Let's be clear. Under Clinton, the debt was not paid in full. The deficit was paid in full and then overpaid a little. That over payment took money out of the economy, leading to the 2002 recession.

Since deficits will remain forever, the "national debt" will keep rising forever and, depending on the bond interest rates, the debt interest expense may also rise forever. So what?

Congress creates fiat money out of thin air with cost-free keystrokes. When the money is spent on goods and services, it may affect the economy during full employment (or close to it).
During recessions, this spending increases employment, limited only by the threat of inflation, which is nowhere in sight.

When Congress spends money on debt interest expense during a recession, the money goes into investors' bank accounts, not into the purchase of goods and services. Thus it has no effect on the recession economy.

During prosperity, the money may be spent for investment and may contribute to inflation. In that case, it is the responsibility of the Fed to raise interest rates high enough to discourage investment. It is also the responsibility of Congress to restrain spending on infrastructure during prosperity and to promote spending during recessions.

In any case, the national debt will grow forever and never be a problem. Wall Street con artists have panicked the public and many ignorant journalists and politicians in Congress and in the White House. It’s a h**x meant to yield a fortune in commissions by privatizing Social Security and Medicare. And, by bribing Congress into austerity, the Wall Street charlatans are nursing a huge army of unemployed labor to suppress middle class wages and working conditions. As our rotting infrastructure renders our industry incompetent, it is that growing army of unemployed labor that will become “unsustainable”.

Surely, you jest. Building a new building is not moving a plant. It's building a plant. Did anyone really move the equipment for building an airplane from one building to another? Did they have extra money they didn't need?

Q1: Is our so-called “national debt” really a serious debt, an interest-bearing burden that we must repay?
A1: No, It lacks the two essential qualities of a really serious debt. It’s a “Debt In Name Only”, a “DINO” -

1. A really serious debt is a burden. Our DINO is not now and never will be a burden for taxpayers.

Our DINO is the total value of all issued and still maturing treasuries. Who pays for the redemption of mature treasuries? Not the taxpayers! The buyers of newly-issued treasuries pay for the redemption of mature treasuries. It’s equivalent to a simple bond rollover done every day. In every auction, more bonds are demanded than are available from the supply of new issues. Auction winners get the safest, most liquid US dollar instruments; the losers are stuck with bank risk. If it were ever necessary, the Fed could even create an artificial demand for US Treasury bonds by buying large quantities of them in the open market with a few cost-free keystrokes. Where’s the taxpayers’ burden?

Our Treasury does not borrow money like a home-buyer taking a mortgage. It is rather a custodian of funds, like a bank accepting money offered for certificates of deposit. While a bank with too many bad loans can certainly have too many maturing CDs, our non-lending, fiat Treasury cannot have too many maturing bonds unless its deficit spending is causing harmful inflation. And that happens ONLY in a war or emergency requiring rationing. It NEVER happens during a recession. During prosperity, banks are ALWAYS the sole cause of inflation, creating over $6 of credit for every $1 of deficit spending. To curb inflation, don’t restrict infrastructure spending for the future! Regulate the banks!

The Treasury auctions bonds only because Congress requires that the proceeds finance the annual budget deficit. This requirement, now a relic of the former gold standard regime, was suspended during World War II, followed by 35 years of strong economic growth without harmful inflation. Now, under our fiat currency regime, Congress can again finance deficits out of thin air without auctions, the same way your corner bank financed your home mortgage.

Calling our DINO “unsustainable”, Wall Street con artists have panicked the public and many ignorant journalists and politicians in Congress and in the White House. It’s a h**x meant to yield a fortune in commissions by privatizing Social Security and Medicare. And, by bribing Congress into austerity, the Wall Street charlatans are nursing a huge army of unemployed labor to suppress middle class wages and working conditions. As our rotting infrastructure renders our industry incompetent, it is that growing army of unemployed labor that will become “unsustainable”.

2. A really serious debt must be repaid. Our DINO will never be repaid and should never be repaid.

Only a budget surplus can reduce our DINO. Since dropping the gold standard in1971, we have rarely had even a modest budget surplus. None is now in sight. To supply enough treasuries, the ONLY risk-free instruments used for trade collateral, insurance, pensions, bank reserves, etc., our Dino must continue to grow along with our economy. In fact, deflation and then depression will hit us hard unless big budget deficits replace the cash now flowing into China.

Q: Won’t we need higher tax rates to pay for infrastructure?
A: Congress does not use or need our taxes for spending. The IRS repossesses enough federal spending to prevent harmful inflation and then destroys every cent of it. (Cash payments are shred and the pulp is sold). For spending, Congress creates new money out of thin air, deposits it in the Treasury, writes checks, and makes the Treasury auction bonds to finance the deficit, which is limited only by Congress and not by the availability of tax revenue.

