Interesting opinion on the state of the US economy

[muck]

clicky clicky

[SEC=UGA]

Sobering, I think.

[westvirginia]

Sobering, I think.

 

Sobering? It makes me want to curl up in the fetal position sucking my thumb...

[Avernus]

Sobering? It makes me want to curl up in the fetal position sucking my thumb...

 

 

don't you usually do that?..

[Savage Beatings]

To put 14 percent of gross domestic product in perspective, current federal revenue totals 14.9 percent of GDP. So the IMF is saying that closing the U.S. fiscal gap, from the revenue side, requires, roughly speaking, an immediate and permanent doubling of our personal-income, corporate and federal taxes as well as the payroll levy set down in the Federal Insurance Contribution Act.

 

Such a tax hike would leave the U.S. running a surplus equal to 5 percent of GDP this year, rather than a 9 percent deficit. So the IMF is really saying the U.S. needs to run a huge surplus now and for many years to come to pay for the spending that is scheduled. It’s also saying the longer the country waits to make tough fiscal adjustments, the more painful they will be.

 

 

...to pay for the spending that is scheduled. Hmmmmmm. It's too bad that we are on an irreversible course and can't possibly reduce what we have planned to spend in the future.