America could've paid the deficit off by 2012?

[hitchinaride]

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/ ... ent-report

It's from 2011, but the report itself is from 2000. My one and only question is that since we are a "global community" with a "global economy", can any nation truly afford to be debt free? It is amazing that the world ever got to this position. Of course, is there a better alternative?

[LeadBolt]

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/ ... ent-report

It's from 2011, but the report itself is from 2000. My one and only question is that since we are a "global community" with a "global economy", can any nation truly afford to be debt free? It is amazing that the world ever got to this position. Of course, is there a better alternative?

Manageable debt levels are a better alternative. Historically tying money supply to a scarce, hard asset such as gold or silver was a way to manage money supply and debt so that they would not become so high as to cause problems. That probably isn't a sound solution to our current problem, but if the acceleration of money supply and debt continues to its logical conclusion, it will probably become the draconian solution.