US GDP Growth: 1%, US Debt Growth: 21%

[Mad Scientist]

That is why our economy will not recover.

The Problem In A Nutshell: Annualized GDP Growth Of 1%; Annualized US Debt Growth of 21% | ZeroHedge

As the chart shows total US marketable debt has doubled in the past 4 years, or an annualized growth rate of just above 21%. And as Zero Hedge has shown before, total US Debt/GDP is on the verge of crossing 102%, the highest since WWII. Simply said, the divergence between the two data series will only accelerate as every incremental dollar of debt generates ever less bank for the GDP buck. And that, from a "sustainability" perspective, is what the problem is in a nutshell.

Total US Debt/GDP highest since WWII.

And during those war years we were manufacturing EVERYTHING! What does the US manufacture now?

Jack Sh*t.

We sent all of those jobs overseas in "Free not Fair Trade Agreements".

Any Politician that says we can turn things around by just tweaking things a little here or there is blowing smoke.

 

[Intense]

There is no substitute for living within ones means and ability.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Obama is doing all he can to drive us off the financial cliff: reckless spending, no budget, first ever downgrade.

 

[expat_panama]

There is no substitute for living within ones means and ability.

Americans are doing a great job of living within their means. They're just doing a poor job of hiring help to run the government. The important thing to remember here is that we're not talking about private debt owed by the people of the US. Private debt's been falling for years. We're talking about federal government debt that's been soaring to all time highs not seen since WWII.

 

[justme335]

The Problem In A Nutshell: Annualized GDP Growth Of 1%; Annualized US Debt Growth of 21%

The US debt did not grow 21 % in 1 year.... the information in the link given is just wrong...

Debt:

$14.71 trillion (30 June 2011)
$13.98 trillion (30 June 2010)

makes it: 5.2 % increase in the debt

source: CIA factbook data

lebanese-economy-forum.com/world-facts/show/us-debt/

 

[DSGE]

Luckily it doesn't all have to be paid off in a year.

Also you've made a claim that debt is holding back recovery, with no reasoning. But there is evidence to the contrary: if debt were hold back recovery, yields would be skyrocketing. Yet the real yield on a 30 year Treasury (something the Fed has no control over, so don't try that bullshit) is 0.44%.

 

[BillyV]

The Problem In A Nutshell: Annualized GDP Growth Of 1%; Annualized US Debt Growth of 21%

The US debt did not grow 21 % in 1 year.... the information in the link given is just wrong...

Debt:

$14.71 trillion (30 June 2011)
$13.98 trillion (30 June 2010)

makes it: 5.2 % increase in the debt

source: CIA factbook data

lebanese-economy-forum.com/world-facts/show/us-debt/

You're looking at total debt; the OP is referencing "marketable debt" (aka "public debt"), which is debt held by the public in the form of Treasury securities and currently stands at around $10.5 trillion, up from about $5.3 trillion in 2008. Total debt includes amounts owed to Social Security and Medicare trust funds and other intergovernmental debt. This has indeed risen by 20+% annually, an alarming and unsustainable rate.

 

[editec]

The public debt is a fake as our democractic republic.

 

[BillyV]

The public debt is a fake as our democractic republic.

Link?

 

[expat_panama]

The public debt is a fake as our democractic republic.

Link?

No link could mean he didn't bother with the 'think' component of the talk-process.

Here's a link to the latest federal debt info, and what it says is that debt held by the public is what the gov't owes others, ($11,132,675,901,932.02) and if you add money the gov't owes itself the total gets up to $15,915,814,457,919.46. IMHO it's the $11T number that makes sense.