Deficits Do Matter: Economist Sees More Inflation, Higher Taxes, Less Benefits

As long as we keep electing these "self-serving" politicians,and don't require term-limits,they will keep treating the American People,like a baby treats a "diaper" They are all a bunch of egotistical thieves! History has proven that.Who ever thought that an alcholic would be "cowboy" from Texas,would be anything other than what he Is. The "worst" President,we have ever had!

Under the first neo con president Richard Nixon, who was influenced by the biggest non-nationalist Henry Kissenger, the last trade surplus was eradicated, and we quickly became major importer. At the same time Nixon took us off the gold standard which was linked to the dollar.At that time the dollar was actually worth the equivilent of some portion of gold. All of a sudden the dolar became paper only subject to the printing press. It took a while and then under Carter those too many dollars came to a head, and inflation was out of control. When Reagan took over he simply revamped inflation statistics taking out fuel, housing, and those items devined as "long one time" items. Overnight inflation came down, as the factors that created inflation were eliminated. Soon with "inflation" under control the tax reduction was implemented. Here's the problem inflation still exists, if the same statistics used under Carter were still in place. How to deal with inflation raise interest rates, or print less money, or raise taxes. If you don't do this the currency is worth less Here we are today with more money printed, less taxes, and lower interest rates, and the dollar is worthless. [yes it rises against other currencies sometimes not because our situation is better but other countries get worse] Now all that money in other countries hands must be either reinvested back in America, but with low yields, higher true inflation, and shaky financial institutions, thats not going to happen. Instead they will buy our copporations, our commodities, agriculture, and assets, even our ports, and national defence companies. So look at exports increasing but it will be what made America strong. Look for continued "true" inflation as we priint more money, while we're flooded with old money. This is not your Fathers economics anymore. We're headed for rough times ahead.

Aaron, very good interview. Things in America have to change and at least you are trying to get that across. Keep it up mate.

You've gotta love it. Here, at the end of Milton Friedman's experiment with deficits-don't-matter, some of us that saw this coming 25 years ago can enjoy the shadenfreude ... until we remember that the work-until-you-die crowd will have us Boomers leading the way. On the up side, we are in no where near as serious trouble as the world faced in the 1930s. We just need to find a more positive recovery path than fighting another global war. On the down side, the pain is just starting and will be a long time leaving. If we have to take a beating, we may as well take it doing something smart. We can start with energy and infrastructure.

Republican economic policy has given my $1500 a year for 8 years, and taken away 3400 a month for 18 months from my retirement after I turn 65. Also, the deficit may have eliminate my son's chance at retirement. The mortgaging of our future is a disgrace. G Dub Bush deserves to live the rest of his life in disgrace as he will.

Daffy_rox_yoursox - How far down did the debt go? Remember that many of the company's whose stocks that were going up and up and up during the Clinton years were later discovered to be cooking their books! And are you so naive to believe that Democrats don't pay for pork?

THROW THE BUMS OUT! ALL OF THEM. Also, no thanks to all you boomers (yep, the entire out of control generation) that have selfishly sacrificed the America I will inherit by letting your government steamroller you from the deplorable/crooked Johnson administration onward. Because I'm not in the 10 million dollar entitlement "club", the United States is nothing but disaster looming for me and my future kids... There is more to life than money- I wish our nation reflected that.

This guy just reiterates the same underlying idea that both Buffett and Greenspan lectured on in guest appearances at a couple universities, which largely went under the radar. The US needs to make a lot of difficult changes or else risk becoming a third-rate country in 20 or so years... Too bad most people don't care about the future that far down the line.

Almost 100% of the problems we're facing can be laid at the feet of Milton Friedman and, by implication, Hayek and the other members of the Austrian School. They created a brand of Kool-Aid that they dearly loved, and drank it themselves. Sorry, but 'markets' are not magic, and certain market leaders can lead 'the market' off a cliff, if they don't watch it. Paul Krugman has been saying this for years. So have others. It may be time to admit that a few of the safeguards that we abandoned in the last few years, restrained growth but created stability. The Glass-Steagall Act comes to mind. We'll have to go back to the old way ... the hard way.

McCain now picks a trust fund baby for VP. Alaska government is operated on oil royalities alone. A totally different economy in alaska verus the continental US . The state is a resource extraction only economy, they do nat make a thing. Managing a government where you do have to tax anyone or business other than oil per se is a dream world. The only economy in the states thats similar is Nevada with gaming revenues.. The point is the leadership displayed here is amazing, this not what we need right now. McCain is totally out of touch.

jim: you can come out of the cave you,ve been in the last 8 years.

