Trudeau: U.S. Debt is Not Sustainable

[d08]

From what Google searches I’ve read it seems that one big difference that’s obvious is that Canada has cut defense spending first in lieu of any changes to domestic programs the past couple decades. Canadian defense spending is currently 1% of GDP and for the US it’s 3.5% of GDP.

And now that Canada has been told to carry their own water in terms of aggressive Russian border incursions that will have to change. I was pretty shocked that Huff Post - Canada just destroyed the sad dilapidated state of the Canadian defense forces.

There difference in federal spending is about 8%, defense spending only explains 2.5% according to your figures.
Also, US could easily spend 2.5% instead of 3.5% on defense without losing its status. The defense lobby will never let that happen though. Don't confuse corporate profit seeking with national security.

 

[Tsing Tao]

He's talking about government debt as is obvious from the fact he talks about government spending.

An interesting chart:

Of course he's talking about government debt. But you have to look at debt in the whole to get the picture of health of a country. Government, personal/household and corporate - though corporate is a bit more tricky. As I said in the opening post, there's no doubt US debt is unsustainable. But Canada has got real problems as well, and Trudeau would be better off spending his time figuring out how to address problems at home rather than obsessing with US debt, like some rather obsessed posters who hail from our northern neighbor on this very forum.

 

[bone]

Trudeau didn’t seem to mind Obama’s “Quantitative Easing” - didn’t say a peep about it.

It’s all about political expediency.

 

[Trader200K]

Trudeau didn’t seem to mind Obama’s “Quantitative Easing” - didn’t say a peep about it.

It’s all about political expediency.

Yep, a Leftist concerned about prudent use of other people's money is fish/bicycle territory.

 

[Bill.C.]

It's weird to agree with Trudeau. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, I suppose. As for how to get national budget under control, there's a simple (but not easy) solution: cut down on entitlement spending. It'd be complete political suicide though. I'm also not a huge fan of reducing the military budget, since national defense is one of the few things the federal govt. absolutely needs coordinate, rather than delegate.

 

[ironchef]

No shit, Canuck. But get your own house in order before you criticize your neighbors.

He was just the messenger, we don't want to admit it but the truth is painful.

Just look at this chart:

 

[ironchef]

Of course he's talking about government debt. But you have to look at debt in the whole to get the picture of health of a country. Government, personal/household and corporate - though corporate is a bit more tricky. As I said in the opening post, there's no doubt US debt is unsustainable. But Canada has got real problems as well, and Trudeau would be better off spending his time figuring out how to address problems at home rather than obsessing with US debt, like some rather obsessed posters who hail from our northern neighbor on this very forum.

I am just a small mom and pop retail trader and don't know high finance or know how to run anything other than balance my household budget. Forget about Canada, just look at US total debt over the years:

I don't think it is sustainable either.

 

[bone]

He was just the messenger, we don't want to admit it but the truth is painful.

In a previous post in this thread, I stated that I agreed that the US Debt is indeed unsustainable. Having said that, I think that Trudeau is not just the messenger - he's a political opportunist. He's being disingenuous to a considerable extent.

Facts:

1. Trudeau didn't say a word when Obama was President and he was juicing the economy to the gills with the infamous "Quantitative Easing". With literally trillions of United States dollars. And that had a direct and positive effect on the Canadian economy without a doubt.

2. The United States Federal Reserve guaranteed $114-billion worth of financial aid for Canada’s big banks, the Bank of Canada, and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp from October 2008 to July 2010.

 

[userque]

He was just the messenger, we don't want to admit it but the truth is painful.

Welcome back ironchef! Figured you were busy playing with Excel's iterative calculations!

We can admit it...we just don't want anyone else to admit it.

What's more important than discussing the debt and solutions to it?
What will draw greater emotional outrage than the unaddressed debt?

The messenger.

Sadly, these are strange times we live in.

 

[ironchef]

Welcome back ironchef! Figured you were busy playing with Excel's iterative calculations!

It is hard work. Jan was easy money but Feb/Mar/Apr were hell. I even tried using Kalman filters to model but to no avail.

Maybe you have another better mouse trap?

Regards,