2mo ago

The US has $36 trillion in debt. What does that mean, and who owns it?

www.aljazeera.com

A primer for those who don't understand.

15 comments

The only time we talk about debt is when a republiQan administration is in office. That’s when the debt explodes. A dem admin fixes it, and repeat
- And republiQans blame the democrats for their incompetence and claim themselves as the financially responsible ones. Every few months they repeat the same tired argument so their base can be mad at someone else for the problems they caused
  
  Same in Canada, if we look at the federal and provincial governments the party that has run the smallest % of deficits is the NDP, which is center left.
  As if it costs less to offer universal social services instead of waiting for shit to get worse before getting involved!
  
  I'm feeling the Dem voters do the same with social issues.
- Even Trump agrees!
  .https://www.youtube.com/shorts/_k2og1ZmZhw
- No one has ever "fixed" the us debt in the past 20 years or more.
  It's just the US is the main military super power, so no one is about to call them on it.
.... and when I compare it credit card debt ... everyone usually jumps on me to say that you can't compare national debts to a person and his credit card.
I've always said it and I will continue saying it .... this like someone with a credit card applying for another credit card to pay off the first one ... and they keep doing that for 60 years.
When a person does that, they're called irresponsible .... when a country does it, it's called economics
- Getting a loan for something that will pay off more than the loan interest isn’t a new idea.
  If I buy a cotton candy machine and make more than enough to pay off the interest buy selling cotton candy then it’s economically sound.
  That’s how the us debt works.
- US Debt is a direct division of the gold. In order to have an economy, we print bills that are backed by the gold. The more bills we print the more bills land in circulation, and the less each bill is worth. The issue we really have is the fucked up tax code that prevents that money from getting cycled back into the economy. There’s a literally a thousand more issues beyond this, but debt in economic terms is nothing like a credit card.
  
  Probably should read up on the gold standard and how the US got off it a long time ago.
  https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/April-20/fdr-takes-united-states-off-gold-standard https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/gold-convertibility-ends
  
  No? That hasn't been the case since Nixon. Fiat money has been the international standard for over half a century.
  
  Are you stuck in the 1960's?
Among individuals, Warren Buffett, through his company Berkshire Hathaway, is the single largest non-government holder of US Treasury bills, valued at $314bn.
😤
- Who wrote that drivel?
  As an individual...through his company
  So, NOT as an individual, since that is other people's money, not all his. Berkshire is publicly traded.
- That also means that Berkshire Hathaway is largest private investor in American interests.

15 comments