Doesn't say anything about trade deficit, pretty sure this is the increase in federal budget deficit. Actually it says so: The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $1.95 billion per day since September 30, 2005!.
But doesn't a higher trade deficit mean that Americans are sinking more deeply into debt? Not at all. A trade deficit isn't debt. My young son, for example, received for Christmas several Chinese-made toys. These were bought with cash. If the Chinese toymakers invest their newly earned dollars in, say, that factory in Utah, the U.S. trade deficit rises but no debt is created. Neither I nor any other American owes any foreigner anything as a result of my purchase of toys from China and the corresponding Chinese purchase of equity in a company located in America. Stop Worrying About the Trade Deficit The author runs the Economics Dept. at George Mason University where Walter Williams teaches. Your link is fixated on the amount of debt we owe but, at least that I could find, never identifies the amount of assets we own. A discussion about debt is meaningless if you do not consider assets. Our personal net worth is growing five times faster than our national debt.
Justifying a huge debt on the basis of assets is ...well its like being overextended on your mortgage and getting a second mortage to make ends meet. It's ok as long as you can find someone to lend you the money to make the payments. This is not fiscally responsible. It reeks of a Ponzi scheme. If we can't afford to pay for the things we buy, we shouldn't be buying them.
That site you linked to sure is wrong. It says the public debt is $8.3 trillion. It's actually $4.8 trillion. It says the National Debt has increased $1.95 billion a day since Sept 30, 2005, it's actually closer to $1 billion per day. I could probably find more errors, but you get the idea.
Justifying a huge debt on the basis of assets is ...
Nobody is justifying the debt, just mentioning that household net worth has increased much faster.
...well its like being overextended on your mortgage and getting a second mortage to make ends meet.
No, it's like saying my debt increased by $2,000 and my house, stocks, cash increased by $10,000.