A 'Personal' Look at Debt

It is common enough to look at debt as a percentage of GDP, DPI, etc. but that's so... impersonal. So here are a couple of (very scary) charts that look at things from a dollars per person perspective (click on charts to enlarge).

• Debt per person and GDP per person.

• Debt per person and Disposable Personal Income per person.

Note: the Total Debt used to construct these chart does NOT include debt of the financial sector so as to avoid any double counting (e.g. a mortgage inside a CDO), even at the cost of somewhat understating the crush of debt. It's bad enough, anyway.

Comments

[Moon Kil Woong:]

Thanks for the chart. If you divide it by people who are working age only it even looks worse. I'm sure the Federal Reserve would argue it should be divided by the next two generations as well making it look better. That's because they already assume your kids will be born into perpetual debt servitude. Thank goodness actual slavery is abolished (although a technical one may still be possible).

Nov 01 10:52 AM

[LikeSoup:]

Now those are some scary charts. Two things come to my mind as reasons for these results: 1) lack of education regarding the handling of money and 2) lack of appropriate levels of personal money "in flow." If you're searching for an earning vehicle, visit www.LikeSoup.com and examine if being an entrepreneur might be an in flow solution for you.

Nov 01 01:45 PM

[ebworthen:]

We continue to ignore the moral hazard of low interest rates, the drug dealer like pushing of home equity loans and loans people couldn't afford, the drug addict behavior of some in the public in response, and especially the bailouts and FED money printing.

The societal norm has become living beyond your means and spending what you don't have, because somehow...it will all be o.k.

OOOOOPS

Nov 01 10:43 PM

[Gary A:]

I think that we can see by these charts that the patriotic thing to do is make our balance sheets whole so we can buy some stuff, making the government happy. Of course if you can't afford to pay off your ponzi credit cards, the patriotic thing to do is walk away from them, and walk away from all debt. Put your money in a mattress and change your phone number.

This is a guerrilla war we are fighting and not with guns, but it is a financial war against the banks. Make your balance sheet whole. The government made the banks whole. You have to make yourself whole. You probably lost a ton because of the bank ponzi housing scheme with your stock investments. If your debt is overwhelming take action. Do so at the peril of your credit score which can be important but can be repaired in a few years.

Before you object to my reasoning, take a look at this Hubpage I wrote: hubpages.com/hub/It-Is...

Once you realize that this ponzi housing scheme and resultant failure of credit card securitization was planned, then you cannot feel guilty about walking away from scammers. They stole from you in so many ways you have the moral right to protect yourselves from their attacks.

Nov 01 10:46 PM

[Old Trader:]

It does seem like "trillion" has become the new "million", and placing things like debt and income in a more "personal" perspective, as this article does, SHOULD open more than a few glazed eyes. (But don't expect to see it in the MSM anytime soon.)

Nov 02 06:30 PM