tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169279.post6954556558617336876..comments2023-11-24T03:20:02.361-07:00Comments on Tufte's Economics Classes Blog - A Living Textbook: Is the National Debt that Big of a Problem?Dr. Tuftehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17397586052171706438noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169279.post-91944747698622378432012-12-08T22:36:09.040-07:002012-12-08T22:36:09.040-07:00Patrick: 47/50 for spelling.
I think the infinite...Patrick: 47/50 for spelling.<br /><br />I think the infinite lifespan is a lark, obscuring an issue that both you and madhatter are missing.<br /><br />In short, do foreigners lend to us because we want to borrow, or do we borrow because foreigners want to lend to us? <br /><br />The position that Patrick and madhatter are taking is that it must be the first one. But what if it isn't?<br /><Dave Tuftehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14877686358267438045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169279.post-8863799868968724012012-12-08T22:26:37.280-07:002012-12-08T22:26:37.280-07:00Sorry ... Blogger got weird, so I saved that last ...Sorry ... Blogger got weird, so I saved that last comment. This is a continuation.<br /><br />John Harvey is a contemporary of mine. We have run in the same (macro) circles from time to time. He is almost certainly more pro-Obama than I am ... but he isn't saying anything that in the article that would be controversial to a conservative macroeconomist.Dave Tuftehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14877686358267438045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169279.post-19710885495037938732012-12-08T22:24:54.344-07:002012-12-08T22:24:54.344-07:00madhatter: 47/50 for grammar.
My number's cor...madhatter: 47/50 for grammar.<br /><br />My number's correspond to madhatter's.<br /><br />1) Agreed. The present value of the stream of underfunded future commitments is a much bigger problem than the current debt. And yes, that range is accurate.<br /><br />2) Technically, the issue is that the hazard rate is increasing for people, and tends to be constant for governments and firms. Dave Tuftehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14877686358267438045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169279.post-11587559572886569322012-12-08T22:11:20.683-07:002012-12-08T22:11:20.683-07:00Da Boy: 50/50.
Da Boy's first and last points...Da Boy: 50/50.<br /><br />Da Boy's first and last points are fine. I would take issue with the middle one: it isn't at all clear to macroeconomists that funding spending by printing money is worse than funding it by taxing or borrowing. Most of the evidence that this is worse comes from countries that have many other problems whose adverse effects get conflated with the problems created Dave Tuftehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14877686358267438045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169279.post-58873967112949536952012-12-08T20:22:53.885-07:002012-12-08T20:22:53.885-07:00Jon: 94/100 for spelling.
This is off-topic for M...Jon: 94/100 for spelling.<br /><br />This is off-topic for ManEc ... but I'm a macroeconomist at heart ... so I'll give you my two cents worth.<br /><br />First off ... gosh ... Jon's post sounds a lot like what I say in my macro classes. <br /><br />I agree with Jon that the debt/GDP ratio is troublesome (because it's been rising) but still OK (because we've seen worse). I Dave Tuftehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14877686358267438045noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169279.post-26358955477884822482012-12-07T20:41:42.082-07:002012-12-07T20:41:42.082-07:00One of the major disagreements that I have with th...One of the major disagreements that I have with this article was addressed by madhatter in his second point. I do not believe that our government has an infinite life span. I think that if we continue in the direction that we are currently heading, we will reach a point where other countries will no longer be willing to lend to us.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11642804782023459754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169279.post-91340315302814504182012-12-07T19:43:39.820-07:002012-12-07T19:43:39.820-07:00Harvey may want to add a few considerations in his...Harvey may want to add a few considerations in his article and analogy of US debt in a post-WWII world versus the present situation. Jon, for your consideration:<br /><br />1) He is focusing on current debt while ignoring additional long-term debt incurred by the government. The current 16 trillion dollar debt is a huge number but far smaller than the amount of all liabilities of US Government; madhatterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13980095046447999211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7169279.post-48640137514545753372012-12-07T17:43:07.785-07:002012-12-07T17:43:07.785-07:00While there are several good points made in this p...While there are several good points made in this post, there are several misconceptions as well. First, when people compare the economy to a personal or family budget, the reason is to make the analogy into something that people understand, not to imply that both items are perfectly interchangeable. Next, Jon mentions several times that the U.S. could just print the money and pay off the debt. Da Boyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08542641419923047336noreply@blogger.com