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--></style></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple style='word-wrap:break-word'><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div><blockquote style='border:none;border-left:solid #CCCCCC 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-right:0in'><div><div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'>From:</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif'> John Clark <johnkclark@gmail.com> <br></span><span class=gmaildefault><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif'>>> </span></i></span><i><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>This argument assumes the US government already has an infinite credit limit. I am suggesting it does not.</span></i><o:p></o:p></p></div></div></div></blockquote><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>>…As I've said before,<span class=gmaildefault> "<i>the yearly budget deficit need not be exactly zero</i>" and "</span><i>the yearly budget deficit<span class=gmaildefault> can be infinitely large</span></i><span class=gmaildefault>" are not equivalent statements… And in the era of superintelligent AI and Drexler style Nanotechnology the rate of increase would be very large indeed. </span></span></b><o:p></o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div><div><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>John K Clark<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>OK cool, common ground, a basis for discussion. I propose some limit or goal, a defined hard limit, some finite number between zero and infinity. A previous political leader suggested 2%. Well OK, I can go with 2%. Let every US federal spending budget be 2% above the estimated GDP from the most recent year for which it can be reliably measured. The budget must meet that number, cutting whatever needs to be cut to reach that number.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>Then… if the Singularity or pre-Singularity unimaginable prosperity occurs, then they have all the unimaginable budget they want to do whatever they want, since they are collecting unimaginable tax revenue. I still get to sell my Singularity insurance, in case that unimaginable wealth doesn’t happen as soon as we unimagined it would, those cranky old Libertarians will settle down and quit our incessant whining and warning, the fed’s spending rate doesn’t outpace inflation, so all is unimaginably good. Two percent, 2%. <o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>If circumstances arise where the Fed blows past the bogey, no problem, just take it out of the next year’s budget, so if it goes over to say 3%, borrow back from the future budget, so 1% the next year, it all evens out, no problem. Cut till it hurts if necessary, for Musk told us it would happen, plenty of us believe him, so no surprises.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>Two percent, 2%.<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'>spike<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span class=gmaildefault><b><span style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:"Tahoma",sans-serif'><o:p> 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