On a Scale of 1 - 10, How Concerned Are You About the National Debt?

[Aynge]

It's now at $14.3 TRILLION.

Our GNP for 2010 was $14.9 trillion dollars.

China, Russia and other countries are moving away from the U.S. dollar in international trade. If the USD loses its status as the world reserve currency... well, God help us all.

Yesterday I was at about a 5/10. Now I'm at about 9.5/10.

[Ken]

I may go as high as 2.5. The dollar is going to remain the world’s go-to currency. And our bonds will remain attractive.

We’ve had debt as a percentage of GDP larger than it is now. We were able to pay that down relatively quickly. Five or so trillion of the current debt is money we owe ourselves.

The wars and the tax cuts of the last decade did the initial damage, and then the recession did the rest. As the economy grows and revenue returns, the debt will begin going down. The principal area of concern is health care costs, some of which will be reduced as more of the health reform plan takes effect. But health costs are where we should concentrate (and throwing old people out of Medicare doesn’t reduce systemic health care costs), and more health reform is the key to that.

The debt should be reduced fairly and effectively with a combination of raising taxes on the wealthy, reduction in health costs through more reform and the trimming of the defense budget. Over the long term debt and deficit can be a problem if not addressed. But at the moment, economic growth and job growth should be our primary concern economically.

And of course, anyone who would mess around with the debt ceiling is a little batshit and pretty stupid.

[Félix]

Ken's in town! Yay!

I heard Warren Buffett say the other day, when asked about concerns over the dollar, that the dollar of the 1920s is now worth about 6 cents -- but that things seem to keep on working in spite. As long as inflation didn't run at ultra-high rates, economies seem to survive currencies devaluing over time.

[janine]

yours or mine? i'm not concerned much either way.

[Cynthia]

I'd have to check with Armenius, but didn't Ronald Reagan raise the U.S. national debt more than any other president??

[Phil]

I believe RR and Bush Sr. did the bulk of the damage.

I'm not vouching for its accuracy, but there is a "debt by presidency" graph here.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I'm about at a 1.4.

[Cynthia]

Phil wrote: "I believe RR and Bush Sr. did the bulk of the damage.

I'm not vouching for its accuracy, but there is a "debt by presidency" graph here."

Wow.