Great article with graphics... http://news.economist.com/cgi-bin1/DM/y/hCJMO0TF1Bj0Mo0GgTB0EF THE headlines are all about sovereign debt at the moment. But that is only part of the problem. Debt has risen across the economy, from consumers on credit cards, though industrial companies borrowing for expansion and financial companies using debt to buy risky assets. The interactive graphic above shows the overall debt levels for a wide range of countries, based on data supplied by the McKinsey Global Institute. In theory there is no maximum level for debt relative to GDP, but Ireland and Iceland (not on this map) found the limit in practice when they hit eight-to-ten times GDP.
world debt , personal debts, all debt should just be wrote off. then we should start a new with none private owned Banks, and currencies. I mean it would benifit the USA, b4 they finally come out with the terms that the fed's are bankrupt.
Although first pie chart is only projection of US debt growth the bulk of following post concerns world debt's projected growth. In both cases the various causes of debt growth are separately displayed graphically. See: http://www.sciforums.com/showpost.php?p=2571111&postcount=276 and my comments following those graphs. Here is a graphical breakdown by countries of the CURRENT debts: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Note the "BRICs" are at the bottom with Canada just above them. And how the debt burden is killing the US's ability to grow GDP: Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! US is clearly past the point of no return (as I concluded in above link.) From: http://www.economist.com/node/16397110 Where there is more disturbing text to read. PS Be sure to note in chart 1 above how The Economist spells "Oh Dear" top left of chart.
I see Britain is closing-in on Japan. Good on those Brits! They should give it their very best! Print, Print, Print! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
The UK is no stranger to debt mountains. In 1946 the national debt as a percentage of GDP was some four times higher than now. Historically Britain borrowed on a large scale to finance wars. Its creditworthiness as a nation has long been to its advantage. Now, after decades of relative peace and prosperity, the national debt is sky-rocketing again. It looks as if we just borrowed a load of money and threw it in the sea. Somewhat slack.
Not exactly "world's debt" - more on what is owed and held by the creditors. I.e. An alternative to gold and government bonds which seems to be emerging: Morgan Stanley's Emma Lawson: “… The allocation {of central bank reserves}to USDs dropped to 57.3% from 58.1%, … USDs remain the greatest weight in reserves, but over time we anticipate that reserve managers may reduce their holdings further. …The allocations to GBP and JPY were relatively stable at low levels, while the big surprise was the rise in “other” currencies. … This allocation rose to 8.5% from 7.5% - its long-term average. ... We estimate that this category includes currencies such as the Australian and Canadian dollars. …” {BT insert: Why not the Yuan or at least the Brazilian real?} Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/morgan-stanley-dollar-euro-reserve-holdings-2010-7#ixzz0thCHQgnq --------------------------- “…The dollar is an unreliable international currency and should be replaced by a more stable system, the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs said in a report released Tuesday.{7/13/10} … Under this proposed system, countries would no longer have to buy up foreign currencies, as China has long done with the U.S. dollar. Rather, they would accumulate the right to claim foreign currencies, {via the IMF’s } SDRs, rather than the currencies themselves.… because the value of a special drawing right is defined by the IMF, {via a formula weighting many currencies} changes in the value of any one currency could be adjusted for. These initiatives, supported by U.N. Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, are meant to help sustain the international trade and financial systems that will allow less-developed countries to participate and integrate into the global economy. In addition to the proposed reforms regarding international currency, the survey also offered guidance on increasing social well-being. The survey said that "the number of the poor in the world living on less than $1.25 a day decreased from 1.8 billion in 1990 to 1.4 billion in 2005, but nearly all of this reduction was concentrated in China." From: http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/06/29/un.report.dollar/index.html Billy T comment: Thus the reserve currency, the SDR, would still be a “fiat” currency, not gold etc. Most economists think that gold etc. are not flexible enough to cope with changing business cycle’s economic conditions. I.e. fiat money, managed by responsible agency, is essential to the modern world. For example too little gold can stifle economic growth and too much can destroy an economy as happened when Spain imported gold by the boat loads from the newly discovered “new world.” (The destruction was the same mechanism as “printing press dollars” destroys and economy – too much money quickly coming into an economy. People cannot eat gold – the baker must make bread etc.) With well managed fiat money the amount of money CAN BE adjusted to keep employment, growth, etc. steady (even though in democracies politicians tend to give the voters more money than is good for them in the long run). In general, IMHO, China’s newly invented economic system is the world’s best (Free market for consumer goods and state’s long range planning, building and repair of infrastructure.)
Heres a conspiracy theory for you to consider: It's all about a form of Economic Terraforming, Originally the "Rich" countries were often supporting the poor. The phat kats in the rich countries don't like sharing their wealth, especially with the less fortunate. So to stop this need to share with "The third world", altering the economy to make those rich countries poor, makes them "The new third world". This means they can hand out as much money as they want, to themselves without feeling guilty or having anyone tell them that they are "more fortunate".
Can I have some of what ever your smoking Pleaseeeeeeeeeeee Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Sorry should have bolded: "Conspiracy theory". There are in reality a number of real factors that make up the overall problem. For instance in the UK production/assembly work is limited, the main industries were actually "Insurance firms" and those insurance firms didn't just insure in the UK, they also insured abroad. (Various Natural and Unnatural events effect insurance premiums and whether people require payouts or not) The rest was pretty much financial related which ties directly into banks and Loans, again not all linked to usage in the UK. Loans are all well and good, if they are of course feasible. The problem is that the competitive nature of the market drives infeasible attempts to gain consumers and in turn causes bankruptcies and overall economic instability. On top of that you then have "Market hysteria". The market 25 years ago was hit so high by Hysteria because of the difference between Brokers and Traders, since the bureaucratic change in an attempt to streamline through the de-materialisation of stock, it's opened up everyone to potentially trade online, in their on home with no real arbitrary regulation (just economic columnist here-say) Thats hundreds of thousands of people that are panicking because the money that they personally invested could "disappear", so you end up with a stampede of investors pulling all at the same time, especially when news articles stipulate growth or decline. Arbitration is the best way of dealing with these panics, however the problem is the "risk takers" (and usually criminals responsible for panics) won't be happy that they can't cause a stampede.
