GDP does not measure production and should not use as a measuring stick of how productive a country is.
US government spending is 1/3 of the US GDP. If you accounting for state and local government, the number is much higher. This level of spending is unsustainable.
No, the US government cannot just auction it's assets to the public to pay off debt. If it is that easy, the Federal Reserves can just print 20 trillions and pay it off
Debatable. GDP probably measured production better in 1920s America than 2017 America.
and should not use as a measuring stick of how productive a country is.
If you have to compare the relative size of two economies on a single dimension, GDP is probably your best KPI.
US government spending is 1/3 of the US GDP. If you accounting for state and local government, the number is much higher. This level of spending is unsustainable.
But most of that money isn't ultimately spent by the government. The money goes to Boeing, hospitals, the elderly, etc. A lot of our GDP is ultimately spent by consumers.
I have serious concerns about America spending too much on its military and healthcare but I'd think we spend our money better than China.
No, the US government cannot just auction it's assets to the public to pay off debt.
Why not? It holds the assets, it can write titles to the assets, it can conduct auctions.
If it is that easy, the Federal Reserves can just print 20 trillions and pay it off
If you don't see the difference between printing 20 trillion dollars and exchanging valuable things for mutually agreeable prices, then I'm sure you're set in your way of defending the wise policy decisions of the Chinese Communist Party.
Government spending is just another way that the productive resources of society are funded, and that people receive the benefit of those resources.
As a thought experiment, we could lower taxes, and have the services provided by government instead paid for through private transactions. Why is this more sustainable?
US government spending is 1/3 of the US GDP. If you accounting for state and local government, the number is much higher. This level of spending is unsustainable.
No, the US government cannot just auction it's assets to the public to pay off debt. If it is that easy, the Federal Reserves can just print 20 trillions and pay it off