It is what our government and the rest of the global governments are up to – from the Wall Street Journal:
$10.2 trillion: The amount of money advanced-nation governments will need to borrow in 2011
As the debts of advanced countries rise to levels not seen since the aftermath of World War II, it’s hard to know how much is too much. But it’s easy to see that the risk of serious financial trouble is growing.
Next year, fifteen major developed-country governments, including the U.S., Japan, the U.K., Spain and Greece, will have to raise some $10.2 trillion to repay maturing bonds and finance their budget deficits, according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund. That’s up 7% from this year, and equals 27% of their combined annual economic output…
This is unsustainable. In fact, it is an open question as to whether or not some of the weaker sisters in the global community will be able to do it – Spain, Greece, Italy, Ireland and Portugal already teeter on the brink of sovereign default. With the US and other larger economies sucking up vast sums of money to finance debt, will there be enough for everyone? I doubt it.
But even if we stagger through 2011 without a serious default in the world, all we’ll be doing is putting off the day of reckoning. The books must eventually balance, and as long as the United States refuses to tap in to its potential and create wealth, there is no way we – or the rest of the world – can produce the wealth necessary to reduce the debt. We’re in for a long, hard time – which may get worse than anyone imagines, if we don’t swiftly get control of our debt.
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