A Rebuttal to Doom-and-Gloom forecasts such as Debt Collapse: The Decline and Fall of the USA

And this is even leaving aside the very dubious assumptions about continued low returns cited by Edstrom's sole supporting link.

Newly created jobs, in a well-run public works program also generate wealth, of course, as is proven by the national wealth from the public works projects initiated under FDR that we are still enjoying today. Again, these are investments, not just liabilities, as Edstrom strongly implies.

Medicare is another example of this, and is a cheaper option than Obamacare, which is basically a subsidy for the private healthcare insurance companies. If Edstrom wants to rein in the cost of healthcare -- the largest in the world -- he should support Medicare for All, as Bernie Sanders does, and which, as Robert Reich and others have pointed out, is the solution, not the problem to high healthcare costs. Additionally, Medicare should be strengthened by being allowed to negotiate for lower drug prices. But even now, public payment of healthcare is a net benefit, not a net cost. You can't just look at the spending side of the ledger without accounting for what's gained.

And there's more. We have, according to Georgist economist Mason Gaffney, some $5.3t in economic rent, which mainly goes into undeserving private hands now. This is money Land/location holders make simply for holding those assets, not from any productive activity. This money, if properly collected, could eliminate the need for any other form of taxes, and the removal of this deadweight loss to the productive classes -- mostly in the middle class -- would greatly stimulate economic production, growth, and work towards eliminating the national debt in the best way possible.

I talk about these ideas, and much more, in my book "America is Not Broke!" Perhaps Edstrom and others will have a read, and stop regurgitating the scare stories of conservative outlets like those of the Pete Peterson Institute and other institutions and ultra-wealthy individuals like the Koch Brothers, who only want to increase the divide between them and the 99% to enrich themselves still further.

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