Posted on 06/09/2012 7:17:02 AM PDT by blam
The Fed Balance Sheet: What Is Uncle Sam's Largest Asset?
By Doug Short June 8, 2012
(Note from dshort: I've updated the quiz based on yesterday's (Thursdays) Q1 Flow of Funds release. Hint: The correct answer is the same, just more incredible.)
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Pop Quiz! Without recourse to your text, your notes or a Google search, what line item is the largest asset on Uncle Sam's balance sheet?
A) U.S. Official Reserve Assets
B) Total Mortgages
C) Taxes Receivable
D) Student Loans
The correct answer, as of the latest Flow of Funds report for Q1 2012, is ... Student Loans.
The rapid growth in student debt has been a frequent topic in the financial press. One stunning chart that caught my attention illustrated the rapid growth in federal loans to students since the onset of the great recession. Here is a chart based on data from the Flow of Funds Table L.105, which shows the Federal Government's assets and liabilities.
As I point out on the chart, the two callouts are for Q4 2007, the quarter in which the Great Recession began (December 2007) the most recent quarter on record, Q1 2012. The loan balance has risen and astonishing 332% over that timeframe, most of which dates from after the recession.
This chart only includes federal loans to students. Private loans make up an even larger amount. Earlier this year the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) posted an article with the attention-grabbing title: Too Big to Fail: Student debt hits a trillion. The details of the private student loan market are not readily available, but CFPB plans to publish its study results on the topic this summer.
But back to our quiz. Student loans may be a liability on the consumer balance sheet, but they constitute an asset for Uncle Sam. Just how big? Nearly 35% of the total federal assets, over four times the 8.6% percent for the total mortgages outstanding.
Of course, assets are, sadly, the trivial side of Uncle Sam's Flow of Funds balance sheet -- about 1.36 Trillion. The liability side totaled 12.65 Trillion at the end of Q1 (details here).
Student loan debt is something we'll want to continue watching, especially when more details of the private loan market becomes available.
Interesting question. At this point it’s moot, and what is needed is to engineer a means to actually pay off our national debt and then ensure we never get in this situation again.
No wonder Obama wants everyone in college.
No one should get student loans.
As long as we remain slaves, yes the American people are a large asset of the fedgov. More is the pity.
Carla Bruni is the middle, who is the left one?
If the fedgov were a publicly traded company the SEC would have shut them down for non-disclosure and or material misstatements of fact.
Biggest asset used to be its work ethic. Per capita, it’s been steadily dwindling.
The major tangible asset that WE THE PEOPLE own is all the federal land locked up by varous special interest legislation.
Trillions of dollars in loans and handouts that will never be paid back may be considered as assets by government accountants but realistically that is money gone forever and should be written off.
Must be time to upgrade to a bigger monitor.
MiaT flashback/
Most of that money will go back to the Democrats in Congress as campaign donations, hence more loans hence more money, etc.
LOL. Sorry about that.
I would have thought that Federal Lands would be the largest asset - or don’t they count that ?
None of the above. It’s the State of Alaska.
Purportedly a fauxto -- butt when you're constantly held up as some sort of fashion maven, you're "wide" open for critique....
Land. Exactly. And states should be demanding to get their land back from the feds, so they can put it to productive use.
I would think the amount of land the feds own would be the largest asset. Every year millions of acres are taken over or “preserved as open space”. What do the feds plan to do with all that land?
[ What Is Uncle Sam’s Largest Asset? ]
When the Federal or State givernments can Tax something you OWN..
You’re paying RENT ON IT!... you don’t own it at all..
The proper question is do you own anything?..
-OR- do you merely appear to own something?..
Property taxes are a bit obscene.. and humorous..
And income taxes are a cartoon...
Americans have been quite brain washed..
Yes.. thats right I’m talking to YOU!!!..
Her or her 100 person multi million dollar staff sure screwed the pooch on that one.
I are going to Europe. All the most important people in the world will be there and they will be dressed to kill, so I will dress like I am going to company picnic.
bttt
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