...and the country with the most national debt is...

[Sheen91]

Did you all know that the country with the most debt is... *Drum Roll*... is... AMERICA!

Bit obvious I know, but according to Guinness World Records, the country with the most national debt is indeed America, and has been for a while now!
------------------------------------------
Year to..................U.S. Govt Debt
30 September ........[in US$ billions]
1910 ....................2.6
1920 ....................25.9
1930 ....................16.2
1940 ....................43.0
1950 ................... 257.4
1960 ................... 290.2
1970 ................... 389.2
1980 ................... 930.2
1990 ................... 3,233.3
2000 ................... 5,674.2
2005 ................... 7,932.7
2006 ................... 8,507.0
2007 ................... 9,007.7
--------------------------------------------

They are also the country with the most foreign debt, MONEY OWING TO OTHER COUNTRIES!

------------------------------------------------------------
Rank...............Country ........... External Debt(million US$)

1 ...................United States.........12,249,4181
2 ...................United Kingdom ......8,280,0002
3 ...................Germany ...............3,904,000
4 ...................France .................3,461,000
5 ...................Italy ....................1,957,000
6 ...................Netherlands ..........1,899,000
7 ...................Spain ...................1,591,000
8 ...................Japan ..................1,547,000
9 ...................Ireland .................1,392,000
10 .................Switzerland ............1,077,000
--------------------------------------------------------------

Regards

[Immo]

Remember however that most of the UK debt's (from memory) are owed to America.

[Zap]

What I'd really like to see is the net debt stats, after all debt to/from all countries is taken into consideration.

[Brian]

I thought everyone in the world already knew this

[Immo]

Cant say its something that bothers me, its not my bank account, I have tons of debt but not that much...

[Luckyman]

I thought it would be some impoverished African country

[watley]

Sheen, raw dollars are a simplistic means of comparing national budget figures. It's like saying Bill Gates is irresponsible because his credit card debt is $5000 and yours is only $1000. By percentage of gross domestic product, the US debt ranks only 35th in the world, about 67% of its GDP. In comparison, Japan, which ranks far below the US on your list, has a debt which is approximately 177% of its GDP.

Note, please, that I am in no way asserting that US fiscal policy is responsible or that its current debt level is appropriate or healthy. However, if you are going to discuss comparative economics, you need to be sure that you define your facts appropriately. Otherwise, the discussion will simply revolve around whether or not people accept your numbers and/or their significance.

[braves1221]

So you mean the United States of America, or just America?

[Atom]

I believe the US national debt is neither 9 billion nor 9 quadrillion. I think that's supposed to be trillion.

[Atom]

It just pisses me off that anyone would express 9 trillion as 9 thousand billion. Maybe because it's a bit of extra thinking?

[Brian]

I think it makes it easier to comprehend the enormity of it, Atom. The higher numbers get, the harder it is to get a good grasp of just how much it is. Thousand is easier than million, million easier than billion, billion easier than trillion, quadrillion, quintillion, sextillion, and so on.

I myself prefer hearing thousand billion because it makes more sense to me than trillion.

[Atom]

Well, I never thought of it that way. I guess I just always assume that one element is simpler than two, but yeah, I see your point. Seems a bit deceptive though, doesn't it? Like.. the debt isn't as big as it really is. lol

[Rankenstein]

Originally Posted by Atom

It just pisses me off that anyone would express 9 trillion as 9 thousand billion. Maybe because it's a bit of extra thinking?

We Brits get hacked off because we know that a billion is really a million million, and what you call a billion is really a milliard. Then you Americans come along with your fancy-Dan ways and start mucking about with all kinds of things, until we have to change from shillings to pence, then you give Blair the Manchurian treatment, etc. etc.

It's just not cricket, old boy. There are four farthings to the penny, and 240 pennies in a pound. What's so difficult to understand? I won't be satisfied until the UK expresses our national debt in florins.

[Cryxellis]

Originally Posted by Luckyman

I thought it would be some impoverished African country

Yeah that is what I thought so..