The Global Debt Trap

I try and keep this blog focused on the fun side of life, but every now and again, I read something that sets me off.  Tonight is one of those nights.

A recent study shows that the global economy - the output of every country in total - produces about US$10,500 per person.  Unfortunately, the total debt burden of the globe totals US$22,733 per person.  In the USA, that number is US$46,884 for every person, or US$130,662 for every taxpayer.

More importantly, global debt is growing faster than global GDP.  Here's how the US looks, it should be pretty obvious that we are piling debt on far faster than creating the ability to pay it back:



There's only one way this can work - if we all decide to screw our children (and our retirees who must live with low interest rates for years to make the debt affordable).  Our children must buy the McMansions, the stocks and bonds, and the various other assets we've purchased with borrowed money to keep the Ponzi scheme going (not counting the garbage we purchase and consume, flushing down the toilet or throwing in the trash).

Here's yet another reason our family is doing what we're doing now.  It is fantastic to have no debt.  We have complete freedom on where we go and what we do next.  More importantly, we refuse to hand our child a life burdened with debt, and we refuse to join in this mass rip-off of the next generation.  Let the people who are benefiting from the insane deficit spending enjoy the consequences - whether that person works for a big bank or is unemployed and on food stamps, both are receiving the fruits of the US government's debt creation, not my family.  Debt has a purpose - it is to fund entrepreneurs and businesses to increase production.  It should not be used to fund consumption, but unfortunately, the global Ponzi scheme can only continue to function as long as consumers agree to be debt slaves and governments continue to borrow more money and pull future consumption forward.

If you're young and debt-free today, I would sincerely recommend a buyer's strike.  Until the debt bomb that Wall Street and the baby boomer generation has created explodes in their faces, just boycott purchases that are so expensive that you have to take on debt.  Whether it's a home loan or a student loan, in the immortal words of Nancy Reagan, just say no.  The bloated Ponzi scheme needs you to voluntarily become a debt slave so that it can survive.  It is close to collapse, and you're likely to be the one left holding the bag.  Just say no.

This rant caused by http://gulfnews.com/business/features/a-world-of-debt-global-liabilities-grow-faster-than-gdp-1.857167.