Who Cares.... According to Obama if he is elected President he will fix all these problems..... LOL!!!!!!!

dphorn47, It would be good if you were to provide substantiation for your remark on the Austrian economists. The fact is that you are completely off the mark. This problem started a couple of centuries ago and was not the creation of the Austrian School. The genesis of this problem is in the printing of fiat money by Government. Such paper money is inherently inflationary, causes repeated and large-scale malinvestment and thus leads to the phenomenon of economic cycles. All recessions and depressions are caused ONLY by fiat money. No one has highlighted this other than the Austrian economists. In case you want to understand this, read "The Mystery of Banking" by Murray N Rothbard. It's quite an education. The main failing of the Austrian School MORAL. By not denouncing fiat money as immoral and thus wrong, they have failed to make a strong case for the return of the Gold Standard, the only real solution to this mess.

We always concern ourself with fiscal debt, a yearly number; how many trillion is our accumulative debt????? Can we even comprehend such a staggering sum? We have lived high on the hog with an unpaid for war, unbalanced trade while spending the social security trust money.

WHEN WILL THIS WONDERFUL COUNTRY CALLED THE USA ,,,, HA HA HA HA HA ,,, WHAT A JOKE , EVER WAKE UP AND OPEN THEIR EYE`S TO THE STRAIGHT FACT THAT ALL TYPES OF GOVERNMENT IS CONTROLLED AND RUN BY NOTHING OTHER THEN RICH LEGAL CROOKS THAT ARE ALLREADY RICH AS HELL WHEN THEY ARE ELECTED ,THEY GET RICHER EACH DAY AS THEY ROB THE POOR MAN TRYING TO SURVIVE THRU LIFE , AS THEY ARE PAID MILLIONS OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR NO EXPENSE`S WHAT SO EVER TO PAY OUT , GAS , FOOD OR LIVING QUARTERS FREE NO CHARGES ON ANYTHING TO HAVE TO PAY . THEN THEY GET MILLIONS MORE IN ALL TYPE`S OF BONAS`S EACH YEAR PLUS HUGE BONAS`S WHEN THEY ARE FORCED OUT OF OFFICE BY THE NEXT RICH CROOK MOVING IN TO TAKE THEIR PLACE . ALL OF THIS IS PAID BY THE TAX PAYER`S , INCOME TAX`S, FEDERAL TAX`S,CITY TAX`S ,COUNTY TAX`S ,SOCIAL SECURITY . WHICH A LOT OF YOUNGER WORKER`S WILL PROBABLY NEVER SEE AGAIN.,, WILL THES RICH CROOKS SMILE AND GRIN , SCRATCH THEIR HEADS WHILE DEEP THINKING OF SOMETHING NEW TO GET MORE MILLIONS IN THEIR POCKETS .,,,, OH YES , ONE OTHER THING , IF YOU MESS WITH STOCKS YOU ARE PLAYING A LOSER `S GAME , IT ALSO IS CONTROLLED BY CROOKS ON THE MARKET , SEC ( SECURETY EXCHANGE COMMISSION ) IS NO. 1 ,,, MM`S ( MARKET MAKER`S THEY ARE CALLED ) IS NO. 2 ,,, BROKERS ARE NO. 3 ,,, AND SHORT SELLERS ARE NO. 4 , THEY ALL WORK TOGETHER TO ROB THE SHAREHOLDERS WHO THINK THEY ARE GOING TO STRIKE IT RICH ,,, LOL ,,, ONLY THE RICH GET RICHER ON THE STOCK MARKET WELL KNOWN FACT ,,, THATS ALL FOLKS

WHEN WILL THIS WONDERFUL COUNTRY CALLED THE USA ,,,, HA HA HA HA HA ,,, WHAT A JOKE , EVER WAKE UP AND OPEN THEIR EYE`S TO THE STRAIGHT FACT THAT ALL TYPES OF GOVERNMENT IS CONTROLLED AND RUN BY NOTHING OTHER THEN RICH LEGAL CROOKS THAT ARE ALLREADY RICH AS HELL WHEN THEY ARE ELECTED ,THEY GET RICHER EACH DAY AS THEY ROB THE POOR MAN TRYING TO SURVIVE THRU LIFE , AS THEY ARE PAID MILLIONS OF DOLLARS EACH YEAR NO EXPENSE`S WHAT SO EVER TO PAY OUT , GAS , FOOD OR LIVING QUARTERS FREE NO CHARGES ON ANYTHING TO HAVE TO PAY . THEN THEY GET MILLIONS MORE IN ALL TYPE`S OF BONAS`S EACH YEAR PLUS HUGE BONAS`S WHEN THEY ARE FORCED OUT OF OFFICE BY THE NEXT RICH CROOK MOVING IN TO TAKE THEIR PLACE . ALL OF THIS IS PAID BY THE TAX PAYER`S , INCOME TAX`S, FEDERAL TAX`S,CITY TAX`S ,COUNTY TAX`S ,SOCIAL SECURITY . WHICH A LOT OF YOUNGER WORKER`S WILL PROBABLY NEVER SEE AGAIN.,, WILL THES RICH CROOKS SMILE AND GRIN , SCRATCH THEIR HEADS WHILE DEEP THINKING OF SOMETHING NEW TO GET MORE MILLIONS IN THEIR POCKETS .,,,, OH YES , ONE OTHER THING , IF YOU MESS WITH STOCKS YOU ARE PLAYING A LOSER `S GAME , IT ALSO IS CONTROLLED BY CROOKS ON THE MARKET , SEC ( SECURETY EXCHANGE COMMISSION ) IS NO. 1 ,,, MM`S ( MARKET MAKER`S THEY ARE CALLED ) IS NO. 2 ,,, BROKERS ARE NO. 3 ,,, AND SHORT SELLERS ARE NO. 4 , THEY ALL WORK TOGETHER TO ROB THE SHAREHOLDERS WHO THINK THEY ARE GOING TO STRIKE IT RICH ,,, LOL ,,, ONLY THE RICH GET RICHER ON THE STOCK MARKET WELL KNOWN FACT ,,, THATS ALL FOLKS

