OT: US National debt

[deccan]

Will said:
What Kerry was going to do to decrease the deficit was to repeal the tax cuts for the upper brackets ($200,000+ yearly income)...

I recently read this in "The Economist":

On the domestic side, Mr Kerry would repeal Mr Bush's tax cuts for people earning more than $200,000 a year. But he proposes to keep the middle-class tax cuts. The overall effect would be to cut taxes by $600 billion over ten years compared with the current position. That is still less than the sum of the reductions Mr Bush is proposing, and Mr Kerry plans to spend all -or possibly more than all- the difference on health care. In simple terms, he poses a clear domestic choice in the election: do you want more tax cuts or more health care?

It seems to me that based on campaign rhetoric, Kerry would have done no better than Bush in cutting the deficit. However, in all honesty, Kerry, if he had been elected into office, would probably not go so far as what he promised on the campaign trail and saved more money. The same issue of The Economist included a poll of 100 academic economists and concluded:

Although Americans overall seem relatively unconcerned about the budget deficit, a large majority of the economists rate it as a serious problem for the economy, with almost one in five describing it as a crisis. And they back Mr Kerry by a large margin (79% to 18%) to do more to promote fiscal discipline than Mr Bush.

[Starhawk]

It's amazing that the whole globe is tied so closely to the US economy, heh wow.

Well thanks for the lesson it was interesting (and scarry) all I can say is I hope those campaign rhetoric types are blown out of proportions because I would hate having to raise my kids (if I ever have any) in a depression era WORLD (then again that would be one hell of a way to change world economics eh?)

Well I do doubt Kerry would do any better to be honest as democrats have shown no better spending policies then republicans it's just that they are better at covering up their bullsh!t (sorry but I don't like politics at all and both parties tick me off at times).
Though for the most part my family is republican (parents, grand parents, aunts uncles the whole shabang) most of them will vote democrate if they beleive the candidate is better then the republican and so will I when can vote, but I still have to say I would not have voted Kerry.

[Fyron]

When it really hits... well, take a look what happened during the Great Depression. Then multiply it over the entire globe.

The Great Depression did affect the entire globe. That is why it was so "Great." Recall what happened in Europe during those years...

[Raging Deadstar]

If i recall my history it was in 1930's, and was one of the main causes for allowing Hitler to rise to power with the Nazi Party, the rest as they say, is History.

[Will]

It was global, yes, but not to the degree that it would be now. There isn't a substantial economy in the world that is not directly and intricately tied to the US economy. Even the planned economy of China, which would normally be able to (theoretically) ignore the value of money in the outside world and focus only on internal production, would be affected since a large portion of the economy is now dedicated to foreign trade. In the Great Depression of the 1920's and 1930's, the shockwaves sent out from economic collapse were buffered somewhat by multiple layers between some economies, simply because of geographic limitations to trade. Now most of the geographic limitations are lifted, and anyone can trade with practically anyone else.

Time for work...