[Duende]

I wake up to NPR in the morning and today, in a sort of half-sleep, I heard a story about the US national debt. The story pondered if the levels of national debt the US is taking on are dangerous or not (approaching 100% of GDP). Toward the end of the story they more or less dismissed the issue by citing Japan's debt levels of 200% of GDP along the lines of "if it works for them it could work for us."

Is the situation truly serious? Or is it just a political toy?

[copious.abundance]

CLICK HERE

4) Sovereign governments that issue their own currency are never insolvent.

[Keith_McClary]

[SteinarN]

One really important difference between Japan and the US debt is that Japan dept is mostly held by their own citizens versus the US newly printed debt is , well... actually printed out of thin air.

As long as the US thin air debt is not causing inflation or a very weakening dollars it has not done much actual harm yet and the bits in the computer keeping track of this dept could maybe teoretically be erased without anything wrong happening. As I see it the problem lies in the continuation of printing wast amounts of dollars out of the thin air. Something has to give some day as the world is swamped in new dollar bills. This is potentially a new bubble which have to break one day. As with the 2008 debt/housing bubble, when it starts to break there is not much to do to held things up. So, as I see it the problems lies in what must or will happen some day with the dollar value, the credit rating, what to do to bring the budget into balance when the bubble finally breakes and so forth.

[peripato]

CLICK HERE

4) Sovereign governments that issue their own currency are never insolvent.

The implication here is that "deficits don't matter", when in fact, after a course, they do. When the sovereign country with the "sovereign currency" starts abusing its privileges, what's to stop other parties from shifting into other asset classes? Which is what we have been seeing take place, in an accelerating fashion into gold and silver, for instance.

[Adelaidewonderer]

You have to wonder who is playing the debt situation better, the Americans or the Japanese. If Barack wants to renege on his debts, he pisses off the chinese, and gets alot of votes at home. If the Japanese government wants to renege on its debts, it pisses off its voters.

Its ecomic 101 really, if you know you are going to eventually go broke, dont borrow money from family or friends.

[Outcast_Searcher]

Toward the end of the story they more or less dismissed the issue by citing Japan's debt levels of 200% of GDP along the lines of "if it works for them it could work for us."

Is the situation truly serious? Or is it just a political toy?

Japan's interest rates are practically zero. If you end up with a roughly 200% of GDP debt and folks don't want to lend you yet more money dirt cheap, the interest tab will become significant -- and greatly expand your deficit problem.

I think that people that believe the U.S. has the time to just spend madly and double its debt and STILL expect remarkably low interest rates are living in a pure fantasy world.

There are limits. Exploring exactly what those limits are is courting a VERY large dose of pain and anguish.

[Sixstrings]

I've wondered about this too.. when you read about Japan's debt levels, it ought to be Mad Max collapse doom over there. And yet it's not. At least from the outside looking in, seems like everything's stable over there.

[kiwichick]

japan is in severe trouble

japan current population 127 million (2006)

sustainable population 19.15 million

http://www.optimumpopulation.org/overpo ... nindex.pdf

japan imports all of it's oil and gas

[Pretorian]

japan is in severe trouble

Its been there for decades

[Pretorian]

CLICK HERE

4) Sovereign governments that issue their own currency are never insolvent.

The implication here is that "deficits don't matter", when in fact, after a course, they do. When the sovereign country with the "sovereign currency" starts abusing its privileges, what's to stop other parties from shifting into other asset classes?

This: http://www.defense.gov/

[peripato]

CLICK HERE

4) Sovereign governments that issue their own currency are never insolvent.

The implication here is that "deficits don't matter", when in fact, after a course, they do. When the sovereign country with the "sovereign currency" starts abusing its privileges, what's to stop other parties from shifting into other asset classes?

This: http://www.defense.gov/

How's global domination been working out for ya lately?

[Oneaboveall]

japan is in severe trouble

japan current population 127 million (2006)

sustainable population 19.15 million

http://www.optimumpopulation.org/overpo ... nindex.pdf

japan imports all of it's oil and gas

And yet all one hears about is the declining Japanese population.

[gandolf]

Have you thought that maybe its because they arnt also spending a trillion dollars a year invading countries for their oil.......

LOL

[kiwichick]

oneaboveall

and not much mention of declining house prices

and therefore increasing housing affordability

[Pretorian]

How's global domination been working out for ya lately?

Personally for me , it worked out very well.