Liberal economists have a ready response to conservatives who fret
that U.S. debt might spiral out of control, a la Southern Europe:
“America is not Greece.”
It’s true. Greece has much more public debt than does the United States, relative to economic output. Unlike Greece’s euro-denominated obligations, U.S. debt is in U.S. dollars. The U.S. economy is far more competitive than Greece’s tourism-and-tomatoes operation.
Certain parts of the United States, however, are like Greece. Just read emergency manager Kevyn Orr’s134-page report on Detroit, which has $20 billion in unpayable debt.
Couched in the workmanlike prose of a bankruptcy lawyer — which is what Orr is — the document nevertheless tells a harrowing story of institutional rot and social collapse, brought on by decades of government of, by and for special-interest groups.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-lane-detroits-greek-tragedy/2013/07/08/ad1ba63a-e7e4-11e2-8f22-de4bd2a2bd39_story.html
It’s true. Greece has much more public debt than does the United States, relative to economic output. Unlike Greece’s euro-denominated obligations, U.S. debt is in U.S. dollars. The U.S. economy is far more competitive than Greece’s tourism-and-tomatoes operation.
Certain parts of the United States, however, are like Greece. Just read emergency manager Kevyn Orr’s134-page report on Detroit, which has $20 billion in unpayable debt.
Couched in the workmanlike prose of a bankruptcy lawyer — which is what Orr is — the document nevertheless tells a harrowing story of institutional rot and social collapse, brought on by decades of government of, by and for special-interest groups.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/charles-lane-detroits-greek-tragedy/2013/07/08/ad1ba63a-e7e4-11e2-8f22-de4bd2a2bd39_story.html
No comments:
Post a Comment