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Economy
Ironic "Scariest Chart Ever" Redux
2011-10-20
America Will Surpass 100% Debt To GDP On Halloween
Posted by:tipper

#8  but instead wastes $ on things like Solyndra and other pet Zero delusions

Not to mention maintaining steady flow of "cheap" Persian Gulf oil.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2011-10-20 15:20  

#7   Thorium seems a very reasonable, relative cheap & abundant source of nuclear power which has been largely ignored. The USA has about 15% of world sources. When/if electrical/nuke power gets cheap enough, diesel & gasoline can be made from COAL.
Therefore the US government has NOT made major investments in thorium-drive nukes, but instead wastes $ on things like Solyndra and other pet Zero delusions.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2011-10-20 15:18  

#6  Or from the tar sand areas in the midwest.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2011-10-20 15:09  

#5  Too many Americans enjoy the fruits of the debt... for the moment, grasshopper, just for the moment.
When the US sells assets, nearly always the beneficiary is someone with an inside track to profit, who gets the deal at a bargain price. That's the way things get done in DC.
Drastic federal spending cuts will cause an immediate spike in unemployment and an immediate shrinkage of the economy, when the 'simulation' ends. That will happen very quickly. In comparison, economic growth does not happen quickly. Human suffering will have to fill the gap until the growth, if any, catches up.
THIS IS NOT SIMPLE. Political leadership to bridge this gap is utterly lacking.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2011-10-20 15:07  

#4  start selling assets

If you eat the environmentalists and their sympathetic judiciary [who wish to mold the country into their vision of what they believe it should be without the consent of the governed], we could become a oil export nation again. Particularly providing it from a secure area in which the extraction occurs. Not too many pirates operate from the Aleutians for the North Pacific shipping routes.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2011-10-20 10:26  

#3  More interesting is to note how much debt you need to simulate economic growth...

Also debt servicing as a %age of GDP (as both are flows, debt level is just a stock).
Posted by: Bright Pebbles   2011-10-20 09:43  

#2  Here's a good start: have the federal government sell the State lands it stole from the states back to the states, with the provision that if the feds ever try to take that land back for *any* purpose, the state can set *any* price it wants on the sale.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2011-10-20 09:39  

#1  simple solution: cut spending, grow the economy, start selling assets (worlds biggest yard sale for the next 5-10 years).

Difficult implementation: president can't cut anything except defense and wants to raise taxes, congress has no political will, Too many Americans enjoy the fruits of the debt...
Posted by: airandee   2011-10-20 08:28  

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