http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a8486284-fee9-11de-a677-00144feab49a.html
Bankruptcy could be good for America
By Gideon Rachman
Published: January 11 2010 19:47 | Last updated: January 11 2010 19:47
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The result is that the US is piling up debt. A budget deficit of about 12 per cent of gross domestic product is understandable as a short-term reaction to a huge financial crisis. What should worry Americans is that, with entitlement spending set to surge, there is no credible plan to bring the budget deficit under control over the medium term.
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Perhaps the most memorable thing said so far by an official in Barack Obama’s administration was the remark by Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff, that “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste”. Mr Emanuel was widely condemned for flippancy and cynicism. But an examination of world history over the last 30 years suggests he was definitely on to something. Those much discussed emerging powers, the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India and China) all needed a fiscal crisis to set them on the road to economic reform and national resurgence. America may one day be lucky enough to experience its very own national fiscal crisis. Let us hope it is not wasted.
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While it might be “good”, it’s hard to imagine it would be good for the “little people”. The poor, the middle class, the elderly, the young, those on fixed incomes. They all lose in any kind of problem. The rich, the political class, the bureaucrats all seem to make out just fine regardless of the problem. Some like Wall Street actually prosper when they should be going broke!
So that’s the USA going broke, with no plan.
Argh!
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