Quote:
Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor
So you don't use the healthcare system? You didn't get educated in Canada? Do you use the highways or transit systems? The list goes on and on.
Bottom line is: If people want these social services to continue at the rate they are at, they must be prepared to pay more in taxes. The problem with that is we have governments that can not be trusted to manage our money properly.
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The US had no other choice then to basically transfer debt from the private balance sheet to the public balance sheet. The underlying debt problem hasn't been addressed but rather shifted from the individual balance sheet to the government balance sheet. The problem was that over the last 10 years 1/2 of all consumer spending, which drives 70% of the US economy, was from home equity withdrawals. It was unsustainable and the US government had to step in.
It is still like an aneurysm in that you know the problem is still there but you don't know when it is going to cause more severe problems. I would hate to see how things would have turned out if the governments/Fed hadn't stepped in to help people manage their money. Roubini in his book points out that this decade US public debt will double as a share of national GDP and is expected to hit 9 Trillion or more. Public and private debt will be something that we will be talking about for years and years.