US Debt Clock.org shows the current status of our country’s monetary and fiscal categories in real time. The information shown below is from February 16, 2012. No nation has ever recovered from a debt to GDP ratio greater than 90% without going to war. We are currently at 102.23%. But I have added a red circle to a figure that is often overlooked: the assets per citizen. The current figure is $245,690. The liability per taxpayer is $1,040,448. The difference between a citizen’s assets vs. taxpayer’s liability shows exactly what is destroying the country: redistribution of the resources of the producers to that of the looters as Ayn Rand not so succinctly explained in Atlas Shrugged.
A relatively recent addition to this site is that this information can be displayed in the past or the future. In the case below, the information is shown for 2016. The projected figure for assets per citizen will drop to $183,254 or a decrease of 25.41% . The liability per taxpayer will increase to $1,177.290. So while we will lose 1/4 of our assets, our liability (per taxpayer) will increase 13.18%. Let’s ignore the fact that our national debt will increase 57.35% in this same period of time giving us a debt to GDP ratio of 139.07%. Let’s also ignore the fact that this is worse than the current Greek debt to GDP ratio.
Let’s not ignore the fact that this information does not take into consideration the results of the 2012 election. Although we can be assured that Obama will continue on his meteoric spending trajectory, what about a Republican president? The GOP candidates talk about bringing spending under control but the revolutionary (common sense) spending measures needed to save the country’s future seem to be too elusive for discussion. So here we are looking at our life’s savings being redistributed to people who have sold their vote in order to pillage the producers.
So how will 25% of our life’s work be stolen by the government? Redistribution through excessive taxation under the guise of the principle of giving our “fair share”. The government’s definition’s of fair share is simple: more. The other component of this theft is spending more money than the government can steal from the people. This result is shown in the national debt above which neither political party will touch as seen in the continual increases in the debt ceiling last year. It is political suicide in an election year to cut back on spending to buy votes. And that is the key to our definition of producers vs. looters. Producers are patriotic Americans who believe in our founding principles and the duty to give our children freedom. Looters do not care about our country, freedom, morality or anything except what is in it for them.
Which category describes our elected officials based on the above graphics? And what can we do about this if the looters outnumber the producers?
David DeGerolamo
does the national debt mean we owe that to other countries
In the case of US Treasury Bonds bought by foreign countries. Or in the case where the Fed is secretly swapping dollars for Euros to transfer wealth to Europe.
Amusingly, included in $183k Assets Per Citizen is the $74K Debt Per Citizen. US Treasury bonds are assets for small business, corps, and households. Paydown the national debt by extracting $15T from the private sector and the private sector loses $74k assets per citizen. The economy also collapses well before then.
I wonder why people don’t hyperventilate about the $42T in total private debt. It’s about 2.5x gov debt (asset to the private sector) and it doesn’t come with a printing press.