Nine trillion small

I enjoyed Terry Goldman’s rebuttal letter. Aside from learning how many cells are in the human body (I do love trivia), his discussion on considering the National Debt/GNP ratio is a sound approach. But to say that a $9 trillion debt is “not inordinately huge” was surprising. I hadn’t thought it would be necessary to address ND/GNP ratios to convince anyone that a $9 trillion debt is a ... umm ... bad thing.

As Goldman stated, the current ND/GNP ratio is 66 percent. It’s far greater if you include the unfunded Social Security and Federal pension liabilities. And don’t even dare consider Medicare’s liability!

Right after WWII, our ND/GNP ratio was a staggering 120 percent. However, our nation’s growth over the following 30 years was equally staggering, and by the end of Carter’s administration, the ND/GNP ratio has declined to 33 percent ... a low never to be seen again.

Enter the trickle-down era of Reagan and Bush Sr. Over the next 12 years, the ND/GNP ratio spiraled upwards again, hitting 64 percent at the end of Bush’s term.

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