There are so many unknown variables, too. Before 1993, nobody could accurately predict how much the internet would totally transform economic production in the US and around the world. It gave rise to massive economic growth and development that helped the Clinton admin raise the revenues to balance a budget, return a surplus to paying down the debt, and hand it off to the next admin.
It's hard to even imagine what the US economic situation will look like in 20 or 30 years, or even by the end of this decade, when the CBO says the US will need to develop a comprehensive plan to deal with the debt before the figurative clock starts ticking down on a fiscal crisis. It's hard to determine what economic growth will be like, but economics generally agree that austerity has objectively damaged our ability to grow, and that growth would be at least a percent or two higher if it weren't for the sequester and similar punitive policies.
Overall, the public debt-to-GDP ratio is almost half what it was during WW2, and is close to what it was in the 1950's and mid-90's.
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