[diundasmink]

Yes but Italy doesn’t pretend to be a leader of the word.

Good thing...cause no one would believe them.

[Staillateno]

Doesn't isolationism sound better every day?? We as Americans consistently help even countrys that are openly hostile to us, and yet we still have to deal with these sort of ideas. We would, as a country, benefit if we stopped discontinued our habits of; 1.) Thinking our way of life should be imposed on everyone, even though freed and democracy are logically the most desirable way to live. 2.) Quit wasting time trying to change the Middle East and the rest of the Muslim countries, like communism they will collapse from the weight of their own oppression. 3.) Instead of spending so much money trying to grab and/or control the remaining oil reserves, and use it to develop alternative energy sources. 4.) Quit accepting visas and immigrants from countries that are hostile to us, this is something that will always puzzle me. It does not benefit any one to be naive about the rest of the world and the fact that as crazy as it sounds there are people who use our freedoms of press and speech with the agenda to take them away. These are just a few ideas. And also bring our service people home! If we are attacked then, we should respond with EXTREME prejudice, not this misguided attempt at assimilation. At the most we should honor our obligations as a member of the U.N. it is not our job or responsibility to police the world by ourselves, or with very minimal assistance. I could go on but these ideas would be a good start!

[Lapsinuibense]

This is a very interesting list from the International Business Times.

Top 10 Countries Ranked by National External Debt - International Business Times

That is interesting, but meaningless. How about comparing a nations debt to it's GDP. Because that is a much more telling way to see who is badly in debt and who is not:

National Deby By Country



Hmm, imagine that. US debt is only 60.8% of it's GDP. And where does Italy stand?

Tsk, tsk, tsk. 103.7%. They will never get out of debt unless something changes there.

So even though the US debt it higher, at least it makes enough to pay it off eventually. Italy does not make enough, so will always be in debt which will grow larger every year.

[lorryuncori]

Every US citizen owes the world $42,000 Seriously? OK, well, y'all can get in line behind the assholes I pay off my student loans to.

When they're done, we'll talk.

[Dreqsqse]

Hmm, imagine that. US debt is only 60.8% of it's GDP. And where does Italy stand?

Tsk, tsk, tsk. 103.7%. They will never get out of debt unless something changes there.

So even though the US debt it higher, at least it makes enough to pay it off eventually. Italy does not make enough, so will always be in debt which will grow larger every year.

Those numbers are from june 2009. The situtation has changed dramatically since then. f.ex. The US public debt has risen to 13 trillion. And I'm quite sure that the European public debts are also larger than the numbers on the map.

[boxcigsnick]

Italy isn't a bad case study though in the context of public debt. When the initial steps were made to create the Euro zone back in 1992 Italy together with Belgium was the worst pupil of the group with a public debt already equalling or surpassing the GDP.

See here

Despite economically sound (*) fiscal policies both by right wing and center left governments Italy didn't manage to bring down the public debt more than 20%, from 122% of the GDP in 1994 to 103% in 2007.

That shows how difficult it is to get rid of this massive redistribution of wealth in the form of sponsoring the owners of that debt with public funds.

(*) I actually consider 'economically sound' to be an oxymoron but that's another discussion.

[Scukonahuy]

Well Italy doesn’t pretend to be a leader of the word.

I do not know what pretending to be the leader of the world has to do with anything, but if what you are saying is that the USA has the strongest economy in the world, then I guess I understand what you are saying. Our government borrows and spends far too much. When you say each Amercian "owes the world $42,000", it's more accurate to say we each owe that amount primarily to the Chinese government, but not the world, although it would not surprise me if some Italian pension funds include US debt, since it is still considered a very safe bet (safer than EU debt, mio fratello )

[Dwerfsd]

I guess it is self explanatory:

[Plonnikas]

I guess it is self explanatory:

It is...I mean it is obvious that you have never known the word hypocrisy.
Perhaps you should meditate on Mathew 7:3...

And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but consider not the beam that is in thine own eye?

[plogypeskelry]

Capo, the man has a point. Since when has the Italin government acted fiscally responsible? I do love your Berlusconi though, the guy parties like a rock star and nobody can touch him lol

[Vomephems]

I do not know what pretending to be the leader of the world has to do with anything, but if what you are saying is that the USA has the strongest economy in the world, then I guess I understand what you are saying. Our government borrows and spends far too much. When you say each Amercian "owes the world $42,000", it's more accurate to say we each owe that amount primarily to the Chinese government, but not the world, although it would not surprise me if some Italian pension funds include US debt, since it is still considered a very safe bet (safer than EU debt, mio fratello )

We owe about a trillion to China, out of a little less than 4 trillion we owe to foreigners. Most of the debt is owed to wealthy American citizens, who were able to lend the money they saved with lower taxes to the government, to finance those tax cuts.

http://www.ustreas.gov/tic/mfh.txt

[KraskiNetu]

Thanks for the chart goober. Well what can I tell ya. US debt is still considered a safe investment. I am not sure how much longer that will last.

[ticfarentibia]

We owe about a trillion to China, out of a little less than 4 trillion we owe to foreigners. Most of the debt is owed to wealthy American citizens, who were able to lend the money they saved with lower taxes to the government, to finance those tax cuts.

http://www.ustreas.gov/tic/mfh.txt

I was gonna say, most of our debt is owed to 'ourselves' effectively.

