

Technically we can’t go ‘bankrupt’, but we can have insanely lower standards of living due to this crap.