U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio reaches 123% • Hacker News Board

Re: U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio reaches 123%

#81

Post by citrin_ru » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:31 PM UTC

notfromhere wrote: post #14

joinjune wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both can be true. The previous administration bailed out the unfunded pension funds of cities and state employees when they did Covid-19 bailouts despite it having nothing to do with Covid-19 and without requiring these local governments to properly fund these pensions moving forward. They bailed these pension programs out many times more than their financial support for restaurants they forced closed. Basically, Ame…

The problem is that half the political system thinks you can cut taxes and grow revenues. Which is an intentional strategy to repeal social programs that they’d never get the votes to do so via legislation

It's a difficult tradeoff. By taxing more and more it's easy to send the economy into the death spiral so to grow the revenue without killing the economy you need economic growth. Cutting taxes will not give the growth aromatically but carefully designed tax system with low taxes where it helps should be a part of the strategy.

In practice though tax cuts usually make rich richer without helping the economy to grow (because of lobbying/corruption).

Re: U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio reaches 123%

#82

Post by kevin_thibedeau » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:32 PM UTC

hypeatei wrote: post #41

jgbuddy wrote: post #12

time to buy bitcoin

Haha, so you can bribe the President? I hope this comment is satire. The "masses" are well aware of crypto at this point and BTC is down 47% over this past year. It's just not that useful unless you're trying to skirt laws/regulations[1] or LARPing as a sovereign citizen. 1: Yes, I know, BTC is not even good pick for financial crimes either.

Pardons go for $3M these days.

Re: U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio reaches 123%

#83

Post by elteto » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:33 PM UTC

ericmay wrote: post #77

elteto wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You made a tiny mistake, you forgot the $800 billion for the military!

No you forgot the wasted spending on Social Security, Medicaid, and other subsidies! See, other people can throw in snide remarks too. There's room to debate military spending, but if you view the world as a dangerous place and that the US should not become isolationist, we have to spend the money and have equipment ready and capable whether that's in Europe or in Asia. Alternatively we can disband much of the milita…

Most of that money is wasted on keeping the military industrial complex fat and happy, it's not going into soldier's pockets. And I say this being pro-US and indeed seeing the world as a dangerous place.

But let's not make some bullshit up about a million dollars wasted on some non-sense, when we have real problems with the DoW, which can't even audit itself, sucking up almost a trillion dollars.

Re: U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio reaches 123%

#84

Post by eigenspace » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:34 PM UTC

itsyonas wrote: post #33

sumanthvepa wrote: post #22

Not an American, but I would argue that this level while little bit of a concern is not a huge issue for a superpower that borrows in its own currency and has the military and economic might to crush any party (sovereign or corporate) attempting move away from that system. You guys are too powerful.

Bingo! Any country borrowing in its own sovereign currency cannot default on debt in that currency, unless it actively decides to do so for political reasons.

This is a fantasy. Do you really think lenders would just not notice if America inflated its currency away to get rid of its debts, and they'd just say "aw shucks you got us. Anyways, here's a new loan at the same terms as last time." ?

And what about the American public? Look at how much Americans freaked out over a year or two of 6% yearly inflation. How do you think Americans would respond to 30% monthly inflation like in Argentina or Turkey?

Re: U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio reaches 123%

#85

Post by dahart » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:35 PM UTC

bilsbie wrote: post #48

notfromhere wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that half the political system thinks you can cut taxes and grow revenues. Which is an intentional strategy to repeal social programs that they’d never get the votes to do so via legislation

[flagged]

Are you not aware that science research has a positive return on investment to the economy? Consider reviewing https://www.goldengooseaward.org/

Making fun of science that politicians, wanna be politicians, and conservative media don’t remotely understand in order to deflect and hide actual economic problems they cause is a favorite pastime, but is almost always misleading.

The goat yoga thing isn’t true, it’s pure viral talking point made up nonsense. (And none of the points are made in good faith.) Don’t believe everything you read on the internet, especially if Elon Musk retweets it.

Re: U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio reaches 123%

#86

Post by chasd00 » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:35 PM UTC

eigenspace wrote: post #50

petcat wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've always heard people say that the US debt doesn't matter when the debt itself is denominated in USD. It's the old saying, if you owe the bank $1,000 then you have a problem. But if you owe the bank a trillion dollars then the bank has a problem. Especially when that trillion dollars was spent on an insane fleet of aircraft carriers.

This idea is based on the fantasy idea of "it's fine because the US can just inflate away its currency to reduce its debts". This is also often used as an argument for why countries shouldn't join the Euro because they'd be giving up an important tool. The reality is that purposefully inflating your currency to reduce your debt burden is going to upset your creditors just as much as if you just defaulted on your debt…

currency manipulation seems to be working for China though.

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm751

Re: U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio reaches 123%

#87

Post by throwawaypath » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

juujian wrote: post #3

Upsetting how we are reaching these lows while the administration is accusing everyone else of wasting taxpayer money except for themselves. At least under previous administrations you would get something for your money, like science funding and healthcare for the needy, not just bombing runs and posturing.

[flagged]

Re: U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio reaches 123%

#88

Post by torginus » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:37 PM UTC

Why is this a meaningful figure? It's not debt that matters its how much it costs to finance it. It's Finance 101 that if you manage to borrow below inflation rate, and you have the luck that what you paid for appreciates, then your debt will disappear over time.

On the contrary, trivial amounts of money with usury can ruin you financially.

Re: U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio reaches 123%

#89

Post by hvb2 » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:38 PM UTC

bilsbie wrote: post #48

notfromhere wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that half the political system thinks you can cut taxes and grow revenues. Which is an intentional strategy to repeal social programs that they’d never get the votes to do so via legislation

[flagged]

> $2 million to create an internship program that resulted in the hiring of one full-time employee at the Department of agriculture

Because the private sector doesn't spend any money on things that don't work out.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

You talk about millions, that's not even a rounding error. Look around you in any private entity, you don't see them spending any tiny fraction on things you don't think are worthwhile?

> $1.7 billion maintaining empty buildings

Assuming they at some point become occupied again, I don't see the issue. The vacancy rate in the private sector isn't anywhere near 0% either.

> In 2021 alone, the government managed to misplace $281 billion in payments

You'll need to be way more specific than 'misplaced'

Re: U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio reaches 123%

#90

Post by bodiekane » Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 4:38 PM UTC

bilsbie wrote: post #48

notfromhere wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that half the political system thinks you can cut taxes and grow revenues. Which is an intentional strategy to repeal social programs that they’d never get the votes to do so via legislation

[flagged]

Every good aspect of modern life and modern medicine, technology, etc started with fundamental research that can be made to sound silly.

Some grad student studies the effects of alcohol on fish, learns something new about biology, publishes it so that other students and researchers learn about it, and a few years later after some new studies based on that initial research we get a new cancer drug.

Somebody spends $1 million studying the effects of music on dairy cows, learns that they produce more milk if calming music is played and farmers increase revenues by $10 million per year by adding speakers to their milking rooms.

The billions of dollars spent blowing up infrastructure in the middle east is just a loss, but money spent on research is how we've cured diseases, increased crop yields, launched satellites, and made it so that everyone can have a supercomputer in their pocket that can stream HD video through the air.