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The clock is ticking. Every second, it seems, someone in the world takes on more debt. The
idea of a debt clock for an individual nation… [is old hat – see links below to many such debt clocks – but] our clock (here) shows the global figure for all (or almost all) government debts in dollar terms. Words: 300
So says an article* in The Economist (www.economist.com) which Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.munKNEE.com (Your Key to Making Money!), has edited ([ ]), abridged (…) and reformatted below for the sake of clarity and brevity to ensure a fast and easy read. The author’s views and conclusions are unaltered and no personal comments have been included to maintain the integrity of the original article. Please note that this paragraph must be included in any article re-posting to avoid copyright infringement.
The article goes on to say:
Does it matter? After all, world governments owe the money to their own citizens, not to the Martians. But the rising total is important for two reasons. First, when debt rises faster than economic output (as it has been doing in recent years), higher government debt implies more state interference in the economy and higher taxes in the future. Second, debt must be rolled over at regular intervals. This creates a recurring popularity test for individual governments, rather as reality TV show contestants face a public phone vote every week. Fail that vote, as the Greek government did in early 2010, and the country can be plunged into imminent crisis.
The higher the global government debt total, the greater the risk of fiscal crisis, and the bigger the economic impact such crises will have.
Links to Debt Clocks by Country: