Ever wondered about the US Government Debt?

[ricktas]

Ever wondered what 114.5 Trillion look like this puts it into perspective

One Hundred Dollars

$100 - Most counterfeited money denomination in the world. Keeps the world moving.

Ten Thousand Dollars

$10,000 - Enough for a great vacation or to buy a used car. Approximately one year of work for the average human on earth.


One Million Dollars

$1,000,000 - Not as big of a pile as you thought, huh? Still this is 92 years of work for the average human on earth.

One Hundred Million Dollars

$100,000,000 - Plenty to go around for everyone. Fits nicely on an ISO / Military standard sized pallet.

One Billion Dollars

$1,000,000,000 - You will need some help when robbing the bank. Now we are getting serious!

One Trillion Dollars

$1,000,000,000,000

When the U.S government speaks about a 1.7 trillion deficit - this is the volumes of cash the U.S. Government borrowed in 2010 to run itself.
Keep in mind it is double stacked pallets of $100 million dollars each, full of $100 dollar bills. You are going to need a lot of trucks to freight this around.

If you spent $1 million a day since Jesus was born, you would have not spent $1 trillion by now...but ~$700 billion - same amount the banks got during bailout.

One Trillion Dollars

Comparison of $1,000,000,000,000 dollars to a standard-sized American Football field and European Football field.
Say hello to the Boeing 747-400 transcontinental airliner that's hiding on the right. This was until recently the biggest passenger plane in the world.

15 Trillion Dollars

$15,000,000,000,000 - Unless the U.S. government fixes the budget, US national debt (credit bill) will top 15 trillion by Christmas 2011.

Statue of Liberty seems rather worried as United States national debt passes 20% of the entire world's combined GDP (Gross Domestic Product). In 2011 the National Debt will exceed 100% of GDP, and venture into the 100%+ debt-to-GDP ratio that the European PIIGS have (bankrupting nations).

114.5 Trillion Dollars

$114,500,000,000,000. - US unfunded liabilities

To the right you can see the pillar of cold hard $100 bills that dwarfs the WTC & Empire State Building - both at one point world's tallest buildings. If you look carefully you can see the Statue of Liberty.

The 114.5 Trillion dollar super-skyscraper is the amount of money the U.S. Government knows it does not have to fully fund the Medicare, Medicare Prescription Drug Program, Social Security, Military and civil servant pensions. It is the money USA knows it will not have to pay all its bills.
If you live in USA this is also your personal credit card bill; you are responsible along with everyone else to pay this back. The citizens of USA created the U.S. Government to serve them, this is what the U.S. Government has done while serving The People.

The unfunded liability is calculated on current tax and funding inputs, and future demographic shifts in US Population.

Note: On the above 114.5T image the size of the base of the money pile is half a trillion, not 1T as on 15T image. The height is double. This was done to reflect the base of Empire State and WTC more closely.

[kiwi]

I've seen this before, but it's such a great
way to visualize the massive amounts talked of

[agb]

Just goes to show that America is as the say a big country.

[Tannin]

Amazing graphics, Rick. Well posted!

Now, where does that debt come from? There are two main sources: first, their collosal military budget.

The United States spends more on weapons and other military items than the next 18 nations put together. That's right, more than -

• People's Republic of China
• France
• United Kingdom
• Russia
• Japan
• Germany
• Italy
• Saudi Arabia
• India
• Brazil
• Australia
• South Korea
• Spain
• Turkey
• Canada
• Iraq
• Israel
• United Arab Emirates

- all put together. Those 18 nations, remember, are the biggest-spending military nations on earth besides the USA - which spends as much as all of them put together.

That's gross figures. What if we adjust for the size of the economy - i.e., what if we ask what proportion of the total wealth of each nation is devoted to military expenditure? Is the USA still the biggest spender? Not quite. But only 9 nations out of the 153 for which figures are available spend more on arms as a proportion of GDP. These well-known paragons of peace and civic virtue are in fact Eritrea, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Chad, Jordan, Georgia, and Iraq. Every other country on earth spends less on weapons than the USA.


The second reason for the massive debt is that they don't pay taxes, not to speak of, they just keep on borrowing more and more money.

List of countries that pay more tax than the United States (as a proportion of GDP) -
(not in any order)

• Australia
• Japan
• United Kingdom
• Canada
• New Zealand
• Denmark
• France
• Israel
• Russia
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Austria
• Belgium
• Portugal
• Hungary
• Spain
• Ukraine
• Norway
• Finland
• Italy
• Brazil
• Luxembourg
• Netherlands
• Iceland
• Germany
• Ireland
• Greece
• Poland
• Czech Republic
• Bolivia
• Tonga
• Jamaica
• Montenegro
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Romania
• Namibia
• Macedonia
• Slovakia
• Dominica
• Latvia
• Guyana
• Seychelles
• Estonia
• Turkey
• Barbados
• Mongolia
• Moldova
• Serbia
• Bulgaria
• Malta
• Botswana
• Cyprus
• Slovenia
• Swaziland
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Lesotho
• Cuba
• Zimbabwe
• Kiribati

So they spend it like water, and they are not prepared to put their hands in their pockets to pay for everything they spend - it's not so surprising that they are going out the back door, is it?

[ving]

$10,000 per year... thats not going to pay the bills.

Pretty shocking debt really

Sent from my TR718D

[Scotty72]

No matter how many times you see it visualised, it is staggering.

Apparently, for every dollar the US raises in tax, it spends more than another 50 cents- that it borrows.

revenues: $2.092 trillion
expenditures: $3.397 trillion (2010 est.) cia world factbook (2010) this is getting worse in 2011 - hence the current crisis.



Of the $2 trillion they raise in taxes, over 1/3 of that is spent of their military ALONE (approx $800 billion).

The numbers are SO big, they just seems unreal.

[ricktas]

I think even more scary is that this nation (USA) is nuclear weapons capable. Into the future they could become dangerous simply because their financial system collapses completely.

[Kym]

If the US Government was a family, they would be making $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, & are $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget & debt, reduced to a level that we can understand.

-Dave Ramsey

[Tannin]

If the US Government was a family, they would be working three days a week and making $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, & are $327,000 in credit card debt. They are currently proposing BIG spending cuts to reduce their spending to $72,000 a year. These are the actual proportions of the federal budget & debt, reduced to a level that we can understand.

Edited for balance - it's not just that they spend too much, they don't pay any tax to speak of either. Less than pretty much every other first world country on the planet.

[Bennymiata]

If you think the US is bad, it's far worse in many countries in Europe.

At least in the USA, they more or less tell the truth about their debts and budget, whereas in Europe, they have been lying for years.
Almost all of the European countries have run huge deficit budgets since WW2, and a lot of this money has just been given away to people.
They hand out money like water for health, pensions, paying farmers NOT to grow things - it's really amazing.
As soon as one of their countries go down, watch the rest of them tumble like a deck of cards.

Take my father for example.
Just after WW2, he was working in Belgium for about 3 years.
About 10 years ago, he saw something in the paper saying that Australia and Belgium has signed a deal regarding pensions, and that if anyone here had worked in Belgium and had papers to prove they paid tax there, they could now claim a pension.
So, my father being my father, kept all his paperwork and went in to see the Belgium consulate, presented his papers, and has been receiving a pension of 100 Euro a month ever since.
He reckons he got a good deal, as he only ever paid out a few hundred dollars in tax when he worked there.

[Chilli]

If you think the US is bad, it's far worse in many countries in Europe.

At least in the USA, they more or less tell the truth about their debts and budget,

[ApolloLXII]

Nothing surprises me about the level of the U.S. debt. When you run an economy based on greed and the need to be the major economic and military power in the world then running up huge debts like they have was always bound to happen. The sad part is that we'll all end up paying for their (and other countries) economic mismanagement.

[Duane Pipe]

China is now the new super power because of its growing economy and military might, so should Australia still stand by America as one of its allies, as Rick mentioned The US is nuclear capable and is the only county to have used them in a hostile manor.
I personally think that we need a WAR to cut the population growth, Its either war or some kind of super virus that kills Millions of people, the world is struggling to cope with the population now, imagine it in 20 years

[Scotty72]

China is now the new super power because of its growing economy and military might, so should Australia still stand by America as one of its allies, as Rick mentioned The US is nuclear capable and is the only county to have used them in a hostile manor.
I personally think that we need a WAR to cut the population growth, Its either war or some kind of super virus that kills Millions of people, the world is struggling to cope with the population now, imagine it in 20 years

Don't get carried away. China's military capability and spending is still only a small fraction of the US. Granted, it is growing but, still a long way back.

I agree, that the US is still the most powerful, dangerous and aggressive bully on the block - and if they do get into a dire fiscal mess, they may 'do something dumb.'

A WAR to solve overpopulation? Great idea. Where should we start? Traralgon?

Scotty

[Kym]

Where should we start? Traralgon?

It's started ... in London

One thing that will help the yanks is if China floats the yuan. That would level things up, but cost China in the process

[Duane Pipe]

A WAR to solve overpopulation? Great idea. Where should we start? Traralgon?

Scotty

Start with Traralgon, why not Scotty, If I survive I would be able to get a job in the Construction industry rebuilding the place
at the moment there is no work here unless your a school lever or a professional

[farmer_rob]

But why would China float the Yuan? It helps everyone else and not China!

(I also don't see China ramping up military spending - wasted money. They'll conquer the world economically, much cheaper and they make money in the process.)

[JM Tran]

sorry guys, China is still a long way to rightfully challenge the US for premier superpower status despite what people think. Spending time working and holidaying in China in various regions over the last 4 years has shown that they still have many, many issues before they can fully flex their muscles ie. domestic problems which are swept under the rug from foreigners.

Here is a very good article re. China's responses over the US economy in the last few days -

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politi...808-1ij3x.html

The global financial crisis starkly illuminated the fact that while America habitually over-consumes, China habitually under-consumes. Where the US saves too little, China saves too much. It is obscene that a country with as many poor people as China should have amassed $3.2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, the biggest treasure store the world has ever known.

In 2009, China formally acknowledged its responsibility to correct this "structural imbalance" in the global economy. That would include allowing higher wages, more domestic spending and a better welfare system. It should also include a stronger Chinese currency, improving the purchasing power of the Chinese people. All of this would improve living conditions in China and rebalance the world economy but it would also prove disruptive to China's employers. And the biggest of those is the government itself.

"It's clear that China has to rebalance, and it's clear that the rebalancing will be painful,'' Michael Pettis, a professor at Peking University, told the Wall Street Journal yesterday. It's also clear that China has been making painfully slow progress in this task. None of its commentary yesterday made any mention of this agenda.

It is no doubt easier, and much more fun, for Chinese officialdom to rejoice in America's woes than to confront the difficulties in fixing its own.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politi...#ixzz1UXDRc48S



I'll weigh in with my experiences and opinions of the US military during my time exercising with them in northern Australia 5 years ago.

I was in awe of the military expenditure and might of the US Marines, and thats one of the smaller arms of the American military might. The amount they spend on inventory and technology is incredible, its hard to picture it but you really have to see it with your own eyes. Luxury goods such as flying in ice cream and soft drinks to men in the field by helo is almost unheard of in most militaries. Let alone the Marines telling me they left quite a number of utility trucks behind in Guam to rot without caring about repairs - simply as its easier for them to get a new one shipped in than spend the time and money repairing it is ridiculous.

If they can just cut back on the military expenditure - it would make a noticeable impact on the deficit atm. Such as cutting back on the number of super aircraft carriers being pumped out still, cutting back on the over-reliant of technologically advanced equipment etc - and focus instead on the quality of training of the men and recruits first - because thats a lot cheaper. No offence to any current or ex US military members on here, but the quality of soldiering is not up to par with many smaller nations, especially Australia.....!

[ricktas]

Sorry JM, but comparing a $3.2T surplus of a county of over 1 billion people to a deficit of over $140T from a county of 250M people is a bit like chalk and cheese. Yes China has some issues, but what country doesn't?

Australia could do a lot more to help our Aboriginals, yet we still have huge issues within this segment of our communities, lifespans, healthcare for these Australians. China is making improvements, but as we can see from our own experiences, throwing money at an issue doesn't necessarily fix it.

[Tannin]

as we can see from our own experiences, throwing money at an issue doesn't necessarily fix it.

Very sensible. I agree. So when are the Yanks going to learn that throwing more money at their military than the next 19 nations put together doesn't make then safe?