Government spending is a controversial topic. Even though the government has a set budget each year that Congress and the President of the United States collaborate on, the United States continues to fall deeper in debt. According to U.S. National Debt, the U.S debt has been larger than our total annual gross domestic product since 2012. In other words, our debt is larger than the value of all the goods and services produced in the country within a twelve month period. “It is said that the U.S is currently $19.2 trillion dollars in debt (U.S. National Debt).” As long as Congress and the President continue to run yearly budget deficits, the U.S debt will continue to rise. As our deficits continue to rise, our government should focus on ways to increase revenue and reduce the national debt. According to the US Debt Clock, if the U.S economy were to suddenly crash, each citizen would owe $202,835. That is more than the average citizen were to makes in 4.4 years. In 2014, a wage survey concluded that the national average wage per citizen was $46,481.52 (Social Security). If the United States continues to ignore the debt that is lingering, the countries that we owe money to could cut us off from trade. If this were to occur, not only would it hurt our economy, but we may end up in another great depression. China, Japan and Brazil are just a few countries that the government is in debt to. Even though there are other areas of concern such as military, education, and social security that the government needs to allocate spend to, reducing the national debt is what our government officials should be their primary expenditure considering how large our debt has gotten to. If the Government does not find a way to reduce its expenditur... ... middle of paper ... ...security. If the government primarily allocated spend to these areas or primarily on the people, then our economy would suffer. In other words, if the U.S. government ignored its debt and only concentrated on its people, the debt would continue to rise and would take longer to pay off. The government needs to start allocating more money to debt and get it paid off so that officials could then make its main focus the citizens. There are clearly many areas the government needs to balance spending on but more emphasis needs to be made on lowering the trillions of dollars of debt. If focus isn’t made on reducing this debt, it’s believed we will end up in a recession. This would not only cause continued debt and very little spend on the needs of the people but could very well cause a negative impact on trade relations with foreign countries on much needed trade items.
This deficit has to do with having responsible leader who are willing to increase awareness and make beneficial changes in the nation. In my opinion, the federal debt is a serious threat to the US that must be politically address whenever possible. I believe that the candidates of the 2016 presidential election should make this issue one of the top priorities to discuss and to dictate a considerable amount of work to fix it. That is because the worse the federal debt is, the worse the future would be to the nation. Also, voters must be well educated about this issue in order to shape their decision in voting for the candidate that seems most powerful and confident about this problem. Solving this problem may be difficult and would take time and so much effort. Therefore, the changes and solution must be on both a national and individual levels as
In general, an increase in government spending and decrease in the collection of government taxes and other receipts, increases the debt held by the local government. Government taxes and receipts fluctuate annually, and are frequently less than government spending. In the past, the U.S. public debt has increased for the duration of wars and recessions. When the government consumes more than what it accumulates in taxes, there is a budget deficit and the government then borrows from the private sector or from foreign governments to protect their spending. The compilation of historical borrowing is what materializes the government debt.
However the interest we pay on our nation 's debt is very small compared to the overall budget. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities only 7% of the total budget is spent on interest which is relatively low compared to things like social security which took up 24% of the budget in 2014 (Policy Basics). As long as the United States can continue to keep the interest rates low the debt will continue to be a begin threat. If the creditors of the U.S. were to spike their interest rates, America would be in trouble, however America has fairly good credit, and it should remain that way unless there is another scare like the government shutdown in 2011 (Riley). Overall the threat of the nation debt is a very minute problem in the grand scheme of things. According to The Richest, only five nations in the entire world are completely debt free, which is astounding when you consider that there are about 195 countries in the entire world (Mathers; How Many). These figures show how extremely difficult it is for a country to run without having a certain amount of debt, and America having debt should not be a concern. America is not even in the top ten countries whose debt make up the majority of their GDP (Country List). Which means that at the moment American’s should not be overly
As of today America’s national debt is 18 trillion dollars and approximately 5 trillion of that is held by foreign countries including China and Japan. In the last few years we seem to hear more about balancing the country’s budget and politicians raising the debt ceiling so we can pay on this debt. How have we gotten into such an overwhelming and complicated problem with our nation’s money? Ironically the same can be said for our individual household debt as well as making the same mistakes and trying to find creative ways to be accountable to our financial responsibilities. Teaching the basics of personal finance n our schools can culturally change our financial practices, leading to a more financially literate public and a stronger, more stable, America. If the younger generations can become more financially savvy, then there is an opportunity for our nation as a whole to become less dependent on debt to survive.
Every day in New York City, hundreds of people walk past a huge digital billboard with giant numbers across its face. Each person who walks past this billboard sees a slightly different arrangement of numbers, growing larger every second. This board is the National Debt Clock, representing the over 14 trillion dollars currently owed by the United States. While some people claim that the national debt is caused by the falling economy, most maintain that the debt itself causes the poor economy (Budget Deficits 2007). Rising debt leads to higher interest and investment rates, and cuts into our national savings. Ignoring the national debt leaves the major burden of paying it off to later generations, while meanwhile allowing our country’s economy to further drop and our dependency on other nations to rise.
