U.S.A. austerity to be Biggest

[pluMmet]

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2011/072011/07242011/639949

http://www.financialsense.com/contributors/leslie-cuadra/2011/08/31/list-of-worlds-largest-creditor-and-debtor-nations

Richard Amrhine's writing actually appears to be the same political jockeying that he claims all the commotion is about ["Will the GOP let us crash and burn?" July 17].

Let me try a bipartisan approach. Problem: America is the largest debtor nation in the history of the world. Think about that for 60 seconds. That's hard for me to say as a citizen, a husband, a father, and retired U.S. Marine, but it's true.

"Our" nation's debt has grown under both Democratic and Republican leadership. This problem is not going to get easier to solve with time.

From treasurydirect.gov, the national debt in the year I was born was $317 billion. The year I graduated from high school, some 18 years later, it hit $1 trillion, and in 2009, the year my youngest son was born, $13.5 trillion.

Again, our national debt growth has indeed occurred under both Democratic and Republican leadership.

The character of a man and of our leaders is very important to me. If it were legal for a man to live beyond his means and enjoy all the pleasures and entitlements now at the cost of his children having to pay for his consumption, and he did this, I would consider that man one of little character.

I think this is a bipartisan statement. Thankfully, the law does not allow for a person in America to have this choice in the area of family or personal finances. And yet, this is exactly what we, the people of the U.S. government, are doing with out-of-control borrowing and spending.

Our Founding Fathers, the majority of them very wealthy individuals, wrote the Declaration of Independence in large part over taxes that were much lower than those we have today.

Taxes are too high in America. Under current tax law, whitehouse.gov in the fiscal 2012 budget lists 2010 tax revenues at $2.16 trillion. Isn't that enough? The answer is in fiscal responsibility, which ultimately calls for a smaller government, not a larger one.

David Ross

Spotsylvania

_________________________________________

Since 2006 The International Monetary Fund’s Balance of Payment statistics have been uploaded into a neat online database accessible through its website. Among country balance of payments figures, the database also features the “Net International Investment Position” of a country, which is defined as the difference between foreign assets that domestic residents own and domestic assets held by foreign entities. Here are the most recent (2010) rankings. Note that the 2011 rankings are still in the process of being calculated.

2010 Country NIIP (Net International Investment Position) statistics by the IMF. NIIP is defined by a country’s total domestically owned assets minus its foreign owned assets. All figures have been adjusted to nominal US dollars.

creditor debtor nations

Source: IMF

It is no surprise that the most indebted country, the United States, takes the bottom of the list. Its NIIP means the value of its domestically owned assets is less than its liabilities to foreign investors. We see Spain, Greece, Italy, and Portugal on the list of negative NIIPers as well. Japan, China, and Germany are effectively the countries with the largest NIIP. Countries with a positive NIIP are considered to be creditor nations, while those with a negative NIIP are debtor nations. For everyday investors, the NIIP of a country promises to be a leading indicator of a country’s overall fiscal responsibility. Diversifying holdings in both creditor and debtor nations could help spread a portfolio’s risk over time.

[carlos in san diego]

Thanks PlumMet! I've noticed your on a "doom and gloom" tangent as of lately. Thanks for the economic posts. These go right along with the other ones I have been reading for years now. There are people who are trying to warn the public of the impending cataclism that is right around the corner. Few want to take the news seriously, even though you have accomplished something at least, if you plant the seed in the minds of the people. Perhaps the seed will grow.

I disagree with the premise of this however, and feel compelled to speak up. The article talks about the debt we the American people are said to have. Personally I don't subscribe to that idea. I feel that the debt belongs to those who created this debt in our name. These are the same ones who have benefited from creating this debt. And, who expect to be collecting interest on this same debt for generations to come, virtually creating a class of slaves that will foreever be in debt to the master class.

If you would only read the history of the Rothchilds will will come to find out that the tactic of endebting nations to them is not new. They have used it successfully for centuries. We are only the latest victims, in a long line of victims they leave behind in their wake.

This debt was heaped upon us to cover the mistakes of big banks and the mismanagement of our leaders who are in the pockets of the Banksters. We did not benefit one bit from this debt and should do just what Iceland did last summer,and tell the big banks to shove it where the sun don't shine!

I guess the saying is true. If you repeat a lie to someone enough times, it becomes the truth. That is what is happening here. The media and our politicians continue to repeat over and over that this is "our" debt. Nothing could be further from the truth. These debts came about through the the implementation of two wars overseas that went unpaid, wars that benefited the military industrial complex, and a Pharma giveaway by the Bush Administration. There is money to be made in war.

This was followed by the bailouts started at the end of the Bush Administration for banks that were considered "too big to fail". Corporate welfare has continued at an unrelenting pace since then. All of what the federal Reserve prints is added to "our" debt, when we really were'nt the beneficiaries, but BIG BUSINESS!

Wake up folks....don't be a victim of the lies that our government wants you to believe. Speak up. Do something, unless you enjoy being slaves! Carlos

[pluMmet]

When you were a kid if your parents had a family money crises I think you would fully understand that your life would decline whither you agreed with your parents decisions or not.

I'm not happy with what is happening but neither was Noah...

True happiness can not be accomplished unless everyone is happy so I'm doing my part to make sure I have as many happy people to be around in a year or two.

What was just a valuable to me as what the IQD will be is that the IQD turned me on to what is happening with the economies of the word. Now I can navigate and I'm doing my part to help others to as well.

[carlos in san diego]

When you were a kid if your parents had a family money crises I think you would fully understand that your life would decline whither you agreed with your parents decisions or not.

I'm not happy with what is happening but neither was Noah...

True happiness can not be accomplished unless everyone is happy so I'm doing my part to make sure I have as many happy people to be around in a year or two.

What was just a valuable to me as what the IQD will be is that the IQD turned me on to what is happening with the economies of the word. Now I can navigate and I'm doing my part to help others to as well.

I don't think you need to have a doctorate in economics to understand what's going once you understand some simple concepts. Concepts the "experts" cover in a mantle of secrecy. Most people I guess, don't even bother to understand apperantly. The proof is in the fact that the American people keep reelecting the same criminal element to run our contry. It frustrates me that people are so slow to catch on.......

The dinar also led me to find out about the world economy and politics. For me this has truly been a watershed moment. I would not trade what I know now for anything. The dinar is no longer my main concern anymore. It's a secondary benefit only in the bigger picture.

Thanks for your contributions PluMmet! I appreciate the education! Carlos