Don't Cut Investment, Cut the Deficit

According to MIT economist Daron Acemoglu, the debt ceiling is just a distraction. The real problem with the American economy is not that one number (the national debt) is getting close to another number (the GDP), but that the economy is losing it's innovative fire. But there are lots of policy changes that could translate the latest scientific breakthroughs into commercial products, bring smart people to the US and keep them here, and invest in the clean energy technology of the future. Sure beats hunkering down in a bunker with gold (or beer) and guns:

"Consider this: increasing the country's average growth rate by one percentage point over the next 20 years would not only result in much higher incomes and more jobs for all Americans but would also obviate the need for drastic spending cuts today to reign in the government deficit. With a 2% increase per year, average incomes in the United States, and to a first approximation government tax revenues, would be 49% higher in 20 years than they are today; with a 3% increase per year, they would be 81% higher."