Oh, Fer Chrissakes . . .

OK, Teabaggers, LOLOLOL . . . oh, geez, too funny . . .

1. The USA cannot go broke. We print our own money, and it is not pegged to a commodity like gold. We can default, but that ain't ever gonna happen (Sorry, Apocalypse dreamers!)

2. Inflation risk? A little, but in a slow economy deflation is the norm, which is that prices for common goods and wholesale prices only rise a little or not at all. Nobody is spending, because of higher unemployment. Could it creep back up to double digits again? Sure, but the economy is going to turn around before the job numbers get better. Could we have stagflation (high unemployment and high inflation). So far, that seems to be around a 1 in 5 chance.

3. Today's dollars vs. tomorrows dollars. Inflation causes future dollars to be worth more than current $. Tomorrows $2 trillion debt in ten years is really $1 trillion if inflation doubles the dollar's value in ten years. Calm down righties.

4. The assets that were at risk in the tech stock bubble were stocks, while the volatile assets in the current crisis involve debt instruments held by global financial institutions. Personally, after reading, reading, reading, boring eco numbers from the Fed, I believe that it could be credit booms, (like the past few years' current house and bond price bubbles), that hold a more dangerous economic system risk for worldwide recessions. NOT UNIONS, NOT HIGHER MINIMUM WAGES.

IMO here are the real questions conservatives (and us) should be asking.

1. If you are worried about future debt to our kids, WhereTF were you the last 8 years? All I hear out of the Good Governor from the fine state of Wal-Mart (Huckabee) is bitching about high income taxes and estate taxes (Sam Walton's heirs own Huckabee). Exactly how do you pay off America's debt and spending if there are low taxes on the billionaires and no corporate taxes? (Military spending is half a trillion/year to fight the USSR which does not even exist anymore. You think anyone wants to risk a nuclear exchange?)

2. The last 8 years were a tax-hater and regulation-hater's wet dream. I.E short term cap gains went from 40% to 15%. The uber-rich's top income taxes went DOWN.
So where was the amazing job growth?
New economic growth?
NOPE.
So, where did it go wrong? (question is rhetorical. The conservative free market Reaganomics boolshit is a sham)

3. Future Bubbles: Should the role of central banking be to deflate credit induced asset-priced bubbles to avert a recession? How can it do this with monetary policy?

4. Casino Capitalism: Should there be higher taxes on businesses that produce nothing? In other words, lower taxes on widget producers, higher taxes on hedge funds and on stock transactions?

5. Regulate. Whom? How?

-Prodigal Son