[NYTr] US Economic Time Bomb: US Debt Grows by $1.4 Billion Every Day

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Granma International - Dec 6, 2007
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2007/diciembre/juev6/bomba.html

A time bomb

Every day U.S. national debt grows by $1.4 billion

WASHINGTON.— Like a ticking time bomb, the U.S. national debt is
waiting to explode, growing by $1.4 billion daily, at almost $1 million
per minute.

For people in the United States, that means a debt of almost $30,000
for each man, woman and child, the AP reported.

In fact, even if some people have escaped unscathed from the recent
mortgage and credit crisis and are dealing with high fuel prices
without too much trouble, they could still be headed for poverty, along
with the rest of the country, the article noted.

According to the AP, the government is rapidly exhausting the resources
it needs to meet interest payments on the national debt, which now
stands at $9.13 trillion.

And just like people who took out adjustable-rate mortgages on their
homes, the government may see its own debt —now at relatively low
interest rates— begin to have much higher rates, making the financial
suffering greater.

As long as someone is willing to keep lending money to the U.S.
government, the debt will be mostly relegated to oblivion.

But interest payments continue to accumulate, and with time could
overshadow other government spending, leading to considerably higher
taxes or cuts in basic services like Social Security and other federal
government programs.

A major economic slowdown, which some economists say could be fast
approaching, could accelerate the arrival of that moment.

The national debt, which is the accumulation of all annual budget
deficits, has risen from a total of $5.7 trillion, when George W. Bush
took office in January 2001, and will exceed $10 trillion when he
leaves office in January 2009.

Translated by Granma International