On The Culture of Debt
It suddenly struck me, when replying to other people in the last couple of days, what America's real problem is- we have a Culture of Debt. It's so strong that economists are no longer bothered by such problems as trade deficits, the government deficit, or consumer debt; it's just assumed that we'll be able to grow our economy enough to take care of such trivialities.
Even after September 2008, I had somebody tell me that a trade deficit was a good thing because we're essentially keeping a high standard of living by printing paper.
Do economists not read newspapers? Do they never talk to people who are on unemployment? What's wrong with this picture?
Even after September 2008, I had somebody tell me that a trade deficit was a good thing because we're essentially keeping a high standard of living by printing paper.
Do economists not read newspapers? Do they never talk to people who are on unemployment? What's wrong with this picture?
Comments
The abundant land and natural resources as well as human assets stay as enchanting pawn for money lenders in other country.
At least we're better off than England on that score- rumor has it (that I got on Technocrat before it went down) that banks there are overleveraged 200:1- they've lent out 200x more than they have in assets.
I go with the more conservative view (in the original sense of the word) that a country should NEVER borrow more than it can produce, and ideally, should never borrow more than 1/10th what it can produce.
Total US Government, Trade, and Consumer Debt now exceeds $650 Trillion- on a GDP of $13.5 Trillion.
That puts me WAY ahead of a great number of my generation- who are now struggling with foreclosure and homelessness.
Today, there are 27 empty houses for each homeless person in America- an awful statistic.