"There is a debt problem in America..." warns Lynette Khalfani-Coz (askthemoneycoach.com) in this brief CNBC interview, expanding in the huge debt loads from mortgaging cars to student debt that Americans soak up every day in ever greater amounts. And then Steve Liesman rolls in "debt is always pointed out as a negative thing, when in fact debt is the great bridge between working hard and playing hard in this country." Then Liesman really hangs himself, "this country has been built on consumer debt," he proudly states (as if it was some badge of honor) adding carefully that "too much of it is negative thing." - well Mr Liesman... one look at the current debt load might suggest that American consumers built that 'bridge to playing-hard' just a little too far. As Khalfani-Cox admirably retorts, "excessive debt levels are simply unsustainable... It is not the job of the consumer to play the role of financial hercules... why should we have to prop up the US economy?"
Perhaps gentle reminder from Kyle Bass will help...
The Largest Peacetime Accumulation of Total Credit Market Debt in World History
It took the United States 193 years (1789?1981) to aggregate $1 trillion of government debt.
It then took 20 years (1981?2001) to add an additional $4.8 trillion and,
in the last 10 years (2001?2011), a whopping $9.8 trillion has been added to the federal debt.
Since 1981, the US increased its sovereign debt by 1,560% while its population increased by only 35%.
Remember the old economic theory of diminishing marginal utility?
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Similar amounts have been accumulated all over the developed world. Total global credit market debt has grown at over a 10% annualized pace for the last 10 years while global population has grown at only 1.2% and global real GDP has grown at 3.9%.