With public sector debt increasing around the world, an important issue to consider is just how much can governments borrow?
The clock is ticking. Every second, it seems, someone in the world takes on more debt.
Unfortunately, the manner in which the debt level is conveyed to the general public is usually very obscure.
Couple this problem with the fact that many people do not understand how the national debt level affects their daily life, and you have a center piece for discussion, and which could be written on till the cows come home
The debt, and the developed world’s willingness to borrow to fuel growth, is an indicator of the wildcat figures we now see in almost every country.
The world is in hock up to its neck.
Is the sky’s the limit? Who is going to pay it? How is responsible?
Does voting or paying taxes implies consent.?
There is no easy answer.
Since we are subjected to the government’s impositions whether or not we vote — opting out is forbidden — any given individual may have cast a vote purely in self-defense, for the perceived lesser of two evils. And paying taxes certainly cannot signify consent, because the penalty for nonpayment is theft of one’s property, imprisonment, or (should one resist) death.
The amount governments can borrow depends upon many factors such as the level of private sector savings, confidence and expectations of future growth.
So what is the National debts. Or as governments like to describe it the National Debt Per Person.
A Simply explained,
The government generates a budget deficit whenever it spends more money than it brings in through income generating activities such as taxes.
In order to operate in this manner, the Central Bank has to issue treasury bills, treasury notes and treasury bonds to compensate for the difference. These are then placed on the market with varying interest rate of return and repayment terms to the Investors. As the rate offered on treasury securities increases, corporations are viewed as riskier, also necessitating an increase in the yield on newly issued bonds. This in turn will require corporations to raise the price of their products and services in order to meet the increased cost of their debt service obligation. Over time, this will cause people to pay more for goods and services, resulting in inflation.
By issuing these types of securities, the government can acquire the cash that it needs to provide governmental services.
The national debt is simply the net accumulation of the government’s annual budget deficits.
The national debt level is one of the most important public policy issues. When debt is used appropriately, it can be used to foster the long-term growth and prosperity of a country.
However, the national debt must be evaluated in an appropriate manner, such as comparing the amount of interest expense paid to other governmental expenditures or by comparing debt levels on a per capita basis.
Today’s budget deficits can impoverish future generations and it is utterly absurd to pretend that debts to the amount of trillions are binding upon millions of people who are not yet born or were not born when the debts were incurred. The National Debt Per Person.
Take for instance the UK Debt.
During WWII, UK national debt increased from £7.1 billion to £21 billion. In the early 1950s, UK public sector debt increased to over 200% of GDP much higher than in the financial crisis 2008-11. Could the UK borrow 200% of GDP again? The real national debt to-day is closer to £4.8 trillion, some £78,000 for every person in the UK. Around £2bn of First World War debt remains, which is one graphic illustration of the legacy of this war on our nation and the long-term effects of high debt.
The UK Treasury will pay back the £1.9 billion ($2.9 billion) outstanding war loan perpetual bond on March 9, 2015. This is the successor to the loans that were sold to the public in 1917 to help finance World War I( 120,000 individuals holding them) Britain will also pay off other historical debts, some of which date from the 18th century. Eight undated government bonds remain outstanding. UK would also pay back £218 million ($341 million) of debts dating back to the so-called South Sea Bubble in 1720, created to reduce and consolidate national debt.
The US government has racked up $16 trillion in debt.
The US debt is now bigger than the entire US economy.
Does it matter? After all, world governments owe the money to their own citizens, not to the Martians.
The rising total is important for two reasons.
First, when debt rises faster than economic output (as it has been doing in recent years), higher government debt implies more state interference in the economy and higher taxes in the future.
Second, debt must be rolled over at regular intervals. This creates a recurring popularity test for individual governments, rather as reality TV show contestants face a public phone vote every week. Fail that vote, as various euro-zone governments have done, and the country (and its neighbors) can be plunged into crisis.
To pay back one million dollars, at a rate of one dollar per second, would take you 11.5 days.
• To pay back one billion dollars, at a rate of one dollar per second, would take you 32 years.
• To pay back one trillion dollars, at a rate of one dollar per second, would take you 31,688 years.
That’s five hundred and twelve million years. Yes, 512,000,000 years for 15 trillion.
What to be done? Not much on a global scale.
To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt…We must make our choice between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude.
On a national scale all government spends over 6 billion could be posted on-line with their pros and cons for the population to approve or disapprove.
No human being, in the history of the world has ever amassed a trillion dollars.
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