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"Interest"-ing Times
Interest on the national debt: there's a lot more to it than you'd think:
Next time someone is wondering what we bought for the interest [on the national debt], I wish they'd also wonder what we bought with the principal that interest is supporting. Although it's impossible to pinpoint, I bet we have a Nimitz carrier, a few intelligence assets, several thousand more college-educated GIs, and a few more Head Start activities in the works because of the principal we were able to borrow -- all because we have been steady and reliable in paying interest on our debt.
To paraphrase a favorite song of mine, debt isn't always evil, and it is not always wrong.
Unfortunatly with the interest payment on the debt we would be able to
Puchase 20 Ford Class CVs
Every Year..
And just what would we do with them?
Actually, the bigger question is what would we do without that debt? Without our ability to borrow money (which hinges on our ability to pay back said money), we'd crash as a country.
What you should worry about is not the absolute magnitude of the debt itself, but our ability to pay said debt back and what proportion of our dollars go to do so. From there, you should also worry about eliminating governmental waste - which generally amounts to cutting out needless governmental programs.
The problem is in the details - what's actually needless?
Posted by: ron on June 23, 2008 02:25 PM