It must be hard to get news about finance and economics in New York. That is the only thing that one can conclude when they see David Brooks tell readers that: "the nation has made a series of lavishly unaffordable promises. The legacy costs are piling up. By the end of 2019, the nation’s debt will soar to 82 percent of G.D.P." As those who follow the economy know, the reason for the big run-up in debt was the recession caused by the collapse of the housing bubble. Had the bubble not collapsed, the ratio of public debt to GDP would be approximately half of this size in 2019. The big problem here is not lavish problems, rather it is incredibly inept economic management. Going forward, our broken health care system does pose enormous problems for the economy and the budget. It could be easily dealt with by opening the economy to trade, but protectionists like Brooks would rather see people go without health care than allow free trade.
--Dean Baker
