USA debt hits $30T

[danmand]

 

[danmand]

What is striking is the Debt/GDP :

Name	National Debt to GDP Ratio	Population
Japan	237.54%	125,584,838
Venezuela	214.45%	29,266,991
Sudan	177.87%
Greece	174.15%	10,316,637
Lebanon	157.81%	6,684,849
Italy	133.43%	60,262,770
Eritrea	127.34%	3,662,244
Cape Verde	125.29%	567,678
Mozambique	124.46%	33,089,461
Portugal	119.46%	10,140,570
Barbados	117.27%	288,023
Singapore	109.37%	5,943,546
United States	106.70%	334,805,269
Bhutan	103.85%	787,941
Cyprus	101.04%	1,223,387
Bahrain	100.19%	1,783,983
Belgium	99.57%	11,668,278
France	99.20%	65,584,518
Spain	95.96%	46,719,142
Jordan	94.83%	10,300,869
Jamaica	94.13%	2,985,094
Belize	92.64%	412,190
Angola	90.46%	35,027,343
Brazil	90.36%	215,353,593
Republic of the Congo	90.19%	5,797,805
Antigua And Barbuda	88.35%	99,509
Canada	88.01%	38,388,419
Egypt	86.93%	106,156,692
United Kingdom	85.67%	68,497,907
Aruba	83.57%	107,609
Sri Lanka	82.99%	21,575,842
Tunisia	81.55%	12,046,656
Mauritania	80.61%	4,901,981
Zambia	80.50%	19,470,234
Dominica	79.84%	72,344
Gambia	78.67%	2,558,482
San Marino	77.12%	34,085
Pakistan	77.00%	229,488,994
Argentina	75.90%	46,010,234
Sao Tome And Principe	74.10%	227,679
Sierra Leone	72.37%	8,306,436
Suriname	72.05%	596,831
Saint Lucia	71.62%	185,113
Saint Vincent And the Grenadines	71.38%	111,551
Uruguay	71.34%	3,496,016
Austria	71.17%	9,066,710
Croatia	70.73%	4,059,286
Montenegro	70.58%	627,950
Togo	70.39%	8,680,837
India	69.04%	1,406,631,776
El Salvador	68.10%	6,550,389
Mauritius	67.50%	1,274,727
Hungary	66.62%	9,606,259
Slovenia	65.44%	2,078,034
Albania	65.13%	2,866,374
Morocco	65.11%	37,772,756
Laos	64.13%	7,481,023
Burundi	63.54%	12,624,840
Djibouti	62.99%	1,016,097
Ireland	62.42%	5,020,199
Ukraine	62.03%	43,192,122
Senegal	62.00%	17,653,671
Ghana	61.99%	32,395,450
Maldives	61.43%	540,985
Oman	61.29%	5,323,993
Bahamas	60.49%	400,516
Nauru	60.39%	10,903
Finland	59.88%	5,554,960
Saint Kitts And Nevis	59.49%	53,871
Malawi	59.01%	20,180,839
Israel	58.96%	8,922,892
Gabon	58.48%	2,331,533
South Africa	57.81%	60,756,135
Puerto Rico	57.70%	2,829,812
Ethiopia	57.43%	120,812,698
Vietnam	57.36%	98,953,541
Guyana	57.22%	794,045
Bolivia	57.11%	11,992,656
Germany	56.93%	83,883,596
Malaysia	56.32%	33,181,072
Costa Rica	56.15%	5,182,354
Grenada	56.12%	113,475
Kyrgyzstan	56.09%	6,728,271
Niger	55.60%	26,083,660
Kenya	55.50%	56,215,221
China	55.36%	1,448,471,400
Guinea Bissau	54.92%	2,063,367
Yemen	54.51%	31,154,867
Seychelles	54.49%	99,426
Mexico	54.11%	131,562,772
Benin	54.00%	12,784,726
