Darleen > I imagine this is one slow climb compared to what happended in SA
That graph is very fast and very scarey especially if you look at it from the beginning. At the rate it's going it should be around $5 trillion by 2010 which, I would imagine, is not only unsustainable but unreachable.
research.stlouisfed.org
I haven't a clue about SAn figures but I do know interest rates haven't dropped all that much in recent years so the inclination to borrow could not have been as great as in the US where rates fell to rock-bottom.
Coming back to the US, one wonders what will happen when interest rates rise, as they surely will in the not too distant future?
abc.net.au
>>Federal Reserve Chairman, Alan Greenspan, says the American economy is heading for trouble unless the Government gets its budget deficits under control.
He's also worried about America's ability to cope with its ageing population, as baby boomers reach retirement age in big numbers, a concern shared in Australia.
ALAN GREENSPAN: Indeed, under existing tax rates and reasonable assumptions about other spending, these projections make clear that the Federal budget is on an unsustainable path, in which large deficits result in rising interest rates and ever-growing interest payments that will augment deficits in future years.
NEAL WOOLRICH: ANZ Bank Chief Economist, Saul Eslake, says the US Government's budget, presented to Congress in February, shows no sign of reeling in the deficit.<< |
