As of mid 2023, the US government had roughly $33 trillion of debt ( real-time debt clock
Question:
As of mid 2023, the US government had roughly $33 trillion of debt (real-time debt clock). https://www.usdebtclock.org/ Please discuss some of the implications of this debt by answering the questions below:
To whom, exactly, does the US government owe that money?
How can the government continue to spend money it does not have? List the small number of options it has at its disposal.
Why do you think it is so easy for the Congress and president to continually spend more than the government brings in via tax revenue? In other words, why do we have deficits so often?
Look at the debt as a percentage of GDP from https://fred.stlouisfed.org/ Explain what has happened to the debt as a percentage of GDP since the 1970s.
What is the problem with doing each of the following to shrink the national debt? Discuss each thoroughly.
Defaulting
Raising tax rates
"printing" more money
Watch the following videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmuysv17T9M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmjkEM3AJ1Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4N1ayk-Xba4
What are the main points of each video?
Does the Al Jazeera make more economic sense or the Stossel videos? Which view corresponds with socialism and which with capitalism? Which one presents the most sustainable prescription for the economy? Explain in detail.
Some people believe in a concept called Modern Monetary Theory, or MMT. This idea basically says that governments cannot go bankrupt because they can just print more money to monetize their debt. The Al Jazeera video in a previous question utilized MMT.
If MMT is correct, shouldn't the government keep borrowing more and more money and then just print more to repay that debt?
If the government can print money without causing harm, why do Americans need to pay taxes?
Of course, drastically cutting spending could also gradually reduce the debt. Why are politicians so reluctant to do that?
Can the US pay for even one recent year's deficit by confiscating all of the money from the wealthiest Americans?
Would that be constitutional for the government to do?
If the government did take all of the money from the wealthiest Americans this year, what would happen in subsequent years to the deficit when all of their wealth was gone?
Income Tax Fundamentals 2013
ISBN: 9781285586618
31st Edition
Authors: Gerald E. Whittenburg, Martha Altus Buller, Steven L Gill