Do you feel there is a difference between the finances of the federal government and those of a typical family? Put another way, it there anything fundamentally different between the government’s debt and the private debt of an individual ora family, or even most small businesses?
Excellent question, I do believe that government debt fundamentally has an effect on personal and small business debt. Governmental decisions, taxes, home mortgages, etc. I also believe that there is a BIG difference between governmental and typical private families and small business debt.
For individuals and private businesses, their finances carry a level of personal risk. To buy a home most of us go into debt . To start a business also requires investment of your own financial resources. Poor judgement or just plain luck plain bad luck can be a disaster . Government officials set budgets and make decisions regarding huge amounts of money but there is no personal liability at all. If things go south they can just go on their merry way. I have noticed that many ( not all) of the folks that spend their careers in the various bureaucracies have no real feel for what most of us civilians have had to deal with
All excellent points, but there is a difference in that public officials purportedly act in the public interest and not for themselves. There is also the reality that the US government essentially has always carried debt and almost always spends more than it collects. Yet over our history, the US economy has grown to be the largest in the world even as it incessantly borrows to fund its operations and social safety net programs. So where does the money come from?
Hint: Thin air is a close-to-the-truth answer, but it really is a computer at the Federal Reserve. The government can do this because it borrows in the currency it issues.
Excellent question, I do believe that government debt fundamentally has an effect on personal and small business debt. Governmental decisions, taxes, home mortgages, etc. I also believe that there is a BIG difference between governmental and typical private families and small business debt.
For individuals and private businesses, their finances carry a level of personal risk. To buy a home most of us go into debt . To start a business also requires investment of your own financial resources. Poor judgement or just plain luck plain bad luck can be a disaster . Government officials set budgets and make decisions regarding huge amounts of money but there is no personal liability at all. If things go south they can just go on their merry way. I have noticed that many ( not all) of the folks that spend their careers in the various bureaucracies have no real feel for what most of us civilians have had to deal with
All excellent points, but there is a difference in that public officials purportedly act in the public interest and not for themselves. There is also the reality that the US government essentially has always carried debt and almost always spends more than it collects. Yet over our history, the US economy has grown to be the largest in the world even as it incessantly borrows to fund its operations and social safety net programs. So where does the money come from?
Hint: Thin air is a close-to-the-truth answer, but it really is a computer at the Federal Reserve. The government can do this because it borrows in the currency it issues.