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California economist says real US debt $70 trillion

Erod

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Hamilton believes the government is miscalculating what it owes by leaving out certain unfunded liabilities that include government loan guarantees, deposit insurance, and actions taken by the Federal Reserve as well as the cost of other government trust funds. Factoring in those figures brings the total amount the government owes to a staggering $70 trillion, he says.
Hamilton believes important areas of federal off-balance-sheet commitments include loans for post-high school education, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve System.
“The biggest off-balance-sheet liabilities come from recognition of the fiscal stress that will come in the form of an aging population and rising medical expenditures,” Hamilton says, adding, “It is worth noting that there are many historical episodes in which off-balance sheet liabilities ended up having quite significant on-balance sheet implications.”


Read more: California economist says real US debt $70 trillion | Fox News

This is not a Republican-Democrat issue, folks. This is threatening to end this country as we know it, in the not-to-distant future.

And yet, we seem bent on piling on more and more burden and stress to the budget year after year.

I would not want to be a newborn baby in this country today. The future is bleak.
 
This is not a Republican-Democrat issue, folks. This is threatening to end this country as we know it, in the not-to-distant future.

And yet, we seem bent on piling on more and more burden and stress to the budget year after year.

I would not want to be a newborn baby in this country today. The future is bleak.

Holy sh1t!!!!!!! I'm so terrified. WE HAVE GOT TO CUT SPENDING NAOW!!!!!!!

Slash taxes on the rich!!! Slash them now!!!! Before its too late!!!!!! SLASH N BURN

CUT ALL PROGRAMS!!!!!

END SPENDING!!!! END IT NAOW!!!!
 
This is not a Republican-Democrat issue, folks. This is threatening to end this country as we know it, in the not-to-distant future.

And yet, we seem bent on piling on more and more burden and stress to the budget year after year.

I would not want to be a newborn baby in this country today. The future is bleak.

Well, in all fairness "unfunded liabilities" really just means future expenses that we don't have money for right now. $70T sounds like a big number, but not if the time frame is something like 50-100 years. I agree that spending is a huge problem, but calling future liabilities debt is a huge stretch.
 
This is not a Republican-Democrat issue, folks. This is threatening to end this country as we know it, in the not-to-distant future.

And yet, we seem bent on piling on more and more burden and stress to the budget year after year.

I would not want to be a newborn baby in this country today. The future is bleak.

Oh, I'm positive they fudge the numbers to hide our true debt. They don't want people to start demanding that they do their job.
 
This is not a Republican-Democrat issue, folks. This is threatening to end this country as we know it, in the not-to-distant future.

And yet, we seem bent on piling on more and more burden and stress to the budget year after year.

I would not want to be a newborn baby in this country today. The future is bleak.
If 70t is true and the entire economy is roughly 16t, you can stop worrying about it, since you'll never pay that back, but if I was a creditor I'd be sweating.
 
This is not a Republican-Democrat issue, folks. This is threatening to end this country as we know it, in the not-to-distant future.

And yet, we seem bent on piling on more and more burden and stress to the budget year after year.

I would not want to be a newborn baby in this country today. The future is bleak.

Please.... Considering deposit insurance and various loan guarantees as debt is only a scare tactic by the right.

I would be surprised if you actually understood the logic behind an unfunded liability.
 
Well, in all fairness "unfunded liabilities" really just means future expenses that we don't have money for right now. $70T sounds like a big number, but not if the time frame is something like 50-100 years. I agree that spending is a huge problem, but calling future liabilities debt is a huge stretch.

I guarantee you the right has been pushing such rhetoric since beginning of S.S., Medicare, etc.... How many people thought that Medicare would bankrupt the country in 30 years around 1960-1965?
 
I guarantee you the right has been pushing such rhetoric since beginning of S.S., Medicare, etc.... How many people thought that Medicare would bankrupt the country in 30 years around 1960-1965?

Who knows. But fact is, we had a lot less people 65 or older then. Our programs are based off a time period where it was rare to live past 75. Do you deny this?
 
Please.... Considering deposit insurance and various loan guarantees as debt is only a scare tactic by the right.

I would be surprised if you actually understood the logic behind an unfunded liability.


We're about to pile on national healthcare and amnesty 13 million people, many of which are going to utilize every government program they can get their hands on.

These loan guarantees and insurance demands are likely a fraction of what they'll truly be.
 
I guarantee you the right has been pushing such rhetoric since beginning of S.S., Medicare, etc.... How many people thought that Medicare would bankrupt the country in 30 years around 1960-1965?

How many people thought entire cities (Detroit) and states (California) would actually consider filing for bankruptcy one day?
 
Lolz...deposit insurance.....

If we count liabilities into the future enough...I mean at our current growth rate and life expectancy I'm sure you can include numbers until 3010.

"US Debt Figure Really 30 Gazillion Dollars!"
 
How many people thought entire cities (Detroit) and states (California) would actually consider filing for bankruptcy one day?

California isn't declaring bankruptcy...Detroit...the writing has been on the walls for decades. It's not "out of nowhere Gosh the world is falling apart". That's the reason states and cities credit ratings vary...because bankruptcy is always a possibility.
 
Well, in all fairness "unfunded liabilities" really just means future expenses that we don't have money for right now. $70T sounds like a big number, but not if the time frame is something like 50-100 years. I agree that spending is a huge problem, but calling future liabilities debt is a huge stretch.

So the mortgage payments I have due next year are not debt because it is this year?

....and you are also wrong that it is a "huge stretch" because these projections take into account projected revenues and projected expenses under current policy. Since we never pay off any debt and just refinance it making interest only payments, the interest only payments are going to be eating up massive amounts of our federal budget.
 
If 70t is true and the entire economy is roughly 16t, you can stop worrying about it, since you'll never pay that back, but if I was a creditor I'd be sweating.

If you owe a million dollars then the bank owns you. If you owe a trillion dollars then you own the bank.
 
Our programs are based off a time period where it was rare to live past 75. Do you deny this?

No. Birth rates were also much higher when they were first implemented. Woman representation in the workforce as also a fraction of what it is today. The labor force/population ratio was much lower back then

fredgraph.png


We also pay more into these programs than we did when they began. Do you deny this?
 
We're about to pile on national healthcare and amnesty 13 million people, many of which are going to utilize every government program they can get their hands on.

These loan guarantees and insurance demands are likely a fraction of what they'll truly be.

Your opinion is noted.
 
Can I pay you back Tuesday for a hamburger today?
 
If you owe a million dollars then the bank owns you. If you owe a trillion dollars then you own the bank.
That's good for us then. Just think of all we 'own'.
 
So the mortgage payments I have due next year are not debt because it is this year?

Not really, no.

If i owe $100k on my house, but will repay a total of $240k by the time it is payed off, do i count the unfunded liability (amortized interest + principal) against my net worth? Of course not (nobody does!). By the time i pay off my house, how much will the value of a dollar (that is used to repay) have fallen?



....and you are also wrong that it is a "huge stretch" because these projections take into account projected revenues and projected expenses under current policy. Since we never pay off any debt and just refinance it making interest only payments, the interest only payments are going to be eating up massive amounts of our federal budget.

What will GDP be in 2080 assuming a 2% average annual real growth rate?
 
California isn't declaring bankruptcy...Detroit...the writing has been on the walls for decades. It's not "out of nowhere Gosh the world is falling apart". That's the reason states and cities credit ratings vary...because bankruptcy is always a possibility.
The writing has been on the wall in the US for at least a decade but many still don't recognize it, just as they fooled themselves about Detroit and several other cities.

Are you still with the Kool Aid and believing these political opportunists?

Obama Flashback: ‘We Refused to Let Detroit Go Bankrupt’ | Video | TheBlaze.com
 
This is not a Republican-Democrat issue, folks. This is threatening to end this country as we know it, in the not-to-distant future.

And yet, we seem bent on piling on more and more burden and stress to the budget year after year.

I would not want to be a newborn baby in this country today. The future is bleak.

So you cool with cutting the ginormous money sucking defense budget or should welfare and entitlement programs only be touched?
 
"Unfunded liability" is a completely meaningless term. You can make up whatever timeframe and revenue scenario you want.

I've seen it "estimated" as high as $200 trillion or higher. This was over like 100 years or more and assumed zero revenue growth.
 
The formulas are tough to construe and you can play with them however you like. Some can show a 70 trillion shortfall and others 200 trillion. You are
correct in noting that most don't account for perceived growth in revenues, inflation, and some use current stagnation rates to illustrate a massive shortage
instead of a historical reference. I would like to see what these numbers would be with a 50 year average of GDP growth?

Now just because the libertarians like to play with unfunded mandate numbers does not mean overspending and $17 trillion in actual debt is not a problem.
It is a huge problem.

Our nation faces a big change ahead. That change is being hastened by incurring such a significant debt. That change is when the people in other countries
around the world decide they don't have faith in the US Dollar any longer and would prefer to exchange goods / products in another currency. When that happens
our debt will be wiped out I suspect with inflation.


"Unfunded liability" is a completely meaningless term. You can make up whatever timeframe and revenue scenario you want.

I've seen it "estimated" as high as $200 trillion or higher. This was over like 100 years or more and assumed zero revenue growth.
 
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