Grandfather Debt Summary Table Report by MWHodges

Everyone is talking about debt these days. Perhaps more than ever before - - with good cause. Huge debt levels with soaring trends can cause one to think America is becoming more addicted to debt than ever before. Like a drug junkie needing more each day, there are more and more debt junkies - - in all sectors.

America used to be an economy based on production and savings, with a strong manufacturing base. Later it was said America had become what they called a 'service economy', as manufacturing & saving ratios declined and trade deficits & debts to foreign interests soared. Perhaps some will say America now has become a 'debt society'. Who knows where that leads.

QUESTION > what does a summary of all debt in America look like?
Answer > see below.

Readers requested an additional web page summarizing debt in America, in table form. Here it is.

BOTTOM-LINE - - DEBT SUMMARY TABLE AMERICA'S TOTAL DEBT (as of Jan. 1, 2008) - $57 Trillion - - add another $60 trillion for other contingencies such as Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid - Our Federal Government Debt Report shows $10.6 Trillion of debt as of end CY 2008, the State & Local Government Report shows debt of $2.2 Trillion, and $44.2 Trillion of private (household, business and financial sector) debt is revealed in America's Total Debt Report. These sum to $57 Trillion - - equivalent to $177,900 per capita, or $711,600 per family of 4. (This sum does not include the federal government's un-funded contingent liabilities such as Social Security/Medicare/Medicaid estimated at $107 trillion, plus additional unknown amounts (?) for other contingencies listed below.) The following table summarizes Total Debt in America - - as of January 1, 2009
DEBT TYPE	DEBT AMOUNT ($ Trillion)	Debt Per Child (per capita)
GOVERNMENT SECTOR DEBT:
Federal Government Sector debt - a record high as of year end 2008. (Treasury data and Federal Government Debt Report, (includes $3.1 trillion federal govt. owes foreigners, plus $3.3 trillion debt owed U.S. domestic public, plus $4.2 trillion surplus siphoned from and owed to trust funds) - total $10.6 trillion - (up an unprecedented $1.4 trillion over prior year)	$ 10.6	$34,868
State & Local Government Sector debt - a record high (State & Local Government Spending Report)	$ 2.2	$ 7,368
Un-funded Social Security contingent liabilities estimated looking forward *	$13.6	$44,737
Un-funded Medicare contingent liabilities (part A $34.4 T, part B $34 T, Part D $17.2 T)*	$85.6	$281,579
Un-funded Medicaid contingent liabilities (Congressional Research Service report - 2/2005)	? $ 8.4	$ 27,632
Un-funded federal employee pension contingent liabilities (incl. Postal service)	? $ 4.0	$13,158
Un-funded federal employee medical contingent liabilities	?	?
Un-funded state & local government employee pension & medical contingent liabilities	? $ 2.7	$8,888
Other off-budget Federal Govt. borrowings	?	?
Financial Sector Disaster Bail-out not incl. above (2008/09 estimated*)	? $2.5	$8,233
SUM above Government Debt	$112 + ?	$368,421?
PRIVATE SECTOR DEBT:
(see America's Total Debt Report)
Household Sector debt - soaring record high	$13.8	$45,395
Business Sector debt - record high	$11.1	$36,513
Financial Sector debt (domestic) - explosive record high	$17.2	$56,579
Other (extra foreign debt in addition to such included in numbers above sectors)	$ 1.9	$ 6,250
Un-funded business sector employee pension contingent liabilities	? $ 0.5	?
Un-funded business sector employee medical contingent liabilities	?	?
Impact trillions of dollars of derivatives & over-priced 'assets' (+ off balance sheet debt) on above business & financial sectors	?	?
SUM above Private Debt	$44 + ?	$144,737 + ?
SUM ALL DEBT
SUM Government + Private Sector Debt (including Contingent liability items)	$174.1 + ?	$564,749 +?
SUM All Government + Private Sector Debt (exclude contingent liability items)	$56.9	$186,717

