national debt guessing game

[maladroit]

how much has the national debt changed over the past year?

how about just the past three weeks?

no peeking: make a wild guess off the top of your head


**HINT**
it went up

maladroit Reviewed by maladroit on 10-06-2008. national debt guessing game how much has the national debt changed over the past year? how about just the past three weeks? no peeking: make a wild guess off the top of your head **HINT** it went up Rating: 5

[phatsesh101]

yeah nothing but bad moves in the gov. the housing interest rate was a good idea for people who owned homes not for new buyers. refi lower monthly payments put leftover back to economy sounds great but then they underestimate the stupidity of the american people and people who dont own houses thought it a good opp for them buying houses, raising the cost of houses, supp and demand
so now iwrote an equation. good idea + stupid people = bad outcome

[daihashi]

Every nation has a national Debt, what you should be concerned about is debt per capita in relation to unemployment rate and GDP.

Believe it or not Canada has a relatively small debt and a slightly smaller debt per capita but their GDP is far below ours; putting them in a worse situation to handle debt than us.

I am no fan of the deficit, but it's not the end of the world. It needs to be put under control ASAP.

Markets rise and fall, that's what they do. Look at the market trends over the last 50 years.

[maladroit]

don't blame it all on the american people - the invisible hand of the free markets drove the real estate market pricing...the usa is a consumer society, and consumers want...the system failed, not the people

president bush thought it was a great idea for people who can't afford houses to buy houses, and was still pimping that policy in may 2008:
2002:
President Hosts Conference on Minority Homeownership
2008:
George W. Bush: Proclamation 8263 - National Homeownership Month, 2008

the banks thought it was a great idea to issue mortgages to people who couldn't afford homes...they made billions off mortgages when things were good, and they made billions more when things were bad and the taxpayers bailed them out

but that isn't why the national debt is $10.2 trillion

the national debt rose by $1 trillion during the year ending september 30, 2008

[maladroit]

canada is in a good position to deal with it's national debt...even though it has government funded universal health care, the canuck federal government still managed to record a budget surplus every year for the past ten years, and pay down it's national debt by about 25% (while the usa increased it's national debt by 90%)

as of march 2008, the canadian national debt was $457 billion, and it's GDP was $1.2 trillion, so the debt/GDP ration is 38%, and the percapita debt is $13,800

in comparison, the US debt/GDP ratio is 77%, and the per capita debt is $33,500

you have to adjust that comparison even more in canada's favour because the canadian dollar is only worth 90 cents US at the moment

Canadian economy online

[daihashi]

don't blame it all on the american people - the invisible hand of the free markets drove the real estate market pricing...the usa is a consumer society, and consumers want...the system failed, not the people

president bush thought it was a great idea for people who can't afford houses to buy houses, and was still pimping that policy in may 2008:
2002:
President Hosts Conference on Minority Homeownership
2008:
George W. Bush: Proclamation 8263 - National Homeownership Month, 2008

the banks thought it was a great idea to issue mortgages to people who couldn't afford homes...they made billions off mortgages when things were good, and they made billions more when things were bad and the taxpayers bailed them out

but that isn't why the national debt is $10.2 trillion

the national debt rose by $1 trillion during the year ending september 30, 2008

You have your information wrong. President Bush has been trying to reform Freddie and Fannie since 2001, and McCain since at least 2003. Which are the two GSE's that put us into the mortgage situation we're in today:

Just the Facts: The Administration's Unheeded Warnings About the Systemic Risk Posed by the GSEs

You also quoted a speech, not an actual plan. President Bush never signed into policy to make mortgages so easy to get; which is honestly what got us into this mess along with individual consumer irreponsibility. That was during the Clinton Administration who put pressure on the GSE's to make it happen; which greatly helped put the mortgage crisis where it is today:

Fannie Mae Eases Credit To Aid Mortgage Lending - New York Times

OpenMarket.org » Archive » Clinton Pressure to Promote Affordable Housing Led to Mortgage Meltdown

And you're right.. that's not why the debt is 10.2 trillion. Which brings me to the question.. Why did you even bring it up? I am no fan of Bush myself but you seem eager in ALL YOUR POSTS, to point blame at this man.