Qatar	52.74%	2,979,915
Vanuatu	52.18%	321,832
Netherlands	52.04%	17,211,447
Namibia	51.60%	2,633,874
Belarus	51.08%	9,432,800
Serbia	50.95%	8,653,016
Ivory Coast	50.92%	27,742,298
Iraq	50.25%	42,164,965
Fiji	50.22%	909,466
Rwanda	50.00%	13,600,464
Trinidad And Tobago	49.75%	1,406,585
Tajikistan	49.46%	9,957,464
Samoa	49.44%	202,239
Ecuador	49.20%	18,113,361
Colombia	49.16%	51,512,762
Armenia	47.95%	2,971,966
Poland	47.48%	37,739,785
Algeria	46.92%	45,350,148
Slovakia	46.90%	5,460,193
Liberia	46.66%	5,305,117
Guinea	45.98%	13,865,691
Georgia	45.05%	3,968,738
Uganda	44.81%	48,432,863
Chad	42.91%	17,413,580
Burkina Faso	42.47%	22,102,838
Malta	42.46%	444,033
Central African Republic	42.25%	5,016,678
Dominican Republic	41.92%	11,056,370
Thailand	41.47%	70,078,203
Eswatini	41.11%	1,184,817
Australia	41.10%	26,068,792
Madagascar	41.02%	29,178,077
Nicaragua	40.88%	6,779,100
Honduras	40.80%	10,221,247
South Korea	40.54%	51,329,899
North Macedonia	40.48%	2,081,304
Switzerland	39.49%	8,773,637
Myanmar	39.19%	55,227,143
Philippines	39.10%	112,508,994
Cameroon	38.11%	27,911,548
Romania	37.99%	19,031,335
Lesotho	37.95%	2,175,699
South Sudan	37.81%	11,618,511
Panama	37.81%	4,446,964
Papua New Guinea	37.72%	9,292,169
Equatorial Guinea	37.49%	1,496,662
Sweden	37.23%	10,218,971
Mali	36.93%	21,473,764
Norway	36.75%	5,511,370
Latvia	36.66%	1,848,837
Tanzania	36.57%	63,298,550
Bosnia And Herzegovina	36.34%	3,249,317
Haiti	36.23%	11,680,283
Comoros	35.08%	907,419
Bangladesh	34.81%	167,885,689
Taiwan	33.91%	23,888,595
Lithuania	33.79%	2,661,708
Denmark	33.61%	5,834,950
Iceland	33.13%	345,393
Nepal	33.07%	30,225,582
Czech Republic	31.57%	10,736,784
Turkmenistan	30.25%	6,201,943
Nigeria	30.05%	216,746,934
Iran	30.04%	86,022,837
Turkey	29.93%	85,561,976
Cambodia	29.57%	17,168,639
Indonesia	29.29%	279,134,505
Moldova	28.82%	4,013,171
New Zealand	28.07%	4,898,203
Peru	27.18%	33,684,208
Chile	27.17%	19,250,195
Guatemala	24.76%	18,584,039
Saudi Arabia	23.71%	35,844,909
Kiribati	23.48%	123,419
Marshall Islands	23.37%	60,057
Uzbekistan	23.23%	34,382,084
Paraguay	22.37%	7,305,843
Tuvalu	21.81%	12,066
Luxembourg	21.61%	642,371
Zimbabwe	20.99%	15,331,428
Kazakhstan	20.90%	19,205,043
Bulgaria	19.33%	6,844,597
United Arab Emirates	19.20%	10,081,785
Micronesia	18.41%	117,489
Kuwait	17.78%	4,380,326
Azerbaijan	17.59%	10,300,205
Solomon Islands	14.56%	721,159
DR Congo	14.01%	95,240,792
Russia	13.79%	145,805,947
Botswana	12.78%	2,441,162
Estonia	7.61%	1,321,910
Afghanistan	6.88%	40,754,388
Brunei	2.63%	445,431

