Debt Increases
The 2010 Budget proposed by President Barack Obama projects significant debt increases. A $220 billion increase from the already significant budget shortfall inherited at $1.2 trillion in 2009 from the GW Bush Administration. The high level of debt and continuing large trade deficits have raised concerns regarding inflation and the value of the dollar relative to other currencies, as well as its place as the primary reserve currency. The Economist wrote in May 2009: "Having spent a fortune bailing out their banks, Western governments will have to pay a price in terms of higher taxes to meet the interest on that debt. In the case of countries (like Britain and America) that have trade as well as budget deficits, those higher taxes will be needed to meet the claims of foreign creditors. Given the political implications of such austerity, the temptation will be to default by stealth, by letting their currencies depreciate. Investors are increasingly alive to this danger..."
Read more about this topic: 2010 United States Federal Budget
Famous quotes containing the words debt and/or increases:
“However patriarchal the world, at home the child knows that his mother is the source of all power. The hand that rocks the cradle rules his world. . . . The son never forgets that he owes his life to his mother, not just the creation of it but the maintenance of it, and that he owes her a debt he cannot conceivably repay, but which she may call in at any time.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“But the desire of knowledge, like the thirst of riches, increases ever with the acquisition of it....
——Endless is the Search of Truth!”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)