Debt Crisis Central: Let’s Not Forget About America
As the situation in Puerto Rico has recently revealed, Greece is not alone. The world is filled with debt laden nations, many of which may never be able to pay down their liabilities. All told, the world is $200 trillion in debt, of which $57 trillion was accumulated in the past 8 years. And for the record, all the wealth in the world, including assets, amounts to $241 trillion (as of 2013). It’s safe to say that the human race is on one massive debt bender, and there won’t be any easy way out.
As for which countries are worse off than others, a recent article from The Guardian happens to reveal which of the world’s nations are on the fast track to a debt crisis. As I read it however, there was a country that was suspiciously missing from the list. Can you spot this missing debt junky? (hint: it’s America. The answer is always America.)
New analysis by the Jubilee Debt Campaign reveals that Greece’s plight is far from unique: more than 20 other countries are also wrestling with their own debt crises. Many more, from Senegal to Laos, lie in a debt danger zone, where an economic downturn or a sudden jump in interest rates on world debt markets could lead to disaster…
…Jubilee’s analysis defines countries as at high risk of a government debt crisis if they have net debt higher than 30% of GDP, a current-account deficit of over 5% of GDP and future debt repayments worth more than 10% of government revenue. “We estimate that 14 countries are rapidly heading towards new government debt crises, based on their large external debts, large and persistent current account deficits, and high projected future government debt payments,” it says…
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