 

[dirtydaveiii]

I didn't know that japan was so fiscally unbalanced. Afghanistan is looking pretty good. What America needs is more tax cuts

 

[oil&gas]

A number of countries including the U.S. will no longer be able
to continue to service their debt within the next 3 decades as
global oil production is sliding down on the Hubbert curve to a
level about one half of where it is now.

 

[oil&gas]

I didn't know that japan was so fiscally unbalanced. Afghanistan is looking pretty good. What America needs is more tax cuts

Japan may not be doing as bad as it looks.
I believe they owe their debt to themselves.

 

[poker]

Ah. The magic of central banks.

 

[Anbarandy]

Japan may not be doing as bad as it looks.
I believe they owe their debt to themselves.

And they have been doing just that since the collapse of their equity and asset markets since the late '80s of the last century.

 

[K Douglas]

I didn't know that japan was so fiscally unbalanced. Afghanistan is looking pretty good. What America needs is more tax cuts

Afghanistan is only looking good because no credible financial institution will underwrite any debt for them.

 

[K Douglas]

Seeing numbers like that just tells me that we are in for a pending economic collapse that will make the Great Depression look like a tea party in comparison.

 

[danmand]

Peter Schiff: The Dollar Is Monopoly Money Supported By A Ponzi Scheme

THURSDAY, FEB 03, 2022 - 11:20 AM
Via SchiffGold.com,
The national debt quietly pushed past $30 trillion on Jan. 31. But that is only the tip of the debt iceberg. The American taxpayer is on the hook for a lot more than that. In his podcast, Peter Schiff said US government borrowing and spending has turned the dollar into monopoly money propped up by a massive Ponzi Scheme.



On top of the federal government’s $30 trillion of debt, you have to add state and local government debt totaling about another $3.2 trillion. That brings the total debt to GDP ratio in the US to 142 percent. Peter called this a “shockingly high number.”

Especially when the GDP is a bunch of fluff like ours. So much of our GDP is service sector. I think only 10%, if that, is from manufacturing. So, we have a very small portion of our GDP related to producing real wealth.”

But that still doesn’t reveal the entire debt story. To really understand the country’s financial health, you also have to include unfunded liabilities. These are payments the government has promised to make in the future, including Social Security and Medicare. That adds another $160 trillion in liabilities to Uncle Sam’s balance sheet.
If you take the unfunded liabilities and add them to the funded debt, you’re at nearly $200 trillion.
As Peter said, this is completely unplayable.

It’s not going to be paid. And so what’s going to happen? Well, it’s going to be defaulted, either honestly or dishonestly.”

The honest way to default is to admit you’re broke and simply not pay.

Of course, it’s not going to do that. No one in Washington is willing to be honest with creditors. So, the other way is through inflation. And that’s what’s going to happen. We are going to inflate the debt away.”

That creates a whole new set of problems. Peter said the realization the US government is simply going to keep inflating will cause a run on the US dollar and US Treasuries.
A lot of people, including proponents of MMT, believe that we don’t really have to worry about credit quality. The US government will never default. Since the US borrows in its own currency, it can print virtually as much money as it needs to. Creditors won’t really be concerned, no matter how much debt the US government runs up.

But they will be concerned because they realize that we can’t repay the debt honestly through taxation because there’s just not enough money available from the taxpayer. When you’ve got the federal government, and the state and local governments, all looking for the same taxpayer, and that guy is broke, how are you going to repay this debt? You can’t. It’s going to be repudiated through inflation.”

Peter said there’s a big difference between getting repaid honestly out of taxation and getting paid dishonestly through inflation.

And if you think it’s going to be the latter, then you want to get out of Dodge.”

Imagine a simple society with one taxpayer, a creditor and the government. The government borrows $100 from the creditor. Now the taxpayer is on the hook for $100. If the government goes ahead and taxes the taxpayer, the creditor gets $100 and everybody is happy. (Except perhaps the taxpayer who is out $100.) Now, the government could decide it doesn’t want to tax the taxpayer. The government needs his vote. So instead, the government prints $100 out of thin air and hands it to the lender. In that case, the taxpayer has $100 and so does the creditor.
But now there’s another problem. The amount of goods and services in the economy hasn’t changed. Prices will double because the government has doubled the money supply.

Now the taxpayer, when he goes to spend his $100, well, he only gets $50 worth of stuff. So, he’s taken a loss. He doesn’t lose as much as if the government had taken his entire $100 and given it to the creditor. But he lost half his money, even though the government took nothing. But now the creditor, when he gets paid $100, he didn’t really get his money back. Because now prices have doubled. He can only buy $50 worth of stuff. Now, he got more money than he would have gotten had the government just defaulted and given him nothing. But because the government didn’t do that, they inflated — he still gets something. But he’s lost half of his purchasing power. That is a real loss. And that loss is going to be factored into the willingness of US creditors to continue to hold US Treasuries.”

Peter said he’s always gotten a big kick out of people who say we don’t have to pay the massive government debt back and claim the government can just keep borrowing indefinitely.

