* The ratio of household debt to disposable income has increased (mostly because of mortgage debt) from about 60 percent in 1997 to 108 percent (Figure 1);
* House prices have increased by 35 percent (inflation-adjusted) since 1995 (Figure 2);
* Foreign debt as a share of GDP is now nearly 30 percent, up from 10 percent at the end of the 90s;
* Federal debt is projected to grow faster than GDP.
If the house prices reflect a bubble and pop, and when foreigners decide to taper off their purchases of U.S. government debt, we're in a whole new world.
That these are not the topics of the current presidential campaign certifies that we are a nation of pinheads.
Posted by max at September 13, 2004 10:27 AM | TrackBack Other blogs commenting on this post
Comments
hallelujah!
I've been posting about this (generally) at other sites for over a year now. It's too bad that the War in Iraq has almost completely obliterated any discussion of the future that's in store for us.
When will we wake up? Hopefully before it's too late...
See The Coming Generational Storm by Larry Kotlikoff or Running on Empty by Peter Peterson.
Earlier doom and gloom predictions that came before the nation was ready to hear them have caused a "boy who cried wolf" scenario, and too many otherwise intelligent people and economists believe in easy solutions and quick fixes.
The democrats AND republicans got us into this mess, and the American Dream/consumerism and consumption has fed into it. It's time for a new political party that will honestly address these issues and initiate a national debate about where to go from here.
Posted by: GenerationalStorm (BK) at September 13, 2004 11:01 AM