Also, how much of the other countries debts in the world are owed to the US for 'loaning' them money? If all of those other countries paid us back what we've loaned them, would we break even?

Also, as alluded to by other posters, scaling debt by GDP is the most relevant figure, because it shows how hard/easy it will be to pay it back.

[drgshmcm]

Until you change your behavior you can not traet a cause of your suffering.

[Tribas4u]

I was gonna say, most of our debt is owed to 'ourselves' effectively.

Also, how much of the other countries debts in the world are owed to the US for 'loaning' them money? If all of those other countries paid us back what we've loaned them, would we break even?

Also, as alluded to by other posters, scaling debt by GDP is the most relevant figure, because it shows how hard/easy it will be to pay it back.

A lot of countries also buy T-Bonds and T-Bills to give a solid backing to their own economy. Because historically the US Dollar has proven to be one of the most stable currencies in the world. It may rise and fall, but it has never crashed. It has never been so valuable that it was unaffordable, nor fallen to the point of worthlessness.

And a lot of countries even use the US Dollar as their own currency. The currency of Panama, Ecuador, El Salvador, East Timor, Palau, Micronesia, Marshall Islands, British Virgin Islands, and Turks and Caicos Islands all use the US Dollar. And the currencies of Barbados, Belize, Atgentina, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Bermuda, Bahamas and Saudi Arabia are all directly pegged to the Dollar.

And in the past, some of the countries that pegged their currency to the dollar include China, Malaysia, and Syria. And in many nations US currency is prefered over their own currency.

[WumibBesowe]

Glad to see we are top of the pile - anyone want a few Billion Dollar notes, I've got plenty so that you may all pay off your debts in a rush.

[wmirkru]

Very comprehensive opinion:

A Plague Upon The World: The USA is a "Failed State"


...The war on terror, invented by the George W. Bush/Dick Cheney regime, destroyed the US Constitution and the civil liberties that the Constitution embodies. The Bill of Rights has been eviscerated. The Obama regime has institutionalized the Bush/Cheney assault on American liberty. Today, no American has any rights if he or she is accused of “terrorist” activity. The Obama regime has expanded the vague definition of “terrorist activity” to include “domestic extremist,” another undefined and vague category subject to the government’s discretion. In short, a “terrorist” or a “domestic extremist” is anyone who dissents from a policy or a practice that the US government regards as necessary for its agenda of world hegemony.



Unlike some countries, the US is not an ethic group. It is a collection of diverse peoples united under the Constitution. When the Constitution was destroyed, the US ceased to exist. What exists today are power centers that are unaccountable. Elections mean nothing, as both parties are dependent on the same powerful interest groups for campaign funds. The most powerful interest groups are the military/security complex, which includes the Pentagon, the CIA, and the corporations that service them, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, the oil industry that is destroying the Gulf of Mexico, Wall Street (investment banks and hedge funds), the insurance companies, the pharmaceutical companies, and the agri-companies that produce food of questionable content.


These corporate powers comprise an oligarchy that cannot be dislodged by voting.

...After 20 years of offshoring US production, which destroyed American jobs and federal, state and local tax base, the US unemployment rate, as measured by US government methodology in 1980, is over 20 percent. The ladders of upward mobility have been dismantled. Millions of young Americans with university degrees are employed as waitresses and bartenders. Foreign enrollment comprises a larger and larger percentage of US universities as the American population finds that a university degree has been negated by the offshoring of the jobs that the graduates expected.



When US offshored production re-enters the US as imports, the trade balance deteriorates. Foreigners use their surplus dollars to purchase existing US assets.


Consequently, dividends, interest, capital gains, tolls from toll roads, rents, and profits, now flow abroad to foreign owners, thus increasing the pressure on the US dollar. The US has been able to survive the mounting claims of foreigners against US GDP because the US dollar is the reserve currency. However, the large US budget and trade deficits will put pressures on the dollar that will become too extreme for the dollar to be able to sustain this role. When the dollar fails, the US population will be impoverished.



The US is heavily indebted, both the government and the citizens. Over the last decade there has been no growth in family income. The US economy was kept going through the expansion of consumer debt. Now consumers are so heavily indebted that they cannot borrow more. This means that the main driving force of the US economy, consumer demand, cannot increase. As consumer demand comprises 70% of the economy, when consumer demand cannot increase, there can be no economic recovery.

...

[bDvYaQfM]

Alma, sorry about arresting your spies. They may have given you better info in the future :-)

[Ccddfergt]

Until you change your behavior you can not traet a cause of your suffering.

Point well taken Capo. Now you please do the same.

[Enjoymms]

Alma, sorry about arresting your spies. They may have given you better info in the future :-)

Do you mean to say that the US is not run by your military/security complex, American-Israel lobby and the oil industry?

Maybe you can give me three principal differences between your Dems and Cons, real differences and not declared ones?

Or is your economy getting healthy and the debt smaller?

Or perhaps you disagree with this statement: "The American people are lost in la-la land. They have no idea that their civil liberties have been forfeited. They are only gradually learning that their economic future is compromised. They have little idea of the world’s growing hatred of Americans for their destruction of other peoples. In short, Americans are full of themselves. They have no idea of the disasters that their ignorance and inhumanity have brought upon themselves and upon the world.


Much of the world, looking at a country that appears both stupid and inhumane, wonders at Americans’ fine opinion of themselves. Is America the virtuous “indispensable nation” of neoconservative propaganda, or is America a plague upon the world?"