CHART - Sovereign Debt Madness - $10.2 Trillion in Global Borrowing Expected In 2011

(WSJ) - $10.2 trillion is the amount of money advanced-nation governments will need to borrow in 2011. As the debts of advanced countries rise to levels not seen since the aftermath of World War II, it’s hard to know how much is too much. But it’s easy to see that the risk of serious financial trouble is growing.

Next year, fifteen major developed-country governments, including the U.S., Japan, the U.K., Spain and Greece, will have to raise some $10.2 trillion to repay maturing bonds and finance their budget deficits, according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund. That’s up 7% from this year, and equals 27% of their combined annual economic output.

Aside from Japan, which has a huge debt hangover from decades of anemic growth, the U.S. is the most extreme case. Next year, the U.S. government will have to find $4.2 trillion. That’s 27.8% of its annual economic output, up from 26.5% this year. By comparison, crisis-addled Greece needs $69 billion, or 23.8% of its annual GDP.

So far, with the notable exception of Greece, major advanced nations haven’t had too much trouble raising the money they need. Japan’s domestic investors have consistently bought its government bonds despite their low yield. Foreign investors have been snapping up U.S. Treasury bonds, which remain the world’s premier safe-haven investment.

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WSJ

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Video:  Clarke & Dawe on the INSANITY of European debt guarantees

Watch this one for a laugh...

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Comments

[Wil Martindale]

If you accept China's method of calculating "real" GDP, 4.2 trillion is 84% of real productive U.S. output.
Source: Dagong US Credit Downgrade: Surveillance Report.
http://letthemfail.us/archives/6501

--Wil

[DailyBail]

great post wil..i hadn't seen that report from China...

[DailyBail]

wow..those numbers are just staggering...so our real gdp is just about $5 trillion once you back out the financial hocus-pocus...

[DailyBail]

$92 billion: How much companies spent on their own shares in the third quarter of 2010.

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/12/18/number-of-the-week-using-cash-piles-to-buy-shares/

[DailyBail]

About 6 Million Didn’t Work at All Last Year

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2010/12/08/about-6-million-didnt-work-at-all-last-year/

[DailyBail]

Heathrow Nightmare before Christmas (20-Dec-2010)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xKJsTfZi8E

runs 15 seconds...

[red porch]

No problem I tell ya, try this...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_eeYt1gOHtiQ/TQL5PCxxzFI/AAAAAAAAASM/NSYKYbDqeQs/s1600/v131+Boy-clown+super-genius.jpg