The last time America was debt free

[BBCAmerica]

176 years ago. The last year was 1836. But I guess the question is not WTF happen. The REAL question is who do we blame for this? With this country being in debt for the last 176 years I think it's safe to say we will never be debt free again. If we haven't gotten it right by now it will never happen. The Democrats will keep doing the same shit that doesn't work and so will the Republicans. The American sheeple will keep thinking that their party is better than the other add keep voting party instead of job. Nothing will ever change because sheeple are to stupid to change things. Just remember "An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern" This nation is none of those things.

 

[High_Gravity]

I don't think we can ever be totally debt free again, we run everything on credit now.

 

[eflatminor]

I think it's safe to say we will never be debt free again.

I suspect they said the same thing 176 years ago. Live within our means, sell assets the federal government should never have owned in the first place, and we could begin to pay down the debt.

Even if we keep spending as we have, we WILL be debt free after the shit hits the fan with hyperinflation. It won't be pretty, and it always results in war, but it is the fasted way to pay off debt.

I'm hoping we choose the former rather than the latter path. We'll see.

 

[Freemason9]

176 years ago. The last year was 1836. But I guess the question is not WTF happen. The REAL question is who do we blame for this? With this country being in debt for the last 176 years I think it's safe to say we will never be debt free again. If we haven't gotten it right by now it will never happen. The Democrats will keep doing the same shit that doesn't work and so will the Republicans. The American sheeple will keep thinking that their party is better than the other add keep voting party instead of job. Nothing will ever change because sheeple are to stupid to change things. Just remember "An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern" This nation is none of those things.

Huh.

And yet, the U.S. has had tremendous economic expansion during that time, despite the ever-increasing federal debt.

Go figure.

 

[eflatminor]

176 years ago. The last year was 1836. But I guess the question is not WTF happen. The REAL question is who do we blame for this? With this country being in debt for the last 176 years I think it's safe to say we will never be debt free again. If we haven't gotten it right by now it will never happen. The Democrats will keep doing the same shit that doesn't work and so will the Republicans. The American sheeple will keep thinking that their party is better than the other add keep voting party instead of job. Nothing will ever change because sheeple are to stupid to change things. Just remember "An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern" This nation is none of those things.

Huh.

And yet, the U.S. has had tremendous economic expansion during that time, despite the ever-increasing federal debt.

Go figure.

Correct. It's called a bubble, fueled with funny money. And we all know what eventually happens to all bubbles.

 

[TruthSeeker56]

176 years ago. The last year was 1836. But I guess the question is not WTF happen. The REAL question is who do we blame for this? With this country being in debt for the last 176 years I think it's safe to say we will never be debt free again. If we haven't gotten it right by now it will never happen. The Democrats will keep doing the same shit that doesn't work and so will the Republicans. The American sheeple will keep thinking that their party is better than the other add keep voting party instead of job. Nothing will ever change because sheeple are to stupid to change things. Just remember "An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern" This nation is none of those things.

Huh.

And yet, the U.S. has had tremendous economic expansion during that time, despite the ever-increasing federal debt.

Go figure.

Federal debt as a percentage of GDP is the ONLY accurate measure of the effect that federal debt has on the economy.

 

[Freemason9]

176 years ago. The last year was 1836. But I guess the question is not WTF happen. The REAL question is who do we blame for this? With this country being in debt for the last 176 years I think it's safe to say we will never be debt free again. If we haven't gotten it right by now it will never happen. The Democrats will keep doing the same shit that doesn't work and so will the Republicans. The American sheeple will keep thinking that their party is better than the other add keep voting party instead of job. Nothing will ever change because sheeple are to stupid to change things. Just remember "An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern" This nation is none of those things.

Huh.

And yet, the U.S. has had tremendous economic expansion during that time, despite the ever-increasing federal debt.

Go figure.

Correct. It's called a bubble, fueled with funny money. And we all know what eventually happens to all bubbles.

A 176-year bubble? I suppose it could be argued that the American economic system is, indeed, a bubble.

You should remember that our monetary system creates additional money through debt issuance. That's how we expand the money supply, and some argue that the federal surplus of the turn of the century (1999-2000) actually contributed to the subsequent recession by tightening (reducing) the money supply.

Think about that.

 

[Freemason9]

176 years ago. The last year was 1836. But I guess the question is not WTF happen. The REAL question is who do we blame for this? With this country being in debt for the last 176 years I think it's safe to say we will never be debt free again. If we haven't gotten it right by now it will never happen. The Democrats will keep doing the same shit that doesn't work and so will the Republicans. The American sheeple will keep thinking that their party is better than the other add keep voting party instead of job. Nothing will ever change because sheeple are to stupid to change things. Just remember "An educated, healthy and confident nation is harder to govern" This nation is none of those things.

Huh.

And yet, the U.S. has had tremendous economic expansion during that time, despite the ever-increasing federal debt.

Go figure.

Federal debt as a percentage of GDP is the ONLY accurate measure of the effect that federal debt has on the economy.

There is NO "accurate measure of the effect that federal debt has on the economy." This has always been a matter of furious debate, and to pretend otherwise is to position oneself as a narrow-minded ideologue.

 

[eflatminor]

Huh.

And yet, the U.S. has had tremendous economic expansion during that time, despite the ever-increasing federal debt.

Go figure.

Correct. It's called a bubble, fueled with funny money. And we all know what eventually happens to all bubbles.

A 176-year bubble?

No, because the debt only began to get out of control following the launch of the so called "great society". That poverty has increased since then is a minor annoyance to the central planners, but I digress. The bubble REALLY began expanding in the last decade or so, quickly getting to near-burst levels. Now that we're monetizing our own debt, look out.

...and some argue that the federal surplus of the turn of the century (1999-2000) actually contributed to the subsequent recession by tightening (reducing) the money supply.

They would argue incorrectly.

 

[Freemason9]

Your so-called "bubble" of federal debt actually began in earnest in 1980, eflatminor, but I know that runs counter to your partisan ideological rhetoric. So carry on.

 

[eflatminor]

Your so-called "bubble" of federal debt actually began in earnest in 1980...

True, Reagan spent like a Progressive, just like every other President for the last century at least. The all suck when it comes to fiscal sanity. Reagan was bad, Bush was worse. Obama takes the cake.

...that runs counter to your partisan ideological rhetoric.

You think I'm a fan of any modern day Republican?

Think again. We Libertarians do not buy into YOUR idea of ideological rhetoric.