Who will be the next Greece? The United States?
Posted by xthinker88 9 years, 10 months ago to News
According to the article, Greece's debt is about 300 billion euros or 180% of its GDP. I've always thought comparing debt to GDP is a false comparison because the government cannot collect the GDP (even the government of Thompson-Mouch 2016). The Greek government is projected to receive 79.47 billion euros in revenue this year. So, to me, the more valid comparison is debt to income or 300/80 = 3.75:1.
What I find interesting when making this comparison is to then carry it to the US where the debt is now $18.3 trillion and the annual revenue of the federal government is $3.1 trillion for a debt to income ratio of 5.9:1.
On top of this, the US debt used in this calculation does not include unfunded liabilities. I'm not sure if the Greek number does but my guess is that the Greek number is actually a more firm total debt number than the US because it has more scrutiny as an economy that is not "too big to fail."
Makes me wonder how anybody can think that the current level of US debt is sustainable.
What I find interesting when making this comparison is to then carry it to the US where the debt is now $18.3 trillion and the annual revenue of the federal government is $3.1 trillion for a debt to income ratio of 5.9:1.
On top of this, the US debt used in this calculation does not include unfunded liabilities. I'm not sure if the Greek number does but my guess is that the Greek number is actually a more firm total debt number than the US because it has more scrutiny as an economy that is not "too big to fail."
Makes me wonder how anybody can think that the current level of US debt is sustainable.
What will it take to bail out the Greek government? A few billion dollars? Perhaps Donald Trump should bail them out, then start running the country like a business. If he succeeds, I would be more likely to vote for him in the US.
This is why it will take decades. It must drain and kill Germany and then drain and kill us. At the point that it goes, it will go quickly because the US wont have the ability to prop them up any longer.
I think you are right (daisy chain quickly) if you take out the fact that part of our debt run up is to save those people. If we get leadership that wont do it any more because we just cant commit suicide like that the fast chain of events will occur and the peoples republic of the US would be able to go on for much longer.
I have very mixed feelings about which way is better.
This is the biggest threat America has ever faced - the only one I genuinely fear because it WILL destroy us.
There is only one solution (see link) but I despair of it ever happening.
We will have to start again.
The American Experiment 2.0 will continue 12 miles off-shore and later in space-habs. The Free Market is too powerful to be denied and in time it will prevail.
But, unfortunately, that time is not now.
We've a rough road ahead.
http://www.galtsgulchonline.com/posts/842f5ba/generations-and-solutions
(EDIT FEATURE SEEMS SPOTTY. I LIKE WHITE SPACE BUT IT WON'T LET ME TAKE OUT EXTRA LINE FEEDS.)
Debt to other countries would also depend on our future relations with them. Repudiating debt has consequences so most people would rather work things out to mitigate them.
Too many decisions, including who we elect to office are made based on emotions. Emotions are irrational and too dangerous to be the driving force of economic policy. When the life boat is full and there are still victims in the water the tough decision to move on has to be made.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVz1-XQIcN8
Den miláo̱ elli̱niká I do not speak Greek. When they do the Europe thing about Gringos speaking only one language I switch to Spanish and explain what for? We have three languages for the whole Western Hëmisphere? Speak two you are good to go. In Europe you change languages every hundred kilometers. faster than we change socks. There! politics diverted it''s time to order a little ouzo and tip the guy with in the corner to start playing.
But Greece really thought they could retire everyone at 55. Those that didn't agree emigrated. the Irish Miracle thought the same way. Until they no longer qualified or IMF loans and the USA so politely jacked the price of food up 30% world wide.
Someone forgot to tell Washington DC the war is over.
"Makes me wonder how anybody can think that the current level of US debt is sustainable."
I've asked that question of a few Dimocrats that I know. All I get in reply are dumb stares.
The Keynesian answer was future generations. It's already down to Grandpa and Grammaw. Mom and Dad are next followed by child labor laws and perhaps...if there is mandatory age of retirement mandatory age of death. Simple nough just start cutting social security.
Brutal but the real blame belongs to the baby boomers. Too few jobs too many workers. Let's apply those mandatory requirements to them the real culprits.
Good thing I was born three months too early
If Objectivists came to power as the result of social upheaval and collapse, then we might not be responsible for the debts incurred by the 'nobility' when they ran the country.
Jan
+1
greece is at the top of the pyramid and it is trickling down and it is just a matter of time when the population of the western world becomes aware of the fact that greece was just the beginning.
Some 15 years ago I came to the realization that our country is headed for a wreak living in California so I got out and now try to live a self sustainable life it's was tough but somebody has to try.
As an analogy, for mortgages its about multiples of my income, not multiples of my share of my employer's total revenue. I would try that when I next apply for a mortgage, but I don't think the bank would get the joke.
Aren't you so very glad your going to vote for the lesser of the more equal evil pigs this time?
However you have several other countries in EU that are not to far behind Greece. Italy, Spain and Portugal are all coming down the road before the US. It is far more likely that the strain on Germany will become to great as these lessor entities also default and the EU itself will then fail.
Its just the start of the daisy chain of economic failures that are likely to result, it will take years and maybe decades for the chain to complete and end the EU and maybe before that happens things will change, but I doubt it.
Load more comments...