Are there any countries that AREN'T in debt?

I had this thought and I figured this would be the best place to ask. I did a simply Google search and some results came up about the United Arab Emirates a year ago, but after the whole fiasco late last year, I highly doubt that is true.

So my question is just that? Is there any country that isn't in debt and instead has a surplus?

Because seriously, logically speaking if all the countries are in debt creating a web of debt back and forth to each other, isn't it literally impossible to ever pull yourself out of the debt without making some kind of deal or simply waving of the said debt?

I'm not big on economic, I just know that the ride is far from over as far as the global dip. Perhaps I just don't understand the debt cycle efficiently enough.

reply to post by gwydionblack


These are the only one's I could find. There may be more.

Leichenstein

Brunei

Niue

Palau

Macau

Don't know what they're doing, but they must be doing it right.



Peace

Originally posted by gwydionblack

Because seriously, logically speaking if all the countries are in debt creating a web of debt back and forth to each other, isn't it literally impossible to ever pull yourself out of the debt without making some kind of deal or simply waving of the said debt?

Yeah, I thought this too several years back. I don't understand all the economic terms but when you look at the basic design of the system, at every level it's just utterly irrational.

What I have such a hard time grasping is how, if the collapse of the dollar is eminent, and this will effect the globe, why not forgo all the suffering? Why don't we just hit some sort of reset key right now already? This whole web is built on deceit, much like the IRS handbook. It's just a lot of layers in jargon, and you've got specialists "just doing their job" , "just making a quick buck" on whatever layer they're working from. Then you've got the people who run this game, and allow it to continue by constantly tweaking the irrationality, ie creating bubbles.

The only logical explanation I have is that the bankers truly have usurped the governments. They long ago bought out stock in all the places and people that matter. The system doesn't collapse, because they don't want it to. Nobody really knows better because they just don't want you to know. Governments don't pay back their debts in full, because to do so they would have to borrow from someone else!

It's just rigged. Plain and simple.

reply to post by gwydionblack



Yes countries with a credit so bad that no one lends them.

But seriously, this is what I found the list is very short; also they provide external and public debt.

en.wikipedia.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

The Australian government was completely debt free in 2006.

That is ZERO GOVERNMENT DEBT.

www.abc.net.au...

However since then we have had a change of government, and are now back in debt again, by 300 billion.

www.abc.net.au...

That works out to around $15K per head of population.
Unfortunate, but still manageable.

Every country HAS debt. The question is whether their reserves are greater than the debt withstanding.

China has a large budget surplus.

Russia has a large budget surplus.

Germany has a large budget surplus.

The province of Quebec in Canada has one of the most heavily indebted economies in the industrialized world. With only 7.7 millions population.

With a high provincial sales tax rate of 7.5%, our government is about to announce a 1% to 2% sales tax increase, and let's not forget that we already pay between 45% and 50% of income taxes. We are about to go bankrupt.

Quebec ranks only below Japan, Italy, Greece and Iceland in terms of public debt as a percentage of GDP.

Link to news article

Link to the report pdf file











[edit on 10-3-2010 by St-Patrick]

Originally posted by seattletruth
Every country HAS debt. The question is whether their reserves are greater than the debt withstanding.

Much more importantly is the debt public or private ?

A private debt ceases to be a debt when the debtor defaults.
You cannot get blood from a stone after a financial collapse.

Public debt must always repaid by the taxpayer, no matter how long that takes.

I could not care less about Australia's private foreign debt. If the Australian company, or corporation, that borrowed that money goes bankrupt, than that is not my problem.

But money borrowed by the Australian Government most definitely is my problem, and probably my children's problem, and their children's problem.

This is interesting. I'm getting an insight into how stupid and unreliable the system of debts for the sake of debts really is. To be honest it just seems like a raging monster that is being kept at bay, but just barely.

It is funny that the few countries that aren't in debt, most people have probably never even heard of.

Don't forget, when people talk about a "nation's debt," they may be referring to a number of different things. For example:

-The government debt of a nation (internal and external)
-The trade deficit
-The indebtedness of a nation's citizens or corporations.

