You have $50 Billion in Surplus (as a government). What do you do with it?

el canadiano · Jun 22, 2010

What do you do when you find yourself with a surplus?

Some of my priorities include (in semi-order) paying off debt, working towards the international standard of donating 0.7% of your GDP to foreign aid (yes, this exists), foreign investments, and then perhaps looking at what kinds of programs could be improved.

David · Jun 22, 2010

el canadiano said:
What do you do when you find yourself with a surplus?

Some of my priorities include (in semi-order) paying off debt, working towards the international standard of donating 0.7% of your GDP to foreign aid (yes, this exists), foreign investments, and then perhaps looking at what kinds of programs could be improved.

I'd invest in 'greening' our cities, building high-tech public schools schools, replacing the welfare state with a system of 'work and get provided for' programs (maintaining a limited welfare state for poor people with legit excuses not to work) and overhauling affirmative action to be income/cost of living based rather then racial based.

myp · Jun 22, 2010

It really depends on what situation the government currently is in. If it was the United States federal government at the current moment, I would probably set it aside to help pay off the debt.

David · Jun 22, 2010

myp said:
It really depends on what situation the government currently is in. If it was the United States federal government at the current moment, I would probably set it aside to help pay off the debt.

If it was the US Gov't as is, I'd be asking how the hell we ended up with a sudden surplus.

el canadiano · Jun 28, 2010

Well to be fair, most countries (not just the United States) have been making deficits these days. The only ones who have been experiencing growth and surpluses are the countries who don't really have to rely on the United States to have an economy. Look at China, India, or Australia as examples.

Having said that, I agree with myp at that paying off debts should be the number one priority, but it disgusts me that Canada is only 3/7 of the way through to reaching the 0.7% initiative (we currently donate 0.3%). At the same time, the US is at an even lower 0.15%.

Dirk · Jun 30, 2010

*Social programs to help the poor

*Backing up social security

*Fundamental restructuring of the system at various levels

*Giving back some money through working tax credit

digitalfanatic · Jul 26, 2010

I would firstly pay off the debts that are piled up, then work to create more employment opportunities so that poverty can be erased. I would also work on the infrastructure and the internal defence system like the police.

obtuseobserver · Aug 4, 2010

el canadiano said:
What do you do when you find yourself with a surplus?

Some of my priorities include (in semi-order) paying off debt, working towards the international standard of donating 0.7% of your GDP to foreign aid (yes, this exists), foreign investments, and then perhaps looking at what kinds of programs could be improved.

hookers and blow?

.....................................

Dirk · Aug 7, 2010

digitalfanatic said:
the internal defence system like the police.

The police aren't an internal defence system, they exist in order to keep the populace doing what the state wants.

jfla · Aug 9, 2010

Can you have a budget surplus when you are $12 trillion in debt?

obtuseobserver · Aug 9, 2010

yes... but not for very long

the state doesn't have to use surplusses to pay down the debt.... in fact I'd argue that they'd find something fancy to spend it on rather than reducing the debt

danstevens80 · Oct 11, 2010

HA!

obtuseobserver said:
hookers and blow?

.....................................

And after that, maybe give the educational system a shot in the arm.

myp · Oct 11, 2010

danstevens80 said:
And after that, maybe give the educational system a shot in the arm.

Throwing money at the educational system won't improve it. Money is not the problem- just look at how the teachers' unions operate. For education, I would say get the Federal government out- abolish the Department of Education, it has done nothing but politicized and worsened the educational system. We should look at a more local approach to schooling decisions because it has worked in the past/elsewhere and it does not involve billion dollar bureaucracies that care more about the politics of getting themselves reelected or reappointed than about what happens to the students (who's needs they really don't understand anyway.)

AK_ID · Oct 11, 2010

You have $50 Billion in Surplus (as a government). What do you do with it?

I'd refund it to those who earned the money in the first place, and apologize profusely for the over taxation. If the surplus consisted of funds from the sale of state-owned resources, I suppose I'd set up an investment program similar to the Alaska Permanent Fund.

obtuseobserver · Oct 11, 2010

myp said:
Throwing money at the educational system won't improve it. Money is not the problem- just look at how the teachers' unions operate. For education, I would say get the Federal government out- abolish the Department of Education, it has done nothing but politicized and worsened the educational system. We should look at a more local approach to schooling decisions because it has worked in the past/elsewhere and it does not involve billion dollar bureaucracies that care more about the politics of getting themselves reelected or reappointed than about what happens to the students (who's needs they really don't understand anyway.)

^^^^

When all funds expended at the varying levels of government are totaled we spend more on education than anything else (though debt service may surpass it)

Money isn't the issue. The issue is largely cultural. Many students are raised in families that have HS students (or HS age) parents. They see teachers and administrators as adversaries not as allies in getting ahead in life.

myp · Oct 12, 2010

obtuseobserver said:
Money isn't the issue. The issue is largely cultural. Many students are raised in families that have HS students (or HS age) parents. They see teachers and administrators as adversaries not as allies in getting ahead in life.

That is another good point and another reason for why throwing money at it won't work. Ironically, taking away some government benefits from some of those people might actually help do the trick. Once the moral hazard is gone, education and the jobs that can come with it start to look a lot better.

obtuseobserver · Oct 12, 2010

myp said:
That is another good point and another reason for why throwing money at it won't work. Ironically, taking away some government benefits from some of those people might actually help do the trick. Once the moral hazard is gone, education and the jobs that can come with it start to look a lot better.

Entire industries are devoted to finding and pointing out how children of color, and this is in nearly every incident a black child, have the cards stacked against them and therefore cannot compete.

How many generations need to be told that they'll never succeed unless they are given a leg by affirmative action before they start to believe that every problem they encounter has racism at its root? And worse, that they are incapable of competing on a level playing field even when racism cannot be blamed.

AK_ID · Oct 13, 2010

To very badly misquote Nietzsche, Dude, racism is dead in this nation. From 2008 on, any ill effects related to race can be officially considered self-inflicted damages.

David · Oct 14, 2010

AK_ID said:
To very badly misquote Nietzsche, Dude, racism is dead in this nation. From 2008 on, any ill effects related to race can be officially considered self-inflicted damages.

Racism is alive an well in America, the fact that Obama won't openly talk about his interracial identity unless pressed and insist on calling himself black is an excellent example.

Racism isn't as bad as it was but it isn't dead.

AK_ID · Oct 14, 2010

I think what you mean is that it's on artificial life support.

You have $50 Billion in Surplus (as a government). What do you do with it?

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