If the Fed raises interest rates 1/2% in March, what happens next?

[Igor Blevin]

Originally Posted by beach43ofus

We are $30T in debt due to overbloated government. Is that what you want?

Very few of America's Superfund toxic sites have been cleaned up, so what did the $30T do for dumped toxic chemical clean-up?

The fed will raise interest rates by some small amount, & it will have a short term effect, that the media will hype, and then inflation will re-start, & we'll be Billions moe in debt dueto higher interest on our natonal debt.

If Putin invades Ukraine, energy price will skyrocket and inflation will soar into hyper-drive.

The national debt will be $40 trillion by 2030. Try to get your head around that. Maybe JUST MAYBE we can stop the national debt from hitting $50 trillion by 2038.

[albert648]

Originally Posted by Igor Blevin

The national debt will be $40 trillion by 2030. Try to get your head around that. Maybe JUST MAYBE we can stop the national debt from hitting $50 trillion by 2038.

When this nation was founded in 1789, there were 4 cabinet departments -

• Foreign Affairs (now State)
• War Department (now Defense+Military)
• Treasury
• Justice

Go back to that^. Cut taxes by 75% across the board.

Boom. Budget balanced.

[AnesthesiaMD]

Originally Posted by Igor Blevin

The national debt will be $40 trillion by 2030. Try to get your head around that. Maybe JUST MAYBE we can stop the national debt from hitting $50 trillion by 2038.

The spirit of what you are saying is correct, but the way you are saying it is meaningless. The debt number alone is meaningless. $40 Trillion? Meaningless. $50 Trillion? Meaningless.

It is like saying you are $1 Million dollars in debt. What does that mean? It means nothing unless I know your income. If your income is $50K a year, then you are in trouble. But if your income is $1 Million a year, then that level of debt is no problem at all.

The national debt only has meaning when it is compared to GDP. The debt to GDP ratio is meaningful. And I say that the spirit of what you are saying is correct because the debt:GDP ratio is now around 125%, which is very concerning. If our GDP starts rising faster than our debt, then we are moving in the right direction, but at this time, it is not.

At one time, the national debt was in the thousands. Then the Millions. Then the Billions. And now the Trillions. I have no doubt that it will one day be in the quadrillions. And even with debt in the quadrillions, if GDP is higher than the debt, we will be better off than we are right now with debt "only" in the Trillions, but a GDP that isn't keeping up pace.

[albert648]

I always found the idea of comparing debt (a balance sheet item) to GDP (an income statement item) completely retarded.

Households and corporations have debt that exceeds their income all the time.

We should be comparing GDP to deficits and debt to assets. That said, the debt to asset ratio doesn't look much less bleak either.