Musings at Altitude

Back in my very younger years, my Mom and Dad gave me an allowance and a list of chores.  They assessed my performance against that list, and then deducted from my maximum allowable allowance based on their grading of my performance.  The maximum I could make was this:

 

I can’t remember much about those times, but it seems pretty rare that I ever got that full roll of pennies!

As I grew older, I’d beg my Dad for quarters to get a Barq’s Root Beer after church.  Then I’d beg for dollars to go out for pizza.  Then I’d beg for $10 dollars to buy that something special, and even then hundreds of dollars to get that used car I wanted.  In his own special way, by giving me the money I begged for, he was stimulating the economy!

I never made it to thousands while I was at home, but I borrowed thousands for that first new car, then hundreds of thousands for that house.  Thankfully, I haven’t gotten to millions just yet, but in my life time, it certainly seems possible.

But nowadays, we’re borrowing billions, trillions, and gazillions, but it’s not from our parents.  It’s actually from our kids and grandkids now!

The numbers are staggering to me.  The performance metrics are unknown to me.  The accountability for the “chores” that merit that money is invisible to me.  The interest and terms on those loans are non-existent.  And most importantly, those that now have the money (or will eventually have it) have no say in the amount of the loan or the payback terms for those loans!

I wish my Mom and Dad had decided to throw money at me when I was growing up to stimulate the economy.  Oh the things I could have done back then!  Or, I would have settled for being able to define the amount I would get with no terms and no requirement for chores to be done.  Oh the fun I would have had with no expectations and no restrictions on that money!

Silly isn’t it.  Or is it?