Normal
From what Google brings up:US foreign debt as of 2024 was $25,800,000,000,000That's $75,852 per capita or $157,788 per worker based on the population and workforce figures Google brings up.US federal government debt is $36,210,000,000,000 or $235,742 per taxpayer (based on the 153.6 million tax returns as per most recent data).Suffice to say that doesn't look like a great position to me. It's wealth of the same sort that someone who borrows as much as the bank will lend for a mortgage, then after that gets a car loan, has "wealth". They look wealthy from the outside with the nice house and car but in truth they're close to broke.The real risk with debt is the power it gives others. I've seen that one play out among my own circle over the years - those in huge debt are going just fine until some hiccup occurs and the house of cards collapses. Just needs a job loss, surprise major expense, hike in interest rates, whatever and it all comes crashing down.That's not to say all debt is bad. But if you can't show the physical assets bought with it, and explain how they're producing income or otherwise creating wealth with which to repay the debt, then that's a huge red flag.It's one thing for government to borrow big in order to fund infrastructure that will serve the public and businesses, ultimately recovering the cost either directly (user pays) or indirectly via the economic activity it enables and taxes collected on that. I'm not in any way against the idea that government borrows money to, for example, build a railway that recovers part of the cost via user charges, and the rest indirectly via the agriculture, mining and manufacturing it facilitates.It's very different though if government is borrowing more and more on a constant basis and nobody can point to what it's being invested in. Borrowing to fund ongoing consumption is a path to ruin.
From what Google brings up:
US foreign debt as of 2024 was $25,800,000,000,000
That's $75,852 per capita or $157,788 per worker based on the population and workforce figures Google brings up.
US federal government debt is $36,210,000,000,000 or $235,742 per taxpayer (based on the 153.6 million tax returns as per most recent data).
Suffice to say that doesn't look like a great position to me. It's wealth of the same sort that someone who borrows as much as the bank will lend for a mortgage, then after that gets a car loan, has "wealth". They look wealthy from the outside with the nice house and car but in truth they're close to broke.
The real risk with debt is the power it gives others. I've seen that one play out among my own circle over the years - those in huge debt are going just fine until some hiccup occurs and the house of cards collapses. Just needs a job loss, surprise major expense, hike in interest rates, whatever and it all comes crashing down.
That's not to say all debt is bad. But if you can't show the physical assets bought with it, and explain how they're producing income or otherwise creating wealth with which to repay the debt, then that's a huge red flag.
It's one thing for government to borrow big in order to fund infrastructure that will serve the public and businesses, ultimately recovering the cost either directly (user pays) or indirectly via the economic activity it enables and taxes collected on that. I'm not in any way against the idea that government borrows money to, for example, build a railway that recovers part of the cost via user charges, and the rest indirectly via the agriculture, mining and manufacturing it facilitates.
It's very different though if government is borrowing more and more on a constant basis and nobody can point to what it's being invested in. Borrowing to fund ongoing consumption is a path to ruin.
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