<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif">On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 spike </span><span dir="ltr" style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><<a href="mailto:spike66@att.net" target="_blank">spike66@att.net</a>></span><span style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"> wrote:</span><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><div class="gmail_quote"><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"> <div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">> </div>If there is a deficit, our debt to GDP<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"> </div>ratio is increasing.<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">In 2009 the deficit was about 10% of GDP, in 2015 it was about 3%. That's not a increase. </div> </font></div><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">> </div>There is another factor here: we always assume growth. </blockquote><div><font size="4"><br></font></div><div><font size="4"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">A pretty good long tern assumption if technological progress doesn't stop dead in its tracks. </div> </font></div><div> <br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">> </div>But that assumption<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"> </div>could fail,</blockquote><div><br></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline"><font size="4">Yes that's possible. If inflation and interest rates got very high growth would slow, and that would happen if the deficit was too high. But both interest rates and inflation are at incredible historic lows, so it sure doesn't seen like the deficit is a important economic problem right now. A more powerful argument could be made that the deficit is too low not too high. </font> </div> </div><div><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">> </div>We can and should balance the federal budget.<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div><font size="4"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;display:inline">If so then Bill Clinton was the only one who got it right since 1835.</div> </font></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4">On a different topic, there is a very very interesting video about the author of "The Art Of The deal" and also a good article. And no I'm not talking about Donald Trump: </font></div></div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/art-of-the-deal-ghostwriter-speaks-out-729014339840">http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/art-of-the-deal-ghostwriter-speaks-out-729014339840</a><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all">http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all</a><br></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="4"> John K Clark</font></span><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div></div>