Quote from: Iseree22 on October 06, 2011, 06:51:23 AM

What about Canada then?

With 16.5% of total public debt held by Non-Residents. Canada has a public debt ratio of 84% of GDP, compared with America's ~~62%~~ [100+%] of GDP. Wouldn't Canada be in more of a debt crisis than America???

I don't see the comparison. Citizens holding debt doesn't cause crisis, it means that the nation can sustain a higher debt, and is less likely to default. Foreign money can flee much more easily than the citizens.

Look if you borrow and loan money within your own family, it takes a much greater pressure for you all to implode, but when you do everyone suffers. However, if outsiders, neighbors, or people you don't even know are giving you loans, they'll be quick to demand higher interest rates and drop you at the slightest hint of insolvency. The analogy applies fairly well to national debt.

And whose numbers are you quoting? Certainly not the IMF. I'm guessing your 62% figure excludes intra-government, namely Medicare and Social Security. US debt is accelerating. Canada has no deficit.

Code:

debt/GDP 2009 2010 2011
Canada 81.599 81.703 80.481
Japan 217.604 225.853 234.127
United States 84.259 92.715 99.324

Source: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/02/weodata/index.aspx

FYI: This is how Obama and Congress via the wars and populist hand-outs are fucking the American population harder than Bush: