Posted on 05/12/2014 10:36:33 AM PDT by BulletBobCo
(CNSNews.com) - Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen, referencing the Congressional Budget Office's long-term budget projections, told the Joint Economic Committee of Congress today that under current policies the federal government’s deficits “will rise to unsustainable levels.”
In the 10-year budget projections it released in April, the CBO estimated that the federal government will run $7.618 trillion in deficits from 2015 through 2024. At the same time, the CBO projected that the federal government’s debt held by the public would rise from $11.983 trillion at the end of fiscal 2013 to $20.947 trillion by the end of 2024.
The debt held by the public is the part of the U.S. government debt that is not held by the federal government itself. It primarily consists of marketable Treasury securities, including bills, notes and bonds. It does not include what the government calls “intragovernmental debt," which is the money the Treasury has borrowed out of the Social Security Trust Fund and other government trust funds to pay current expenses.
The total debt of the federal government at the end of fiscal 2013--including both the debt held by the public and the intragovernmental debt--was $16.719 trillion. The CBO estimates that by 2024, the total debt of the federal government will be $27.159 trillion—of which $20.947 trillion will be debt held by the public.
If that projection holds up, the federal debt held by the public in 2024 would be more than four times the $5.035 trillion federal debt held by the public at the end of 2007.
Yellen made her statement about unsustainable deficits when she was questioned by Sen. Dan Coats (R.-Ind.). Coats remarked that businessmen in Indiana told him that their businesses were underperforming at this time because of the uncertainty they felt as result of federal taxation and regulatory policies.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
I thought they already were unsustainable.
As planned... [by the statists, communists, progressives, etc]
Totally unexpected.
Wait, we can’t borrow our way to prosperity?
Who knew.
Good thing Bennie got outta town while the Dow was still going up.
The levels are already unsustainable at historic interest charges.
I second that. Why not now?
5.56mm
Obviously she hasn’t talked to Paul Krugman.
Who is ultimately responsible, the electorate or pols? I think the former. We own the place and elected the pols. Our own apathy and greed is why we’re here. There are some very few who don’t fit those categories but they are truly FEW.
I thought they already were unsustainable.
I second that. Why not now?
Because now, they can still raise taxes?
What do you mean, I’m overdrawn? I still have blank checks in my checkbook!
Like the supply of money was somehow related to the amount of paper floating around.
We have poor choices for elected officials because voters make poor choices.
Change the voters to change the outcome.
In the early REPUBLIC, citizens had to possess certain qualifications to earn the voting privilege.
Some tests for fiscal and social responsibility might be in order, such as: Do you support yourself?
Are you a convicted felon?
An habitual substance abuser?
A loon?
But everyone thinks the French revolution was ours.
Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, right?
Yellen is blaspheming Dem policy. How the heck did she get nominated?
The biggest criminal bust-out ever......
Dems will blame Republicans. The press will publish it.
Quit Yellin, they are ready are unsustainable.
NOT borrowing your way to prosperity has already been assigned a dirty name in Europe - they call it "austerity". When leftist win elections campaigning against austerity, they end it by returning to the practice of borrowing your way to prosperity.
The question they need to be made to answer is -
what does an “unsustainED” deficit look like, societally and economically?
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