How to Understand the Federal Deficit Problem

Understanding Congress’s solution to the federal deficit problem, says Philip Greenspun , is easier to understand if we divide everything by 100 million:

We have a family that is spending $38,200 per year. The family’s income is $21,700 per year. The family adds $16,500 in credit card debt every year in order to pay its bills. After a long and difficult debate among family members, keeping in mind that it was not going to be possible to borrow $16,500 every year forever, the parents and children agreed that a $380/year premium cable subscription could be terminated. So now the family will have to borrow only $16,120 per year.

To this useful analogy I would add one additional data point: The family’s credit card debt is currently $142,786. If they were to spend every penny that made each year toward their credit cards it would take 6 and half years to pay off their debt.

(Via: Boing Boing )