What is Occupy Wallstreet?

[Jester]

As for "national net worth"... The US rough GDP per year is $14.5 trillion, and the gross debt is about $15.5 trillion and growing between a half to 1.5 trillion per year. If we could reduce spending or increase taxes enough, we could pay it down substantially in a decade or two. The hidden problem is the $100 trillion we have yet to pay for in unfunded liabilities (due to pensions, and social spending promises).

None of that is hidden. It's all right there in the budget. The increase in the debt includes, rather than excludes, the payments on the "unfunded" liabilities (whatever a funded liability is - a liability where you have a mountain of gold waiting in a vault to pay it back?)

Just think of it as a part of the budget. Makes it much easier.

I've proposed before that our government might be trying to inflate our way out of debt, making today's problems shrink away, bringing with it high inflation.

We can only dream. Sadly, attempts at generating inflation (and, just maybe, the accompanying fall in unemployment) have turned out to be almost useless. The US is still stuck with near-deflation, record unemployment, and stagnant nominal growth.

-Jester