CBO: federal debt to double in 15 years

[dogtowner]

unless Congress gets busy.

depressed yet ? 200% of GDP ? and I think thats a rosy outlook.
are you getting the impression that this an important election coming up ?

CBO analysts said the downturn and Congress’s response have been devastating for the government. Federal debt as a percentage of GDP — a standard measure of a government’s debt burden — stood at 40 percent at the end of 2008. But it will top 70 percent by the end of this year, and is only headed higher unless Congress changes course. The ratio could double by the middle of the next decade and will have topped 200 percent of GDP — twice the size of the projected U.S. economy — by 2037.

At that level, fiscal catastrophes are more likely, and the government’s ability to respond becomes far more constrained.

The increases in federal spending will come chiefly from higher interest payments and health care costs. Federal spending on health will nearly double from about 5.4 percent of GDP to 10.4 percent by 2037, according to Tuesday’s report.

 

[Cruella]

I think the whole thing will fall apart long before that. It would take some very strong leadership to turn this Titanic away from the enivetable iceberg it's headed for, and I'm not sure we have anyone willing to do it.