By: xxxxxx on Mercoledì 12 Giugno 2002 22:27
Non ho modo di verificare, ma questa è bella!
Anche l'ultimo weekly economic monitor di IntesaBci diceva che il governo Usa avrà problemi con il debito.
DA http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/business/3447894.htm
The federal debt limit last was raised nearly five years ago, just as the budget allegedly was moving from deficit into surplus. At that time, the total debt was about $5.4 trillion. During the four fiscal years 1998-2001, the Treasury reported total federal budget surpluses of $557 billion.
During this same period, however, the national debt rose $400 billion, from $5.4 trillion to $5.8 trillion.
In other words, during the period Washington was boasting of achieving $557 billion in budget surpluses, the difference between income and outgo added $400 billion to the national debt. Simply put, this is a $957 billion accounting credibility gap.
How could it have happened? It certainly wasn't due to last year's recession or terrorist attacks. Nor was it the tax cut, which wasn't a factor during the time frame in question.
No, it was a case of reporting numbers at odds with accounting reality. There was no surplus in the real sense of the word. If there had been, the national debt would have declined rather than risen.
The national debt last week was within a hair's breadth of its legal limit. It would have been breached long ago except for Treasury's accounting machinations to avoid default on U.S. debt obligations.
Meanwhile, media watchdogs remain indifferent. Why? Embarrassment, perhaps. After years of parroting mendacious political boasts of budget surpluses, they are at a loss to explain why the national debt has been rising. Now, unable to explain, better to ignore the issue and hope it goes quietly away.