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Recently Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke spoke in Dallas on the current U.S. deficit and its future outlook.
(http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-bernanke_08edi.State.Edition1.2bf43e6.html).
He states, "at this rate the national deficit will reach 100% of GDP by 2022". What do you guys think should we start making the repayment of our national debt a larger priority or do you think that our current spending levels are necessary to keep our economy afloat?
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I feel cutting the debt should be a priority but it is harder than it seems. Cutting the national debt is always a political ho button issue but in reality the only ways to cut the debt are to increase taxes or cut spending, obviously, but neither of those is politically popular so to make "cutting the deficit" a priority won't really get the debt down. I think the debt should be a consideration as soon but I don't see any politician being willing to come up and recommend raising taxes in a substantial way or being able to cut spending significantly enough to really reduce the debt until the interest on the national debt becomes at real burden, at which point it will likely be too late.
ReplyDeleteI also feel that cutting the national debt should be more of a priority in our country. Politicians are often committed to short term causes that provide them with votes and ensure their own personal futures. However, in the long run the more debt that accumulates, the more debt that future generations have to repay. Our countries debt has become quite the snowball and even small steps (controlling spending in a few areas or avoiding multibillion dollar proposals) could have huge repercussions for the future.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the deficit needs to be cut, or at least we need to do something to prevent it from getting any worse. Cutting the deficit seemed to be a big part of the '08 campaign but since then it has taken a backseat to the financial crisis and helping American businesses and the American people back on track. One can only hope that we don't see the economy hit another roadblock that requires another trillion dollar bailout, because we have set a bad precedent lately for piling on debt as if it is nothing. I feel that future generations have already been screwed enough with having to deal with the impending social security issues, that the least we could do is set out a plan that at least puts a little effort towards cutting the debt.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone that the debt needs to be cut before it gets worse. One would hope that policy makers would try and force this issue more than they are but right now it seems like they are just trying to pour more money into the economy to keep it flowing. This debt is going to linger over our heads and will hurt us when we have families.
ReplyDeleteThis is a problem that will have to be dealt with and I think it is good that Bernanke is bringing this issue up now. In all honestly I don't think Americans would be willing to cut spending on education or even National Defense. Even though some say they would, I don't think our government or Americans are ready to cut National Defense when terrorism is still looming in our minds. At the same time we complain so much that raising taxes would just cause so much more bickering. We(Americans) are not willing to give up anything and make that compromise of something like higher taxes to help our future generation(s). We are more interested in the now and $ we can get. I definitely think that we can atleast lower that current federal spending of 25% of GDP.
ReplyDeleteI think that once we have more concrete evidence that we are coming out of the recession and our getting back on our feet again we really do need to focus on cutting our national debt. This will be really hard to do as we are already cutting things and people are already angry about it such as education. It will be really hard to choose what to cut our spending on but as we are removing more and more troops I think that will help. If all else fails we can always default like everyone else.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has made very good points about the dangers of the national debt and why it has happened. My question is.. how will we ever bring the debt down. Not to 0, but to a point that our country isn't in danger of defaulting. The biggest technological and economic boom in recent history resulted in only minimal reduction of the national debt. In times like this, even if it leads to a boom, how can spending trillions of dollars be justified if we only reduce the debt by a small amount in the time of future economic prosperity.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely think there should be a determined mentality amongst political officials towards figuring out effective ways to cut the deficit. Jared makes a good point that there needs to be solid evidence before doing so. Trying to implement debt reducing policies before the economy is in a stable position could prove to be even more harmful. However regardless of when these changes take place, I feel that American's are going to have to adjust their lifestyles and make sacrifices if we plan on reducing the debt so future generations aren't left with a hole to large to climb out of.
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