Clinton got that surplus by refinancing the debt into short term notes, thus creating the illusion that he created this wonderful deficit. But, because it would force the notes to come due in a different time frame, and also require that interest come due sooner, it only really served to make a much bigger mess for some president down the line.
I am guessing that we've just started the 'bigger mess'. Now what Clinton was trying to, and succeeded in doing, was delaying the normal cyclical recession. The refi allowed the dot.com boom and bust to happen within the window of his terms, the first bobble in the housing crisis was also in his term, because he was as complicit in the current banking crisis as anyone.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 06:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 09:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 01:27 pm (UTC)I am guessing that we've just started the 'bigger mess'. Now what Clinton was trying to, and succeeded in doing, was delaying the normal cyclical recession. The refi allowed the dot.com boom and bust to happen within the window of his terms, the first bobble in the housing crisis was also in his term, because he was as complicit in the current banking crisis as anyone.
Again, it isn't that simple.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 04:01 pm (UTC)The short term notes were during the first term.
They were by and large paid off and what Bush inherited was a real surplus.
It is Bush that followed daddy's long term debt idea.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 05:37 pm (UTC)I had to send it to rich
no subject
Date: 2008-09-02 08:28 pm (UTC)INFO HERE (http://www.lafn.org/politics/gvdc/Natl_Debt_Chart.html)