Thomas Sowell on the Debt

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/08/thomas-sowell-on-the-debt

Thomas Sowell has a new column up warning about the federal budget on the basis of a report from the Congressional Budget Office, which is headed by a Democrat:

The CBO report points out that the national debt, which was 36 percent of the Gross Domestic Product three years ago, is now projected to be 62 percent of GDP at the end of fiscal year 2010-- and rising in future years.

Tracing the history of the national debt back to the beginning of the country, the CBO finds that the national debt did not exceed 50 percent of GDP, even when the country was fighting the Civil War, the First World War or any other war except World War II. Moreover, a graph in the CBO report shows the national debt going down sharply after World War II, as the nation began paying off its wartime when the war was over.

By contrast, our current national debt is still going up and may end up in "unfamiliar territory," according to the CBO, reaching "unsustainable levels." They spell out the economic consequences-- and it is not a pretty picture.

by Editor  |  Aug 4, 2010 at 8:59 am Related Topics:  Press, Stimulus receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list