We don't 'owe it to ourselves' - - we owe $13.6 Trillion (24%) of above $56/9 trillion debt to international entities, ($3.2 Trillion owed by federal government plus $10.4 Trillion by private sector) >	[$13.6]	[$44,737]
NOTES > ? = No reliable estimate available, or preliminary estimate only, or there may be other contingencies. For discussion see the Federal Government Debt Report, America's Total Debt Report, Trust Fund Report articles, the State & Local Government Spending Report, the International Trade & Debt Report and the Grandfather Social Security Report. (Debt Data Sources: Federal Govt. Treasury Dept.; Private Sector and State & Local Govt. from Federal Reserve flow of funds accounts, table D.3; International Monetary Fund; * Social Security/Medicare - Fed Reserve Member R. Fisher May 2008 and David Walker, US Comptroller General 7/22/07; and U.S. Treasury Account Statement

Note: Although above data is exactly as published from the sources the author believes true debt is even higher.

A few examples > corporate debt is under-stated as evidenced by many companies with off-balance sheet debt (Enron, Citigroup, etc.), debt impacts of exotic instruments such as derivatives, and reported household debt does not include areas of non-recorded debt .

I think many will agree that individuals and corporations never over-state debt - - instead, many purposely under-state same.

(Note - if you trust reliability of data reported by the federal government, the Federal Reserve Board and the US Controller General then you must accept the above data, because those are the data sources. If you have data and sources for the unknown (?) areas in the above table, please email M. Hodges)

Debt Growth Chart

The above debt summary table is as of year end 2008. Excluding unfunded mandates, this chart shows >>

- - total debt (private and government) is $57 Trillion ($12.8 trillion governments, $44.1 private sectors) - - equivalent to $186,717 per person (including those in diapers) - - which is equivalent to $746,868 per family of 4, and $33,104 more per family than last year.

This chart, from the chapter 'America's Total Debt Report', shows the trend of that $48 trillion debt (red line) - - soaring up and up much faster than the economy (blue line).

If we include several un-funded liabilities then total debt (private plus government) is $174,100 Trillion - - equivalent to $564,749 per person - - which is equivalent to $1.4 million per family of 4.

Total debt of $57 trillion is 499% of net national income - a record high ratio - - indicating an economy more debt-dependent than ever. Each year more debt is needed to produce a dollar of national income than the prior year - - a type of 'negative productivity.'

Zooming debt - - negative real savings - - soaring trade deficits > > very troubling trends !!

"No generation has a right to contract debts
greater than can be paid off during the course of its own existence."
- George Washington to James Madison 1789

"We hear sad complaints sometimes of merciless creditors;
whilst the acts of merciless debtors are passed over in silence." - William Frend, 1817

"I place economy among the first and most important virtues,
and debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared." - Thomas Jefferson"

"There is no means of avoiding the final collapse
of a boom brought about by credit (debt) expansion.
The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner
as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit (debt) expansion,
or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved." - Ludwig von Mises

"The decline of great powers is caused by simple economic over extension." - by Paul Kennedy

Return to the HOME PAGE OF THE GRANDFATHER ECONOMIC REPORT which includes the table of contents of all graphic presentation chapters > > reviewing economic issues facing today's generation compared to prior periods > on government spending (federal, state & local), debt, family incomes, education quality, international trade, social security, energy, national security, regulatory compliance cost, voter turn-out, elections, healthcare, and more.

Copyright © 1997-2009 Michael W. Hodges. The Grandfather Economic Report series is the intellectual property of its author; all rights reserved under Copyright Conventions. Permission to redistribute all or part of this series for non commercial purposes is granted by the author, provided the associated web page address is included and full credit given to the Grandfather Economic Report and the author, Michael Hodges. Notice appreciated via email.

DEBT SUMMARY TABLE REPORT

BOTTOM-LINE - - DEBT SUMMARY TABLE AMERICA'S TOTAL DEBT (as of Jan. 1, 2008) - $57 Trillion -

BOTTOM-LINE - - DEBT SUMMARY TABLE
AMERICA'S TOTAL DEBT (as of Jan. 1, 2008)
- $57 Trillion -