The Demographics are Chilling
A recent Bank of International Settlements (BIS) study suggests that, absent major adjustments in fiscal policies and public policy commitments:
- Germany’s ratio of public debt to GDP could exceed 200% by 2030—with annual service on this debt approaching 10% of GDP.
- Japan’s public debt will hit 600% of GDP around 2030.
- The ratio of gross U.S. public debt to GDP will hit 300%.
Full Wall Street Journal article on demographic pressure and financial crises.
It’s Monday morning, and already you have me depressed.
Ominous.
The proposals coming out of the varous commissions (Bowles/Simpson, Ryan/Rivlin, Domenici/Rivlin) are promising, but both the right and the left seem to be rejecting them out of hand.
If you can be depressed so easily Mr. Bruce, surely it can’t be hard to make you happy- go watch a stupid youtube video.
Wasn’t it Voltaire who said something to the effect of… “Democracy is doomed once the citizens realize they can vote themselves other people’s money.”
Do anyone see Bernanke’s 60 minutes interview last night?
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7120553n&tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel
It was a pathetic attempt to make sense of all the current stimulus plans while at the same time saying, “Oh, and by the way, we’re about to go crashing off the Medicare and Social Security cliff.”
Actually, I have some sympathy for Bernanke. Look how many idiots he has to deal with in the rest of the government.