Rumsfeld's "matter of life and death" ...yes the Michigan study now puts the figure @ 23 Trillions and I wonder why there is a war going on in the USGov....White hats vs Black hats https://youtu.be/xU4GdHLUHwU
Long periods of positive economic growth tend to hide embezzlement, that's what the economist JK Galbraith pointed out about the 1920's. This period in American history is much longer.
While US spending on internal infrastructure has stagnated mainly and the population has doubled over this time the debt has gone up exponentially. The private central banking model has always debased the currency. Andrew Jackson was the last President to throw the bankers out. Of course the scale of criminal activity here is unprecedented in American history.
And the second article/link from Forbes was written by Laurence Kotlikoff (sounds Russian), a professor of economics at Boston University, a Fellow of the American Academy, a Research Associate of the NBER, and President of Economic Security Planning, Inc. -- a company that markets personal financial planning tools at maxifiplanner.com, maximizemysocialsecurity.com, analyzemydivorccesettlement.com, and economicsecurityplanning.com. Recent books: Get What's Yours -- The Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security Benefits (a NY Times Best Seller with Phil Moeller and Paul Solman), The Economic Consequences of the Vickers Commission, The Clash of Generations (with Scott Burns), Jimmy Stewart Is Dead, and Spend 'Til the End. Follow me on twitter @kotlikoff Circle me on Google+, check out kotlikoff.net, and ask me Social Security questions by clicking Ask Larry at the bottom of www.maximizemysocialsecurity.com.