U.S. spending, debt levels are unsustainable
DUBLIN, March 24 (Reuters) - The balance between the United States' high consumer spending and its growing budget deficit is unsustainable, even in the short term, billionaire fund manager George Soros said on Wednesday.
"We spend 5 percent more than we earn and we have a budget deficit of 5 percent, so I don't think it's terribly sound," Soros told a meeting of students in the Irish capital.
"I don't think it can be maintained in the longer term. I don't think it can be maintained actually even in the shorter term."
The White House has said it expects the U.S. budget deficit to hit a record $521 billion this year, or 4.5 percent of U.S. gross domestic product -- a shortfall that would further boost the government's debt-to-GDP ratio.
Levels of personal debt are also high, prompting some U.S. economists to argue that fiscal belt-tightening is needed.
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