The source for this is The Economist:

www.economist.com/content/global_debt_clock

There are higher estimates than these, and this obviously doesn't include numerous other sources of debt and unfunded liabilities.

This was the situation on 1st April when I last captured an image:

Here is the situation today:

The world is now $150,065,108,067 further in debt than it was 20 days ago. Based on this measure alone; the figure is far higher if you include all the other forms of debt.

I will update this thread periodically.

It's mad!

wake_up_bomb wrote:
Has it alwasy been like this, or similar?

chandrakavi wrote: Well, it's difficult to answer that question briefly. But if you look at recent years, this debt saturation has accelerated rapidly in the last decade. The US national debt has increased about 300% since 2000, for example.

Is all this debt being funneled to existence from thin air? How is this possible? This can't go on forewer, or can it? Debt and banking is something I really don't understand much about, but that map looks totally crazy..

Hexhammer wrote: Don't worry, see the underlined part, you already know more about economics than many people with PhDs! No, it can't go on forever. Yes, it is all basically created out of thin air, or at least it's created without anything of remote solidity to back it up.

What if there was a law that debt expired after say 5 years? (just pulled that figure out of the air)

each individual case i mean,only short term loans were available and if they were not paid off within the set period they simply expired.

If the debtor didn't pay they don't qualify for another loan (country,business or private individual) and it's also in the interest of the Bank to collect within set period or the debt expires.

humanspirit wrote:
Then no-one would bother to loan money as there'd be no profit in it.
After all, all I'd do is borrow a few hundred grand and disappear for 5 years, LOL!

andyh wrote:
You can do that now if they like you enough to give you that much,just that the debt doesn't go away does it?

They have no realist way of finding or getting it of the person who does that.

humanspirit wrote:
Depends how smart the person is who disappears. It requires some serious discipline and conviction to go through with it.

andyh wrote:
And preferably, no dependants.

i had some debts like 12 years ago, a few thousands, and i never heard about it since. success

Need the correct post code to rack up big debts.

humanspirit wrote:
Either SW1A 2TT or SW1A 1AA.

To me it looks like the whole fiat-money system is designed to imprison people (and countries) with debt... I mean if everybody's in debt up to their throats, bankers/moneymakers own everything and everybody, then they can rule everything also. How long it takes that some country finds an idea to make people to work for free to "pay" the debts, modern day slavery, "arbeit macht frei"

I have many friends who owe banks money for house, car, a boat, what ever... And they're working their asses off for next thirty years to get the shit payed, banks get rich by practicaally doing nothing, only forcing people to pay back the false money with actual work.

How long it has took for all that false debt to be created? Last what, seventy years? Fifty years?

Hexhammer wrote:
Exactly yep

Does anybody actually read the small print when they sign for loans and mortgages,it could say if you default your arse goes to the devil.

humanspirit wrote: When I signed up for the only mortgage that I will ever sign up for, I read all of the small print. Yes, I am that pedantic. You would be amazed what the bank can do. For example, they can just make the interest rate up on the spot any time that they want to, and completely change the deal that you signed up for. This is the kind of thing that people dismiss, and think that it isn't the case, but I can assure you 100% that it was the case for the mortgage that I had.

While you've been chatting everyone:

The world is now a further $17,396,804,810 in debt. It's hard for me to keep up as the world falls a further $1 million into debt every eleven seconds.

You're certainly going to need some 'austerity' and 'growth' to sort this problem out...

It reminds me of a song that I heard once:



Will anyone ever notice or admit that there's a hole in the bucket? Will anyone ever be brave enough to point out that the emperor's not only wearing no clothes, he's having a wank?

Join me on a weekly basis as the world slides further billions into the red, at a rate of over $3,000,000,000,000 per annum, while everyone on the public stage pretends that everything is fine and perfectly normal, and that if they create 1% growth in GDP, everything will in fact be fine.

Oh, just to remind you as well, this isn't the worst economic indicator. In fact, it's the most optimistic.