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manowar
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Quote: from Broken Leg on 2:27 pm on Feb. 26, 2005
Oi Manowar,
where did you get your GDP data from?
Can't find the exact 2004 figures but here is the 2003 stuff from the world bank
US GDP 11 trillion, total debt 7 trillion, so by your formula
11/7 *100 = 64%
Ouch
http://www.worldbank.org/data/databytopic/GDP.pdf
can we finish this now please.
guess I missed a decimal, it's only a couple of hundred of trillions, should not be a big deal with US$$ dropping like a rock............Just checking to see if you were sleeping on the job.............hahaha
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 12:34 am on Feb. 27, 2005
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DaffyDuck
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Quote: from TJ on 10:27 am on Feb. 27, 2005
I would like to take this moment to interject a URL while quietly sobbing. 
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi?From=USD&Amount=1&To=THB
Indeed - all the talk about how mighty the US is, doesn't make a hill worth of differences, if we keep getting less and less Baht for our dollar.
I'm heading over in April (songkran), so I'm worried about that.
Dr. von Quack!
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Bangkok Women : Meet Sensual Bangkok Women
Posted on: 1:34 am on Feb. 27, 2005
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manowar
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so now we have to pay $ 51 instead of $50 for a bj? Damn, cancel my ticket, please.
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Thai Girls : Meet Sexy Thai Girls
Posted on: 2:03 am on Feb. 27, 2005
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Mr Alan
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Here are statistics for selected nations that show its total accumulated public debt as a percent of GDP (as of 2003 year end). Note that for the USA, it includes Federal Debt plus State and Local Debt (School bonds, public utility bonds, etc).
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html
Japan – 155%
Italy - 106%
Singapore - 106%
Belgium - 102%
Greece - 101%
Saudi Arabia - 95%
Canada - 77%
France - 69%
Germany - 64%
Spain - 63%
USA - 62%
Portugal - 60%
India - 60%
Sweden - 52%
UK - 51%
Finland - 49%
China - 30%
S Korea – 14%
The actual US Federal Only debt (38%) included in the discussion below is lower than the number above (62%) since it does not include State and Local debt like the CIA statistics. However the historical ratios should be about the same. Also, the US government is not responsible for local governments that default on debt payments (it has happened in the past).
Here is an article entitled: “Why America’s Debt Burden Is Declining” which the source of the quotes and charts below.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/bg1820.cfm#_ftnref2
“During World War II, the [US] debt ratio surged from 40 percent to 109 percent, meaning the nation’s debt was actually larger than its GDP. After dropping down to 23 percent of GDP by 1974, the [US] debt ratio increased to 49 percent by 1994 before dropping to 38 percent in 2004.”
See the chart below for that demonstrates this Debt to GDP ratio since WWII.
http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm&PageID=74361
And here is the conclusion of the article:
“Social Security and Medicare pose the most serious danger to long-term spending restraint. Together, these programs face an unfunded liability of $33.2 trillion, which is eight times larger than the current national debt. Without reform, lawmakers have two choices: They can either raise taxes to levels unseen in American history or increase the debt ratio to levels comparable to levels experienced during World War II. Either way, Americans could expect substantially higher taxes, lower incomes, and more poverty.
The obsessive focus on budget deficits is misguided. The debt ratio, a superior measure of government’s debt burden, is as dependent on economic growth as federal borrowing. The past decade has shown that a growing economy can absorb modestly increasing debt levels.
The danger of debt is that it represents a claim on future taxes. Streamlining wasteful spending while pursuing a pro-growth tax policy can simultaneously reduce debt levels and make debt more affordable. On the flip side, attempts to reduce the debt burden by raising taxes backfire because the declining debt would be accompanied by declining economic growth, likely canceling out any improvement in the debt ratio.”
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Sexy Bangkok Girls
Posted on: 2:47 am on Feb. 27, 2005
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Broken Leg
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Quote: from DaffyDuck on 7:04 am on Feb. 27, 2005
Okay, then let me correct that my statement refers to 'this particular time in the world' - obviously the Chinese at one point led the world in terms of innovation, discovery, science and invention -- that's nice, but the same can be said for the Arabs (Moors), the Egyptians, etc.... yet at this particular time in history, the prior two are merely a footnote in history (even though much of what they contributd lives on).
Similarly, despite the historical contributions by the Chinese a *LONG TIME AGO*, the majority of innovations and contributions since the industrial revolution had not come from them (or the Arabs, or the Egyptians...) - at this particular time in history, the kind of innovation and inventiveness that makes the world 'go around' does come from America for the most part - and while much of that is shifting (especially in science and medical research, thanks to the religious conservatives), the innovations in consumer products and consumer technologies are still 'invented here' (though clearly most if not all manufactured in China).
This can, and will, change and shift eventually - but in the case of China it will require a significant cultural and ideological shift - a government and culture de-stressing individualism in favor of conformity, does not help the growth of individual and innovative spirits - As I said, this can, and will invariably change, but not right now, and not for the near future.
Dr. von Quack!
