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Politics : Mainstream Politics and Economics -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JBTFD who wrote (14128)	3/31/2012 2:05:23 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 85487

Percentage increase is a fair way to measure gain. Its almost meaningless in this context, as I demonstrated. If it was important than an increase from 1 penny to 3 cents would be as important as Reagan's increase. Real dollar increases, the size of the deficit (or the size of the increase in the debt which is the same thing) as a percentage of GDP, the resultant debt as a percentage of GDP, even nominal dollar deficits, are far more important than the percent increase in the debt. A tiny increase off a very small base can be an enormous percentage increase, but isn't very significant for the country. You can't argue that fact away. I also can't argue away the fact that 1+1=2, or that Mars is bigger then our moon. Those are both facts. They are true pretty much without question. The also are only slightly less significant to the fiscal situation of the US, than comparing the percentage increase in total debt from wildly difference bases. Truth doesn't imply relevance. The significant reality is that the deficits are larger (the debt is increasing by) much more now than it is in the past. That's most strongly true in nominal dollar terms but nominal dollars (like percentage increase in the debt off of difference bases) isn't that significant. But the debt is also increasing much more now in real dollar terms and as a percentage of GDP. When Reagan and the two Bush's where president, the debt increases by about 1.2 to 6 percent of the GDP. Now that Obama is president the debt has been increasing from 8 to 10% of GDP. In real dollar terms (2012 dollars) Reagan's largest deficit (1983) was $475 bil. Obama's 2011 deficit is $1.56 trillion. Over three and a quarter times larger. Why we are bailing out mega corporations and banks makes no sense at all to me. Now we have created an environment of moral hazard where it appears we are stuck but actually we are not. Let them fail. That is the only way to stop the insane casino that our financial system has become. I pretty much agree with that.