By: Matt Sherman

Matt Sherman — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 19:56:26 +0000

This movie is really good at scaring you. Some of the projections are absolutely bone-chilling. But it largely overstates the problem — the deficit is currently at a manageable level of 3% of GDP. And we need to run a deficit in this economic downturn to ensure we don’t have skyrocketing rates of unemployment. The flim also ignores one of the best solutions to the “problem” — health care reform. If our health care system were as efficient as other industrialized nations, and if Medicare/Medicaid were able to take advantage of these lower costs, then our deficit problem would basically disappear. Check out the Center for Economic and Policy Research, they have a nice graphic that demonstrates this well: http://www.cepr.net/calculators/iousadeficit/calc_iousa_deficit.html

By: matty

matty — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:02:40 +0000

One of the most interesting facts discussed in IOUSA was how only 32% of the budget is comprised of expenditures outlined in the Constitution…the other 68% is how we got into this enormous debt. Sadly I see this trend continuing because politicians do not get elected by saying “No, you can’t have that” (generally). It was discouraging to see that the challenge of getting this message out on the local news can be insurmountable.
I highly recommend the documentary to brokeass readers.

Comments on: I.O.U.S.A. Financial Documentary Premiers Tonight!

By: Matt Sherman

By: matty