by Anthony B Sanders
(Bloomberg) Global debt rose to a record $233 trillion in the third quarter of 2017, more than $16 trillion higher from end-2016, according to an analysis by the Institute of International Finance. Private non-financial sector debt hit all-time highs in Canada, France, Hong Kong, South Korea, Switzerland and Turkey.
The debt pile could end up acting as a brake on central banks trying to raise interest rates, given worries about the debt servicing capacity of highly indebted firms and government, the IIF analysts wrote.
No guff, Chet!
Here is the debt picture in the US since The Fed’s ZIRP (or NIRP) was put in place. The US debt now stands at over $20.5 TRILLION while household debt has risen to over $15 TRILLION as of 2016. Yes, The Fed NIRP have enable the US government AND households to gorge on debt. Problem? Our children and grandchildren are on the hook for this debt.
But even if you think that $20.6 TRILLION in public debt is outlandish, look at the US unfunded liabilities that politicians have racked up: $111.5 TRILLION, almost 6 TIMES the public debt!! That is $921 thousand per taxpayer (on top of the $170 thousand in liability per taxpayer in public debt).
US politicians blithly keep promosing more ‘free things’ and borrow even more money to pay for them. The US is already at over $1 million in taxpayer liabilities for unfunded liabilities and public debt.
College students should be concerned about politians borrowing and promising trillions of dollar and stick the burden on them for repayment. But they are generally apathetic about their impending demise. Not to mention their likely unfunded pensions.