speaking of which, a household or a corporation can go bankrupt while the US government is unlikely to do so in the foreseeable future. (Bankruptcy is much more than "default," which seems to inability to pay bills due to cash-flow problems.)
On Tue, Aug 9, 2011 at 9:04 AM, Doug Henwood <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Aug 9, 2011, at 9:55 AM, Bill Lear wrote: > >> Example: >> >> If the US Government was [sic] a family, they would be making >> $58,000 a year, they spend $75,000 a year, and are $327,000 in >> credit card debt. >> >> --- Dave Ramsey, who advocates we handle money "God and grandma's way" >> >> What's wrong with the picture above? > > For one, the U.S. Treasury pays almost 0% on bills and about 2.5% on 10-year > notes. Credit card interest is, what, 15%? > > Actually household debt is about 120% of after-tax personal income - credit > cards and the like around 20% and mortgages around 90% (with some other > miscellaneous stuff thrown in). But just looking at that ignores the asset > side, which is almost 620% of income, including 140% for residential real > estate. > > I have no idea where that $327,000 figure could come from. Federal debt is > about 70% of GDP. Applying that to family income would mean about $40,000 in > debt. And at an interest rate that's a fraction of credit card interest. > > Who's Dave Ramsey? > > Doug > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
