The United States is Insolvent, Not Bankrupt...Yet - This is something I have been shouting from the rooftops the last four years as the government printed $7T in free money. At some point, no one will lend the U.S. money, and the music stops. It's why interest rates are so high: American debt becomes riskier by the day. This article is the best explanation I have seen to date:
America is insolvent. We avoid default and bankruptcy because investors still lend to us. In short, we are living on a credit card. As long as that card swipes, the music plays. If it ever declines, the party will end, and with it, the fiscal stability of the world’s largest economy.
Last year, the government had total obligations of $15 trillion. About $7 trillion went to fund government operations (everything from the military to social programs), and $8 trillion was required to pay maturing debts. The bad news is that revenue was only $5 trillion.
The result is a staggering $10 trillion shortfall. $2 trillion to cover the operating deficit and $8 trillion to repay maturing debt. We filled the gap by borrowing $10 trillion in additional debt last year. That’s insolvency, plain and simple. And it’s unsustainable.
This isn’t a partisan talking point or ideological position; it is the facts. Our government operates a legal Ponzi scheme in which new borrowing pays off old debt. What happens when investors lose confidence and stop lending? The party is over.
From a year ago