Posted on 11/25/2011 6:05:49 PM PST by Clive
I don’t spend a whole lot of time looking at the international financial markets, I simply don’t have that much money to care.
Maybe that should change.
Earlier this week Germany, the strongest economy in Europe, tried to raise money by issuing debt in the form of bonds. Despite being a good credit risk, they couldn’t do it.
Europe’s debt problems are well known by now, but the fact that they are hitting Germany should worry Canadians.
In September of 2010, the last time I wrote a column about Canada’s federal debt, the tally stood at $543,022,147,241.02. Now that debt is more than $571,400,000,000.
Add in provincial debt and Canada stands at more than $1.1 trillion in government debt.
Think about that for a minute and ask yourself if you can even comprehend what a trillion dollars is. I can’t but I do understand that we owe more than $32,000 for every man, woman and child in this country.
Of course that’s not counting the debt increases we can expect over the next several years.
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has announced it will take longer for him to balance the books and stop spending more than he is taking in.
On Wednesday, it was Ontario’s turn.
Finance Minister Dwight Duncan announced that his province will have a deficit of $16 billion this year, $2 billion higher than expected. Ontario’s public debt is $251.9 billion plus another $15 billion in unfunded pension payments that taxpayers are on the hook for.
How does all this relate to Germany’s inability to sell bonds?
Just to finance itself Ontario will have to sell $35 billion worth of bonds this year. The province’s credit rating is only AA rather than the higher AAA ranking of the federal government, indicating that Ontario is considered a higher risk.
While no one expects Ontario to default on its debt obligations any time soon, just like with personal credit ratings, a lower score means a higher interest rate.
If Ontario, with a worse debt situation and poorer credit rating than Germany has trouble selling its bonds, then the province’s books will be in even worse shape, meaning tax hikes or service cuts in the near future.
A hike in interest rates would do the same thing.
Quebec is in even worse shape. With a smaller population and economy, Quebecers are on the hook for $163 billion in government debt, a figure that represents 54% of the province’s GDP. Like Ontario, Quebec is run by a government that promises more than it can pay for.
Governments have spent the last few decades trying to tell citizens that they can have it all and not worry abut the bill, but that bill is coming due.
If the federal and provincial governments don’t clean up their budgets and control their spending in the next couple of years, they will only be able to pay for pension promises they’ve made to civil servants.
While billions upon billions in pension promises have been made to civil servants, those billions of dollars have not all been set aside.
As baby boomers retire in greater numbers, Canadian taxpayers will be forced to pay for their neighbour to enjoy the retirement they themselves will never have.
If government books aren’t put in order soon, the pain people worry about now will be nothing compared to the pain we’ll all experience in the future.
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The “prosperous” economies of the West are running unsustainable deficits. The massive crash is inevitable and thanks to the “global economy” engineered by bankers and politicians we will all feel the pain.
I hope you prepare accordingly because the national logistics system relies on banks and digital money to function. If that crashes how will food get onto the grocery shelf regularly? If you think I am nuts that is okay, but I still beg you to insure yourself and your family with enough food, potable water, and security for an uncertain future.
“Vote for me and I will cut your retirement and/or your food stamps and/or other forms of welfare”
A winning platform for a politician, right?
It isn’t payable.
We are 17 trillion in the red and well over 100 trillion in the red on unfunded debt liability.
Were are ****ing done, it is just a matter of time and rearraging of the chairs so that those who did this to us, besides us, can have the best view of the sinking boat which is America.
“Vote for me and I will cut your retirement and/or your food stamps and/or other forms of welfare”
A winning platform for a politician, right?
________________________________________________
NO, the winning platform is:
Vote for me, I will save your freedom and help make this country stronger and freeer than it ever was. I will go after the criminals/politicians who have looted this country and I will prosecute and punish them severely.
I will disengae from forgen wars and I will build up this country’s defenses and allow business to create and expand. I will protect, defend, and get out of the way!
The bad news is that money/debt doubles in 72 years at 1 %, 36 years at 2 %, 18 years at 4 %, etc.
BTW, what interest is C-eh-N-eh-D-eh paying now on its Bonds?
A winning platform for a politician, right?
________________________________________________
NO, the winning platform is:
Vote for me, I will save your freedom and help make this country stronger and free-er than it ever was. I will go after the criminals/politicians who have looted this country and I will prosecute and punish them severely.
I will disengage from forign wars and I will build up this country's defenses and allow business to create and expand. I will protect, defend, and get out of the way!
Last time I checked, less than 2 percent.
Conceivably, it’s not that hard. Just make it a line in the budget that you will pay down the debt by 1 percent of the debt each year.
So, in Canada’s case, the federal debt is 571 billion, that means that each year, 5.71 billion (if not better) gets bought up and paid down.
For the world to recover, if it can, that’s basically how it can be done. If it has to be a different amount, that’s the way it is.
I figured you were being sarcastic.
But it never hurts to remind people what the important things are to look for.
I will vote for the politician who says ...
Don’t vote for me, vote for your children,
Save your freedom,
Make the Country stronger and more free,
Pursue and punish those in and out of politics who have looted the country,
Disengage from the foreign wars that have sapped our strength and don’t let anyone stand in the way of your pursuit of your own happiness.
That sounds too complicated....just keep sending me the free government checks.
I spent two days of Thanksgiving with a series of relatives who are hoping — really hoping — that government stops being stupid, gets its act together, and moves decisively to tax them up the wazoo. It’s the only thing that can create jobs, ya know.
Get new relatives.
Interesting stats. Canada has a National Debt of 1.1 trillion, but they have roughly 1/10th the population of the US, so they are at approximately 11 trillion in debt proportionally to the US. And we just hit the 16 trillion mark, right? So the Canadians are better off, financially than us, but not THAT much. Although 11 trillion sounds pretty good right now.
” - - - Conceivably, it’s not that hard. Just make it a line in the budget that you will pay down the debt by 1 percent of the debt each year.”
Must be the cold air as y’all have a lot more “little gray cells” than we do down here in the lower 48.
Our District of Corruption is incapable of slowing spending when SPENDING LESS year to year is essential to paying the damned interest on the money we borrow to pay for the interest on the money we borrow!
So add the line in y’alls budget, and behave like the adults you usually are. Down here we are stuck in our Swedish Socialist Sandbox, for now - - - !
Your hotlink needs a separate thread. Also a thread on the myth of Federal Trust Funds is sorely needed. Ping me on both please.
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