Understanding U.S. Debt

As the deadline for adjusting or eliminating the debt ceiling approaches, the political conversation intensifies, economists weigh in, and the media senses another headline opportunity. But what is the U.S. debt ceiling and what does the August 2 deadline refer to? Before looking at the debt ceiling, let's look at the debt itself. The total or gross federal debt refers to the "outstanding debt issued by the Treasury and other federal government agencies" as explained by the General Accountability Office. This includes debt held in other U.S. government agency accounts like Medicare and that held by outside investors. For a good overview about the National Debt, check out the CQ Researcher issue (access requires DACC user ID and password when off campus).

As is explained in this helpful General Accountability Office web page, the debt limit is not, as people may think, a restriction on government spending, but rather on the Department of Treasury's ability to borrow to meet its current obligations. For this reason, holding the debt limit does nothing about deficit except, potentially make it worse if the U.S.'s credit rating is lowered so that it has to borrow at a higher rate. The GAO prepared a detailed report explaining how the sort of gamesmenship going on in Washington hurts the ability of the Treasury Department to manage the public debt, further increasing problems with the U.S. debt rating. The Economist offers this analysis about why this political brinksmanship may, in fact, result in default, not inevitable compromise, as many assume. And Politifact examines what default might mean.

The foreign press has been highly critical of U.S. politicians during the crisis. The Atlantic samples international opinion on a particular issue weekly. Here's their sampling of foreign reaction to political posturing over the debt.

How did we get here? You can watch the PBS Frontline episode Ten Trillion and Counting online to get some background about how the U.S. got into its current financial position. This documentary focuses on the economic impact of the Bush years: the tax cuts, the wars, the legislation--like the Medicare Pt. D - prescription drug benefit. (A teacher's guide for the film is available here.)  Supporting material on the site provides commentary by economic writers holding different political perspectives as well as Bush White House insiders, while in-depth interviews provide the opinions of key federal officials. The Pew Research Trust did an analysis outlining the principal forces that changed fiscal predictions that in 2001 foresaw a budget surplus by 2011 into a mounting budget deficit. It clearly demonstrates that the biggest drivers of the increase in the debt are first, the Bush tax cuts, and second, various legislative action, such as war funding, Medicare Pt. D, measures to fund the recovery and underwrite the banking crisis, and other defense and non-defense legislative spending.

Another misleading element in a lot of the public debate about the debt crisis is the implication that in some sort of nostalgic "good old days" the government operated in the black. Actually, as the GAO demonstrates, the U.S. has operated at a deficit for most of its history. An interesting breakdown of deficit data has been done by Dr. Stephen Bloch, at Adelphi University. He crunches the historical numbers in various ways and shows how the Great Depression, despite many claims about "Big Government" that might suggest rampant, runaway spending was actually relatively deficit free, and offers comments about electoral patterns related to federal deficits in the 20th century. Another interesting historical fact, the U.S. has previously been in default, twice, as you'll read in this New York Times piece, demonstrating that claims of the event as unprecedented are unfounded, although circumstances are significantly different.

One long-term solution frequently put forward to concerns over the deficit is that the federal government should adopt legislation requiring it to balance its budget annually, rules that the states have in place in various forms. However, the Institute for Truth in Accounting published its 50-State Study documenting the ways in which allegedly "balanced" state budgets are anything but balanced, whether their citizens or even their politicians realize it. Numerous accounting practices permit states to bury long-term obligations, fail to identify newly acquired obligations (such as the need to lease services for assets that have been sold), or simply delay or shift funds from payment cycle to payment cycle. The full report includes state-by-state breakdowns of accounting practices, all of which indicated that "significant liabilities" for each state "were not included." Of interest is the fact that it is Illinois's dubious accounting practices, which conceal significantly larger than realized debt obligations ($70 billion) that inspired the 50-state study (see p. 6).

An ongoing element of the debt debate has to do with the Bush tax breaks. Should they be retained or is their elimination necessary for the country's fiscal health? To get at some answers to these questions, an excellent place to look is the Tax Policy Center of the Brookings Institution. Their Tax Policy Briefing Book presents a lot of information about taxes in a concise fashion. The "Background" section of the Briefing Book includes several sections outlining the impact of the Bush era cuts. These include specific sections related to the national debt, a comparison to Reagan era tax cuts, whether or not the majority benefit from the cuts assuming the cuts result in (or coincide with) economic growth, and what spending cuts and revenue generation would be necessary to make them permanent. Also included in the briefing book is information comparing U.S. tax rates to those of other countries,

Still feel like this whole budget/taxes thing is too hard to comprehend? You're not alone. This is why the Eyebeam Dataviz Challenge asked people to come up with games to help people understand these concepts. Now you can check out the winners! See exactly how much of your federal tax dollar goes to fund something you hate (or love) or explore the budget in other innovative, fun ways.

Farewell to Harry

July 14 at midnight the final Harry Potter film hit theaters nationwide, marking the end of an era of storytelling and the maturity of a generation of readers and viewers who grew up with the young wizards and witches of Hogwarts. In celebration, the library blog points you to some engaging resources from around the web.

