Just another day and more debt talk, what is there to worry about, only $18,000,000,000,000 in debt and everyone still thinks the US is the power house it used to be, how can you believe that one....guess we don't need to worry when they are going to raise it again and again, why not take action and say enough of already, there is a limit and now is the time to start cutting and stop the spending habits that put us in this great financial hole were in. But why even question it when all they do is raise the debt ceiling, 100+ times since 1917...why stop now, just keep the trend going.....I just laugh when they talk about the fiscal cliff and defaulting, its never going to happen, its just a tactic to keep the spending going and to keep raising the debt ceiling higher and higher....think about it 100+ times they raised the debt ceiling, thats about once every year....why stop now, it will be raised another 100 times in the next 100 years. US blows through $18trn debt limit Published time: March 16, 2015 11:18 Reuters / Lucas Jackson Economy, USA On Monday, the US reached its legal debt limit of $18 trillion -more than the country’s entire GDP. Lawmakers will either have to again lift it, or attempt to cap spending. As of March 12, the US Treasury reported federal debt at $18,114,324,000,000.00 in its daily treasury statement. This figure is above the statutory debt limit, which was extended by Congress through March 15 this year. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told Congress that the limit would be reached on March 16, and he also requested lawmakers raise the debt ceiling “as soon as possible,” in a letter written in early March. Under current arrangements, the US government can keep running until October using so-called extraordinary measures, or accounting tricks to keep money flowing into government programs, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Now that a new zenith has been passed, a fresh showdown between lawmakers and the President about America’s spending habits can be expected. The US raised the debt ceiling to $17.2 trillion in February 2014, keeping the economy a safe distance from the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’. Before striking a deal, Republicans shut down the government in October 2014, which put many federal employees out of work for two weeks, and cost the economy an estimated $24 billion. The US government is again left with the decision to raise its debt ceiling- the maximum amount of money it can borrow. If it isn’t raised, the country in theory could default. The debt ceiling, which has been around since 1917, has been raised over 100 times to accommodate the world’s largest economy’s ballooning budget. Republicans and Democrats have long been viciously divided over how to fund the budget, and which programs the government can afford to fund. The debt, largely foreign-held, is worrisome not only for the world’s largest economy, but for global markets, which are always put on edge when the debate comes up. http://rt.com/business/241001-us-18-trillion-debt-limit/
$18 Trillion is both a weakness and a strength. Where could Chinese people invest in bonds if not US? No bond market is enough big. As strange as it appears, the more USA are deeply indebted, the more they are attractive for creditors! The game is ripped. No hard landing in China = USA could indefinitely continue to be first debitor in the world. Chris Mac
Use to be, the USA was "creditor to the world". Now we're "debtor to the world"?... and it's still apparently all OK. How convoluted is that??
To paraphrase a famous saying: “If you owe China $100 billion that’s your problem. If you owe China $18 trillion, that’s China’s problem.”
Its galling when someone doesn't understand the considerable difference between sovereign debt and consumer or commercial debt and treats them as if they are the same. Its particularly galling when, as Visaria points out, they aren't even consistent in their treatment of it as if it was consumer debt. I'll just point out the biggest of many differences, the lender can foreclose on personal or commercial debt which is the primary disadvantage of debt. A U.S. bondholder cannot foreclose on anything the U.S. owns. The Chinese don't gain any control in the U.S. with their purchase of U.S. debt. What, exactly, are you afraid the bond holders will do to the U.S.? True they can stop lending in the future, but if that is your concern you should be talking about the deficit, not the debt (and understand the huge difference between the two). Second, stating the absolute number of any debt is absolutely meaningless. When I was 20 I had $1,000 in credit card debt. That represented over a year of my excess income, so it was a huge amount. Today I have nearly $1M in mortgage debt and many months have a credit card bill totaling several thousand dollars. However my salary is significantly greater and that, combined with my mortgage terms, means I am completely unconcerned about my debt now where as I was rightly very concerned about a far smaller debt 25 years ago. The ratio of GDP to debt or any other ratio that includes some manner of revenue or production is the basis for a reasonable conversation about the debt between smart well meaning individuals. Throwing up an absolute debt number and tossing some flippant comments out based solely on that is not. These are really basic financial concepts. One would hope someone interested in investing would seek to understand them, but if not I guess its always nice to have someone to take the other side our trades!
I noticed a national debt clock in the picture (1st post). Is there a national asset clock somewhere?
Hi Visaria, I recall the geologic dept did a survey n guesstimated how much USA worth. Green River Shale was worth $60 trillion, which is a single asset that dems n reps both locked up at the urging of corps. http://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-co...-the-green-river-formation-worth-2147997.html Alaska has Pebble Mine worth $500 billion but EPA is limiting them because environmental concerns. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/front...ep-to-restrict-pebble-mine-project-in-alaska/ Perhaps when we're desperate we will tap such assets.
what about the power to tax individuals and businesses, is that an asset? If so, how much is that worth?
While we're having fun with this, the market cap of the S&P 500 is $19.5T, or if we want to be dramatic about it, $19,500,000,000,000.