re: #59 HappyWarrior

You know, I never thought about it like that. I mean obviously a balanced budget is an understandable goal but you’re 100% right.

It’s actually a moronic goal. The US needs to maintain a minimum level of debt just to maintain a base for it’s own currency. On top of that some level is required as a backing or a medium of exchange for global finance and trade (you need an asset which has such a massive base and is so liquid that even multibillion dollar transactions have little impact on price). And then you have foreign reserves of US treasuries, and the demand for the debt as safe, secure investment. Given a growing US and global economy, the minimum level of debt the US should have increases every year (that’s not to say current levels aren’t excessive).

Bringing the concept to epic levels of stupidity is the fact that a federal balanced budget requirement is virtually guaranteed to turn the next significant economic downturn into a death spiral.