(tentatively raises paw) ... Err..
There is something of a disconnect from what I know the U.S. Federal Debt to be. It isn't that I disagree with the OP, because I don't. Not precisely.
The Fed does set monetary policy by dictating amount printed vs amount destroyed back out of circulation, interest rates and more.
In many ways the Presidential appointments that Chair the Federal Reserve Board are far more powerful and definitely more lasting than the Treasury
Secretary for any given period. After all, Bernanke is up to 2 President's he's now been appointed and Senate confirmed by. Longevity must be nice.
Anyway, this comes up so often I just saved the screen caps for use as needed. All the thumbs are from the
US Federal Budget Proposal
developed by the White House, through the General Accounting Office for FY 2013 and beyond. (I think it's quicker getting there than it is typing what
it is.
)
^^ This one shows the overall totals on U.S. Federal Debt. 2011 is a known and established number. 2012, partially projected and all the rest are
complete projections which are based on these numbers being the actual conditions our nation sees in the coming years:
If the assumptions hold, the first set of projections is probably what happens for U.S. Debt. That's mind numbing. If the conditions are not as good
as assumptions forming the basis of projections? Well.... It'll get bad.
The important part of the first chart and set of numbers though are the bottom ones. The whole line is a breakdown or support in one way or another,
but the bottom two ....read in trillions ..... show the amount held by Governments and Official things (Like China holding around a Trillion and Japan
something less). The remainder and VAST majority is debt issued in the form of T-bills, Treasury Notes, Bonds and the like. These are real pieces of
paper that real people in this nation and across the world are holding in real accounts. It's not make-up money by any stretch for the effect it would
have if it somehow weren't there suddenly.
Many retirement plans, pensions and more form that 14 or so trillion where we sit now. That, and in the oddest twist to this craziness, under
Bernanke, the Fed has begun monetizing the U.S. Debt ...Which is confusing and even I don't quite get it but it's buying the debt by the very people
issuing the currency.
The Weimar Republic is a historic example of what
this insanity is, leads to and is like to endure in a Western nation ...albeit one historic. The link there provides a number of examples of what
happens on the road we're on now. It's a bad ending, no matter how it goes now. It's a question of damage mitigation and I wish they'd at least start
that much.
- I'd also note that by policy and much I agreed with ...much I don't, The U.S. has been using the accumulation of foreign debt by OTHER nations to
basically buy them and dictate terms as needed, economically, for decades. The rest of the world isn't even going to joke about letting us just hit
some reset button. I think some smaller nations may make the day we crash a national holiday or something... Us and the IMF
edit on 26-12-2012 by Wrabbit2000 because: fixed my smiley and typo