January 2008---Federal Debt= 9.1 Trillion
January 2009---Federal Debt= 10.1 Trillion
January 2010---Federal Debt= 12.2 Trillion
September 2009---US GDP=14.2 Trillion (3rd Qt 2009)

As noted in this story, the trend is troublesome. To quote David Walker (former Comptroller of the federal government. i.e. chief accountant):

"It's understandable ( Read more... )

Chris Farrell’s commentaries often appeal to my sensibilities. I think these two in particular are worth a listen.

This one sums up the current state ofthe economy and the role of the government.

This one addresses my favorite topics- the federal debt.

A documentary about the federal debt, called IOUSA. I am hoping it comes to a theater near me. The trailer is at IMBD.

This Business Week article provides a well-written description of “sovereign funds” and their growing investments. This situation is inevitable given America’s love for imports. I think the trend is good (since I am a deficit hawk) because it means countries are starting to invest their reserve of dollars in instruments other than US Treasury ( Read more... )

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gave an interesting speech on the U.S. current account deficit (i.e. trade deficit) and thoughts on the U.S. savings rate. The full speech is here. Thanks to Greg Mankiw for bringing the speech to my attention. Here are some excerpts:
What are the prospects for a gradual and orderly rebalancing of spending and external ( Read more... )

This Business Week article describes the growing trend of how cities (facing budget crunches) are selling/leasing toll roads, airports, and lotteries to private companies. The article touches on both the pros and cons of such deals. I suppose if the lease contracts are written in great detail, so that the state shares in revenues and can take back ( Read more... )

US Comptroller General, David Walker, will be interviewed on 60 minutes tonight (Sunday March 4, 2007). He will talk about long term budget and entitlement issues.

Walker was also on Marketplace this Friday commenting on the fall in the stock market this week. The interview text and audio file are here.

cross-posted to my journalI thought this was an informative essay on the U.S. dollar and trade deficit ( Read more... )

I thought this short synopsis of the prospects for a balanced budget in 5 years was interesting enough to post. It is the Concord Coalition’s response to Bush’s proposal in the State of the Union last night.

cross posted to economics I think it is time for the U.S. congress to pass another Gramm-Rudman-Hollings-style deficit reduction bill. There were certainly many shortcomings of the bills like its fixed dollar targets and the fact that it was applied to projected deficits. Moreover, the supreme court ruled that the process for determining cuts in ( Read more... )