The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    Garbage collector mistakes sex doll for corpse

  • 3

    Netflix announces password sharing crackdown in Korea

  • 5

    Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone

  • 7

    Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers

  • 9

    4 South Korean activists arrested for executing orders from Pyongyang

  • 11

    Japanese comic series 'Slam Dunk' enjoys resurgence on back of animated film

  • 13

    ENHYPEN-inspired webtoon 'Dark Moon: The Blood Altar' surpasses 100 million views

  • 15

    $120,000 banana, praying Hitler: Infamous art world prankster Maurizio Cattelan's first Seoul outing

  • 17

    China imposes mandatory virus tests for arrivals from Korea only in latest protest over curbs

  • 19

    Space industry takes off in South Jeolla Province

  • 2

    Free subway rides for elderly emerge as headache for Seoul mayor

  • 4

    Korea seeks measures to better protect foreign workers

  • 6

    Retailers return to Myeong-dong as more foreign tourists visit

  • 8

    Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy

  • 10

    Is non-consensual sex not rape?

  • 12

    President pledges support for Korean chipmakers to overcome crisis

  • 14

    Income gap widening among workers

  • 16

    Korea's presidential couple celebrates recovery of Cambodian boy who received heart surgery

  • 18

    Retired actress Shim Eun-ha denies rumor of return

  • 20

    Saipanese people pin hopes on tourism boom again

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
Fri, February 3, 2023 | 07:12
Times Forum
How can a bankrupt republic run the world?
Posted : 2019-01-07 17:30
Updated : 2019-01-07 17:30
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link

By Doug Bandow

America's annual budget battle is at its peak and Washington continues to flaunt its remarkable dysfunction. In coming years this fiscal irresponsibility is likely to drive U.S. foreign and military policy.

The U.S. government has no more important duty than defending the American nation. However, providing for the "common defense," as the Constitution puts it, is remarkably easy. America has vast oceans east and west and pacific neighbors north and south.

Today only Russia, with an arsenal of nuclear-tipped missiles, could launch a serious attack on America. However, Moscow has no incentive to do so, since the result would be devastating retaliation. China's military is expanding but directed at preventing Washington from dominating the People's Republic of China at home and in its neighborhood.

Terrorists abound, but mostly result from maladroit U.S. policies that create enemies and make other people's conflicts America's own. Nor do America's conventional forces and nuclear arsenals offer the best response, since promiscuous war-making does more to accelerate than diminish terrorism.

Why, then, is Washington spending $717 billion in 2019 to maintain vast armies, fleets, and air armadas around the world? Not for defense ― of America, anyway. It is to protect allies, assert influence, remake failed societies, dictate behavior, promote values and more.

All may have offered some benefit, though rarely as much as asserted. And none have much to do with protecting America ―its territory, people, constitutional system and prosperity.

Unfortunately, attacking is far more expensive than deterring. Most of America's Pentagon outlays go to project power, which is why the U.S. has an outsize military budget, equal to that of the next dozen or so nations combined.

The so-called "defense" budget is the price of America's aggressive foreign policy. Playing global gendarme ― or gauleiter, depending upon one's location when America's bombs fall ― is not cheap.

Even if the U.S. once felt wealthy enough to squander its financial resources in such pursuits, those days have ended. Washington is effectively bankrupt, with massive unfunded liabilities.

Last year the Republican Party, once the self-proclaimed guardian of the treasury, approved a deficit approaching $779 billion. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) figured the president's 2019 budget will push the deficit to nearly $1 trillion, and the numbers will continue to rise, to $1.527 trillion in 2028.

This debt increase would be accompanied by rising interest rates. The CBO figured "net interest," which disguises federal costs by subtracting interest paid to Uncle Sam, will rise from $315 billion last year to $819 billion in 2028.

Of course, Congress could cut domestic expenditures. Ha ha … only kidding! To achieve anything approaching a responsible budget requires addressing the four big domestic boulders, which along with military outlays make up 85 percent of the budget: interest, which cannot be reduced without repudiating debt; Social Security, the traditional "third rail" of U.S. politics; Medicare, the equally popular elder healthcare program; and Medicaid, the perennially under-funded promise of medical services for the poor.

More likely, Congress will act like, well, Congress, and both spend more and collect less than under current law. If so, the CBO's "Extended Alternative Fiscal Scenario" predicts that the deficit as a percentage of GDP will rise from 78 percent last year to 105 percent in 2028, 148 percent in 2038, and an astonishing 210 percent in 2048. America's average over the last half century was just 41 percent; only during World War II and in its immediate aftermath did the federal debt exceed 70 percent, peaking at 106 percent in 1946.

With larger deficits and debts, interest rates likely would be higher and GDP growth lower. Moreover, noted CBO: "Large federal budget deficits over the long term would reduce investment, resulting in lower national income and higher interest rates than would otherwise be the case." A financial implosion would become more likely: Imagine a 2008-style crisis, but with the debt burden twice as great to start.

Of course, Congress could raise tax hikes, but they are no more popular than spending cuts. Moreover, the growing deficit is mostly a result of increased spending.

Military cuts are inevitable. The starting point, though, is to revise foreign policy. Cutting expenditures without trimming tasks risks creating a dangerous mismatch. Instead, the administration should end unnecessary wars, stop nation-building, and drop obsolete alliances, adjusting its force structure accordingly.

To stabilize Washington's finances, all programs need to be addressed. However, military outlays deserve an especially thorough review. U.S. policymakers need to remember that the U.S. government's highest duty is to defend its own people.


Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. A former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of "Foreign Follies: America's New Global Empire."


 
Top 10 Stories
1Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone Samsung unveils new Galaxy S23 smartphone
2Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers Seoul city council under fire for sexual conduct guidelines for teachers
3[INTERVIEW] A touch of authenticity in Korea's Mexican cuisine scene INTERVIEWA touch of authenticity in Korea's Mexican cuisine scene
4Gov't announces measures to cope with shortage of surgeons Gov't announces measures to cope with shortage of surgeons
5Pyongyang threatens eye-for-eye response as US B-1B bombers join drills in South KoreaPyongyang threatens eye-for-eye response as US B-1B bombers join drills in South Korea
6Police to introduce new measures to better handle intoxicated peoplePolice to introduce new measures to better handle intoxicated people
7[INTERVIEW] US-NK summit is unlikely in 2023: Korea Society INTERVIEWUS-NK summit is unlikely in 2023: Korea Society
8[INTERVIEW] IMF expects no recession for Korean economyINTERVIEWIMF expects no recession for Korean economy
9Taxi passengers in Seoul taken aback by fare increase Taxi passengers in Seoul taken aback by fare increase
10[INTERVIEW] 'Extended deterrence is best option to ensure peace on Korean Peninsula'INTERVIEW'Extended deterrence is best option to ensure peace on Korean Peninsula'
Top 5 Entertainment News
1[INTERVIEW] Production company AStory expects great success with 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' franchise INTERVIEWProduction company AStory expects great success with 'Extraordinary Attorney Woo' franchise
2TWICE becomes first K-pop group to win Billboard Women in Music award TWICE becomes first K-pop group to win Billboard Women in Music award
3Cute canine film 'My Heart Puppy' reunites Yoo Yeon-seok, Cha Tae-hyun Cute canine film 'My Heart Puppy' reunites Yoo Yeon-seok, Cha Tae-hyun
4Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy Major webtoon platforms' fight against piracy
5AmorePacific Museum of Art brings Joseon-era folding screens to center stage AmorePacific Museum of Art brings Joseon-era folding screens to center stage
DARKROOM
  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

  • World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

    World Cup 2022 France vs Morocco

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group