Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Everyday Versus Someday

Everyday the Federal government borrows nearly $4 billion dollars and puts in the hands of consumers!  How so? The Federal deficit is some $1.5 trillion which works out too approximately $4.1 billion dollars a day on average that the Federal government spends more than it brings in revenue.  Where does that money go?  Everywhere, but at the end of the day it's ultimately in consumers' hands.  The consumer may get it through social security benefits, a medicaid payment, salaries at some defense contractor, school teacher pensions, or some government workers paycheck. Some slips off to foreign countries, but one way or another the bulk of it ends up in the American economy somehow.  And, because Americans buy products from all over the world, that $4 billion dollars a day impacts economies around the world!!

To come up with this money the Federal government borrows it from all over the USA and the world.  We borrow and spend.  Nothing new.  What is new is the scale to which we borrow and spend.  The size of the debt and deficit is staggering.  It's such a big number that it's too difficult to read or calculate it with all the zeros, so people HAVE to use the word trillions! 

Someday that has to stop!  One day soon the Government is going to hit the borrowing wall.  The $15 trillion dollar question is what will happen when the government stops spending $4 billion a day?  To put it in perspective, how would you're household feel if you cut your spending by over 10%?  How would your employer react if revenues were down 10% plus?  How would your county or town or school deal with a 10% budget cut?  Is your answer "not too good?"  That's probably how the economy will do when "someday" is "everyday!"