How can that be? If we don’t have to repay it, it’s really not debt. We’re really not borrowing if we don’t have to pay it back. And the thing is — if it’s true that we can borrow money and never pay it back, what kind of idiot is loaning us the money if we’re never going to pay it back? Because the important part about making a loan is getting paid back. That’s what it really boils down to. … The key is to get your money back.”

So, who is going to continue to loan the US money if we tell them right off the bat, “You’re never getting paid back.”?
Apparently, the plan is to pay the current lenders back by borrowing money from new people.

In other words, the reason we can keep on doing this is because it’s a giant Ponzi scheme. But again, if it’s a giant Ponzi scheme, why do people willingly participate? It’s because they don’t realize it’s a Ponzi scheme. They think they’re going to get paid back. When they realize they’re going to be paid back in monopoly money, they’re not going to want to lend. In fact, they’re not going to want to hold on to these Treasuries and the only buyer is going to be the Federal Reserve. And that’s when the printing press is going to overdrive and the dollar is going to fall through the floor.”

In this podcast, Peter also says the stock market is rotating, not crashing, weak economic data will make it harder for the Fed to tighten, the Fed may start blaming rising oil prices on a slowing economy, and 6 more weeks of winter is nothing compared to the crypto winter ahead.

 

[james t kirk]

There is one thing not to forget about the United States.

Although their debt situation is a fucking nightmare, they have the capacity to raise taxes and slay their deficit. Easily so. The only thing is, there is no political will to raise taxes in the USA. Americans moan and groan and cry and bitch about how much they pay in tax, however, the truth is they pay fuck all. Their income tax levels are low, they don't have a national sales tax, some states don't even have a sales tax. Some states don't have an income tax. And don't even get me going on how much the Americans spend on their military machine.

The American GDP is 21 Trillion dollars. All it would take would be for them to have a 7 percent national sales tax like the GST and they would rake in 1.5 trillion dollars (simplistic view) and cut their deficit in half.

Canada on the other hand, we are max'ed out in terms of how much more tax we can pay. Middle class Canadians are already paying 50 percent of their income in taxes. I doubt that the Americans are even at 20 or 25%.

There in lies the difference.

 

[Valcazar]

Japan may not be doing as bad as it looks.
I believe they owe their debt to themselves.

So do most sovereign nations.

 

[y2kmark]

What is striking is the Debt/GDP :

