US Debt Finally Gets Updated, Beyond the Tipping Point - Nathan McDonald
By Nathan McDonald Yesterday 292 Views No comments
The "debt ceiling", a funny term that the US government likes to use when talking about the "legal" limit of debt the country can reach before action needs to be taken.
The ironic thing is, this is no ceiling at all…at least not one that I've ever seen. In fact, it seems it is less like a ceiling and more like a one way elevator. Not a normal elevator, as this elevator only moves in one direction - up.
Not only does it only move up, it has moved up at an incredible pace since the beginning of the 2008 credit crisis, a pace that has continued on with its rapid acceleration, a pace that shows no signs of abating.
The most recent "debt ceiling" was reached on March 16th 2015. The limit, at this point was staggering $18.113 trillion! A truly stunning amount of money to be in the negative.
Since this time, the US treasury has been using "emergency" measures to stay afloat. Also since this time, the debt limit has been completely unreported, leaving the country's citizens and the world wondering how much and how fast is the debt truly rising.
As of last Friday, a resolution was reached by both partied, in which they agreed to more of the same, more extend and pretend. The can has once again been kicked down the road and the laughable notion of a "debt ceiling" has been once again suspended until March 2017.
Forget the fact that once March 2017 rolls around, the debt ceiling will simply be raised or suspended again, as there is no possible way that the US government can repay this monstrous debt.
What is more important to Wall Street, who can see no further than quarter to quarter, is the fact that the amount of official debt has been once again updated with this most recent announcement.
US debt is now officially being reported at $18,492,091,120,833.99. It is quite hilarious that they give the false illusion of accuracy by placing the amount down to the cent (note the .99 cents), as it is quite well known that the true real debt is much higher than the "official" reported numbers.
Still, this number cannot be ignored and shows even in this fudged state that US debt has increased by a significant $339.1 billion since the last update. Showing that the debt accumulate has no intentions of slowing down. This puts the US Debt to GDP at a frighteningly high percentage, 102.5%.
The United States is beyond the tipping point. No longer can they produce enough to pay off this debt, no longer do they have any intentions of honoring this debt. Ultimately, they know that this debt cannot and will not be paid back.
The only path now is the one set ahead of them, continue on, extend and pretend and pray for the best. Unfortunately, this can only end one way…in disaster. #SprottMoney, #Nathan McDonald, #global debt Posted in: Sprott Money Blogs, Nathan McDonald
