If alot of US debt is owed to Japan, and Japan owes 225% of its own GDP to others, then surely we are over estimating world debt. Sorry to be so simplistic but its quite simple logic that if A owes B 10 dollars, B owes C 10 dollars then total debt balance is still only 10 dollars owed from A to C. As long as all three parties agree on the values which is simply a function of exchange. Right? I think if the total debt of A, B and C was calculated as 20 dollars it would reek of alarmism.
I've accepted that these debt levels exist but there's just something not right about the logic.
