The Us National Debt

Author : Carl Lane
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781594162664
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.62/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Understanding the National Debt written by Carl Lane and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The staggering United States debt has a direct impact on every American, yet few are aware of where the debt came from and how it affects their lives The United States has a debt problem--we owe more than $18 trillion while our gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced in America, is only $17.5 trillion. To pay down the debt, some recommend austerity, cutting federal expenditures. Others suggest increasing taxes, especially on the wealthiest Americans. In Understanding the National Debt: What Every American Needs to Know, economic historian Carl Lane urges that the national debt must be addressed in ways beyond program cuts or tax increase alternatives, but change can only occur when more Americans understand what constitutes our debt and the problems it causes. The gross national debt is composed of two elements: the public debt and "intragovernment holdings." The public debt consists of bonds, bills, and notes purchased by individuals, banks, insurance companies, hedge and retirement funds, foreign governments, and university endowments. Intragovernment holdings refers to money that the U.S. Treasury borrows from other parts of the government, principally Social Security and Medicare. This accounts for approximately a quarter of the gross national debt, but that is money that we owe to ourselves, not another entity. The more the government borrows, the less is available for private sector investment, creating a "squeeze" effect that inhibits economic growth. The most burdensome problem is the interest due each year on the debt. Every dollar spent on interest is a dollar less for other purposes. Those elements of the federal budget which are termed "discretionary" suffer. The mandatory elements of the budget--Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the interest on the debt--must be provided for, but defense and national security, education, energy, infrastructure repair and development, and other needs wind up with less. By understanding the national debt we have an opportunity to address our real debt challenge--its principal and interest.

Author : Simon Johnson
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0307947645
Total Pages : 386 pages
Book Rating : 4.42/5 ( download)

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Download or read book White House Burning written by Simon Johnson and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2013-02-12 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the authors of the national bestseller 13 Bankers, a chilling account of America’s unprecedented debt crisis: how it came to pass, why it threatens to topple the nation as a superpower, and what needs to be done about it. With bracing clarity, White House Burning explains why the national debt matters to your everyday life. Simon Johnson and James Kwak describe how the government has been able to pay off its debt in the past, even after the massive deficits incurred as a result of World War II, and analyze why this is near-impossible today. They closely examine, among other factors, macroeconomic shifts of the 1970s, Reaganism and the rise of conservatism, and demographic changes that led to the growth of major—and extremely popular—social insurance programs. What is unquestionably clear is how recent financial turmoil exacerbated the debt crisis while creating a political climate in which it is even more difficult to solve.

Author : Frank N. Newman
Publisher : Hillcrest Publishing Group
ISBN 13 : 1626520380
Total Pages : 105 pages
Book Rating : 4.87/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Freedom from National Debt written by Frank N. Newman and published by Hillcrest Publishing Group. This book was released on 2013-05-02 with total page 105 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: America is unjustly worried about "national debt," believing it can no longer do the many things that mark it as a great nation. Discussions of national undertakings including infrastructure repair, jobs programs, military modernization, and disease prevention - have all been stifled through fear of insolvency. America has convinced itself that it can no longer afford, as a nation, to do many of the productive things that it has done so well over its history. That's a great shame, because America remains a nation of tremendous resources in every sense, and the underlying assumptions about U.S. government financial instruments are not correct. America can never face the debt problems of nations like Greece, thanks to its fundamentally different financial system. This short book explains why such fears should not hold back America, and why even the expression "national debt" is neither meaningful nor appropriate for the United States.

Author : Carlo Cottarelli
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
ISBN 13 : 0815730691
Total Pages : 204 pages
Book Rating : 4.99/5 ( download)

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Download or read book What We Owe written by Carlo Cottarelli and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2017-09-05 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The euro crisis, Japan's sluggish economy, and partisan disagreements in the United States about the role of government all have at least one thing in common: worries about high levels of public debt. Nearly everyone agrees that public debt in many advanced economies is too high to be sustainable and must be addressed. There is little agreement, however, about when and how that addressing should be done—or even, in many cases, just how serious the debt problem is. As the former director of the International Monetary Fund's Fiscal Affairs Department, Carlo Cottarelli has helped countries across the globe confront their public finance woes. He also had direct experience in advising his own country, Italy, about its chronic fiscal ailments. In this straightforward, plain-language book, Cottarelli explains how and why excessive public debt can harm economic growth and can lead to crises such as those experienced recently in Italy and several other European countries. But Cottarelli also has some good news: reducing public debt often can be done without trauma and through moderate changes in spending habits that contribute to economic growth. His book focuses on positive remedies that countries can adopt to deal with their public debt, analyzing both the benefits and potential downsides to each approach, as well as suggesting which remedies might be preferable in particular situations. Too often, public debate about public debt is burdened by lies and myths. This book not only explains the basic facts about public debt but also aims to bring truth and reasoned nonpartisan analysis to the debate.

