Sitting on a $35 Trillion Problem: Is America's Economy at Risk?

00:00 Debt-To-GDP
02:49 Higher Interest Costs
03:40 Increased Borrowing Costs
04:34 Slower Economic Growth
05:58 Inflation Risk
06:39 Macro Effects
07:57 Addressing Debt

Disclaimer: Please note that this video is made for entertainment purposes only and not to be taken as financial advice. Always make sure to do your own research.

Thanks for watching, I appreciate you!

[vernshird]

There are only two things in life you can control, your actions and your reactions. Don't worry about the noise, just make sure you are debt-free and live within your means. That way, when the SHTF, you'll be in a better position to make it through.

[michaelb]

I could listen to you talk about money all day

[sanjayparekh]

Your explanation is very good, logical and accurate. You deserve a million followers ❤ God Bless…

[mikebridges]

Erin, the problem of the national debt is one that my wife and I have been aware of since the early 90s. Larry Burkett wrote "The Coming Economic Earthquake", predicting calamity, and was famously quoted in the early 2000s as "I was just wrong." For some reason, national-scale economics just don't seem to react to the same forces that we have to deal with in microeconomics, or at least they haven't over the past 35 years.

*I* don't understand this scale of economic math; it just doesn't make sense to me. So, we do what we can. We're out of debt, we've invested over the decades, we spend below our means, etc. If our SS gets reduced in the future, we'll deal with it. If my pension gets cut, we'll deal with it. WHATEVER IT IS, we'll deal with it, best we can. That's all we can do.

[TheOriginalTucriah]

Rampant government overspending needs to be addressed. Our politicians need to actually sit down and create a new budget instead of passing extentions on the current one that is compounding the problem.

[tothra]

Hi Erin, thank you for taking on a subject I consider terribly depressing when I think about my daughters standard of living 30 years down the road. You managed to take a topic that is too often ignored and make it understandable to the "common person". On top of that, you actually presented it in a way that didn't cause me an anxiety attack. Well done on your part! Ultimately this debt burden is collectively the fault of we the voters. As a group, we elect and re-elect politicians who refuse to deal with the debt problem, despite the lip service. Worse, we collectively refuse to elect people who would make the unpopular but needed cuts to the budget. Now if we can figure out a way to make every voter watch this video before every election 😊

[suzannehall]

You addressed this issue very well. My first thought when I started watching was welcome to the rest of the world, but you spoke very well about this too. We have had big problems in Australia with debt for a long time and a government that has no understanding of finance whatsoever, doesn’t everyone know that money grows on trees and debts disappear into black holes? Hearing them and the press talking about it makes me want to scream.

[Cytonic]

Japan's debt to GDP ratio is over 260%. Lyn Alden discusses how they have postponed the consequences. Recommend looking at that interview. I'll see if I can find a link.

For most developed countries, the point of runaway debt is roughly 130% of GDP. As the US becomes less of a financial superpower, we will be in more danger of increasing, uncontrollable inflation.

Regardless, as we enter an era of fiscal dominance, the monetary levers we have been pulling for decades will have less power.

[darellhunter]

Great job making a complex topic simple.

[jeremygermenis]

Politicians like people thinking about this in terms of debt instead of inflation. When your the reserve currency your not borrowing money your devaluing it.

[Bum_Hip]

6:35 that is why it is important to recognize wages have outpaced inflation in the recent past.

[shawnbrennan]

I know that economists like to compare Debt to GDP, and that people who explain things to us then try to compare the ratios to household debt to income. But that’s not how I see our nation’s problem.

We have a $35T debt and only collected $4.44T in tax revenue last year. So, we clearly need to increase tax revenue and reduce government spending, NO MATTER WHETHER THE GDP GOES UP OR DOWN.

Or we can ignore it, as some economists are okay with.

[greggpurviance]

Good vid. One slight correction, SS is not part of the debt issue since it is separate & not part of the general budget, or technically part of the deficit. It is an issue with taxes since it is part of the tax burden.

[racerx]

I use the real estate market to get info on economic problems. If you check any of the realty apps for home sales in vacation/resort towns there are tons of homes for sale. Most are second or vacation homes. When people are strapped, the second home is one of the first things to go. I live in a resort town, Bend, Oregon and there are tons of homes going up for sale. I've seen this before. Be ready for the crash!!!!

[joethecomputerguy]

Even in the bloopers you smile. That helps folks like me. Thanks!

[KazBronhard]

Erin, thank you for the video. Professor Karen D. is most quoted person saying that National Debt (ND) is not that critical to our economy. However, this just a one-person opinion.
We need a panel of experts ( 10 or so, not a politicians) to answer this question once and for all. If indeed, ND does matter and needs to be re-pay by us, our children, and grandchildren we are in serious trouble. Almost $35T and counting. We are no longer accumulating debt following linear function, we have entered a hockey stick trajectory that will destroy us in couple decades.

[Gary]

The US needs to control rates like Japan does, keeping borrowing costs near 0 no matter what the debt is.

[ashley]

this feels like a high schoolish video essay on hot topic topic financial issues

[mrjuvy]

Warren Buffet said if 800 companies paid higher corporate taxes this would help both our country and personal oncome taxes needed. A small tax on stock transfers could help long term redemption of debt. ( don't put this $$ in general fund)

[ld]

Hi Erin. Another good video and discussion. IMO our debt level has long ago passed the "too much mark" long ago. With our GDP trending downward and the fact that we are adding $1 trillion of debt about every 90 days, it doesn't take a Congressional inquiry to see we have a big problem brewing. We need to focus on cutting costs and senseless and wastful govenment spending. Just like individuals and small business does when trying to save itself from bankruptcy, we need some ruthless and sever budget and cost cutting. Government is far too big and most departments, such as the dept of agriculture and also education could easily function on 10-15% of their employees IMO with needed changes made. We have more people feeding from the trough in the department of agriculture than we have farmers in this country. That is just one example of a huge waste with our out of control government growth and excess. It now exists only to benefit itself and not it's citizens IMO. There are now easy or quick fixes to this but we have to start somewhere and be relentless in our efforts. Larry, Central Valley, Ca.