Fiscal cliff

Put in a clearer perspective:

UK Tax revenue £2,170,000,000,000

UK Budget £3,820,000,000,000

New Debt £1,650,000,000,000

National Debt £14,271,000,000,000

Recent Budget Cuts £38,500,000,000

Remove the last eight zeros and pretend it is a household budget

Annual Family Income £21,700

Annual Family Spend £38,200

New Credit Card Debt £16,500

O/S Balance on Credit Card £142,720

Total Savings so far £385

Of course we are not the only 'family' with this problem.

All our neighbours seem to have the same financial concerns including our 'wealthy relatives' across the water.

It would be interesting to learn who has accumulated all the debt our friends and neighbours owe.

There must be some people with big smiles on their faces but they seem to keep it well hidden

Perhaps it is the Chinese family down the road

Where did you get the figures from - at first glance they look too high.

The deficit is running in the £120 - £140 bn range and the total debt is around £2tn depending on what is included

I think you have one too many noughts on your numbers

Put in a clearer perspective:

 

UK Tax revenue £2,170,000,000,000

UK Budget £3,820,000,000,000

New Debt £1,650,000,000,000

National Debt £14,271,000,000,000

Recent Budget Cuts £38,500,000,000

 

Remove the last eight zeros and pretend it is a household budget

 

Annual Family Income £21,700

Annual Family Spend £38,200

New Credit Card Debt £16,500

O/S Balance on Credit Card £142,720

Total Savings so far £385

 

Of course we are not the only 'family' with this problem.

All our neighbours seem to have the same financial concerns including our 'wealthy relatives' across the water.

It would be interesting to learn who has accumulated all the debt our friends and neighbours owe.

There must be some people with big smiles on their faces but they seem to keep it well hidden

Perhaps it is the Chinese family down the road

Irrespective of how many 0s there should be it's the bit's in red I can never get my head round. If all that money is owed, and many if not most countries seem to be in the same boat to one extent or another, who the hell is it all owed to?

Way off. The budget deficit is around 8% on tax revenues of around £1trn.

So family income £30,000 pa, family expenditure £32,400. Accumulated debt is c£19,500 to £32,000 depending on what you count. Not good but nowhere near your figures.

Irrespective of how many 0s there should be it's the bit's in red I can never get my head round. If all that money is owed, and many if not most countries seem to be in the same boat to one extent or another, who the hell is it all owed to?

Banks. The ones who lost us all this money in the first place, by lending us illusory money. None of it really exists, probably, so we should just do a Greece. Thought the national debt was 3tn some years ago which was over £30k per person at the time - about 58 million then, I think. The interesting thing is the Americans just (and only can) spend borrowed money which they do or did get a lot of from China. The belief is that China won't let the US fail - bit like one of those situations where a bank/credit card lender (i.e. bank) keeps upping your limit to allow you to pay off the interest.

Those numbers have been doing the rounds, BUT, they are the US numbers

I think you will find it is the Chinese and Arab states who hold trillions of dollars of debt.

they are the US numbers

They really arent.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals

Social Security is the biggest government expense, about a third of the total I believe. I wonder if in the future it will be impossible for countries in the world to have a successful economy and also the sort of pensions/benefits system that we've become used to?

Way off. The budget deficit is around 8% on tax revenues of around £1trn.

 

So family income £30,000 pa, family expenditure £32,400. Accumulated debt is c£19,500 to £32,000 depending on what you count. Not good but nowhere near your figures.

Yes sorry about this

I used figures sent to me which, on checking, seem to be way off the mark

UK Tax revenue seems to be around the £592b mark with forecast expenditure at an expected £683b leaving a shortfall of £91b

The National Debt, which we appear to have carried for centuries, is now around the £1.2 trillion mark.

Even so the fact that all this debt is swirling round the world and the UK has been one of the worlds wealthiest countries with annual deficits got back centuries is hard to fathom

I think you will find it is the Chinese and Arab states who hold trillions of dollars of debt.

I think there will come a point when the US will just decide to not pay the debt and wipe it off, it's all just numbers on a computer screen anyway.

One thing is for sure, it will never be all paid back.

A countries economy is not like a household, tell me how many households have their own central bank which can print new money at the flick of a switch. I wish people would stop parroting the infantile bull**** of this inept corrupt government.

A countries economy is not like a household, tell me how many households have their own central bank which can print new money at the flick of a switch. I wish people would stop parroting the infantile bull**** of this inept corrupt government.

may i also add it seems in our family the central bank is mum and dad!