Anthony Ricigliano — Debt Crisis American Style

Where the economy starts redlining in relation to debt level is the topic of heated debate but if the national debt doubles the GDP, interest payments alone with exact a heavy toll on the economy.

The biggest issue for the U.S. at this moment is to maintain the confidence of international lenders that this government will be able to keep up with its obligations. Part of this confidence comes from the belief that continuing to lend funds in massive amounts will allow the country time to grow and budget its way to Anthony Ricigliano Financial Equilibrium.

Another aspect of that "confidence" lies in the fact that should lenders cut off the funding of the country's debt, a financial crisis of unknown proportions would be in the offing. Much like the nuclear standoff between the USSR and the U.S. during the Cold War where "Mutually Assured Destruction" kept both sides in line, international lenders know that they must continue to write checks to buy U.S Government debt to protect their earlier purchases.

For example, China holds approximately $1.2 trillion in U.S. government debt obligations, an amount that exceeds even the debt holdings of U.S. households by approximately $250 billion. Pulling the plug on the continuation of debt purchases would slash the value of their existing holdings so, at least for now, they remain buyers of U.S. Anthony Ricigliano Debt Crisis.

Even if a crisis doesn't materialize, there are several issues that could have long-lasting effects on the economy and our standard of living with the biggest one being that debt, Medicare, and Social Security obligations will ramp up to the point where they consume over 90% of each tax dollar that comes in. Then again, that might be considered a crisis in itself.