Maybe we will cut this deficit in half (to $300 billion a year) by the time President Bush leaves office. President Jeb Bush that is. Incidentally, one conservative (and sensible) blogger type emailed me suggesting I comment on Cox's nomination. I'm not sure I dare. Your thoughts on his heading the SEC?
Tax receipts were pretty good evidently this tax season. For seven weeks the Treasury had been actually paying down the debt. That's over now. Uncle Sam is back to borrowing this week. So this part of the tailwind behind Treasury paper is over.
Not only the Cap Gains but also RE Agent Commissions... here is a comment from Brad Setser's Blog... about halfway down...
unit labor cost is compensation less productivity
4Q nofarm compensation was revised from 3.8% up to 10.2%! (1Q to 6.3% from 4.3%) so even ex-ing out better prod, yoy ULC was revised up to 4.3% from 2.4% and is now much higher than overall inflation!
but get this, nonfinancial ULC was up just 1.9% yoy! so the difference between nonfarm ULC and nonfinancial ULC has to be in financial compensation... must be all those real estate commissions
we truly are in a new (housing economy, like mandel sed
the first part of this post implies that when government "borrows" from any of the numerous trust funds, that is reflected in the national debt. Is this correct? Thanks!
So borrowing from any of the Trust Funds is included in the National Debt. Notice this is how Rep. Cox suggested we should view the debt until Bush was elected.
The Bush Administration uses the bogus "unified budget" when they discuss the deficit (Clinton did too). This excludes borrowing from trust funds and certain other expenses.
Larry, The real issue is the trend - zero increase in National Debt five years ago, close to $600 Billion this year alone. This is a structural problem and dwarfs all other fiscal issues.
None of the debt is owed to "itself". The debt is either owed to the public (you, me, China CB, etc.) or to various trust funds for retirement (military, civil service, SS, etc.).
Whoopee.
We will go bankrupt in July, 2008 rather than January, 2008.
Maybe we will cut this deficit in half (to $300 billion a year) by the time President Bush leaves office. President Jeb Bush that is. Incidentally, one conservative (and sensible) blogger type emailed me suggesting I comment on Cox's nomination. I'm not sure I dare. Your thoughts on his heading the SEC?
I'll comment if no one else will...
Cox is a hoser... pun intended.
I'm furious they chose him but not surprised... so much for investor rights in the 'New SEC'...
How fortunate it is that we still have capital gains taxes...
Tax receipts were pretty good evidently this tax season. For seven weeks the Treasury had been actually paying down the debt. That's over now. Uncle Sam is back to borrowing this week. So this part of the tailwind behind Treasury paper is over.
Not only the Cap Gains but also RE Agent Commissions... here is a comment from Brad Setser's Blog... about halfway down...
unit labor cost is compensation less productivity
4Q nofarm compensation was revised from 3.8% up to 10.2%! (1Q to 6.3% from 4.3%) so even ex-ing out better prod, yoy ULC was revised up to 4.3% from 2.4% and is now much higher than overall inflation!
but get this, nonfinancial ULC was up just 1.9% yoy! so the difference between nonfarm ULC and nonfinancial ULC has to be in financial compensation... must be all those real estate commissions
we truly are in a new (housing
economy, like mandel sed 
cheers!
When the party ends it is really gonna end...
*
All Coxed up
My analysis of right wingloon/finance faker Cox who was sued for lying to investors....
We are doomed. And pgl, read my finance page periodically. Heh. You might learn something...
billmon has the goods on Cox:
A Cox in the Henhouse
the first part of this post implies that when government "borrows" from any of the numerous trust funds, that is reflected in the national debt. Is this correct? Thanks!
ig, the National Debt
= <a href="http://www.publicdebt.treas.gov/opd/opdfaq.htm#opdfaq32>Debt Held by the Public + Intragovernment Holdings.
So borrowing from any of the Trust Funds is included in the National Debt. Notice this is how Rep. Cox suggested we should view the debt until Bush was elected.
The Bush Administration uses the bogus "unified budget" when they discuss the deficit (Clinton did too). This excludes borrowing from trust funds and certain other expenses.
Best Regards!
CR,
Where are you pulling your National Debt figures from?
Are you using the Public Debt figures sourced from the facility in West Virginia, and adding other data?
BH, the data is from the US Treasury.
Follow the link - They report the National Debt on a daily basis (to the penny) and they have historical data.
Best Regards!
A few questions:
What percentage of the national debt is actually debt that the federal government owes itself?
What is the size of the publicly-held federal debt compared to the size of the economy?
Finally, how does publicly-held debt as a percentage of GDP at this point in time compare to past data?
Call me crazy, but throwing out numbers just because they're big doesn't seem to be very informative.
Also, if you're going to look at changes in dollar figures over time, shouldn't you adjust for inflation?
Larry, The real issue is the trend - zero increase in National Debt five years ago, close to $600 Billion this year alone. This is a structural problem and dwarfs all other fiscal issues.
None of the debt is owed to "itself". The debt is either owed to the public (you, me, China CB, etc.) or to various trust funds for retirement (military, civil service, SS, etc.).
Here is a good starting point: Another Budget, Another Disaster
Best Regards!