Word: trillions
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...trillion Reagan military buildup is producing weapons that seem designed to upset the strategic balance and give the U.S. a nuclear advantage over the Soviet Union. Experts warn that weapons systems such as the Strategic Defense Initiative and the just-unveiled Stealth bomber could make the world more dangerous by prompting a hostile Soviet response. Other weapons that were first introduced by the U.S., such as cruise missiles and multiple- warhead ICBMs, have been copied by the Soviets and now pose a greater threat to Americans...
HAVING pledged not to raise taxes or cut Social Security benefits, Bush must find the money somewhere. Since he can do nothing about the interest payments on the $2.6 trillion federal debt and could never cut enough money from social programs to do the trick, Bush must consider new weapons systems as likely targets. This means he should be asking whether the programs like the Stealth are absolutely necessary to our national security. In this case, the answer is a resounding maybe...
Whoever wins the grab for RJR, a highly leveraged takeover could add more debt to the U.S. economy than any previous business deal. All told, corporate debt has climbed from some $965 billion in 1982 to $1.8 trillion this year, a rise from 32% to 37% of U.S. gross national product. LBOs can be especially worrisome of borrowing, because they replace virtually all of a company's equity with IOUs that must be repaid. A sudden downturn can thus put a firm heavily in hock out of business. "High leverage is unsafe, not just for a company...
...crunch could come in May, when Bush will be in need of Senate votes to raise the national debt ceiling above $2.8 trillion. Like a hanging, a hike in the debt ceiling concentrates the mind. The ceiling will not go up, says Johnston, unless the President "comes to us and swallows hard about raising revenues. When he does that, that's when we'll cooperate...
Should we settle for that? No. As everyone now seems to recognize, we're dangerously deep in hock. The $2.5 trillion national debt amounts to 50% of our $5 trillion gross national product. There have been times in our history when that percentage was much higher and we did just fine growing our way out of the problem -- World War II sent the ratio of debt up to 127% of GNP -- so don't believe the people who tell you we're doomed. But we're nonetheless well into the discomfort zone. We've got to whittle away gradually...