I beg to differ with you daffy, in the modern world by far the most inventive and innovative people are the Scots. A nation with a population of just 5 million people.
Lets take a look at just some of the things the scots have given the world. By the way daffy if you need to find Scotland on the map, it's in Europe and it's just north of England.
Mathematical & Financial
Logarithms, The Bank of England, Capitalism,The overdraft,The decimal point.
Technological
The threshing machine,The gravitating compass
Street lighting, The steam engine,The pneumatic tyre
The pedal bicycle, Tarmacadam (the modern road surface), The locomotive, The bus, The telegraph
The thermos flask, The telephone,The gas mask
Colour photographs, The lawnmower
Television, The fax machine, The photocopier
Video, The kaleidoscope
Scientific
Theory of combustion, Electric light, Geology
Gardenias, Helium, Radar, Neon, Artificial ice
Dolly, the cloned sheep
Medical
The hypodermic syringe, Anaesthesia, Morphine
Antiseptics, Insulin, Penicillin (Co discovered)
Interferon, The thermometer, Ante-natal clinics
Sport
Golf, Curling, Tennis courts, The bowling green
Electronic
The alpha chip, Blue lasers, Kerr Lens Modelocking techniques
Everyday Items
Marmalade, Writing paper, The fountain pen
Postcards, The Mackintosh (aka raincoats)
Suspenders
Miscellaneous
Finger-printing, Encyclopaedia Britannica
Documentary films, The traffic cone and my favourite - Sherlock Holmes
In fact a recent Japanese think tank found that about 60% of items we take for granted on an everyday basis were invented in the UK. I guess they don't consider the Big Mac and Coca Cola everyday items over there (maybe thats why they have a higer life expectancy)
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 6:34 am on Feb. 27, 2005
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DaffyDuck
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Interesting additional information, BrokenLeg - this inventiveness by the Scottish was all done *in* Scotland, or was it done by Scottish people, yet outside Scotland? I have a feeling you were just refering to people of Scottish origin, versus Scotland as a location and country...
Nevertheless, this does not detract from my points (and which is the issue of this debate) regarding Chinese inventiveness, at this point in time.
> By the way daffy if you need to find Scotland on the map, it's in
> Europe and it's just north of England.
It might help you to know that I'm not American, so you can actually start using bigger words, and assuming I know geography - I know it might seem incredulous for non-Americans to actually speak in favor of America, but, you know, partisanship is for insects...
Dr. von Quack!
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 10:35 am on Feb. 27, 2005
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Triyclops
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I am so lucky I get paid in Baht, Euros and UK Pounds Sterling. 
TC
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Thai Girls : Meet Active Thai Girls
Posted on: 11:30 am on Feb. 27, 2005
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tourist
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America is better off than most countries. However, I disagree with a lot of what has been posted here.
According to:
US Dept Treasury Bureau of Public Dept,
2005 Economic Report of President and
spreadsheet from 2005 EROP
The Federal Debt is currently $7.7 Trillion. This includes Federal Government debt only. It does not include State debt, Local debt, Individual dept or any other kind of debt. It does, of course, include debt owed to State, Localities, Individuals, etc by the Federal Government. Heritage Foundation (which is a radical right wing think tank with axes to grind about tax cuts, deficits, debt and social security) cites the same source,2005 EROP, but drops off almost half the debt by ignoring General Fund borrowing from the Social Security surplus, etc.
According to:
2004 MedicareTrustees Report &
2004 Social Security Trustees Report
The cost of making Social Security solvent for the next 75 years is $3.7 Trillion. To maintain solvency over the next 75 years could be achieved by revenue increases equivalent to immediate payroll tax increase from 6.2/12.4% to 7.145/14.29%, benefit cuts equivalent to immediate reduction of benefits by 12.6% or revenue transfer of $3.7 Trillion. The Bush Administration’s Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 and Medicare in general is the elephant in the living room that no one talks about. Over the same 75 years Medicare will cost the Federal Government $28 Trillion, with a huge chunk of that directly attributable to the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.
To quote Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn) on learning of the cost of the prescription drug plan after he voted for it;
"Oh my God, what have we done?"
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Thai Women : Meet Matured Thai Women
Posted on: 12:05 pm on Feb. 27, 2005
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Mr Alan
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Quote: from tourist on 10:59 am on Feb. 27, 2005
The Bush Administration’s Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 and Medicare in general is the elephant in the living room that no one talks about. Over the same 75 years Medicare will cost the Federal Government $28 Trillion, with a huge chunk of that directly attributable to the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan.
To quote Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn) on learning of the cost of the prescription drug plan after he voted for it;
"Oh my God, what have we done?"
Yet most Democrats voted against it because they said it did not go far enough to pay for drugs for the elderly.
Actually, the drug cost probelm is easy to solve. Just allow imported drugs. The US is the only country in the world (that I am aware of) which does not regulate drug prices, so once the safety issue is solved, importing drugs from abroad (manufactured by US companies) will cut the cost in half.
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Bangkok Girls : Meet Attractive Thai Girls
Posted on: 1:29 pm on Feb. 27, 2005
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