Missing from figures above are trillions in unfunded liabilities that the United States of America simply will not ever be able to pay.
What exactly are unfunded liabilities? They are payments the government knows it owes in the future, including the future costs of Medicare, Social Security, and the prescription drugs of Medicare Part D. You can follow the unfunded liabilities tab on the U.S. Debt Clock website — right now, this site estimates our unfunded liabilities to be $125.7 trillion. In 2017, if current trends continue, the site’s “Debt Clock Time Machine” estimates unfunded liabilities will reach $153 trillion.
Amazing as it seems (and no private firm would ever contemplate such deceitful accounting), these trillions in unfunded liabilities are not itemized on the current U.S. Treasury balance sheet. However, due to a demographic bulge comprising 28% of the total U.S. population now reaching retirement, these mounting “unfunded” obligations can no longer be ignored. The first crop of post-war children from 1946 began turning 65 in 2011 at the rate of 10,000 a day. This pace will continue until 2029, when the last group of boomers born in 1964 turn 65.
US government will struggle to generate enough tax revenue to pay for what is owed and promised, but 76 million rapidly aging baby boomers overwhelm the number of younger workers paying into the system. Eventually, between the interest on the debt and the benefit payments themselves, there will be no money left in the federal budget for anything else.
AUS: http://www.australiandebtclock.com.au/
No comments:
Post a Comment