Could America Become the Next Greece?

[John Marston]

"If U.S. policy makers and the public take away only one key lesson from what’s happening in Europe right now, it should be to put the budget on a path to balance during good times such as these."

Romina Boccia, the Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs.

The United States differs from Greece in important ways. The U.S. economy is much larger and better diversified. More than half of the U.S. debt is held by creditors within its borders, rather than by foreign entities. Moreover, the United States also creates its own money, enabling it to devalue its currency and debt to avoid defaulting on payments for a lack of cash. This power, when abused, can lead to steep inflation setting off very bad economic consequences that can harm those relying on their savings to get by the most.
Despite the differences, the fiscal pressures confronting the United States spring from sources similar to those afflicting Greece. Growing spending on public benefits threatens to overwhelm the U.S. economy in the long term. At the federal level, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs consume more than half of the budget, and spending on these programs is growing steeply. After accounting for other benefits, transfer payments make up about 70 percent of all spending in the United States today.

A Scary Thought Could America Become the Next Greece The National Interest

Will US ever be able to repay its huge debt? If US gets into the same situation as greece, the entire world would be screwed
So, can it become reality? Hope not. But we probably have to do something. Not exactly we, but someone there, above, if there are still smart people

 

[007]

That is the direction we are currently headed, and our melt down will make Greece look like chump change.

Theoretically, there is virtually no way we can pay off our debt. Soon we won't even be able to pay the interest on our debt. America's economy is a train wreck in motion, thanks to ALL in Washington, not just the tax and spend, big government dems, but the republicans right along with them. We're in deep shit, and the kind of draconian spending cuts and austerity measures it would take to start paying off our debt will never happen, because neither party wants to be the ones to tell all those parasites in our society that the tit is going to run dry. They'll never be reelected.

So we're pretty much fucked. It's coming. We're going to see a financial melt down of epic proportions, and it'll take the rest of the world with it. The only real way we could ever get out of this mess is total default and debt forgiveness, wipe the slate clean, but don't expect that to happen. We'll see WWIII before that.

Keep your powder dry and start stocking up on nonperishable food and toilet paper.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Could America Become the Next Greece? no

 

[rdean]

"If U.S. policy makers and the public take away only one key lesson from what’s happening in Europe right now, it should be to put the budget on a path to balance during good times such as these."

Romina Boccia, the Heritage Foundation’s Grover M. Hermann Fellow in Federal Budgetary Affairs.

The United States differs from Greece in important ways. The U.S. economy is much larger and better diversified. More than half of the U.S. debt is held by creditors within its borders, rather than by foreign entities. Moreover, the United States also creates its own money, enabling it to devalue its currency and debt to avoid defaulting on payments for a lack of cash. This power, when abused, can lead to steep inflation setting off very bad economic consequences that can harm those relying on their savings to get by the most.
Despite the differences, the fiscal pressures confronting the United States spring from sources similar to those afflicting Greece. Growing spending on public benefits threatens to overwhelm the U.S. economy in the long term. At the federal level, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other health programs consume more than half of the budget, and spending on these programs is growing steeply. After accounting for other benefits, transfer payments make up about 70 percent of all spending in the United States today.

A Scary Thought Could America Become the Next Greece The National Interest

Will US ever be able to repay its huge debt? If US gets into the same situation as greece, the entire world would be screwed
So, can it become reality? Hope not. But we probably have to do something. Not exactly we, but someone there, above, if there are still smart people

Right wingers once again trying to blame the poor. The problem with Greece is income inequality. The greed of the rich. And Republicans, many of whom live in trailers, have no insurance and no prospects, are their biggest supporters. It wasn't enough they brought down the economy and got us involved in a ridiculous war, they want to turn us into Greece. They simply don't understand the unintended consequences of their disastrous policies.