Profiles of Select Countries by National Debt
Japan
Japan has the highest percentage of national debt in the world at 259.43% of its annual GDP. The Japanese economy experienced stagnation during the 1990s, which led to the government launching several initiatives, such as selling bonds and bailing out banks and insurance companies with low-interest credit, to help reboot the struggling economy in the 2000s. Banking institutions had to be audited, consolidated, or even nationalized.
While these actions arguably salvaged Japan’s economy, they also added greatly to the country’s national debt. Since that time, additional concerns such as the Great Recession of 2008, the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, and the COVID-19 pandemic have complicated efforts to combat the country’s debt.
United States
The United States boasts both the world’s biggest national debt in terms of dollar amount and its largest economy, which resolves to a debt-to GDP ratio of approximately 128.13%. The United States’ government’s spending exceeds its income most years, and the US has not had a budget surplus since 2001. Perhaps surprisingly, the countries to which the US is most in debt are Japan, which itself has significant debt, and China, which is often viewed as the United States’ greatest economic competitor.
China
China’s national debt is currently over 10 trillion USD—however, because of China’s massive economy, the country’s debt is only 68.06% of its GDP. China’s current debt level is a significant increase from 2014, when the national debt was 41.54% of the country’s GDP. An International Monetary Fund report from 2015 stated that China’s debt was relatively low, and many economists have dismissed worries over the size of the debt both in its overall size and relative to China’s GDP. China currently has the world’s second-largest economy and the largest population, with approximately 1,425,821,667 people.
Russia
Russia’s debt ratio was one of the lowest in the world at 16.99% of its GDP in 2021—though the country’s war with Ukraine, which began in early 2022, will likely have some effect on this ratio. Russia is usually one of the ten least-indebted countries in the world. Russia’s debt is currently at a total of just over 302 billion USD. Most of Russia’s external debt is private.
National Dept and Cost of Wars ..
I have no problem with Americans and Europeans caring about not over-spending. It’s a normal human instinct.
Thus, not willing to help Ukraine defend itself purely based on cost reasons, I can understand, even though it hurts my Christian heart..
I strongly believe however we would be greatly rewarded after the war if we win it... I could write 10 pages on that later on.
Having said this, there is no logic for an estimated 10% of Freepers to proactively cheer for an apparatchik thug like Putin. He is corrupted to the bone, and has STOLEN all presidential elections in Russia, is invading its neighbors and annexing territories like the old Soviet-Union did; and is killing Russian citizens (soldiers) by the tens of thousands on the killing files of Ukraine.
Any opposition to Putin in Russia, is sent to rot in prison, being poisoned, or is being pushed out of a window from the +7th floor. Look what happened to Prighozin. Considered as a Russian war hero by the Russian people, well... Putin didn’t care, he killed him. No opposition, in any form is allowed to live.
If a Russian citizen says the word “WAR” in Russia, he will be arrested and spend 5 years in a Russian prison camp.
How can ANY American have sympathy for all that??
Those who criticize “Neocons” in America because of their warmongering are the very same people who pro-actively are supporting the warmongering Neocon-equivalence-crowd in Russia!! Crazy!!
It’s surreal and simply non-sensical.
Lastly:
We are ignoring the fact that Russia has the ambition to become a mighty Neo-Soviet-Union again. If they succeed, and thanks to their alliance with the world’s communists nations (lately North Korea) and the most Islamic nation of the planet (IRAN), our economy will suffer 10 times more than what we are spending now via the lend-lease program to Ukraine.
So now is the time to make Russia fail its hysterical warmongering, colonial ambitions and stopping it in the nick of time before it becomes a brand new “Neo Soviet-Union” again. Ukraine helps us doing it, even though they are paying a high price in blood doing so.
We should not miss this historic opportunity to weaken America’s traditional archenemy. The future well-being of America’s and Europe’s economies depend on it.