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talkpoliticsI caught CNN the other morning and they had a special on this film
I.O.U.S.A. The Movie
short version on youtube as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_TjBNjc9Bo
I was wondering if anyone else had seen this film and what they thought. I'm not an economist I just know if this is how I spent money I'd be up shit creek. Then again I'm not a sovereign nation either. This was made two years ago, and it looks pretty damning, but is it manipulation of numbers and pretty charts and graphs? This was before a lot of shit went down and that big healthcare bill got passed... Starting at the 26 minute mark kinda sums up what the issues are going to be.
Although this was a good sign to me, Consumer debt falls by $11.5 billion in February
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. households paid down their debts in February for the 15th time in the past 17 months, the Federal Reserve reported... Outstanding consumer credit dropped by $11.5 billion, or a 5.6% annual rate, to $2.45 trillion in February following an upwardly revised $10.6 billion increase in January. Debts had declined for 12 straight months before January's increase and are down 5.2% from the peak in July 2008.
In February, revolving credit, such as credit cards, declined by $9.4 billion, or a 13.1% annual pace, to $858.1 billion. It's the third largest decline in revolving credit in the past 32 years. Read more on the Fed's website.
Non-revolving credit, such as auto loans, student loans and personal loans, fell by $2.1 billion, or a 1.6% annual rate, to $1.59 trillion in February.
although apparently its not all because we are actually saving monies and paying bills some of it is because agencies are just writing off bad debt as uncollectable
Outstanding debts can fall because consumers paid back more than they borrowed or because lenders wrote down the debt as uncollectable. Both factors have been important in the decline since the summer of 2008.
Like i said i'm not economist, i'd like to hear from people smarter then me in this area, right now it looks to me like this is untenable, we can't keep doing what we are doing now somethings got to change higher taxes, less benefits or a mix of both. Personally i could do away with the "benefits".
also is it just me or is Sarah Palin getting hotter
I.O.U.S.A. The Movie
I.O.U.S.A. – the 30-Minute Version from IOUSA the Movie on Vimeo.
short version on youtube as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_TjBNjc9Bo
I was wondering if anyone else had seen this film and what they thought. I'm not an economist I just know if this is how I spent money I'd be up shit creek. Then again I'm not a sovereign nation either. This was made two years ago, and it looks pretty damning, but is it manipulation of numbers and pretty charts and graphs? This was before a lot of shit went down and that big healthcare bill got passed... Starting at the 26 minute mark kinda sums up what the issues are going to be.
Although this was a good sign to me, Consumer debt falls by $11.5 billion in February
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. households paid down their debts in February for the 15th time in the past 17 months, the Federal Reserve reported... Outstanding consumer credit dropped by $11.5 billion, or a 5.6% annual rate, to $2.45 trillion in February following an upwardly revised $10.6 billion increase in January. Debts had declined for 12 straight months before January's increase and are down 5.2% from the peak in July 2008.
In February, revolving credit, such as credit cards, declined by $9.4 billion, or a 13.1% annual pace, to $858.1 billion. It's the third largest decline in revolving credit in the past 32 years. Read more on the Fed's website.
Non-revolving credit, such as auto loans, student loans and personal loans, fell by $2.1 billion, or a 1.6% annual rate, to $1.59 trillion in February.
although apparently its not all because we are actually saving monies and paying bills some of it is because agencies are just writing off bad debt as uncollectable
Outstanding debts can fall because consumers paid back more than they borrowed or because lenders wrote down the debt as uncollectable. Both factors have been important in the decline since the summer of 2008.
Like i said i'm not economist, i'd like to hear from people smarter then me in this area, right now it looks to me like this is untenable, we can't keep doing what we are doing now somethings got to change higher taxes, less benefits or a mix of both. Personally i could do away with the "benefits".
also is it just me or is Sarah Palin getting hotter
(no subject)
Date: 12/4/10 07:42 (UTC)From what I remember, everything they say is correct.
The main point people miss -- social security, medicare and other assorted debts grow much, much, faster than the US economy.
10-20 years ago, social security, medicare(etc), consumed something like 15%-20% of the total budget. Today, ss and medicare consume something like 30%-40% of the total budget.
Debt/deficit may be "below" post world war 2 levels. But, its growing at a fast enough rate, that it won't be long before its above them. Economic growth and raising taxes definitely are not enough to address the issue.
The displacement of funds via ss and medicare is one of the main reason why the US gov will borrow close to 46% of its entire budget, this year (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=7562974). And, the problem will only get worse as time passes.
The 2nd main point people miss, US debt in a post WW II era was owed to americans by americans. The debt owed stayed in the US ecnomy where some suggest it could 'help' the US economy to recover, and didn't represent a transition of wealth from one country to another.
So, yeah, I don't remember everything IOUSA said, really. But, the gist of what it says is definitely true.
I'm not an economist, btw. But, who cares. I have come across ecnomists who were idiots. The honorific may have lost some of its value, lately.