The National Debt an Interest Only Loan

The good news is that the country can still afford to pay the interest on the national debt. Notice that it is also figured as a percent of Gross Domestic Production [GDP = private consumption +gross investment + government spending + (exports-imports)]. So as a percent of GDP, you have the ratio Debt to GDP. It kind of obfuscates the dollars and cents/sense.

The red check mark at the bottom of the chart points to the sentence; “The United States ranked as the 23rd-largest in the world as a percentage of GDP. It gives the reader the warm and fuzzy idea that 22 other countries are messing up worse than the US.

Here we are with visual aid number two. This shows standings according to public debt as a percentage of annual GDP. Japan is almost at the top, beaten out by the small country of Zimbabwe. Take your pick of whose figures work best for you. No surprise here, the US is way down the list, just like the claim from the chart above.

Look at the next chart below. Here the countries are listed by the dollar amount of external debt. The US is at the top. This is where you ask the waiter for your check and choke. What happened to Zimbabwe? Note that Japan is a special case. They have 7 trillion in debt but most of it is internal.

The last chart is more or less a financial report card for the major world players. Ireland looks like is has run out luck. As long as interest rates remain low, these governments can keep the punch bowl full.

Take away Australia, Hong Kong and the US, and the rest are members of the European Union that is tied to the Euro. Some of these countries have real good health care plans. It looks like it just gets put on a “bar tab” AKA National Debt.

Right now the US government doesn’t even have two pennies to rub together and they are busy printing money to stimulate the economy. By god, everyone will have a home, a car and health care (“A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage” sounds kind of familiar–Hoover comes to mind). Worry about getting a job after the handouts stop. Congress is in too much of a hurry to spend the country out of this “Recession.” It’s a little like dropping a frozen turkey into a hot deep fat fryer. You mise well attach a radio beacon to it, so you can track it, after lift-off.

Read more….