Every spent federal dollar not repossessed by the IRS is saved by the private sector. Our annual budget deficit is exactly equal to the annual increase in private sector savings. YES! DEFICITS = SAVINGS! No deficits, no savings! A tax deficit is a savings surplus. It is money left on the table for the savers by Uncle Sam because he didn’t need it to prevent harmful inflation and because consumers need it to consume. We do not have a “national debt”. We have a “national savings”. The bad “Debt Clock” is really the good “Savings Clock”. How can we have too much savings?

Since bank loans must be repaid with interest and hard cash is moving to China, budget deficits (surpluses!) are the ONLY savings source that can sustain our economy. We need to DOUBLE our DINO / savings to return it to the World War II level that was followed by 35 years of prosperity without harmful inflation, even with very high tax rates. Our (DINO + total bank deposits) / GDP ratio is less than half of the comparable figure for China. Our M2 (money supply) / GDP ratio is half of Switzerland’s ratio and one quarter of Hong Kong’s ratio. Too much savings?

OK! Not a helicopter. Then how did they move the plant? Brick by brick? How many trucks? Or how big was the one truck? How do you move an airplane factory?

Details! details!

There is salvation in these books (about $10 at Amazon.)

* Frank N. Newman, former Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury, recipient of the Treasury’s annual “Alexander Hamilton” award, author of “Freedom from National Debt” (Two Harbors Press)

* Francis X. Cavanaugh, US Treasury economist for over 30 years, author of “The T***h about the National Debt”: Five Myths and One Reality” (Harvard Business School Press)

*Warren Mosler, economist, author of “Seven Deadly Frauds of Economic Policy” (Oxford U. Press)

*Marc Blyth, Brown University professor of international political economics and author of “Austerity” (Oxford University Press)

And an internet blog:
*Dr. Stephanie Kelton, Chair of the UMKC Economics Department, at NewEconomicPerspectives.org

The President can only appoint cabinet members, judges, regulators, and the Fed chairman, with consent of Congress. He has absolutely no power over the economy. All taxing and spending powers are in Congress. Read the Constitution. Get an education.


Even the small stimulus ($800 B with an economy short by $3T) was dictated by Republican Senator Olympia Snowe. It's a Republican depression.

How big was the helicopter? How thick was the cable holding the plant? Details! Details!

A mantra instead of facts and reason. Typical.

Energy, so far, is the only item in short supply. That's not inflation. That's cost. All your other complaints are about debt, not inflation.

Anyway, you have to distinguish between 2% inflation and 4% and higher inflation. The former is what we have and what we must live with to avoid deflation. The latter is what we have to avoid. It comes only during prosperity and is due only to bank lending, not government deficit spending, which is minimal during prosperity, when bank lending is 6X deficit spending.

Q1: Is our so-called “national debt” really a serious debt, an interest-bearing burden that we must repay?
A1: No, It lacks the two essential qualities of a really serious debt. It’s a “Debt In Name Only”, a “DINO” -

1. A really serious debt is a burden. Our DINO is not now and never will be a burden for taxpayers.

Our DINO is the total value of all issued and still maturing treasuries. Who pays for the redemption of mature treasuries? Not the taxpayers! The buyers of newly-issued treasuries pay for the redemption of mature treasuries. It’s equivalent to a simple bond rollover done every day. In every auction, more bonds are demanded than are available from the supply of new issues. Auction winners get the safest, most liquid US dollar instruments; the losers are stuck with bank risk. If it were ever necessary, the Fed could even create an artificial demand for US Treasury bonds by buying large quantities of them in the open market with a few cost-free keystrokes. Where’s the taxpayers’ burden?

Our Treasury does not borrow money like a home-buyer taking a mortgage. It is rather a custodian of funds, like a bank accepting money offered for certificates of deposit. While a bank with too many bad loans can certainly have too many maturing CDs, our non-lending, fiat Treasury cannot have too many maturing bonds unless its deficit spending is causing harmful inflation. And that happens ONLY in a war or emergency requiring rationing. It NEVER happens during a recession. During prosperity, banks are ALWAYS the sole cause of inflation, creating over $6 of credit for every $1 of deficit spending. To curb inflation, don’t restrict infrastructure spending for the future! Regulate the banks!

The Treasury auctions bonds only because Congress requires that the proceeds finance the annual budget deficit. This requirement, now a relic of the former gold standard regime, was suspended during World War II, followed by 35 years of strong economic growth without harmful inflation. Now, under our fiat currency regime, Congress can again finance deficits out of thin air without auctions, the same way your corner bank financed your home mortgage.

Calling our DINO “unsustainable”, Wall Street con artists have panicked the public and many ignorant journalists and politicians in Congress and in the White House. It’s a h**x meant to yield a fortune in commissions by privatizing Social Security and Medicare. And, by bribing Congress into austerity, the Wall Street charlatans are nursing a huge army of unemployed labor to suppress middle class wages and working conditions. As our rotting infrastructure renders our industry incompetent, it is that growing army of unemployed labor that will become “unsustainable”.

