News Link • Government Debt & Financing

Mary Meeker's Definitive Guide To The American Public Debt Crisis

02-25-2011 • BusinessInsider.com/

Kleiner Perkins partner Mary Meeker analyzes America as a corporation in an epic presentation: USA Inc.: A Basic Summary of America's Financial Statements. Meeker says USA Inc. is on a parallel course to GM before its bankruptcy. Only through drastic cost-cutting can our country bounce back -- like GM has done in the past two years. Here are some key slides from her definitive report: Spending as a percent of GDP rose 3 percent each year from 1790 and 1930. Worse: It rose 24% in 2010. Here's a great breakdown of America's biggest costs. Debt levels will be three times current levels by 2030. Entitlements and interest alone will exceed total revenue by 2025. Only 1 in 50 Americans needed Medicaid when it was first created in 1965, 1 in 6 Americans receives Medicaid now. Extended unemployment benefits could set back America Inc. $34 billion in the next two years alone. The only good investments: technology, education and infrastructure. The crucial reforms: entitlement and tax policies There is no quick-fix to America's deficit problem. While raising taxes could help, the only real solution is cutting costs. Why we should cut Medicare benefits by 53% Why we should increase the retirement age to 73 or cut Social Security benefits by 12%.