Word: borrows
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...beginning to wonder if anyone reads basic economics anymore. It has been widely understood for centuries that government does not create wealth; it merely redistributes it. The stimulus plan can be summarized as follows: we are going to borrow a trillion dollars from foreigners and spend it on a mile-long list of pork-barrel projects that we don't immediately need (or else we would have found another way to pay for them) and hope this gets us out of the recession. Did I miss something? There is a growing consensus among historians and economists that World...
American families may have borrowed irresponsibly, and may have elected politicians who borrow even more irresponsibly on their behalf, but the typical American family is not bankrupt. The average couple age 65-74 has accumulated a net worth (not counting entitlement promises as either assets or liabilities) of $691,000, according to the Federal Reserve in 2004. Shortly thereafter, of course, they start to die in large numbers. And what happens to the $691,000? Generally it goes to the children and grandchildren...
...often said, on the subject of underfunded entitlements, that we are "robbing future generations." This is not completely true. You can't literally steal, say, a vacation home from the year 2050 and plant it next to a beautiful lake in 2009. Nor can you beg, borrow or steal money in 2050 and spend it in 2009. But you can reduce your savings rate in 2009, spend the money instead and leave a less prosperous country in 2050. And if you borrow money from foreigners in 2009, as we have been doing more and more, they can indeed come knocking...
...conventional wisdom is that acquisitions in a recession are too risky. They require capital and integrating companies is hard even when the economy is strong. Pfizer will borrow $22 billion to consummate the transaction. (See pictures of TIME's Wall Street covers...
...write: "Since 2001, as worker productivity went up, 96% of the income growth in this country went to the wealthiest 10% of society. While they were benefiting from record high worker productivity, the remaining 90% of Americans were struggling to sustain their standard of living. They sustained it by borrowing ... and borrowing ... and borrowing, and when they couldn't borrow anymore, the bottom fell...