Topic: Discuss how does the U. S. National Debt crisis affects the daily consumer.
An ongoing American issue that affects every American today is the U. S. National Debt crisis. Although many of us hear about it every day on the news, many truly don’t know the ramifications of the very critical ongoing issue. The U.S. National debt affects consumers every day, in just about every imaginable way but probably most notably in Americans facing higher taxes, higher interest rates, and the U.S. government cutting back on services, weaker job markets, and lastly inflation. These five issues are just a few of many ways that the U.S. National Debt affects consumers on a daily basis.
Higher Taxes
In an article written by Russ Koesterich, titled “A Headwind for the US Economy: Tax Uncertainty”, Koesterich writes about increases in taxes, and new tax laws that the government wants to enforce starting in 2013. Koesterich writes, “Take the year 2013 when numerous tax policies are set to expire including the 2% payroll tax holiday and current rates of estate taxes. Also in 2013, the Bush tax cuts, which impact marginal tax rates, capital gains taxes and dividend taxes, are scheduled to expire. On top of all that, additional taxes are set to be imposed in 2013 such as a new 3.8% tax on unearned income.” Since America is more that $15 trillion dollars in debt, one of the easiest ways for the United States government to pay back on that immense debt is to increase taxes. So in the end we, the consumers will be the ones who pay off this debt.
Interest Rates
An overlooked affect of the U.S. National debt is interest rates. Interest rates affect the everyday consumer in a variety of ways such as “mortgage rates, refinance rates, credit card rates, auto loan rates, savings rates, money market rates, and certificate of deposit rates”, among others. In the article “Interest Rates and the National Debt” the writer, whose name isn’t shown, talks about how the
Bibliography: http://advisorperspectives.com/commentaries/isharesblog_040612.php http://thenationaldebtcrisis.com/interest-rates-and-the-national-debt/ http://useconomy.about.com/od/fiscalpolicy/p/US_Debt_Deficit.htm http://omancma.org/economy/effect-of-debt-default-on-the-us-job-market/ http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/2011/03/31/how-the-national-debt-affects-you