Your new post is loading...
The Christian Science Monitor is an international news organization that delivers thoughtful, global coverage via its website, weekly magazine, daily news briefing, and email newsletters.
|
Scooped by Teresa Herrin |
Scoop.it!
The US has resorted, multiple times, to raising the debt limit. Having spent less money than they collected, the US accumulated a large amount of deficit. Over the years, multiple presidents have raised the debt ceiling, and no matter the situation, the debt keeps rising, mostly because of the debts held by the public. Compared to other countries, the US ranks only behind Japan in having a lot of debt.
Now looking at these graphs, the US appears to be in more rough economic shape than I thought it was in. With all this money we owe and because of the tons of expenditures, it's no wonder why we have raised the debt ceiling over 30 times. Just look at Denmark. The only time they raised their debt ceiling was once, and their debt level was even close to the debt ceiling limit. Why can't we be like Denmark? Why can't we actually look at our debt and see how to prevent even further problems?
That taught me a lot about the math of deficit spending.
Despite how good a "balanced budget" sounds to voters, it has rarely happened. The debt cieling has gone up to allow for deficit spending, but sometimes it simply outgrows revenue.
I am one who believes that deficit spending can help in times of crisis - the New Deal being a prime example - but deficits occured at times of prosperity as well.