It Is Now Mathematically Impossible To Pay Off The U.S. National Debt

[ocsdor]

Look at the positive side if hyperinflation does occur the last $96,000 on my mortgage should go pretty quick if that's a day's wages

By then, all your other bills (gas, food, electric, carbon taxes) will be $98,000 per day. So, you're still screwed.

 

[hornadylnl]

Some of you act as though entitlement spending will ever be reduced. The number of people on the dole is ever increasing, not decreasing. This year, they say over 50% of the people will pay no federal income tax. 6 welfare queens are voting on which of the 4 producers they are going to eat first.

 

[kabrown]

All we have to do is borrow money from countries that we can bomb the hell out of and then declare them to be terrorists. Problem solved.

 

[MACHINEGUN]

Who cares.. hope and change will fix everything!

 

[evansvillethompsongunner]

Oh come on. Any profit the federal reserve makes is returned to the government. They just did it.

Sure the whole system is balooney and unsustainable, but lets not make it sound worse than it is.

No, seriously, the Federal Reserve IS a private bank, and any and all profit IS kept by the Federal Reserve... profit such as seignorage, for example.

 

[jedi]

Geithner says US credit rating safe despite debt

WASHINGTON – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (GYT'-nur) says the U.S. government "will never" lose its sterling credit rating despite big budget deficits and a newly increased debt limit that now tops $14 trillion.
Geithner says in an interview broadcast Sunday that in times of economic crisis, international investors will continue to buy U.S. Treasury bonds because the bonds are a safe investment.
Moody's Investors Service recently issued a warning that the government's credit rating could eventually be in jeopardy if nation's finances don't improve. The cost of borrowing would increase significantly if the ratings service lowered the credit rating, also known as a bond rating, for U.S. Treasuries.
Geithner tells ABC's "This Week" that will never happen.

SOURCE: Geithner says US credit rating safe despite debt - Yahoo! News-

"will never" hum... he doesn't get out in the real world much does he?

 

[gund]

No, seriously, the Federal Reserve IS a private bank, and any and all profit IS kept by the Federal Reserve... profit such as seignorage, for example.

Did you miss the news?

Federal Reserve earned $45 billion in 2009 - washingtonpost.com

The Fed will return about $45 billion to the U.S. Treasury for 2009, according to calculations by The Washington Post based on public documents. That reflects the highest earnings in the 96-year history of the central bank. The Fed, unlike most government agencies, funds itself from its own operations and returns its profits to the Treasury.

And Seigniorage is something that's "profiting" the USA government. Not the federal reserve.

The problem is this is unsustainable. They are hoping the value of the dollar doesn't fall as fast as the amount of money being printed (inflation). Right now people still value the US dollar and don't want to destablize the world economy by switching the defacto currency. That won't last if the government keeps "printing money".

Asia Times Online :: Japan News and Japanese Business and Economy

Bernanke and Abel continue: "Governments that want to finance their deficits through seigniorage do not simply print money but use an indirect procedure. First, the Treasury authorizes government borrowing equal to the amount of the budget deficit, and a correspondent quantity of new government bonds are printed and sold. However, the new government bonds are not sold to the public. Instead, the Treasury asks (or requires) the central bank to purchase the $10 billion in new bonds. The central bank pays for its purchase of new bonds by printing $10 billion in new currency, which it gives to the Treasury in exchange for the bonds."