We Should Stimulate and Help!

I can see where the chart that follows, taken from an article by Paul Krugman in the New York Times titled Debt And Growth In The G7; can justify the theory that we can afford to borrow additional funds in order to stimulate the economy. It does appear the world will not collapse from excess debt. However, it does suggest that over the longer run our debt as a percentage of GDP needs to be reduced. The second part of the question is will a stimulus help. So much of our consumption comes from overseas including oil from the middle east and goods from China. The result is that the funds borrowed quickly leave our shores and remain in other sections of the world. As a result we have borrowed money to help stimulate the economies of China and the middle east

Any stimulus we enact must be targeted to those projects that are investments in our future. They include fixing infrastructure such as roads and bridges, repairing schools, improving our education system, developing domestic energy, demolishing or repairing dilapidated buildings in our inner city, We should try to avoid directly stimulating the economies of other countries.

Another portion of what is spent should be looked at as helping our fellow man. Some of our citizens are hungry, they cannot properly clothe their children. We are Americans and we should help them. I could make an argument that our greatest asset for the future is our children and therefore it is economically justied to help them. Forget that.

The core reason we should help is we are Americans living in a country primarily based on Judeo-christian values. This is a big part of being proud to be American. There is nothing wrong with this, so let's do it.