2. A really serious debt must be repaid. Our DINO will never be repaid and should never be repaid.

Only a budget surplus can reduce our DINO. Since dropping the gold standard in1971, we have rarely had even a modest budget surplus. None is now in sight. To supply enough treasuries, the ONLY risk-free instruments used for trade collateral, insurance, pensions, bank reserves, etc., our Dino must continue to grow along with our economy. In fact, deflation and then depression will hit us hard unless big budget deficits replace the cash now flowing into China.

Q2: Could savers make a “run” on Treasury bonds?
A2: Yes, when savers can get risk-free returns from the Wall Street casino or from GM bonds, Illinois bonds, or Detroit bonds. Safety is not everything. Safety is the ONLY thing! That’s why the whole world relies on US bonds.

Q3. Could savers stop buying Treasury bonds?
A3. Sure, when nobody needs risk-free interest for insurance, pensions, trade collateral, bank reserves, etc., etc.

Q4: Could savers prefer foreign sovereign bonds?
A4: Yes, indeed! So far, almost two thirds of the world’s reserve currencies are in US dollars and half of all US Treasury bonds are held by foreigners. But if China’s infrastructure (and so, its productivity) becomes better than ours, its sovereign bonds could become safer than ours. But that could happen only if US v**ers worry more about our DINO than they worry about our falling bridges, failing schools, leaking sewers, aging power grids, etc., etc.
Q5: Won’t we need higher tax rates to pay for infrastructure?
A5: Congress does not use or need our taxes for spending. The IRS repossesses most federal spending ONLY to prevent harmful inflation and then destroys every cent of it. (Cash payments are shred and sold). For spending, Congress creates new money out of thin air, deposits it in the Treasury, writes checks, and makes the Treasury auction bonds to finance the deficit, which is limited ONLY by Congress and NEVER by the availability of revenue.

Every dollar spent and not repossessed by the IRS is saved by the private sector. Our annual budget deficit is exactly equal to the annual increase in private sector savings. YES! DEFICITS = SAVINGS! No deficits, no savings! A tax deficit is a savings surplus. It is money left on the table for the savers by Uncle Sam because he didn’t need it to prevent harmful inflation and because consumers need it to consume. We do not have a “national debt”. We have a “national savings”. The bad “Debt Clock” is really the good “Savings Clock”. How can we have too much savings?

Since bank loans must be repaid with interest and hard cash is moving to China, budget deficits (surpluses!) are the ONLY savings source that can sustain our economy. We need to DOUBLE our DINO / savings to return it to the World War II level that was followed by 35 years of prosperity without harmful inflation, even with very high tax rates. Our (DINO + total bank deposits) / GDP ratio is less than half of the comparable figure for China. Our M2 (money supply) / GDP ratio is half of Switzerland’s ratio and one quarter of Hong Kong’s ratio. Too much savings?

Let me lay out the sequence for you.

1. First, you need a product. It could be an existing product which you can make better and/or cheaper. It can also be a new product. Some are always being proposed.

2. You need a team of sales and production people who can evaluate sales, price, and cost of manufacture.

3. If you find a product that fits your capability and a DOD or other federal need, you try to get a federal contract.

4. If you get the contract, look for a banker that believes you have down your homework.

5. If you find the banker, get a lawyer and an accountant. You're in business.

A huge plant and all those workers should not go to waste.

Q1: Is our so-called “national debt” really a serious debt, an interest-bearing burden that we must repay?
A1: No, It lacks the two essential qualities of a really serious debt. It’s a “Debt In Name Only”, a “DINO” -

1. A really serious debt is a burden. Our DINO is not now and never will be a burden for taxpayers.

Our DINO is the total value of all issued and still maturing treasuries. Who pays for the redemption of mature treasuries? Not the taxpayers! The buyers of newly-issued treasuries pay for the redemption of mature treasuries. It’s equivalent to a simple bond rollover done every day. In every auction, more bonds are demanded than are available from the supply of new issues. Auction winners get the safest, most liquid US dollar instruments; the losers are stuck with bank risk. If it were ever necessary, the Fed could even create an artificial demand for US Treasury bonds by buying large quantities of them in the open market with a few cost-free keystrokes. Where’s the taxpayers’ burden?

Our Treasury does not borrow money like a home-buyer taking a mortgage. It is rather a custodian of funds, like a bank accepting money offered for certificates of deposit. While a bank with too many bad loans can certainly have too many maturing CDs, our non-lending, fiat Treasury cannot have too many maturing bonds unless its deficit spending is causing harmful inflation. And that happens ONLY in a war or emergency requiring rationing. It NEVER happens during a recession. During prosperity, banks are ALWAYS the sole cause of inflation, creating over $6 of credit for every $1 of deficit spending. To curb inflation, don’t restrict infrastructure spending for the future! Regulate the banks!

