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- Newsgroups: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh
- Path: sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!linac!uchinews!ellis!thf2
- From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
- Subject: Re: Deficit
- Message-ID: <1993Jan23.101214.24725@midway.uchicago.edu>
- Sender: news@uchinews.uchicago.edu (News System)
- Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
- Organization: University of Chicago
- References: <1993Jan22.151554.9936@midway.uchicago.edu> <C1ALA4.EpB@unix.portal.com>
- Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1993 10:12:14 GMT
- Lines: 31
-
- In article <C1ALA4.EpB@unix.portal.com> mykes@shell.portal.com (mike myke schwartz) writes:
- >Ted Frank (thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu) wrote:
- >: In article <C18sw2.A51@unix.portal.com> mykes@shell.portal.com (mike myke schwartz) writes:
- >: >Ted Frank (thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu) wrote:
- >: >: Deficit as percent of GNP doesn't tell us enough -- I wouldn't mind
- >: >: a high percentage, just so long as the economy is growing faster than
- >: >: the debt. I'm going to use debt/GNP rather than deficit/GNP.
- >: >:
- >: >: As percent of GNP, debt (rather than deficit) was steadily declining
- >: >: from Truman to Nixon, levelled under Nixon, stayed level until Reagan,
- >: >: and has been skyrocketing ever since.
- >: >
- >: >Why not consider debt to income ratio?
- >
- >No, income is tax (and other) revenues. About $1.2 Trillion in 1992.
-
- But "tax revenues" tells us too little. If taxes are 2% of GNP, then
- there's lots of room to expand "tax revenues." If taxes are a huge
- proportion of GNP, there isn't. If we need to include GNP in the
- equation to make the "tax revenue" ratio tell us anything, then
- we might as well use GNP, and cut out the middleman.
-
- >If you really take GNP into account, you need to consider public AND
- >private sector debt...
-
- Be my guest. But that's a different topic than the one everyone else
- was talking about.
- --
- ted frank | thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu
- standard disclaimers | void where prohibited
- the university of chicago law school, chicago, illinois 60637
-