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by knowtheory 4805 days ago
Depends what your borrowing situation is.

During the financial crisis, irrespective of our level of public debt, the bond rates were actually such, that people were basically PAYING the federal government to borrow money.

Instead, we had politicians on an austerity tear, and ranting about how we needed to reduce the national debt. We could have borrowed a big chunk of money, earned the interest off of it, and then just turned around and paid back the principle.

If Republicans actually believed in running the Government like a business (they don't, but they say it), it's almost criminal that we didn't take advantage of the opportunity.
2 comments
pmorici 4805 days ago
One of the reasons rates have remained so low is because the Federal Reserve has bought over 3 Trillion in debt including just shy of 2 Trillion dollars of the US Governments debt. If debt isn't a problem then why is the Federal Reserve continuing to buy US Treasuries which has the effect of suppressing interest rates.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/18/us-usa-fed-discoun...

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talmand 4805 days ago
Yes they say it, but the opposing party opposes it. The Democrats most certainly do not wish to run the government as business but as more of a piggy bank that someone else fills each night. Therefore, even if the Republicans wanted to do such a thing they likely cannot.

But, as you say, they haven't been very serious about such an idea for quite a while.

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knowtheory 4805 days ago
That's a pretty unsophisticated understanding of liberal and/or Democratic politics and policies.

The broader point is that nobody actually wants to run the Government like a business (nor is that necessarily a good idea in aggregate). But even at the points where it makes sense for the government to behave in a business-like manner (and there are some), we do not and cannot get our shit together to do so.

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talmand 4805 days ago
Not only is it unsophisticated, it's also a huge over-generalization. Maybe I should have pointed out I was responding in kind.

Although I would say my opinion on the Democrat party is that it is not run by liberals just as the Republican party is not run by conservatives.

As for the rest, I agree.

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