OK This is from Faux news so that should satisfy the right wingers too ...

Link to entire article -
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/04/who-do-owe-most-that-16-trillion-t...

Just under $5 trillion of the national debt is owed to the Social Security Trust Fund and federal pension systems. A little more than $11 trillion is owed to foreign and domestic investors and the Federal Reserve, which buys up treasuries in order to drag down interest rates through quantitative easing.

China has actually decreased its holdings of U.S. debt over the past year, dropping from $1.31 trillion in June 2011 to $1.16 trillion a year later, according to the Treasury Department. Japan holds nearly as much, at $1.12 trillion. Those countries are by far the biggest foreign holders, but dozens of other nations, including Brazil, Russia, Taiwan, Switzerland and the United Kingdom hold trillions more.

So basically ... 1.16 trill to china, Then russia holds some ... these 2 are the only ones even remotely hostile to the US over their history. Brazil - wonder how much of that is remittances ? taiwan - Must be their british past, UK - like what else is new, how much of their debt do we hold ? switzerland - that's a surprise - OK how much of that is from Swiss bank deposit by say people like Mitt Romney ...

Anyway none of those other than China and russia are going to be asking for their $$$ any time soon ... or ever.

The rest of the 16 trillion is owed to us ... as in ... US savings bond purchasers. You guys remember maybe your parents if you're not an old fogey like me, right from the day they got their first paycheck they would buy a $100 or whatever denomination US savings bond. Those people, plus the many retirement accounts etc etc etc ...

Really we dont have squat to worry about. We can easily print it ... we can also ignore it cos its just $$$ we are paying back into ourselves.
Compare that to greece or Italy ...
So I'll pick greece.
Greece - 160% of gdp, US - 100%.
Greece - debt in Euros which they cant print. US - $ which we can print.
Greece - +80% or so Debt owed to foreigners most of whom want their money back - US,  30% owed to foreign countries none of whom want it back, better yet, less than 15% will ever be demanded back.

So STFU about all the debt, it will ot affect us, not ever in the forseeable future.

Oh yea I have another idea about stimulating the economy - change the interest rate offered @ the discount window to -ve, and bank to bank rate to 0. Ergo, banks parking their $$$ @ the fed get charged for it. Not get paid an interest. The problem is banks are sitting on big $$$ ... I know, I have seen it.

Cool.
Srinath.

Because they didnt "just print it",, every dollar created is based on a debt instrument, first,so, every dollar created is greater debt, by that dollar PLus Interest,

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 10/04/12 at 21:48:37:



This is so incorrect ... or rather, we are doing it this way, but there is no rule or reason it has to be that way. There is really no reason the govt even has to declare what and how much they are printing. They do dclare it, its called the M3. But no obligation to.
Lots of countries print their currency. Greece wants to exit the euro cos thet want to print their own currency.
India through the 70's, 80's 90's printed ... I dunno about now, I have not been back there in any length of time since 92.

Cool.
Srinath.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 10/04/12 at 21:48:37:

Who's gotta pay for the 19 trillion they printed and gave away behind our backs?

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 10/06/12 at 22:17:16:



This is one more of those lovelies like people who say ... President, not my president.

Sorry, either do an orderly wind down - or change of the political system or whatever ... If you didn't know here are more things that should be wound down ...
The stock market should not be allowed to exist, its a ponzi scheme ... the market had a huge step up when they went to 401K's instead of retirement. The other recurring pattern is that the birth rates and sock market are nearly identical transposed 40 years if I recall, or something like that. That was done by an australian financial analyst.
There are a 1000 more things ... they all exist because they have a function as a sort of cross roads.
Cool.
Srinath.