Remember, Medicare is OFF-THE-BOOKS. Even those with private-medical insurance and pension, every retiree gets health care costs handed off to government Medicare (paid for by all.) With people living longer, an increasing years of American life, health care will be paid for by SOCIALIZED MEDICINE. (booo!!!!) We already have an immense and growing socialized medicine machine -- going to and protected by the strongest voting block. . None of this immense future liability is even counted in the "deficit"

WELLL LLLLLLL , IF THIS GREAT COUNTRY HAS DECIDED TO GO BLACK W / A PRESIDENT , WHO EVER IT IS ,,, I DONT THINK HE OR SHE COULD BE MUCH WORSE THEN ANY OTHER OF THE RICH , STUPID , WAR LOVING BASTURDS WE HAVE ALLREADY HAD. BUT, IF WE ARE GOING BLACK , IT WOULD BE WISE TO ELECT SOMEONE LIKE MICHEAL JACKSON , SINCE HE LOVE`S TO ( PLAY ) HUMMMMMMM ,,, WITH LITTLE BOYS , SPEND MILLIONS AND GO BANKRUPT , BETTER YET A NICE BIG BLACK GORELLA FROM AFRICA WOULD FIT RITE IN , ALLREADY DUMB , STUPID , IGNORANT AND DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT MONEY IS .OR IF WE GO LADY STYLE BRITNEY SPEARS WOULD MAKE A GOOD ONE ,VERY PREATTY , VERY SEXY , WELL EXPEREANCED ON SPENDING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON USELESS ITEMS ,, NO BRAINS AND STUPID AS HELL. WELL PREPARED FOR A PRESIDENT .REALLY THOUGH I THINK A NEW PRES. IMPORTED OUT OF HONG KONG , CHINA WOULD BE THE BEST ,, CHINESE ARE VERY SMART ON MAKING MONEY , WITHOUT WASTING IT AWAY. THATS ALL FOLKS.............. ....

WELLL LLLLLLL , IF THIS GREAT COUNTRY HAS DECIDED TO GO BLACK W / A PRESIDENT , WHO EVER IT IS ,,, I DONT THINK HE OR SHE COULD BE MUCH WORSE THEN ANY OTHER OF THE RICH , STUPID , WAR LOVING BASTURDS WE HAVE ALLREADY HAD. BUT, IF WE ARE GOING BLACK , IT WOULD BE WISE TO ELECT SOMEONE LIKE MICHEAL JACKSON , SINCE HE LOVE`S TO ( PLAY ) HUMMMMMMM ,,, WITH LITTLE BOYS , SPEND MILLIONS AND GO BANKRUPT , BETTER YET A NICE BIG BLACK GORELLA FROM AFRICA WOULD FIT RITE IN , ALLREADY DUMB , STUPID , IGNORANT AND DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT MONEY IS .OR IF WE GO LADY STYLE BRITNEY SPEARS WOULD MAKE A GOOD ONE ,VERY PREATTY , VERY SEXY , WELL EXPEREANCED ON SPENDING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON USELESS ITEMS ,, NO BRAINS AND STUPID AS HELL. WELL PREPARED FOR A PRESIDENT .REALLY THOUGH I THINK A NEW PRES. IMPORTED OUT OF HONG KONG , CHINA WOULD BE THE BEST ,, CHINESE ARE VERY SMART ON MAKING MONEY , WITHOUT WASTING IT AWAY. THATS ALL FOLKS.............. ....

YOUR FIRED GET THE HELL OUT NOW AND PUT BACK WHAT YOU STOLE