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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimbaBear who wrote (118482)	12/21/2000 1:43:11 AM
From: DavesM	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 769670

Exactly where did the current administration "pare" expenses? By the way, I believe The National debt was around $3 trillion in 1992 and is around $5 trillion now.

To: TimbaBear who wrote (118482)	12/21/2000 2:07:30 AM
From: Neocon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Some government securities are sold as callable, some are not: Treasury bills, notes, and bonds cannot be redeemed before maturity unless, by the terms of their issue, they are callable. Some Treasury bonds issued before 1985 are subject to call by the Treasury Department before their final maturity. If called, these bonds stop earning interest on the date called. The details of each issue of bills, notes, or bonds are announced before the Treasury's auction. publicdebt.treas.gov If they are callable, it is announced upfront. Most bonds are not callable, as I understand it. Unless one understood what one was getting, calling is undesirable, and would harm the fiscal reputation of the US government. Therefore, I think my scenario, though subject to modification, is pretty sound.......

To: TimbaBear who wrote (118482)	12/21/2000 2:30:10 AM
From: Bernard Levy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

The current federal debt as a portion of GDP is actually rather low (about 50% of GDP). As a benchmark the federal debt was about 110% of GDP at the end of WW2 and decreased to about 30% in the early 60s, even though the Fed govt run a small yearly deficit most of the time. The secret: economic growth. As a comparison, Japan's debt is 130% of GDP and growing. About 10 years ago, Canada's debt was also above 100% of GDP. So, in fact the US debt is reasonable, and does not require surpluses as long as the economy is growing within a 2 to 4% range and as long as the budget remains roughly in balance. Also, asset allocation by govt tends to be way less efficient than allocations by companies or households (need I mention $200 hammers). So minimizing the amount of money in the hands of politicians is always desirable.