The U.S National Debt Clock

[turbinetree]

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

[roamer65]

1. My prediction: 30 Trillion by January 2021.

[doc03]

2. And we are going to run up the debt $1.4 trillion for another tax cut

that is insane. I bet that $1.4 trillion turns out to be at least double what they say.

[roamer65]

3. Thats why I predict $30T.

Deficits are going to be high the next few years...really high. I suspect in the range of $2T a year.

[Igel]

5. We were going to run it up $12 trillion before the tax cut.

We can only talk about $1.4 trillion, though, because most of the $12 trillion was projected based on nothing that the current administration would be doing.

It also assumes no recession. From 2010 to 2027. That would be amazing.

[doc03]

10. A good portion if not all of that $12 trillion debt comes from the Bush tax cut. Exactly

if we have a recession or another war who knows where it goes.

[KWR65]

4. The debt doesn't matter. The US can pass a law to allow the gov to default on the debt

Too bad for the 1% that are holding all those bonds.

[roamer65]

6. Problem is that would cause a dollar collapse.

Then all those with dollar denominated assets would pay for it, including many middle class people who have US gov’t bonds in their 401k’s.

[ProfessorGAC]

8. Unfortunately, I Disagree

Any external lenders (for example, China) knew they were NEVER getting the money back
They just wanted the interest.
But, for them, their economies are so linked to the dollar, that such "zero interest" move puts them in a position where there are zero options
They won't participate in a dollar sinking sell because it would implode their own economies!
Until now, conservative economists haven't figured that out. (No surprise, since they're not the brightest crowd)
If they do, it becomes plan A and while there's nothing the creditors can do, foreign policy gets flushed.

[KWR65]

12. Shrug. People that boy bonds are playing musical chairs. It isn't my problem.

Just like in 2008 people lost their money playing the stock market.

[A HERETIC I AM]

9. That would have incredibly dire consequences

It’s bit just “the 1%” that hold those bonds. It’s almost every single central bank in the world as well as the Social Security trust fund.

Defaulting on Treasury debt would cause an international economic crisis to make 2008 look like a cakewalk

[KWR65]

11. Shrug. After a couple years economies will recover.

I'm not responsible for other peoples bad investments.

[LuckyCharms]

7. Bookmarked. Thanks for this. n/t

[gulliver]

13. There's nothing wrong with debt per se.

Our debt is someone else's secure savings, including the Social Security Fund's. Republicans are the main source of bad debt. They used hidden debt, for example, to finance their Iraq War debacle. Huge mistake. We went into debt to pay for self-destructive actions.