For instance, look at Japan. It is a very large (once the largest; not sure if it still is) creditor nation in terms of loans abroad, and it has long had a huge trade surplus (might finally have crossed over in '09 to a deficit; again, not sure). But its government debt is massive. There is also lots of private-sector debt in Japan; its just mostly owed to other Japanese persons or institutions (although this is changing).

An old politician's trick is to refer vaguely to "the debt" without really specifing what type of debt...keeps people confused and makes it easy to make things look better than they really are. ("the debt is down" -- yes but what kind of debt? Government, personal, trade, etc.)

[edit on 3/10/10 by silent thunder]

reply to post by Silver Shadow


Just in case anyone was wondering. Yes the government change was from conservative to left wing. That said, I'm not a big fan of either party. Strangely enough our "conservatives" strengthened gun laws and increased taxes through the GTS while they were in power. Oh well at least they knew how to balance a budget.

Originally posted by Silver Shadow
The Australian government was completely debt free in 2006.

That is ZERO GOVERNMENT DEBT.

www.abc.net.au...

However since then we have had a change of government, and are now back in debt again, by 300 billion.

www.abc.net.au...

That works out to around $15K per head of population.
Unfortunate, but still manageable.

Actually, the fact is we had zero NET government debt. Sounds like you might be a Tony Abbot staffer...

Shenanigans, I call.

If you only look whether they have debt or not, then you might not get the bigger picture of their economic performance, instead take a gander at their current account balance.

List of countries by current account balance (wiki)

Rank ↓ Country ↓ CAB USD, bn ↓
1 People's Republic of China 371.833
2 Germany 252.501
3 Japan 210.967
4 Saudi Arabia 95.762
5 Russia 76.163
6 Switzerland 70.797
7 Norway 59.983
8 Netherlands 52.522

Oh, look, who's that at the very bottom.

176 Greece -44.218
177 Italy -52.725
178 Australia -56.342
179 United Kingdom -105.224
180 Spain -145.141
181 United States -731.214 [2]

The only sovereign people I could imagine being "debt free", would have to be the sovereign 'city-state' that is, Vatican City. They have their own flag, their own "army" per se, it's own postal service, etc.

The Vatican itself is thought to be the wealthiest on Earth, boasting the most prized collections of valuables ancient and modern, as well as some of the greatest non-wealth related power in the world. Not to mention, the Rothchilds placed their trust and esteem in the Vatican by way of allowing the Vatican to basically operate the Rothchild's operations as a delegate.

So, yeah, the Vatican City is not in debt.

There are other "sovereign city-states", actually only two more even worth mentioning. Washington, District of Columbia, aka D.C., is technically "sovereign", and has it's own Law. It's based on, I believe, Roman principles or a late-Caesar, and it's a totalitarian set of principles. They're technically not enforced (obviously), but some say they are unofficially. This goes by way of conspiracy, but it's quite interesting nonetheless.

Then there is London, or a place in London. I can't remember exactly, it's been quite a while. I believe it's Paternoster Square, or something similar. Naturally, it resides next to the uber-Catholic St. Paul's Cathedral (Naturally, right?) and boasts the residence of the London Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lync, etc... In other words, the square of the enemies of the 21st century.

All of this is worth looking into. I believe there are a few documentaries on it. These "Sovereign City-States" (Vatican City officially, other 2 unofficially) are most certainly not in debt, never will be in debt, and have most certainly played their part, if not completely controlled, in orchestrating the "debt" we see today.

Bhutan is debt fre I understand. It has followed some drastic policies. UNlike other third world couNtries -

- it makes it clear that it DOES NOT WANT TOURISTS. and if you come you must spend $120 plus a day there or face arrest as they DON'T WANT YOU.
- Despite no tourism, (most say because of no tourism and the squallour and VD they leave behind), they have maintained the highest GDP growth rate for the world for nearly two decades, albeit from a staggeringly low level.
- The internet was only permitted in 2006 I believe, primarily to allow people to watch the World Cup.
- Over 60% of the country is a national park.
- And every ten or so immigrant workers who have performed the miracle of getting an immigration visa has an immigration official assigned to them, they are tracked by GPS and thrown out for the slightest things as they DON'T WANT THEM.
- And above all THEY DON"T WANT TOURISTS...unless, of course you are a top engineer or really important financier or bankster looking to invest millions, in which case, THEY STILL DON'T WANT YOU.
- Of course, you could still marry a Bhutan girl, in which case, THEY STILL DON'T WANT YOU.

