Combined debt of the States is about 5 trillion.

[Anarchist420]

What do you think of this? I think it's a little high, but nowhere near as bad as that of the national govt, especially since the States dont have a central bank and since many States have excessive police forces.

 

[Schmide]

Edit: Img

Dam small images. Its actually the other way around. I knew Texas and Arizona were at the bottom.

 

[child of wonder]

Federal government is ridiculously in debt, states are ridiculously in debt, counties are ridiculously in debt, cities are ridiculously in debt.

At least my great-great grandchildren will read about the USA in textbooks someday and hopefully won't repeat the same mistakes.

 

[Jeff7]

Federal government is ridiculously in debt, states are ridiculously in debt, counties are ridiculously in debt, cities are ridiculously in debt.

At least my great-great grandchildren will read about the USA in textbooks someday and hopefully won't repeat the same mistakes.

We're already making some of the same mistakes that led to the Great Depression, not even 100 years ago, though some of it's probably intentional, to make sure that the "right" people make absurd amounts of money.

 

[jhu]

Federal government is ridiculously in debt, states are ridiculously in debt, counties are ridiculously in debt, cities are ridiculously in debt.

At least my great-great grandchildren will read about the USA in textbooks someday and hopefully won't repeat the same mistakes.

Name one country that doesn't have debt. Hell, even Saudi Arabia has debt, and they are a net exporter of goods.

 

[Attic]

Debt is not absolutely a bad thing, but it's size and the ability to repay and/or cope with that debt are the important factors to consider,... not simply whether one has debt or not.

To imply that since every nation has some form of debt that the USA's combined debt isn't a big deal, is stupid.

 

[child of wonder]

Name one country that doesn't have debt. Hell, even Saudi Arabia has debt, and they are a net exporter of goods.

Debt isn't necessarily a bad thing. Most Americans have mortgages, student loans, etc. that allow them to improve their quality of life moreso than if those debt options weren't available.

However, the United States debt is more akin to a family constantly maxxing out their credit cards, cashing in all their home equity, and living with no savings.

Can they get by and continue to live well for a while? Sure. Will their house of cards eventually come crashing down and they could lose everything? Yes.

We're at that point now. Entire states are considering filing bankruptcy for fuck's sake. The federal debt has reached a level of hilarity. It's so high that we'll never pay it back. Even if we turned our budget into a $300B surplus, it would take over 50 years to pay off the national debt. That's stupid.

 

[iGas]

Name one country that doesn't have debt. Hell, even Saudi Arabia has debt, and they are a net exporter of goods.

Brunei Public debt = $0

It is okay to have debt, but one must have the ability to repay that debt.

 

[iGas]

Debt isn't necessarily a bad thing. Most Americans have mortgages, student loans, etc. that allow them to improve their quality of life moreso than if those debt options weren't available.

However, the United States debt is more akin to a family constantly maxxing out their credit cards, cashing in all their home equity, and living with no savings.

Can they get by and continue to live well for a while? Sure. Will their house of cards eventually come crashing down and they could lose everything? Yes.

We're at that point now. Entire states are considering filing bankruptcy for fuck's sake. The federal debt has reached a level of hilarity. It's so high that we'll never pay it back. Even if we turned our budget into a $300B surplus, it would take over 50 years to pay off the national debt. That's stupid.

I agree, but we must also look at how much other countries are owing the US money, as well as the ability for those countries to honour the interests and repay the debt.

Add:
The closest to an answer to how much others owe the US is "Not much if anything at all."How much money do other countries owe the US?

 

[Anarchist420]

Name one country that doesn't have debt. Hell, even Saudi Arabia has debt, and they are a net exporter of goods.

Lichtenstein doesn't and they have lower taxes, less inflation than America suffers from. In addition, the prince there wants taxes and inflation to be even lower there, while about half the people here want taxes to be higher.

 

[Svnla]

You think this is bad? Look up "unfunded liabilities" of the municipal, county, state, then federal government entities. I read somewhere it is about 50 Trillion just for federal (can't remember the exact number) and growing. Shocking eh?

It is even worse than I though. Per USA Today, it is over 60 Trillion just for federal and it is one year old story = http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2011-06-06-us-owes-62-trillion-in-debt_n.htm

Not all debts are bad but what we have now are debts for day to day spending and not for improvement for the future such as R+D, infrastructure, airport, etc.

 

[Anarchist420]

I agree, but we must also look at how much other countries are owing the US money, as well as the ability for those countries to honour the interests and repay the debt.

Add:
The closest to an answer to how much others owe the US is "Not much if anything at all."How much money do other countries owe the US?

That's actually a good point as well as the fact that a lot of the debt isnt held by the same people as it was when it was first created. I'd say if the federal govt doesnt disperse it to the States based upon population, then American holders of us govt debt should get paid back 40% of what is owed to them at most, china's govt 25%, and then other foreign institutions should get paid back 1/3. The rest can be cancelled including that held by the fed which is 1.2tn. So the real debt is about 16.1 tn - 1.2tn which is 14.9 tn. It's also debatable as to whether the govt can actually owe itself money which is about about another 4-5 tn of the debt. If the federal govt pays any debt off itself, then it would need to do it by selling its land and weapons to the highest bidder rather than money supply or tax increases. Alternatively, it could simply divide the land and weapons among the creditors so there would be no be no expenses of holding an auction or of transporting all of those weapons around.

 

[Texashiker]

Federal government is ridiculously in debt, states are ridiculously in debt, counties are ridiculously in debt, cities are ridiculously in debt.

Texas is prohibited by its constitution from spending more then it takes in.

If more states had that kind of balanced budget, debt would not be an issue.

 

[child of wonder]

Texas is prohibited by its constitution from spending more then it takes in.

If more states had that kind of balanced budget, debt would not be an issue.

Yet you're $242B in debt and climbing.

http://www.usdebtclock.org/state-debt-clocks/state-of-texas-debt-clock.html

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Considering that states spend a great deal of money because of federal mandated programs it's surprising that it's not worse.