In all honestly the mortgage crisis had been brewing for some time now.

As far as our national debt; part of that can be attributed to the war, part of that can be attributed to the economic situation we're in right now, and part of that can be put onto the American people for being irresponsible consumers.

Sorry but if you're going to point fingers you need to point fingers at ALL administrations Responsible for the current situation we're in.

Hopefully Goldenboy will step up here. He is awesome when it comes to explaining why we are in the situation we're in today.

Point being... you're being excessively bias. You give Bush too much credit if you think he was able to do all this.

[daihashi]

canada is in a good position to deal with it's national debt...even though it has government funded universal health care, the canuck federal government still managed to record a budget surplus every year for the past ten years, and pay down it's national debt by about 25% (while the usa increased it's national debt by 90%)

as of march 2008, the canadian national debt was $457 billion, and it's GDP was $1.2 trillion, so the debt/GDP ration is 38%, and the percapita debt is $13,800

in comparison, the US debt/GDP ratio is 77%, and the per capita debt is $33,500

you have to adjust that comparison even more in canada's favour because the canadian dollar is only worth 90 cents US at the moment

Canadian economy online

You're also excluding heavy taxation in canada. Try again.

Search around, I've already explained Canada vs US economy fairly thoroughly with a follow up from Goldenboy explaining even further.

[maladroit]

"President Bush has been trying to reform Freddie and Fannie since 2001, and McCain since at least 2003. Which are the two GSE's that put us into the mortgage situation we're in today."

- they were trying to reform fannie and freddie because of an accounting scandal that favoured management bonuses...it had nothing to do with subprime loans...when the subprime crisis broke, fannie and freddie combined had only 18% of the total subprime loans...subprime loans increased from 5% to 21% of the total mortgage loans during the bush administration



"President Bush never signed into policy to make mortgages so easy to get."

- here's president bush signing the american dream downpayment act in 2003...the act was targetted at first time homebuyers with 'impaired credit':
President Bush Signs American Dream Downpayment Act of 2003

here is george bush explaining how he was forcing fannie and freddie to issue $440 billion in mortgages to low income families:
Fact Sheet: President Bush Calls for Expanding Opportunities to Homeownership




"As far as our national debt; part of that can be attributed to the war, part of that can be attributed to the economic situation we're in right now, and part of that can be put onto the American people for being irresponsible consumers."

- that national debt increased by $4.6 trillion during the bush administration (so far)...the iraq war cost less than $600 billion so that doesn't explain much...the US economy expanded significantly in the middle of the bush administration, thanks to his mortgage ponzi scheme, and the national debt was $9.6 trillion before the subprime crisis hit...back in 2002, george bush personally assured americans that the national debt would be paid down to $3 trillion, and the US federal budget would have an annual $500 billion surplus...after all that, wouldn't you blame george bush?

here's george bush promising the pay the national debt down to $3 trillion by 2011, reducing the debt to GDP ratio to 7%:
A Blueprint For New Beginnings -- 1. Pay Down the Federal Debt



"I am no fan of Bush myself but you seem eager in ALL YOUR POSTS, to point blame at this man."

- bush is the man in charge, with dangerous policies, signing dangerous legislation that led to this mess, and submitting budgets with dangerous deficits...i see you posted a link blaming clinton...clinton hasn't been around for 8 years and you're defending the guy who is actually in power when this crisis happened...bush is going to get away with it!



"You give Bush too much credit if you think he was able to do all this. "

- and your link gives clinton way too much more credit for causing the mortgage meltdown...i never said that bush did ALL this...the federal reserve helped by reducing rates to 1%...and the banks are most responsible for issuing all those bum mortgages...the government is supposed to protect the public interest, and george bush is the head of the government...he not only failed to protect the public interest, but he actively undermined the public interest with his spending and tax cuts and unsustainable homeowner policies

[daihashi]

Honestly.. there's no point in debating this with you. Your mind is made up. Continue talking to yourself as you were :thumbsup:

[maladroit]

"You're also excluding heavy taxation in canada."

- what does that have to do with national debt? canada has lower corporate tax rates than the usa:
The Tax Foundation - U.S. States Lead the World in High Corporate Taxes