Picturing US Deficits

The following is a graph from the Washington Post that shows how the Republicans from 1981 thru 2009 layered debt onto the public. This was all part of a strategy called "starve the beast". They have achieved their goal because Obama is now talking about "cutting spending" to lower the deficit. The completely wrong thing to do in the midst of a recession, but he is forced into this by the politics of the Republicans (and his own weak leadership).



The Republicans love to spread the scare story that this deficit is "unprecedented" and that it is ruining the country. The graphic makes it clear that WWII was far, far worse. And the secret is that once the US got out of the war mess it had the 20 years of strongest growth it ever experienced. I suspect if the US can pull itself out of the current malaise it will have a good 10 or 15 years of growth as people -- once they are employed again -- try to recover the lifestyles that were torn from them.