I am terrified to write about debt, because I tend to think that debt can bring a nation unstuck, while economic experts from our side say: no Jimmy, debt is not a worry, go back to minding your chooks. Ok, I guess the conservatives are silly too worrying about US debt being 2,000 percent of GDP, or $ US 400 trillion. I suppose it does not matter:
https://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/u-s-debt-could-be-2000-of-gdp-a-400-trillion-nightmare_09132019
“A new report has said that the real United States national debt could be well over what politicians tell us it is. At a whopping $400 trillion, the U.S. debt would be 2,000% of GDP (gross domestic product) according to new calculations that include the federal government, state, local, financial, and so-called entitlement debt. AB Bernstein, a global asset management firm based on Wall Street, came up with these figures by including in its analysis not only traditional levels of public debt, such as bonds but also financial debt as well as future obligations for entitlement programs, according to a report by CNBC. These include social security, Medicare and public pensions and are often left out of the discussion. They are unfunded liabilities, however, and should be included if we’re to get an appropriate understanding of the government’s mishandling of money. In its report, AB Bernstein took debt from a number of sources and compared it to GDP. Using this methodology, federal, state and local government debt combined amounted to 100 percent of GDP. Households and firms accounted for 150 percent, while debt held by financial firms came to 450 percent. Another 27 percent came from trusts for social insurance programs, 484 percent from promises under current social insurance programs, and 633 percent from obligations for social programs. The total debt, therefore, amounted to 1,832 percent. –RT