Anyone who thought and still thinks that r less than g, however an optimistic they may be in forecasting these variables has zero real world experience in dealing with excessive debt of corporate enterprises, or over levered assets. Simply put: You cannot earn your way in to a bad balance sheet.
And as to overall US debt it does not need to be repaid as many pundits seem to say; but fixed income investors need to see it its path will not be increasing at the current rate, indefinitely ; a good start would be to move towards a balanced fiscal budget even if takes several years to get there and enact microeconomic policies that will allow for some real growth.
For now all the Fed Gov seems to be is an institution that doles out dollars for entitlements( SS and healthcare) and service interest on old debt. Americans want their entitlements, but also want low taxes or not to have to pay more in taxes to get the benefits. So, Pols will accommodate them, at least for now.
I like the idea of SS investing in the stock market but putting any in currently at such bubbly levels will likely be a waste. But eventually SS needs to be treated like a pension fund and not a high schooler's savings account.
Something makes me think it will take an outright crisis to have meaningful progress with the debt, SS, Medicare, etc. Until that it's party on in DC with play money.
It does seem like the founding error with SS is not making it a flat universal anti-poverty benefit. The income matching blew the program up in scale, the payroll tax grew and grew, and it's not clear transitioning it into stocks really solves these problems if the CBO estimate on the Bush proposal was right in saying it had only a slight *above* budget hit until 2060 once caveats for downturns and all are factored in.
Yes, you must push back against the entitled ignorant masses. It is a civic and personal mental requirement. I have adopted a withering pushback from Philippa Foot, a amazing philosopher, ethicist, and I imagine person. When a knuckhead gave her push back at a lecture on ethics, she said, "Is that what you really think? (long pause) Well, isn't that extraordinary?" and then ignored the person. Keep up the great writing and teaching.
We're paying a trillion a year now to service the debt (more than the defense budget!), with a top heavy aging population and high growth prospects pretty faint.
Anyone who thought and still thinks that r less than g, however an optimistic they may be in forecasting these variables has zero real world experience in dealing with excessive debt of corporate enterprises, or over levered assets. Simply put: You cannot earn your way in to a bad balance sheet.
And as to overall US debt it does not need to be repaid as many pundits seem to say; but fixed income investors need to see it its path will not be increasing at the current rate, indefinitely ; a good start would be to move towards a balanced fiscal budget even if takes several years to get there and enact microeconomic policies that will allow for some real growth.
For now all the Fed Gov seems to be is an institution that doles out dollars for entitlements( SS and healthcare) and service interest on old debt. Americans want their entitlements, but also want low taxes or not to have to pay more in taxes to get the benefits. So, Pols will accommodate them, at least for now.
"Like a middle-aged man with a belly"
Have we met?
This legislation does nothing to make the reforms to make the absolutely necessary cuts to future unfunded expenditures credible
Don't you agree?
And
I'm 68 and look like Zeus
Mythical and...dead
Love that I can read this and compare/contrast with what is being said on Surveillance
Great stuff as always. Here's a somewhat different take on OBBB, but with you on deficit reduction, plus some thoughts about climate change: https://robertlitan.substack.com/p/some-straight-talk-on-what-to-do
I like the idea of SS investing in the stock market but putting any in currently at such bubbly levels will likely be a waste. But eventually SS needs to be treated like a pension fund and not a high schooler's savings account.
Something makes me think it will take an outright crisis to have meaningful progress with the debt, SS, Medicare, etc. Until that it's party on in DC with play money.
It does seem like the founding error with SS is not making it a flat universal anti-poverty benefit. The income matching blew the program up in scale, the payroll tax grew and grew, and it's not clear transitioning it into stocks really solves these problems if the CBO estimate on the Bush proposal was right in saying it had only a slight *above* budget hit until 2060 once caveats for downturns and all are factored in.
Yes, you must push back against the entitled ignorant masses. It is a civic and personal mental requirement. I have adopted a withering pushback from Philippa Foot, a amazing philosopher, ethicist, and I imagine person. When a knuckhead gave her push back at a lecture on ethics, she said, "Is that what you really think? (long pause) Well, isn't that extraordinary?" and then ignored the person. Keep up the great writing and teaching.
I've been reading that we'll need to take on the federal debt soon for the past 50 years.
We're paying a trillion a year now to service the debt (more than the defense budget!), with a top heavy aging population and high growth prospects pretty faint.