Quote from Scataphagos:
The ONLY correct path for US recovery includes (1) Slash government and entitlements 40-50%, (2) Slash tax rates.... Art Laffer says, "11.5% flat tax on both individuals and corporations is all it would take", and (3) broaden the tax base as much as possible. Without these things, the sand of our hour glass is rapidly being draining.
I agree. BUT, that won't guarantee a soft landing. Far from it.
We balance the budget, and it's a Depression. Our economy is on life support right now from deficit spending. We balance the books, and thats a 9% GDP haircut. Then, there's FIRE to consider. Financial Insurance Real Estate comprises 25% of US GDP. That industry requires ever increasing asset values, credit growth and a bouyed economy to stay afloat. Balance the books equals depression equals another 10% haircut in FIRE. That's a good 20% GDP contraction, right there.
Then, we've still got the massive national debt to contend with and we're just breaking even on the budget !! But that's really in la-la land. Cause the act of balancing the books itself, causes a depression, which causes tax revenues to shrink even further. So, now we're in a net shortfall, which will require even more cuts past 9% GDP just to break even, and even more cuts to generate a surplus, to pay down the debt.
See, we're in a serious, serious problem. Greece is like a fart in the wind. 36 Billion is nothing. When they go bankrupt, they can work it off in Germany or France.
When America pays off its debt, the entire economy takes a massive, massive crash. Oh yea, just imagine what happens to the stock and real estate market when we balance the books (9% GDP haircut). Yea, whoops !!