“The United States is facing a crushing burden of debt – a debt that will soon surpass the size of the entire U.S. economy and ultimately capsize it if left on its present course. This is not the future of a proud and prosperous nation. It is the future of a nation in decline.” Republikeynesians have come a long way; this is their description of the debt crisis in “Path to Prosperity: Restoring America’s Promise” (PDF)—the House Republicans’ 2012 budget proposal, authored by the House budget committee’s chair, Paul Ryan (R-WI). And although the role of the Federal Reserve Bank in monetizing the debt is finessed—this is still more than we’ve come to expect from the GOP:

“The lenders who buy much of the federal government’s debt have noticed the disconnect between the government’s perilous fiscal situation and the low rates of interest it is paying on the bonds that constitute the government’s debts. Some have even decided to purge their portfolios of U.S. debt, and others are advising their clients to do the same.

“Through its interventions into the economy, the Federal Reserve has recently become the largest buyer of government debt in the country, and these purchases have helped keep interest rates low. But the Fed is scheduled to stop making these purchases this summer. Congress must show the market that it has a credible plan for getting the national debt under control, in order to ease concerns over the government’s creditworthiness and stave off an interest-rate spike.

… nearly every fiscal expert and advisor in Washington has warned that a major debt crisis is inevitable if the U.S. government remains on its current unsustainable path. The government’s failure to prevent this completely preventable crisis would rank among history’s most infamous episodes of political malpractice. …”

Of course, the actual steps proposed to ward off stagflation and hyperinflation are not nearly as drastic as they ought to be.

MORE.

UPDATE I (April 6): Vox Day, on Sean Hannity’s radio show, warns of “The Return Of The Great Depression.” A good reality check is my interview with Day, my WND colleague, “Great Depression 2.0’: An Interview with Vox Day.”

Mr. Hannity seemed eager to pick Vox’s brain about prudent investments during a depression. Asset protection, says Vox, is essential, over and above a focus on returns: metal and companies with a real business model; companies that also provide real services.

Listen to the interview. Notice the alarm in Sean Hannity’s voice. Austrian economists such as Vox Day have not wavered in the “apocalyptic” predictions they’ve been making. This column was warning in 2003, if not earlier, of the consequences of endless debt, credit expansion, and the dangers of hyperinflation. As did I explain to those who bothered to listen that production, not credit-fueled consumption, was whence came wealth.

UPDATE II: To Myron, below: Your cynicism alert and my point are not mutually exclusive. The GOP has come a long way, thanks to the Tea Party, in accurately describing the coming, and calamitous, effects of the debt. We both agree that it’s too little too late.