Name	National Debt to GDP Ratio	Population
Japan	237.54%	125,584,838
Venezuela	214.45%	29,266,991
Sudan	177.87%
Greece	174.15%	10,316,637
Lebanon	157.81%	6,684,849
Italy	133.43%	60,262,770
Eritrea	127.34%	3,662,244
Cape Verde	125.29%	567,678
Mozambique	124.46%	33,089,461
Portugal	119.46%	10,140,570
Barbados	117.27%	288,023
Singapore	109.37%	5,943,546
United States	106.70%	334,805,269
Bhutan	103.85%	787,941
Cyprus	101.04%	1,223,387
Bahrain	100.19%	1,783,983
Belgium	99.57%	11,668,278
France	99.20%	65,584,518
Spain	95.96%	46,719,142
Jordan	94.83%	10,300,869
Jamaica	94.13%	2,985,094
Belize	92.64%	412,190
Angola	90.46%	35,027,343
Brazil	90.36%	215,353,593
Republic of the Congo	90.19%	5,797,805
Antigua And Barbuda	88.35%	99,509
Canada	88.01%	38,388,419
Egypt	86.93%	106,156,692
United Kingdom	85.67%	68,497,907
Aruba	83.57%	107,609
Sri Lanka	82.99%	21,575,842
Tunisia	81.55%	12,046,656
Mauritania	80.61%	4,901,981
Zambia	80.50%	19,470,234
Dominica	79.84%	72,344
Gambia	78.67%	2,558,482
San Marino	77.12%	34,085
Pakistan	77.00%	229,488,994
Argentina	75.90%	46,010,234
Sao Tome And Principe	74.10%	227,679
Sierra Leone	72.37%	8,306,436
Suriname	72.05%	596,831
Saint Lucia	71.62%	185,113
Saint Vincent And the Grenadines	71.38%	111,551
Uruguay	71.34%	3,496,016
Austria	71.17%	9,066,710
Croatia	70.73%	4,059,286
Montenegro	70.58%	627,950
Togo	70.39%	8,680,837
India	69.04%	1,406,631,776
El Salvador	68.10%	6,550,389
Mauritius	67.50%	1,274,727
Hungary	66.62%	9,606,259
Slovenia	65.44%	2,078,034
Albania	65.13%	2,866,374
Morocco	65.11%	37,772,756
Laos	64.13%	7,481,023
Burundi	63.54%	12,624,840
Djibouti	62.99%	1,016,097
Ireland	62.42%	5,020,199
Ukraine	62.03%	43,192,122
Senegal	62.00%	17,653,671
Ghana	61.99%	32,395,450
Maldives	61.43%	540,985
Oman	61.29%	5,323,993
Bahamas	60.49%	400,516
Nauru	60.39%	10,903
Finland	59.88%	5,554,960
Saint Kitts And Nevis	59.49%	53,871
Malawi	59.01%	20,180,839
Israel	58.96%	8,922,892
Gabon	58.48%	2,331,533
South Africa	57.81%	60,756,135
Puerto Rico	57.70%	2,829,812
Ethiopia	57.43%	120,812,698
Vietnam	57.36%	98,953,541
Guyana	57.22%	794,045
Bolivia	57.11%	11,992,656
Germany	56.93%	83,883,596
Malaysia	56.32%	33,181,072
Costa Rica	56.15%	5,182,354
Grenada	56.12%	113,475
Kyrgyzstan	56.09%	6,728,271
Niger	55.60%	26,083,660
Kenya	55.50%	56,215,221
China	55.36%	1,448,471,400
Guinea Bissau	54.92%	2,063,367
Yemen	54.51%	31,154,867
Seychelles	54.49%	99,426
Mexico	54.11%	131,562,772
Benin	54.00%	12,784,726
Qatar	52.74%	2,979,915
Vanuatu	52.18%	321,832
Netherlands	52.04%	17,211,447
Namibia	51.60%	2,633,874
Belarus	51.08%	9,432,800
Serbia	50.95%	8,653,016
Ivory Coast	50.92%	27,742,298
Iraq	50.25%	42,164,965
Fiji	50.22%	909,466
Rwanda	50.00%	13,600,464
Trinidad And Tobago	49.75%	1,406,585
Tajikistan	49.46%	9,957,464
Samoa	49.44%	202,239
Ecuador	49.20%	18,113,361
Colombia	49.16%	51,512,762
Armenia	47.95%	2,971,966
Poland	47.48%	37,739,785
Algeria	46.92%	45,350,148
Slovakia	46.90%	5,460,193
Liberia	46.66%	5,305,117
Guinea	45.98%	13,865,691
Georgia	45.05%	3,968,738
Uganda	44.81%	48,432,863
Chad	42.91%	17,413,580
Burkina Faso	42.47%	22,102,838
Malta	42.46%	444,033
Central African Republic	42.25%	5,016,678
Dominican Republic	41.92%	11,056,370
Thailand	41.47%	70,078,203
Eswatini	41.11%	1,184,817
Australia	41.10%	26,068,792
Madagascar	41.02%	29,178,077
Nicaragua	40.88%	6,779,100
Honduras	40.80%	10,221,247
South Korea	40.54%	51,329,899
North Macedonia	40.48%	2,081,304
Switzerland	39.49%	8,773,637
Myanmar	39.19%	55,227,143
Philippines	39.10%	112,508,994
Cameroon	38.11%	27,911,548
Romania	37.99%	19,031,335
Lesotho	37.95%	2,175,699
South Sudan	37.81%	11,618,511
Panama	37.81%	4,446,964
Papua New Guinea	37.72%	9,292,169
Equatorial Guinea	37.49%	1,496,662
Sweden	37.23%	10,218,971
Mali	36.93%	21,473,764
Norway	36.75%	5,511,370
Latvia	36.66%	1,848,837
Tanzania	36.57%	63,298,550
Bosnia And Herzegovina	36.34%	3,249,317
Haiti	36.23%	11,680,283
Comoros	35.08%	907,419
Bangladesh	34.81%	167,885,689
Taiwan	33.91%	23,888,595
Lithuania	33.79%	2,661,708
Denmark	33.61%	5,834,950
Iceland	33.13%	345,393
Nepal	33.07%	30,225,582
Czech Republic	31.57%	10,736,784
Turkmenistan	30.25%	6,201,943
Nigeria	30.05%	216,746,934
Iran	30.04%	86,022,837
Turkey	29.93%	85,561,976
Cambodia	29.57%	17,168,639
Indonesia	29.29%	279,134,505
Moldova	28.82%	4,013,171
New Zealand	28.07%	4,898,203
Peru	27.18%	33,684,208
Chile	27.17%	19,250,195
Guatemala	24.76%	18,584,039
Saudi Arabia	23.71%	35,844,909
Kiribati	23.48%	123,419
Marshall Islands	23.37%	60,057
Uzbekistan	23.23%	34,382,084
Paraguay	22.37%	7,305,843
Tuvalu	21.81%	12,066
Luxembourg	21.61%	642,371
Zimbabwe	20.99%	15,331,428
Kazakhstan	20.90%	19,205,043
Bulgaria	19.33%	6,844,597
United Arab Emirates	19.20%	10,081,785
Micronesia	18.41%	117,489
Kuwait	17.78%	4,380,326
Azerbaijan	17.59%	10,300,205
Solomon Islands	14.56%	721,159
DR Congo	14.01%	95,240,792
Russia	13.79%	145,805,947
Botswana	12.78%	2,441,162
Estonia	7.61%	1,321,910
Afghanistan	6.88%	40,754,388
Brunei	2.63%	445,431