A great starting point is the Harry Potter wiki, which includes detailed sections on the books, films and characters. Mugglenet.com is self-identified as the No. 1 Harry Potter site on the web. According to whom, it's not clear, but the site certainly has lots of goodies for Harry fans: news, parodies, songs, games, themes, timelines, trivia, and lots of other things. The Leaky Cauldron proclaims itself to be "the most trusted name in Potter", providing readers with news updates on the films' stars, essays, and even craft how-tos. The Harry Potter Lexicon gets a vote as being the other potential go-to site, with its rich trove of information on everything Harry Potter. Another great resource is Accio Quote!, listed as the largest archive of J.K. Rowling interviews on the web. My personal favorite fact from this site: Rowling was inspired to have a different Defense Against the Dark Arts professor each year by the constant drummer "changes" in This is Spinal Tap.

Controversies

Because of its overwhelming popularity, the Harry Potter series has been the subject of numerous controversies since it first appeared in book form. The most contentious had to do with religion. Many religious groups raised objections to the Rowlings' work at one time or another, most alleging that the series promoted satanism or values that ran counter to those they espoused. Wikipedia's entry on Religious debates over the Harry Potter series provides an excellent overview of the variety of these concerns. In this country we are most familiar with those people contending that the books and films promote anti-Christian values, a debate nicely reproduced in this CBN website, which leaves readers free to draw their own conclusions. Most of us are probably less aware of concerns raised in Islamic nations and the Greek Orthodox church, or that a minor uproar was created when the final novel went on sale on the Sabbath in Israel. Nor are we likely to be aware of the Wiccans' response to claims that these works promote their religion, all of which the Wikipedia entry covers. An interesting related argument has arisen from those who contend that Rowling should have included more religion in her books, saying that her books are too secular in nature, unlike say, the Narnia books of C.S. Lewis.

If the religious controversies took center stage, they certainly weren't out there alone. Commentators on both the right and the left felt that the book argued in favor of the other side of the political spectrum. The books were claimed to be libertarian,  felt to be failed examples of multiculturalism, arguments in favor of capitalism, or favoring a rejection of conservative policies. One particular hot button moment was Rowling's comments regarding Albus Dumbledore's sexuality. Answering a young girl's question during a book talk, Rowling said that the Head of Hogwarts Academy and the most powerful wizard for the forces of good was gay. Not surprisingly, a firestorm of media response ensued. Wikipedia's page on the Politics of Harry Potter provides lots of information on this as well as other topics. For a quick sense of the opposing perspectives, check out these two: Dumbledore: A Lovely Outing from Entertainment Weekly and Gay Dumbledore: Somewhere Jerry Falwell is Smiling.

Magic

Much of the appeal of the Harry Potter books and films comes from the magical alternate reality that J.K. Rowling has created. Who wouldn't be fascinated by textbooks that come alive, chocolate frogs that actually hop about, or garden gnomes with a bit of life to them? For those interested in learning more about the true history of magic, as opposed to its fictional counterpart, the library can offer some suggestions. Students, staff and instructors have online access to the Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology, which provides full text entries on everything from Abracadabra to Zombie. The California Science Center has an excellent online exhibit, the Science of Illusion, that explores the history of magic as well as explaining some important illusions with the help of Penn and Teller. The online site MagicTricks.com has both a Library and a Museum where you can browse through information about performance magic.

Magic and Science

The Science of Illusion site gives a suggestion of some of the relationships between the Harry Potter books and the history of science. The National Library of Medicine brought some of these into sharper focus with a traveling exhibit called: Do Mandrakes Really Scream? Magic and Medicine in Harry Potter. The web site remains available for viewing. The Alchemy Web Site offers users a wealth of information on the early era of chemistry, with its considerable ties to Harry Potter's potions courses. Much to the surprise of many, a scientist who many today regard as the epitome of classical reasoning, Isaac Newton, spent more than 30 years of his life studying and transcribing alchemical (or chymistry) texts.

Witches then and now

In this country, we are most familiar with notions of witchcraft in relation to Salem, Massachusetts and the notorious witchcraft trials held there. But those were hardly the first persecutions of people on charges witchcraft. Douglas Linder's web page, A Brief History of Witchcraft Persecutions Before Salem chronicles these events in Western culture beginning with Exodus. This site is part of Linder's impressive Famous American Trials web site, which includes the Salem Witchcraft Trials as one of its featured events. Two other great sites about the events in Salem include the Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and National Geographic's interactive site, Salem Witch-Hunt, where users follow the story of one participant. Unfortunately for these witch suspects, their life was far different from the one depicted in Rowling's stories. If you're interested in learning more about real witches today, check out The Witches' Voice, a self-described "proactive educational network providing news, information services and resources for and about Pagans, Heathens, Witches and Wiccans." For general information, check out ReligiousTolerance.org, one of the very best resources on the web for information about different religious beliefs and issues. Their information on Wicca can be found here, while their index to their information on all faiths can be found here.

Quidditch

Rowling's books introduced an entirely new sport to the world: Quidditch. Although apparently ill-suited to the world of Muggles, as non-magical humans are called, because competitors fly on brooms and one of the three balls used during the game is a small, gold, self-propelled one with wings and a mind of its own called a snitch, Quidditch has become a competitive sport in the real world. This article from the New York Daily News outlines the last year's world cup, while International Quidditch Association provides the rules of the game, Muggle style. Check the Lexicon site above for Harry's Wizarding World version.