US Presidency
1992

Ijustice(sve got to protect them. Mr. Lehrer. Mr. Perot, one minute. Mr. Perot. Keep the Federal Reserve independent, but let's live in a world of reality. We live in a global economy, not a national economy. These interest rates we have now don't make any sense. We have a $ 4 trillion debt, and only in America would you finance 70 percent of it 5 years or less. So 70 percent of our debt is 5 years or less, it's very interest-sensitive. We have a 4-percent gap between what we pay for treasuries and what Germany pays for 1 to 5-year treasuries. That gap is going to close because the Arabs, the Japanese, and folks in this country are going to start buying German treasuries because they can get more money. Every time our interest rates go up 1 percent, that adds $ 28 billion to the deficit or to the debt, whichever place you want to put it. We are sitting on a ticking bomb, folks, because we have totally mismanaged our country.