看看曆史上每年政府deficit，spending，和national debt

家人總是說現在的總統候選人人心不古，2000年以後沒有一個候選人把減少national debts作為top priority。之前的總統候選人把增加defict，national debts作為一種恥辱。92年和老布什、克林頓同時競選的一名獨立候選人Ross Perot的競選宣言就是要留給後代一份好看的balance sheet，現在沒人再提了。不論是共和黨還是民主黨執政都在繼續增加debt，增大deficit.  從911之後就一直是deficit，沒有過surplus，之後最大的deficit是2008年金融危機和長期的反恐戰爭之後（反戰是奧巴馬能贏希拉裏的最主要的原因），這裏奧巴馬上台之後發錢造成了很大的deficit, national debt增加了2 trillions。之後奧巴馬表現還算不錯，一直在填補這個鴻溝。到了2016年下台之前已經填補了不少，當時的經濟還是很不錯的，也就是說Trump應該算是很幸運的。當時的FED chairman Bernanke就說過：我們還能繼續保持這樣的低利率。這時候川普接手，不但沒有減少national debt，反而進一步擴大。2017年川普上台，挺好的局麵還比2016多增加了700 billions的debt, deficit又開始往下走。這時候完全沒有必要給企業和富豪減稅，然而為了他自己，他還是做了，所以可以看到即使是在covid的之前他任上的deficit，和national debt進一步惡化，2019比2017多出去2.5 trillion的債務。covid之後就不用說了，數字說話。川普身為共和黨人，沒有秉承共和黨小政府，少government spending的作風，一直都是在搞破壞。

民主黨也一樣，顯然雙方已經都不把降低deficit，national debt放到競選計劃之中了，到了死豬不怕開水燙的地步。一個不停給富人和企業減稅，一個不停給窮人發錢。我們需要一個力挽狂瀾的群體，可惜這個群體還沒出現，或許可以期待我出山去挽一下？嗬嗬。

 

 

National Debt by Year

End of Fiscal Year	Debt (in billions, rounded)	Debt-to-GDP Ratio	Major Events by Presidential Term
1929	$17	16%	Market crash
1930	$16	17%	Smoot-Hawley reduced trade
1931	$17	22%	Dust Bowl drought raged
1932	$20	34%	Hoover raised taxes
1933	$23	40%	New Deal increased GDP and debt
1934	$27	40%
1935	$29	39%	Social Security
1936	$34	40%	Tax hikes renewed depression
1937	$36	39%	Third New Deal
1938	$37	42%	Dust Bowl ended
1939	$40	51%	Depression ended
1940	$43	49%	FDR increased spending and raised taxes
1941	$49	44%	U.S. entered WWII
1942	$72	48%	Defense tripled
1943	$137	70%
1944	$201	91%	Bretton Woods
1945	$259	114%	WWII ended
1946	$269	119%	Truman's 1st term budgets and recession
1947	$258	103%	Cold War
1948	$252	92%	Recession
1949	$253	93%	Recession
1950	$257	86%	Korean War boosted growth and debt
1951	$255	74%
1952	$259	71%
1953	$266	68%	Recession when war ended
1954	$271	69%	Eisenhower's budgets and Recession
1955	$274	64%
1956	$273	61%
1957	$271	57%	Recession
1958	$276	58%	Eisenhower's 2nd term and recession
1959	$285	55%	Fed raised rates
1960	$286	54%	Recession
1961	$289	52%	Bay of Pigs
1962	$298	50%	JFK budgets and Cuban missile crisis
1963	$306	48%	U.S. aids Vietnam, JFK killed
1964	$312	46%	LBJ's budgets and war on poverty
1965	$317	43%	U.S. entered Vietnam War
1966	$320	40%
1967	$326	40%
1968	$348	39%
1969	$354	36%	Nixon took office
1970	$371	35%	Recession
1971	$398	35%	Wage and price controls
1972	$427	34%	Stagflation
1973	$458	33%	Nixon ended gold standard and OPEC oil embargo
1974	$475	31%	Watergate and budget process created
1975	$533	32%	Vietnam War ended
1976	$620	33%	Stagflation
1977	$699	34%	Stagflation
1978	$772	33%	Carter budgets and recession
1979	$827	32%
1980	$908	32%	Volcker raised fed rate to 20%
1981	$998	31%	Reagan tax cut
1982	$1,142	34%	Reagan increased spending
1983	$1,377	37%	Jobless rate 10.8%
1984	$1,572	38%	Increased defense spending
1985	$1,823	41%
1986	$2,125	46%	Reagan lowered taxes
1987	$2,350	48%	Market crash
1988	$2,602	50%	Fed raised rates
1989	$2,857	51%	S&L Crisis
1990	$3,233	54%	First Iraq War
1991	$3,665	58%	Recession
1992	$4,065	61%
1993	$4,411	63%	Omnibus Budget Act
1994	$4,693	64%	Clinton budgets
1995	$4,974	64%
1996	$5,225	64%	Welfare reform
1997	$5,413	63%
1998	$5,526	60%	LTCM crisis and recession
1999	$5,656	58%	Glass-Steagall repealed
2000	$5,674	55%	Budget surplus
2001	$5,807	55%	9/11 attacks and EGTRRA
2002	$6,228	57%	War on Terror
2003	$6,783	59%	JGTRRA and Iraq War
2004	$7,379	60%	Iraq War
2005	$7,933	61%	Bankruptcy Act and Hurricane Katrina.
2006	$8,507	61%	Bernanke chaired Fed
2007	$9,008	62%	Bank crisis
2008	$10,025	68%	Bank bailout and QE
2009	$11,910	82%	Bailout cost $250B ARRA added $242B
2010	$13,562	90%	ARRA added $400B, payroll tax holiday ended, Obama Tax cuts, ACA, Simpson-Bowles
2011	$14,790	95%	Debt crisis, recession and tax cuts reduced revenue
2012	$16,066	99%	Fiscal cliff
2013	$16,738	99%	Sequester, government shutdown
2014	$17,824	101%	QE ended, debt ceiling crisis
2015	$18,151	100%	Oil prices fell
2016	$19,573	105%	Brexit
2017	$20,245	104%	Congress raised the debt ceiling
2018	$21,516	105%	Trump tax cuts
2019	$22,719	107%	Trade wars
2020	$27,748	129%	COVID-19 and 2020 recession
2021	$29,617	124%	COVID-19 and American Rescue Plan Act
2022	$31,420	119%	Inflation Reduction Act and student loan forgiveness
2023	$34,001	122%	Fed raises rates