There are only two pilots in the world that can navigate the narrow passes through the Himalayas to reach Bhutan. Most people there think this is 3 too many, because THEY DON'T WANT YOU.

Alternatively, you could spend several weeks, scaling the world's highest mountains to get there. If this happens, they will truly admire you and to celebrate your achievement, they will deport you as THEY STILL DON'T WANT YOU.

[edit on 11-3-2010 by aristocrat2]

Originally posted by daptodave
Actually, the fact is we had zero NET government debt. Sounds like you might be a Tony Abbot staffer...

Is there any other kind of government debt besides net government debt ?

And no, I have never been a member of any political party.

Originally posted by silent thunder
Don't forget, when people talk about a "nation's debt," they may be referring to a number of different things. For example:

-The government debt of a nation (internal and external)
-The trade deficit
-The indebtedness of a nation's citizens or corporations.

Yup, a VERY important distinction.
Thanks Silent Thunder.

Originally posted by aristocrat2
Bhutan is debt fre I understand. It has followed some drastic policies. UNlike other third world couNtries -

- it makes it clear that it DOES NOT WANT TOURISTS. and if you come you must spend $120 plus a day there or face arrest as they DON'T WANT YOU.
- Despite no tourism, (most say because of no tourism and the squallour and VD they leave behind), they have maintained the highest GDP growth rate for the world for nearly two decades, albeit from a staggeringly low level.
- The internet was only permitted in 2006 I believe, primarily to allow people to watch the World Cup.
- Over 60% of the country is a national park.
- And every ten or so immigrant workers who have performed the miracle of getting an immigration visa has an immigration official assigned to them, they are tracked by GPS and thrown out for the slightest things as they DON'T WANT THEM.
- And above all THEY DON"T WANT TOURISTS...unless, of course you are a top engineer or really important financier or bankster looking to invest millions, in which case, THEY STILL DON'T WANT YOU.
- Of course, you could still marry a Bhutan girl, in which case, THEY STILL DON'T WANT YOU.

There are only two pilots in the world that can navigate the narrow passes through the Himalayas to reach Bhutan. Most people there think this is 3 too many, because THEY DON'T WANT YOU.

Alternatively, you could spend several weeks, scaling the world's highest mountains to get there. If this happens, they will truly admire you and to celebrate your achievement, they will deport you as THEY STILL DON'T WANT YOU.

[edit on 11-3-2010 by aristocrat2]

If you are gay, they don't want you either...

c/p from Google earth:

Bhutan. Male/Male Illegal. Female/Female Illegal Bhutan Penal Code 200416 Chapter 14, Sexual Offences Unnatural sex 213. “A defendant shall be guilty of the offence of unnatural sex, if the defendant engages in sodomy or any other sexual conduct that is against the order of nature.” Grading of unnatural sex 214. “The offence of unnatural sex shall be a petty misdemeanor.” Chapter 2, Classification of Crimes Classes of crime 3. "For the purpose of this Penal Code, the classes of crimes shall be as follows: (c) A crime shall be petty misdemeanor, if it is so designated in this Penal Code or other laws and provides for a maximum term of imprisonment of less than one year and a minimum term of one month for the convicted defendant."

If America followed the lead of Bhutan, think how great a nation it would become.

No debt.
No illegal immigrants.
No queers, gays or fags.

Originally posted by Silver Shadow
If America followed the lead of Bhutan, think how great a nation it would become.

No debt.
No illegal immigrants.
No queers, gays or fags.

By the way, if you don't like it, and you want to complain, you would have to go to New Dehli, the capital of India.

Bhutan deals with diplomat there and not in Bhutan itself. Why? Even if you are a diplomat for another country, THEY STILL DON'T WANT YOU.