Originally published March 18 2014
Government binging: Global debt surpasses $100 trillion
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) If you think the United States is the only country on the planet whose government overregulates, over-controls and overspends, think again. There are many such governments around the world, and collectively, the amount of money they owe is, quite simply, mind-boggling.
Here at Natural News we like to discourage binge eating and promote a proper, balanced and nutritiously natural diet, for good health and longevity. If we may, we'd also like to discourage binge spending, because ultimately, it will be unhealthy for our longevity as a country.
The U.S. national debt is currently in excess of $17 trillion -- the bulk of the $100 trillion or so in global indebtedness, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which recently estimated that global red ink climbed 40 percent since the first signs of the Great Recession of 2008-09. Then, governments began borrowing to pull themselves and their economies out of recession, while companies took advantage of record-low interest rates, Bloomberg News reported.
For many countries, especially ours, that borrowing continues today.
U.S. debt, especially, going up, up, and up
In mid-2007 global indebtedness amounted to around $70 trillion; by mid-2013, that debt had risen more than $30 trillion. That increase "compares with a $3.86 trillion decline in the value of equities to $53.8 trillion in the same period, according to data compiled by Bloomberg."
The overall jump in debt is nearly twice the U.S. annual GDP, the Swiss-based BIS said in its quarterly review.
As reported by Bloomberg News:
Borrowing has soared as central banks suppress benchmark interest rates to spur growth after the U.S. subprime mortgage market collapsed and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s bankruptcy sent the world into its worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Yields on all types of bonds, from governments to corporates and mortgages, average about 2 percent, down from more than 4.8 percent in 2007, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Broad Market Index.
"Given the significant expansion in government spending in recent years, governments (including central, state and local governments) have been the largest debt issuers," according to Branimir Gruic, an analyst, and Andreas Schrimpf, an economist at the BIS.
In the U.S., debt surged over the measured period; marketable U.S. debt that remained outstanding stands at a record $12 trillion (or slightly less than one year's worth of the value of all goods and services produced in our country), up from $4.5 trillion at the end of 2007, based on U.S. Treasury data.
None of this should be news, but sadly -- until a collapse actually happens -- too few Americans seem willing to pay attention and make their displeasure known at the ballot box (considering the high reelection rate of incumbents).
'The 800-pound gorilla hiding in the economic closet'
As far back as 2006 -- before the Great Recession struck -- Natural News was sounding the alarm bell. Correspondent Jerome Douglas reported that David M. Walker, head of the General Accountability Office (GAO) was predicting dark economic times ahead if the country was unable to get its fiscal house in order (and this was during the relatively tame deficit spending days of the Bush administration).
"This is about the future of our country, our kids and grandkids ... we the people have to rise up to make sure things get changed," said Walker. He was talking about our national debt -- but at a time when the conversation was still very much about terrorism and the global war against it.
Walker's biggest peeve was that the U.S. was borrowing (and it continues to borrow) money from foreign countries, some of which don't have our best interests at heart (think China).
Moreover, the GAO chief believed that he was talking to a brick wall most of the time.
"You can't solve a problem until the majority of the people believe you have a problem that needs to be solved," he said.
Natural News founder Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, could also see the storm on the horizon, even back then.
"The U.S. national debt is the 800-pound gorilla hiding in the economic closet ... no one wants to talk about the national debt, and no politician who talks about reducing it will ever get elected," Adams said. "The U.S. public has lost any appetite for fiscal restraint and seems intent on driving this economy into total debt collapse."
There will be some winners -- those who have adopted the natural, the homeopathic and the alternative to mainstream society. Your money might be worthless, but you'll be able to feed yourselves, stay healthy and ride the storm out.
Sources:
http://www.bloomberg.com
http://www.naturalnews.com
http://www.usdebtclock.org
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