The 10 Countries With the Most Debt
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As the United States inches closer to its current $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, policymakers are renewing the public debate over government borrowing and spending. Earlier this year, White House economic adviser Austan Goolsbee warned that, if the ceiling is not raised, "The impact on the economy would be catastrophic.
I mean, that would be a worse financial economic crisis than anything we saw in 2008." Many top Republicans, meanwhile, are more cautious about such an increase. South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham has expressed cautious support for raising the ceiling, but also has advocated for decreasing government spending to 2010 levels.
South Carolina's junior Republican senator, Jim DeMint, is even more hawkish on the subject, calling for the passage of a balanced budget amendment. [See a slide show of the 10 countries with the most debt.]
Even accounting for inflation, the total U.S. public debt--the amount of treasury securities held outside the government, plus federal obligations for programs like Social Security--has increased more than fourfold since 1990, when it stood at just over $3 trillion. [See the 10 states with the largest budget shortfalls.]
While the United States total public debt is indeed the largest in the world, a broader context shows that other countries face even more dire debt situations. One way to put debt in perspective is to compare it to gross domestic product, or GDP.
The debt-to-GDP ratio is one primary indicator of a country's economic health; a lower ratio is generally seen as more favorable, as it shows that a country is producing enough to eventually be able to repay its debts. According to figures from the International Monetary Fund, Japan has the largest debt-to-GDP ratio in the world, with government debt more than twice the size of its GDP.
Also notable are Greece and Iceland, which have both suffered major recent financial crises and both have government debts that exceed their annual GDPs. The U.S. ratio of 92.7 percent is nearly 20 percentage points away from inclusion in the top 10 countries with the worst debt-to-GDP ratios, listed below:
Country Debt as Percent of GDP (2010 est.)
Japan 225.9
St. Kitts and Nevis 196.3
Lebanon 139.0
Jamaica 135.7
Greece 130.2
Eritrea 129.7
Grenada 119.1
Italy 118.4
Iceland 115.6
Barbados 111.6
Of course, many countries with such high ratios, such as the Caribbean nations of Jamaica, and Barbados, are not among the world's economic powerhouses. A more apples-to-apples comparison is to look at the United States debt situation within the context of the other largest world economies.
Among the 10 countries with the largest GDPs, the U.S. ranks third in terms of debt as a percentage of GDP, behind Japan and Italy. One major outlier on the list is China, whose 2010 GDP is estimated to be the world's second-largest, at roughly $5.7 trillion. The country's debts, however, only equal 19.1 percent of its GDP--well below the rates of nearly all other major world economies.
Country GDP (2010 est., USD) Debt as Percent of GDP (2010 est.)
United States $14.6 trillion 92.7
China $5.7 trillion 19.1
Japan $5.4 trillion 225.9
Germany $3.3 trillion 75.3
France $2.6 trillion 84.2
United Kingdom $2.3 trillion 76.7
Italy $2.0 trillion 118.4
Brazil $2.0 trillion 66.8
Canada $1.6 trillion 81.7
Russia $1.5 trillion 11.1
Source: IMF World Economic Outlook Database, October 2010
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1. Zimbabwe 241.60
2 Japan 196.40
3 Saint Kitts and Nevis 185.00
4 Lebanon 150.70
5 Greece 144.00
6 Iceland 123.80
7 Jamaica 123.20
8 Italy 118.10
9 Belgium 102.50
10 Singapore 102.40https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2186rank.html
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cool
where is our friendly neighbours?
are they doing better than us?
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lol u wish. take a look at their(malaysia /indonesia) ecoonomies and see if its anything like ours. and oh, currently malaysia and indonesia are anything but friendly. the rift is so clear all this yeas lol.
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Originally posted by Casopia-maplesea:
lol u wish. take a look at their(malaysia /indonesia) ecoonomies and see if its anything like ours. and oh, currently malaysia and indonesia are anything but friendly. the rift is so clear all this yeas lol.
at the least they are treated as human, We are just SLAVES
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The US will implode. just look at the staggering amount of debt they have. how much interest repayments do they need to service?
They cant keep on printing money, as it will devalue their currency and inflation will rise inadvertently. The 8 years of war with Iraq and Afganistan and the sub prime crisis bankrupted their finances for sure. its a matter of time before the US cannot repay back their debts.
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Originally posted by Rooney9:
The US will implode. just look at the staggering amount of debt they have. how much interest repayments do they need to service?
They cant keep on printing money, as it will devalue their currency and inflation will rise inadvertently. The 8 years of war with Iraq and Afganistan and the sub prime crisis bankrupted their finances for sure. its a matter of time before the US cannot repay back their debts.
Anyone remember hyperinflation in Zimbawee ???
Their banknotes look like my hell notes my grandparents used to burn.
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Originally posted by Rooney9:
The US will implode. just look at the staggering amount of debt they have. how much interest repayments do they need to service?
They cant keep on printing money, as it will devalue their currency and inflation will rise inadvertently. The 8 years of war with Iraq and Afganistan and the sub prime crisis bankrupted their finances for sure. its a matter of time before the US cannot repay back their debts.
Printing Money - Check.
Devalued Currency - Check
Inflation - Relatively low...
Implosion - Nope.
I'd hate to echo certain U.S Politicians, but the fundamentals of the American economy is strong. A 14 Trillion debt won't kill the Americans. Its painful but its hardly anything that can cause it to implode.
When an individual goes bankrupt, he has to liquidate all his assets to pay off his debt. Consider how much infrastructure, technology, manufacturing capability and etc etc there is; the total networth of the U.S. Its more than sufficient to pay back 14 trillion dollars with of debt 20 times over.
No need to panic yet.
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Originally posted by Shotgun:
Printing Money - Check.
Devalued Currency - Check
Inflation - Relatively low...
Implosion - Nope.
I'd hate to echo certain U.S Politicians, but the fundamentals of the American economy is strong. A 14 Trillion debt won't kill the Americans. Its painful but its hardly anything that can cause it to implode.
When an individual goes bankrupt, he has to liquidate all his assets to pay off his debt. Consider how much infrastructure, technology, manufacturing capability and etc etc there is; the total networth of the U.S. Its more than sufficient to pay back 14 trillion dollars with of debt 20 times over.
No need to panic yet.
are you kidding me? how much is the service repayment on these debts? very soon the US will have to reduce its defence budget because it cant afford. the very danger that US will have problems repaying its debt is very real.