Letter to the Editors of the WSJ on National Debt

---------------------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------------------Subject: WSJ Editors: regarding editorial Old Europe is Right on StimulusFrom: "David Maxwell Fine" <dave@davidfine.org>Date: Fri, March 13, 2009 3:03 pmTo: wsj.ltrs@wsj.com--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


WSJ Editors: regarding editorial "Old Europe is Right on Stimulus" (3/12/2009)

I am sure I'm not the only person to notice that you cite a partial US National Debt figure when you write 36% of GDP - when the total/gross US national debt at $11 trillion is around 70 percent of GDP...

Which numbers are you using for the Europe nations? I would think the latter number very important, and what would you say is the significance to the US Economy over the long term, when it is paying out on those bonds to other nations such as China, as opposed to US-based bondholders?

With respect to the stimulus, I don't know yet what the money will be spent on, but marginal taxrate cuts seem essentially a different type of short-term solution...

Not all government spending is alike, obviously, and certain investments could have long-term benefits to a national or global economy - such as the internet developing into the world wide web...

It does seem that our US Government prefers to have a short term focus, which, given the election cycle, makes sense - but makes little sense when considering planning for a healthy economy over the next 20 years...

Sincerely,


David Maxwell Fine
from Savannah, Georgia