The US Economy - A Ponzi Scheme

[whell]

Originally Posted by finnbow

It ain't a Ponzi scheme, Whell. Were it not for Reaganomics, Dubya's tax cuts and his lax enforcement of securities law, we'd be sitting fat.

Sorry, but the facts presented don't support that contention, even though I know that's the lefty programmed response any gov't spending issue that might be raised. Note my comment that appears just above the graph in the OP:

In terms of comparing US Treasury receipts in constant 2014 dollars, we're now in the same range as previous record receipt years that occurred in the 2nd term of both the Clinton and G W Bush presidencies.

Now, I don't want to rehash old discussion, but to further the point:

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfa....cfm?Docid=200

Note the deficits when expressed as a ratio of GDP. Declining in Reagan's 2nd term once the impact of tax policy kicked in, and would have declined faster if similar reductions in budget that were targeted weren't given away at the budget negotiation table. Also declined significantly under G W Bush in term 2, despite "Dubya's tax cuts". Then, jumping to stratospheric levels under Obama, and remaining there despite allegations of economic growth the addition of jobs and the "summer of recovery".

What's interesting to me - and not represented in the graph, so you actually have to do the math - is to compare the relative fiscal discipline of each Administration by comparing the ratio of budgeted income to outlays. Reagan and Bush Sr's a higher than Clinton's on average. "Dubya's" is lower than Clinton's average for their respective terms. Obama's ratio is stratospheric by any comparison.