Thursday, November 18, 2010

Ireland's Pickle

Ireland is following in the American footsteps of harmful spending mistakes. They closely resemble our own problem with banks and home foreclosures. CNN reports:
Irish banks, like others around the world, loaned money to people who in some cases couldn't pay it back. Cheap loans created extra demand for housing and as prices surged the construction industry raced to build more.
 Just as the economy of America is getting back on it's feet, Ireland falls over on itself. The hangover of reckless funds is settling in resembling our recent fall in 08. Ireland is not asking for outside aid though, while America received China's aid. I feel as if history is just repeating itself. It appears that countries around the world need to enact reforms to their spending habits and to revive from their economic slumps. This is easier said than done, but I believe we can learn from our past and move onto more pressing problems.

Balance the Budget

The NYTimes has a game you can play, balance the budget!

One potential aspect of balancing the budget is basically to cut military spending. This could potentially save around 262 billion by 2030. This is a very strict cut most people would most likely agree with, along with myself. Though, I do believe some cuts can and should be made. Here is a quote from Wired about the relationship between the deficit and military.
 Whether Washington politicians will actually cut defense is uncertain, even with the giant federal deficit and weak economy. The incoming chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Buck McKeon, said on Monday that defense cuts were a “red line” for him. And the Pentagon leadership is focused on spending its cash more wisely, not necessarily spending less of it. Adams noted that the military wasn’t immune to cuts during the deficit-slashing attempts that defined the late 80s and most of the 1990s. But that was before the U.S. got attacked on its own soil and launched two wars with murky endpoints.
If we start pulling out more troops, we will eventually be able to save more than 100 billion. Military is a major investment that we need to have until there is world peace, which will most likely never happen in our lifetimes. However, where we are almost 14 trillion dollars in debt, so saving money is a high priority. Who knows what will happen though, we can only try to make a difference and watch.

Mental Health Break

Full hour long concert brought to you by Radiohead.