Author : John Merrifield
Publisher : Cato Institute
ISBN 13 : 1948647893
Total Pages : 590 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book A Fiscal Cliff written by John Merrifield and published by Cato Institute. This book was released on 2020-10-20 with total page 590 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "'A Fiscal Cliff' is precisely the right book for perilous fiscal times. Giants in economics and public policy offer a spirited defense of fiscal rules critically needed to protect our children and grandchildren from a bleak future." -Richard K. Vedder, Distinguished Professor of Economics Emeritus, Ohio University/p> The unsustainable, and still rapidly growing, U.S. federal government debt is a classic case of ‘'in denial.” Indeed, we are no closer to a solution to the debt crisis than we were ten years ago when the Simpson-Bowles Commission issued a report with recommendations to address the nation's debt crisis. The bipartisan Commission fell short of the supermajority vote required to submit their recommendations to Congress. President Trump declared a debt crisis, but didn't act like it. Various commissions and think tanks have made numerous recommendations. In 2019, a Congressional Committee was appointed to recommend budget process reforms, but that Committee could not agree on any recommendations to submit to Congress. While the dominant sentiment is that maybe if we ignore it, it will just go away, the debt crisis will not just vanish. A Fiscal Cliff: New Perspectives on the U.S. Debt Crisis is a timely addition to a critical policy discussion.

Author : David Wessel
Publisher : Brookings Institution Press
ISBN 13 : 0815727062
Total Pages : 178 pages
Book Rating : 4.64/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The $13 Trillion Question written by David Wessel and published by Brookings Institution Press. This book was released on 2015-11-24 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The underexamined art and science of managing the federal government's huge debt. Everyone talks about the size of the U.S. national debt, now at $13 trillion and climbing, but few talk about how the U.S. Treasury does the borrowing—even though it is one of the world's largest borrowers. Everyone from bond traders to the home-buying public is affected by the Treasury's decisions about whether to borrow short or long term and what types of bonds to sell to investors. What is the best way for the Treasury to finance the government's huge debt? Harvard's Robin Greenwood, Sam Hanson, Joshua Rudolph, and Larry Summers argue that the Treasury could save taxpayers money and help the economy by borrowing more short term and less long term. They also argue that the Treasury and the Federal Reserve made a huge mistake in recent years by rowing in opposite directions: while the Fed was buying long-term bonds to push investors into other assets, the Treasury was doing the opposite—selling investors more long-term bonds. This book includes responses from a variety of public and private sector experts on how the Treasury does its borrowing, some of whom have criticized the way the Treasury has been managing its borrowing.

Author : Don Kilam
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 181 pages
Book Rating : 4.09/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Who Really Owns the United States Inc. National Debt? written by Don Kilam and published by . This book was released on 2021-10-10 with total page 181 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The U.S. national debt exceeded $28 trillion in 2021.1 One thing that many people may not know is that the Social Security Trust Fund owns a significant portion of that national debt. So how does that work and what does it mean? Inside we'll dive into who actually owns the U.S. national debt and how that impacts you.

Author : Stephanie Kelton
Publisher : PublicAffairs
ISBN 13 : 1541736206
Total Pages : 311 pages
Book Rating : 4.07/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Deficit Myth written by Stephanie Kelton and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2020-06-09 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A New York Times Bestseller The leading thinker and most visible public advocate of modern monetary theory -- the freshest and most important idea about economics in decades -- delivers a radically different, bold, new understanding for how to build a just and prosperous society. Stephanie Kelton's brilliant exploration of modern monetary theory (MMT) dramatically changes our understanding of how we can best deal with crucial issues ranging from poverty and inequality to creating jobs, expanding health care coverage, climate change, and building resilient infrastructure. Any ambitious proposal, however, inevitably runs into the buzz saw of how to find the money to pay for it, rooted in myths about deficits that are hobbling us as a country. Kelton busts through the myths that prevent us from taking action: that the federal government should budget like a household, that deficits will harm the next generation, crowd out private investment, and undermine long-term growth, and that entitlements are propelling us toward a grave fiscal crisis. MMT, as Kelton shows, shifts the terrain from narrow budgetary questions to one of broader economic and social benefits. With its important new ways of understanding money, taxes, and the critical role of deficit spending, MMT redefines how to responsibly use our resources so that we can maximize our potential as a society. MMT gives us the power to imagine a new politics and a new economy and move from a narrative of scarcity to one of opportunity.

Author : Chris Edwards
Publisher : Cato Institute
ISBN 13 : 1933995513
Total Pages : 263 pages
Book Rating : 4.19/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Downsizing the Federal Government written by Chris Edwards and published by Cato Institute. This book was released on 2005-11-25 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The federal government is running huge budget deficits, spending too much, and heading toward a financial crisis. Federal spending soared under President George W. Bush, and the costs of programs for the elderly are set to balloon in coming years. Hurricane Katrina has made the federal budget situation even more desperate. In Downsizing the Federal Government Cato Institute budget expert Chris Edwards provides policymakers with solutions to the growing federal budget mess. Edwards identifies more than 100 federal programs that should be terminated, transferred to the states, or privatized in order to balance the budget and save hundreds of billions of dollars. Edwards proposes a balanced reform package of cuts to entitlements, domestic programs, and excess defense spending. He argues that these cuts would not only eliminate the deficit, but also strengthen the economy, enlarge personal freedom, and leave a positive fiscal legacy for the next generation. Downsizing the Federal Government discusses the systematic causes of wasteful spending, and it overflows with examples of federal programs that are obsolete and mismanaged. The book examines the budget process and shows how policymakers act contrary to the interests of average Americans by favoring special interests.

Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 196 pages
Book Rating : 4.59/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Budget and Economic Outlook written by and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: