To: Bill Harmond who wrote (121847 ) 3/27/2001 2:07:20 AM From: GST Read Replies (3) | Respond to "those debts are repaid from personal earnings" Given the direction we are going, these debts are not being paid at all -- they mount at almost a billion dollars per day, every day, all year long, year after year. We are not even paying the interest. We will pay foreigners over $100 billion in interest this year and then borrow another $300 billion to allow us to spend more than we earn -- and we will, on a net basis, have very little if anything set aside as net savings. We will spend everything we earn, save nothing, put some money into stocks and then borrow $400 billion from foreigners (including borrowing more principal to pay the interest on the current foreign debt) so we can spend even more than we earn. In the decade we are currently in, that is likely to amount to roughly $5 trillion dollars that we will spend beyond what we earn, and we will save nothing. Add this to the trillions we already owe, which we service by borrowing more money, and you have a problem -- it just gets bigger when you deny it. Many people will say the answer to our economic situation is for AG to focus on the stock market -- bail us out AG. It can be done. But the real issues in our economy are not going to be solved by lower interest rates, more spending, and stock speculation. Our problems can only be solved by teaching Americans that it is smart to live within your means and put a little money away as savings. Listen to AG's speeches -- listen carefully. Every day AG has a new opportunity to shift the balance in favor of keeping money on the sidelines -- and every day AG does that, he is doing a good job -- maximizing the long term growth potential of our economy without creating a catastrophic current account deficit. We must save.
