= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
Larks comments on Open thread, July 23-29, 2013 - Less Wrong Discussion
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (197)
My boyfriend tells me that it's a fallacy to evaluate a country's financial activities in the same way that is prudent for an individual's or a business'. Specifically he said that there is no limit to how big the public debt:GDP ratio can be while still having a healthy economy. I don't remember his exact argument, but it had something to do with reducing the real debt with inflation and other monetary policies. On the face of it this seems like some kind of Ponzi scheme, but I know less about economics that he does, and I also may be misremembering his point. Does anyone have a link to a good explanation of how (or whether) good financial management at a country level differs from at a personal level?
Steven Landsberg often writes about this very topic
Summary: Either the debt is paid for by taxes in the future or now; because we can save money, it doesn't make any difference. The problem is the level of spending (which affects how much must be paid) not the debt (which merely affects when it must be paid).