That is $1,000,000,000,000.00 – or, if you spent a million dollars a day, enough money to last you 2,739 years. So, if you were Caesar, made immortal, and started spending it on the day you were born, you’d still have enough money for 630 years. A nice chunk of change, but not nearly the limit:
The federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time ever and could grow to nearly $2 trillion by this fall, intensifying fears about higher interest rates, inflation and the strength of the dollar.
The deficit has been widened by the huge sum the government has spent to ease the recession, combined with a sharp decline in tax revenues. The cost of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan also is a major factor.
The soaring deficit is making Chinese and other foreign buyers of U.S. debt nervous, which could make them reluctant lenders down the road. It could also force the Treasury Department to pay higher interest rates to make U.S. debt attractive longer-term.
“These are mind-boggling numbers,” said Sung Won Sohn, an economist at the Smith School of Business at California State University. “Our foreign investors from China and elsewhere are starting to have concerns about not only the value of the dollar but how safe their investments will be in the long run.”
The Treasury Department said Monday that the deficit in June totaled $94.3 billion, pushing the total since the budget year started in October to $1.09 trillion. The administration forecasts that the deficit for the entire year will hit $1.84 trillion in October.
Ok, liberals, pay attention. Suppose this ultimately $2 trillion dollar deficit got the economy moving again – ok, so we’ve now got $2 trillion debt on top of the debt we already had…and given the nature of things, we’re bound to hit another downturn, at which time you’d naturally call for another stimulus package. This would certainly be long before all of the debt piled up is paid off and, likely, before the additional debt we’ve piled up was discharged. In other words, before we’re back to square one on debt, the “need” for additional debt will arrive. How many times can you do this before it just becomes impossible, supposing that this time it is, indeed, possible? When do we actually pay off the debt between economic downturns?
I won’t hold my breath waiting for answers.
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