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United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
301–310 of 518 posts
Re: United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
#302I find that this graph summarizes my thoughts on the US debt in relation to the world economy: http://www.china-mike.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/china-w... The United States produces so much more in terms of GDP than the next largest nations that it's a stretch to compare them. I think the fact that we produce more than 2X what the next largest single nation produces means that debt may function differently for us…
Debt does function differently for the US; the US up till very recently were paying less interest than Germany, even though all economical indicators say Germany is doing better than the US.
I do not think that is directly because of GDP, though. It is because of the size of the US bond market. If you want to buy or sell US bonds, you can easier find a seller or buyer, the larger the market.
That is why people think Euro bonds (bonds issued by the EU, not by individual EU nations) would benefit even the financially stronger nations. They would create a huge market, and gain interest benefits from it.
Re: United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
#303Earlier quoted context omitted.
End all offensive military actions overseas. Finish winding down Iraq and abandon Afghanistan wholesale. These actions have cost several trillion dollars over the last 10 years. We can't get that money back, but we can stop spending more. Once you realize that the military is not a collection of armed forces so much as it is the US's largest social welfare program, these policies and figures start to make more sense.…
True, and numerous families across the US depend on the active and guard pay of the armed forces. However, by bringing troops home, there are a number of secondary costs that can be reduced, or eliminated. For example, one of the more famous recently has been the discussion of AC in Afghanistan. Per the NPR article: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/25/137414737/among-the-costs-of-w... We are spending 20 billion a year to t…
The 20 billion a year air conditioning cost is marketing nonsense. Specifically, this number comes from someone selling energy-efficient tents to the Pentagon, and it's pretty clear they made up this number. At the very bottom of the article, the Pentagon states it spends $15 billion on energy for all military operations around the world (i.e. everything, not just air conditioning).
This might be a good time to read Paul Graham's article on PR: http://www.paulgraham.com/submarine.html
(I don't mean this as an attack on araes or the suggestion to reduce military spending.)
Re: United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
#304(Reference: http://www.federalbudget.com/ ) Steps to recovery: 1) End all offensive military actions overseas. Finish winding down Iraq and abandon Afghanistan wholesale. These actions have cost several trillion dollars over the last 10 years. We can't get that money back, but we can stop spending more. 2) Defense spending is in the top 3 highest budget expenditures. Cut it by 1 third across the board. Maintain impor…
There are lots of things we could do to end the recovery. They won't happen because they are not in the best short term interest of the politicians making the decisions. Natural selection has weeded out the congressmen that make decisions contrary to their ability to raise campaign money. That is the root cause of the problem. Until that is solved, there's no point in dreaming up efficient solutions, because they won…
Exactly. The problem is corruption. Everything else is a symptom.
Re: United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
You're more liberal than conservative. I'm more conservative than liberal. Bless your heart, I agree with all of your points. At the end of the Cold War, other conservatives were making the same noises that you're making now. For their pains, their careers were destroyed by the people who run the current mainstream conservative movement. Let's take a look at those points of yours. Points 1 & 2. Cut defense spending a…
Also, remember that the United States is bound by treaty to defend more than two dozen nations. That includes keeping bases in some of those nations. Those treaties will have to be renegotiated. Those nations will have to increase their own defense spending. Not having read the North Atlantic Treaty, I don't know that the US has any special obligation above and beyond the rest of the NATO members. Yes, the US is obli…
I could have sworn we have special obligations to Japan, as part of our demanding them to demilitarize.
Re: United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
#306Earlier quoted context omitted.
The war on drugs is only 0.5% (approx. $18 billion) of the Federal budget (approx. $3,456 billion), so it's inconsequential to our debt crisis. I whole heartedly agree that drug prohibition should be repealed, and that we need to put an end to the war on (some) drugs. But, the military, social security, and medicare comprise approx. 70% of the budget, so it's really not going to help us solve the debt.
I think indirect costs are higher than that. Prisons, for example, cost over 60 billion a year. Legalize cannabis, and I guess you can easily cut that by 25% (I know those costs probably are not federal, but do not think that matters. If your kid overspends, your family suffers) Also, the 'It is only a small fraction' argument is weak. If you really try, you can cut the entire budget into smaller parts.
If you really try, you can cut the entire budget into smaller parts
Sure. And just because it's a small fraction doesn't mean it shouldn't ever be addressed. But should a 0.5% line item take precedent over three items which combined total to 70%?
When you need drastic improvement fast, it's just a waste of time to dally on pet agendas that don't represent a significant chunk. Get to them later when you have the time and energy to spare.
Re: United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
#307“It doesn’t make sense. In Omaha, the U.S. is still Triple-A rated and if there were a Quadruple-A I’d give the U.S. that.” -Warren Buffett
Re: United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
#308(Reference: http://www.federalbudget.com/ ) Steps to recovery: 1) End all offensive military actions overseas. Finish winding down Iraq and abandon Afghanistan wholesale. These actions have cost several trillion dollars over the last 10 years. We can't get that money back, but we can stop spending more. 2) Defense spending is in the top 3 highest budget expenditures. Cut it by 1 third across the board. Maintain impor…
You're more liberal than conservative. I'm more conservative than liberal. Bless your heart, I agree with all of your points. At the end of the Cold War, other conservatives were making the same noises that you're making now. For their pains, their careers were destroyed by the people who run the current mainstream conservative movement. Let's take a look at those points of yours. Points 1 & 2. Cut defense spending a…
It really is depressing realizing that the only changes we can viably make to those three great leeches is to allocate even more money to them.
Re: United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
#309(Reference: http://www.federalbudget.com/ ) Steps to recovery: 1) End all offensive military actions overseas. Finish winding down Iraq and abandon Afghanistan wholesale. These actions have cost several trillion dollars over the last 10 years. We can't get that money back, but we can stop spending more. 2) Defense spending is in the top 3 highest budget expenditures. Cut it by 1 third across the board. Maintain impor…
The only problem with slashing military spending and ending foreign interventions is that it has been just that spending, and those interventions, that have made the US the economic powerhouse it is today. The US has a history, stretching back well over a century, of launching military campaigns to support corporate interests. Be it South America, the Middle East, or Asia, the US has invaded countries and toppled gov…
You're making a spurious correlation. If your assertion was correct, the French, British, Danish, Portuguese, and Spanish, et al.--the great colonial powers--should be stronger economies than the United States.
http://qed.princeton.edu/getfile.php?f=European_Colonialism_...
In conclusion, you've made a spurious correlation.
Re: United States loses AAA credit rating from S&P
#310(Reference: http://www.federalbudget.com/ ) Steps to recovery: 1) End all offensive military actions overseas. Finish winding down Iraq and abandon Afghanistan wholesale. These actions have cost several trillion dollars over the last 10 years. We can't get that money back, but we can stop spending more. 2) Defense spending is in the top 3 highest budget expenditures. Cut it by 1 third across the board. Maintain impor…
The only problem with slashing military spending and ending foreign interventions is that it has been just that spending, and those interventions, that have made the US the economic powerhouse it is today. The US has a history, stretching back well over a century, of launching military campaigns to support corporate interests. Be it South America, the Middle East, or Asia, the US has invaded countries and toppled gov…
Isn't the primary reason the US is rich due to being located far from the battlefields in WW1&2, and after each of these wars an influx of immigration out of Europe into the newly stimulated American industrial economy? We've essentially been riding the demographic wave up the hill since, and yet few in govt/media seem to really take this into account when planning for long-term spending and economic projections. Something has to give eventually, the question is when this long-run day of reckoning will finally come- although to quote Keynes (IMO the only thing he's been proven right about thus far), in the long run, we're all dead.