Can't wait for some numbers wonk to calculate just what my own personal share is ...

 

[y2kmark]

Peter Schiff: The Dollar Is Monopoly Money Supported By A Ponzi Scheme

THURSDAY, FEB 03, 2022 - 11:20 AM
Via SchiffGold.com,
The national debt quietly pushed past $30 trillion on Jan. 31. But that is only the tip of the debt iceberg. The American taxpayer is on the hook for a lot more than that. In his podcast, Peter Schiff said US government borrowing and spending has turned the dollar into monopoly money propped up by a massive Ponzi Scheme.



On top of the federal government’s $30 trillion of debt, you have to add state and local government debt totaling about another $3.2 trillion. That brings the total debt to GDP ratio in the US to 142 percent. Peter called this a “shockingly high number.”


But that still doesn’t reveal the entire debt story. To really understand the country’s financial health, you also have to include unfunded liabilities. These are payments the government has promised to make in the future, including Social Security and Medicare. That adds another $160 trillion in liabilities to Uncle Sam’s balance sheet.
If you take the unfunded liabilities and add them to the funded debt, you’re at nearly $200 trillion.
As Peter said, this is completely unplayable.

The honest way to default is to admit you’re broke and simply not pay.

That creates a whole new set of problems. Peter said the realization the US government is simply going to keep inflating will cause a run on the US dollar and US Treasuries.
A lot of people, including proponents of MMT, believe that we don’t really have to worry about credit quality. The US government will never default. Since the US borrows in its own currency, it can print virtually as much money as it needs to. Creditors won’t really be concerned, no matter how much debt the US government runs up.

Peter said there’s a big difference between getting repaid honestly out of taxation and getting paid dishonestly through inflation.

Imagine a simple society with one taxpayer, a creditor and the government. The government borrows $100 from the creditor. Now the taxpayer is on the hook for $100. If the government goes ahead and taxes the taxpayer, the creditor gets $100 and everybody is happy. (Except perhaps the taxpayer who is out $100.) Now, the government could decide it doesn’t want to tax the taxpayer. The government needs his vote. So instead, the government prints $100 out of thin air and hands it to the lender. In that case, the taxpayer has $100 and so does the creditor.
But now there’s another problem. The amount of goods and services in the economy hasn’t changed. Prices will double because the government has doubled the money supply.

Peter said he’s always gotten a big kick out of people who say we don’t have to pay the massive government debt back and claim the government can just keep borrowing indefinitely.

So, who is going to continue to loan the US money if we tell them right off the bat, “You’re never getting paid back.”?
Apparently, the plan is to pay the current lenders back by borrowing money from new people.

In this podcast, Peter also says the stock market is rotating, not crashing, weak economic data will make it harder for the Fed to tighten, the Fed may start blaming rising oil prices on a slowing economy, and 6 more weeks of winter is nothing compared to the crypto winter ahead.

Shhhh...

 

[poker]