The Treasury auctions bonds only because Congress requires that the proceeds finance the annual budget deficit. This requirement, now a relic of the former gold standard regime, was suspended during World War II, followed by 35 years of strong economic growth without harmful inflation. Now, under our fiat currency regime, Congress can again finance deficits out of thin air without auctions, the same way your corner bank financed your home mortgage.

Calling our DINO “unsustainable”, Wall Street con artists have panicked the public and many ignorant journalists and politicians in Congress and in the White House. It’s a h**x meant to yield a fortune in commissions by privatizing Social Security and Medicare. And, by bribing Congress into austerity, the Wall Street charlatans are nursing a huge army of unemployed labor to suppress middle class wages and working conditions. As our rotting infrastructure renders our industry incompetent, it is that growing army of unemployed labor that will become “unsustainable”.

2. A really serious debt must be repaid. Our DINO will never be repaid and should never be repaid.

Only a budget surplus can reduce our DINO. Since dropping the gold standard in1971, we have rarely had even a modest budget surplus. None is now in sight. To supply enough treasuries, the ONLY risk-free instruments used for trade collateral, insurance, pensions, bank reserves, etc., our Dino must continue to grow along with our economy. In fact, deflation and then depression will hit us hard unless big budget deficits replace the cash now flowing into China.

Q2: Could savers make a “run” on Treasury bonds?
A2: Yes, when savers can get risk-free returns from the Wall Street casino or from GM bonds, Illinois bonds, or Detroit bonds. Safety is not everything. Safety is the ONLY thing! That’s why the whole world relies on US bonds.

Q3. Could savers stop buying Treasury bonds?
A3. Sure, when nobody needs risk-free interest for insurance, pensions, trade collateral, bank reserves, etc., etc.

Q4: Could savers prefer foreign sovereign bonds?
A4: Yes, indeed! So far, almost two thirds of the world’s reserve currencies are in US dollars and half of all US Treasury bonds are held by foreigners. But if China’s infrastructure (and so, its productivity) becomes better than ours, its sovereign bonds could become safer than ours. But that could happen only if US v**ers worry more about our DINO than they worry about our falling bridges, failing schools, leaking sewers, aging power grids, etc., etc.
Q5: Won’t we need higher tax rates to pay for infrastructure?
A5: Congress does not use or need our taxes for spending. The IRS repossesses most federal spending ONLY to prevent harmful inflation and then destroys every cent of it. (Cash payments are shred and sold). For spending, Congress creates new money out of thin air, deposits it in the Treasury, writes checks, and makes the Treasury auction bonds to finance the deficit, which is limited ONLY by Congress and NEVER by the availability of revenue.

Every dollar spent and not repossessed by the IRS is saved by the private sector. Our annual budget deficit is exactly equal to the annual increase in private sector savings. YES! DEFICITS = SAVINGS! No deficits, no savings! A tax deficit is a savings surplus. It is money left on the table for the savers by Uncle Sam because he didn’t need it to prevent harmful inflation and because consumers need it to consume. We do not have a “national debt”. We have a “national savings”. The bad “Debt Clock” is really the good “Savings Clock”. How can we have too much savings?

You were and remain incapable of contesting a single sentence I wrote. You can't disagree with it but you don't like the conclusion.

Too bad! You will have to grow a brain in order to refute it. All you can do is repeat your slurs and mantras. That's all you know.

What you don't know is that thousands of executives with manufacturing experience are looking for work and can be hired by the union for a song. None of the ingredients are rare except someone to pay for the product. You can also hire marketing execs who can find out what is needed and what are the prices.

I recommend for you a course in Business 101.

The "debt will never stop growing and should not stop growing.

Every dollar spent and not repossessed by the IRS is saved by the private sector. Our annual budget deficit is exactly equal to the annual increase in private sector savings. YES! DEFICITS = SAVINGS! No deficits, no savings! A tax deficit is a savings surplus. It is money left on the table for the savers by Uncle Sam because he didn’t need it to prevent harmful inflation and because consumers need it to consume. We do not have a “national debt”. We have a “national savings”. The bad “Debt Clock” is really the good “Savings Clock”. How can we have too much savings?

Since bank loans must be repaid with interest and hard cash is moving to China, budget deficits (surpluses!) are the ONLY savings source that can sustain our economy. We need to DOUBLE our "debt" / savings to return it to the World War II level that was followed by 35 years of prosperity without harmful inflation, even with very high tax rates. Our ("debt" + total bank deposits) / GDP ratio is less than half of the comparable figure for China. Our M2 (money supply) / GDP ratio is half of Switzerland’s ratio and one quarter of Hong Kong’s ratio. Too much savings?