The national debt is usually a frightening topic citizens of any country, however, in the United States, twenty trillion dollars of national debt is one of the major fears of the economy. Along with this fear comes every politician claiming to be the person to lower this astronomical debt to ease concerns in the modern American economy. In Hamilton’s Blessing, John Steele Gordon tries to alleviate these concerns by showing a plethora of benefits and good the debt has been able to do throughout the history of the United States. The central premise of the book and the main guideline for John Steele Gordon’s thinking is that the debt was used to save the Union in the 1860’s, the American economy in the 1930’s, and the wellbeing of mankind during
The U.S budget deficit over the years has been a problem but lately the deficit has shrunk. However, what made the U.S budget deficit get to where it is today and what will it be like in the years to come. Throughout the past the U.S has operated under a deficit. This means that the U.S Spent more money than it was taking in. The cause of the excess in spending was different depending on which year. Some of the causes were war, increase in spending , and economic downturns. There were different acts passed to try and control the deficit problem. The deficit at the present time is declining. This decline is due to the improving economy, sequester, and a tax increase on high-income households. The big factor that went into the decline in the deficit for 2013 was the payment that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac made. The deficit decline in the present time may make some think the U.S could get out of debt but it has been projected that the U.S deficit will start to increase once again.
All but four countries in the world has external debt (“Country Comparison: Debt External”). Having a debt is almost as common as having a mortgage. Since its establishment, The United States has always been in debt (“Historical Debt Outstanding – Annual”). The US national debt has had five sharp increases previously in its history. The reasons include civil car and the two World W...
National Debt The national debt has always been a major concern of the american public, whether they truely know what it is all about or not. What most people do know is that the debt that our country has is continualy growing faster and faster at an unbelievable rate, toan amount that many of us can not even imagine. The national debt and it's problem has been an on going issue in today's headlines, and each president is faced with this buring problem.
America is a grand nation with fruitful lands and kindhearted people. Each year, thousands flood in from the far corners of the earth to partake in our cup of freedom. With every sun, there is a cloud. One of America’s largest clouds is her national debt. The paragraphs that follow will provide more detail about this debt, possible solutions, and ways to accomplish these solutions.
Peter Morici, an economist and business professor at the university of Maryland, and a national columnist stated, in an article published at the Washington times, that “The Treasury could easily refinance the existing federal debt — sell new federal government bonds to replace those that mature each month — if it keeps paying the interest on the total debt — $276 billion. It simply can’t add to the debt by selling even more bonds.” He further commented that “The bonds outstanding cover past spending. Raising the debt ceiling only permits Uncle Sam to spend more than it collects in taxes in the future. Essentially, if the federal bureaucracy is put on a diet and compelled to get along on the $3.5 trillion it collects in taxes, pays the interest on the debt and sends out in Social Security checks, it would have $2.2 trillion left to fund remaining planned spending of $2.8 trillion.
Everyone has their own political leaning and that leaning comes from one’s opinion about the Government. Peoples’ opinions are formed by what the parties say they will and will not do, the amounts they want spend and what they want to save. In macroeconomic terms, what the government spends is known as fiscal policy. Fiscal policy is the use of taxation and government spending for the purposes of stimulating or slowing down growth in an economy. Fiscal policy can be used for expansionary reasons, which is aimed at growing the economy and increasing employment, or contractionary which is intended to slow the growth of an economy. Expansionary fiscal policy features increased government spending and decreases in the tax rates as where contractionary policy focuses on lowering government spending and increasing tax rates. It must be understood that fiscal policy is meant to help the economy, although some negative results may arise.
...s are two of the highest reasons that Americans are in debt. Significant debt prevents Americans from spending money on goods and services, and America’s economy is driven by consumer purchasing. I believe the economy can benefit, in the long run, if there are more Americans that are educated and are healthier.
Discretionary spending is the money the government spends or makes through the laws and bills they pass. Discretionary spending refers to the portion of the budget that is decided by Congress through the annual appropriations process each year. These spending levels are set each year by Congress. Mandatory spending is the money the government has to pay in order to do certain things, such as paying enough money to ensure a strong military. Mandatory spending takes up close to two thirds of the total budget each year while the main categories in it are the military and social security. (Natpriorities) However the main issue of all government spending is the enormous amount of debt that the United States finds itself in right now. The government is a staggering 18 trillion dollars in debt and that has many Americans worried if they can recover. Mathematicians have figured that if all done correctly that the total debt could be paid off in eight year but it is very unlikely. This is part of the reason the most recent election has been such a big deal. The elected president will have to opportunity to reduce the debt in our country if their plans work well. The debt in this country is out of hand but can be reduced through new policy.
Veldhuis, Neil. “Beyond our means: Government debt tops $1.2-trillion and spending is still rising.” Financial Post. National Post, 16 May 2013. Web. 23 Feb. 2014.