Persistent U.S. Federal Budget Deficits

In various posts as well as seen in the “America’s Trojan Horse” discussion, I have discussed various aspects of both the federal deficit and federal debt.  Both of these issues remain highly problematical in many ways.  At the same time, many aspects of the problems and their future implications lack recognition, either partially or fully. …

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The Quality Of Deficit Spending

In the Wall Street Journal on Saturday, February 13 there was an editorial titled “High-Speed Spending.”  This discussed the dubious financial dynamics of a long-proposed “high speed” Orlando-to-Tampa rail project. I also heard of a proposal to do a similar project between St. Louis and Chicago. I have lived in the Chicago area for most …

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Editorial Of Note: “Greece’s Crisis: A Warning To Profligate U.S.?”

On February 10th an editorial by Scott S. Powell appeared in Investor’s Business Daily titled “Greece’s Crisis: A Warning To Profligate U.S.?”  The link can be found here. I am highlighting this editorial as it discusses many important issues, most of which I have previously mentioned on this blog.  As well, it compares our current …

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The Deficit And Federal Expenditures

With the recent unveiling of the proposed FY2011 budget, I would like to make a few comments with regard to budget deficits and federal expenditures. Here is a historical chart of federal expenditures.  This chart is from the St. Louis Federal Reserve website.  This chart helps one put rising government expenditures in a historical context: …

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The National Debt and Deficits

John Taylor wrote the following article “Exploding Debt Threatens America”: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/71520770-4a2c-11de-8e7e-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1 Although I don’t agree with some of his figures and reasoning, the central point is important:  This debt level is a serious problem. It also illustrates the difficulty of  ridding ourselves of this level of indebtedness.   These issues will likely get greater attention now that sovereign debt …

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