Posted on 03/04/2006 3:13:51 AM PST by hawkiye
Total foreign ownership of US Federal deficit currently stands at 45% as of end of first half of 2005 COUNTRY OWNERSHIP OF U.S. GOVERNMENT DEBT
Japan $687.3Billion
China $252.2 Billion
United Kingdom $182.4 Billion
Caribbean Banking Centers $102.9 Billion
Taiwan $71.8 Billion
Germany $63.5 Billion
Korea $61.7 Billion
OPEC $54.6 Billion
Hong Kong $48.1 Billion
Canada $47.8 Billion
Grand Total $2,065.5 Billion
Conclusions:
* Foreign sources financed 54% of US Federal deficit in 2002, 73% in 2003, and 99% in 2004
* Total foreign ownership of US Federal deficit currently stands at 45% as of end of 1st half of 2005
* The US Government currently owes Japan $687 Billion, China $252 Billion, and Korea $62 Billion - together $1.0 Trillion
* The US Government currently owes $2.0 Trillion to foreign lenders
I don't believe in growing the economy the way we've been "growing" it, which is through debt.
Didn't you get the memo? "Conservative" simply means you're pro-life and nothing more.
Welcome to the party of the religious socialists.
If I owe you a hundred dollars and don't pay, I am in trouble.
If I owe you a hundred BILLION dollars and don't pay, who is in trouble now?
And who is going to lend you the next billion dollars without some assurances?
Now you've done it. You've identified yourself as a fiscal conservative. That's worse than being a gay, gun grabbing communist who reads Al Franken while watching Brokeback Mountain.
Your thread title implies that you have a problem with foreign nations investing the dollars they earn from free trade.
But I think that your real concern is Congress can't balance the budget. If this is your concern, it's a valid one.
If your concern is that foreigners are wisely investing dollars they earn from free trade, that's an entirely different concern. We would need some data on foreign ownership of real estate and foreign investment in US corporations to get the real magnitude of the issue on the table.
Which one of the above is your concen?
HELLO?! As the economy grows, as the population grows, many things will be "THE BIGGEST, GREATEST, MOST" ever in history. That in and of itself IS MEANINGLESS!!!!! The only thing that's relevant is the percentage.
When the nation had a GDP of 1 billion dollars, 10 billion dollars of debt would have been staggering (10X). If the GDP is 10 trillion dollars, 10 billion in debt is insignificant. What is so hard to understand about this most basic math?
In 1989 we went from being a creditor to debtor nation. In recent years that debt has increased significantly. Call me a chicken little, but I find that troubling.
And who is going to lend you the next billion dollars without some assurances?
I agree. But you have to see that the debt issue, although important, is not the world breaker that some claim. The howlers act as though the lender nations will suddenly remove the money from the table and we will thrash about with no funding sources. This is just stupid.
I am a libertarian and as anti-govt spending as you can get. I have a daughter who qualifies for all kinds of disabilty "supplements" and don't use them b/c I am ideologically opposed to them (they are IMMORAL, not just bad fiscal policies).
However, it is really silly to fear that other nations will jerk their funding. Most of the "debt" is in bonds, which are investments in OUR economy, rather than theirs. Their purchasing of our debt instruments are votes of confidence at this point in time. Further, it is extremely silly to point to debt levels only. Another illustration may help: I once owed about 60,000 dollars. That was a crushing debt load, as my income was only about 52 thousand a year. Now I owe about 140,000 dollars (not counting my mortgage..., in fact, my debt is more than my mortgage). I am not nearly as worried about that as I was when I owed 60K, because my income is almost 5 times what it was then, and I am paying off the debt more rapidly. Debt is all a matter of percentages. We actually owed more money as a country right after the Revolutionary War than we do now. We also owed more money during the Reagan years.
Do I wish we owed NO money? Yeah. I do. But it is not the "we are on the brink of the precipice" kind of nonsense you hear bandied about.
Revelation 18:11
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her;
for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
Hawkiye,
This is from the "About Us' page on your link:
We Believe:
“Free Trade” systematically destroys our ability to produce products competitively
Stronger regulations should be put in place restricting foreign purchasing of US companies
I call a BS alert on this. You're advocating from an organization that does not give any names and addresses (at least none that I can find). And this organization is clearly against free trade and clearly for more regulation. That is not what I call conservative. You're advocating bigger government and less freedom. Not good.
Isn't there a "Perot for President" rally you should be attending, or a shop stewards meeting, or something?
Also, the lead article on your link is by Thom Hartmann whose own webpage describes him as a Democrat, a liberal and a progressive.
Time for some better economic research.
What is the optimal level/amount of government required to grow the economy the fastest?
Revelation 18:11
And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her;
for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
EVERY DAY LOW PRICES :)
Thanks for taking the time to expand the knowledge of folks interested in debt and its effects in relationship to an entire economy. I have long believed that when we buy goods from all over the world, trading them for dollars, those dollars enable people in countries all over the world to improve their standard of living. They then can produce even more goods and can consume some of them, not exporting everything to American consumers.
In the meantime, the best place to use the dollars we traded to them, is to buy goods from us, Boeing planes for example, or to invest in our economy. Both situations strengthen our country.
And I must say, he is the right man for the job.
As long as the world needs dollars there will not be any significant monetary inflation.
BUMP
Ferengi rules of acquisition.
here here according to the cia world factbook @ cia.gov US pubic debt is 64.7 % GDP in 2005... germany 68.1, france 66.5, japan 170, china 28.8, india 82, saudia arabia, 56.7, australia 16.2, mexico 21.2, canada 68.2
here's a solution get rid of social security and buy back 1 trillion in debt each year. easier to predict doom.
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