1/20th of a Quadrillion Dollar US Debt

"What do you think is the total US government debt?" I asked a young economist in the Columbia University graduate program.

Francesco was smart and took his time to calculate the numbers.

"15 trillion dollars." The sum was the total of the US annual GDP or every single penny made by the nation in a single year.

"Good guess." Back in the 70s a man erected an electronic billboard tracking the US debt on the corner of 6th Avenue and 42nd Street. The largest number I remembered was 6 trillion. This liability indicator backwatered during the Clinton years. The corner stores were sold in the mid-90s, so no one ever had any idea what was happening with what the USA owed to its debtors.

"Was I close?" Francesco smiled thinking he had a grasp of the depth of the problem. 15 trillion dollars was a lot of money. GW Bush could have financed 8 Iraqi wars with that sum.

"Not even warm." I knew the correct amount thanks to www.worldnetnews.com. "Almost times four. Ready?"

"Yes."

"1/20th of a billiard."

"Billiard?"

I'd stumped him with that word.

"Yes, a billiard is another word for a quadrillion."

"50 trillion dollars?" Francesco had done the math.

"Actually it's $65 trillion. I rounded it out to the nearest 50 to make the math easier." Most people had trouble with fractions, especially the voodoo zombie economists of the Bush Administration who did the math on their fingers. Last year they announced the debt to be $400 billion. More like $5 trillion in the real world. I re-did the numbers for Francesco. "It's actually 1/30th of a quadrillion."

"How are we going to pay that?"

"Never will happen. We're banco or bankrupt. Crapped out as a nation thanks to 8 years of this last fuck-up." So no more Iraq War. No more troops in Afghanistan. No SUVs. No McMansions. No more fake millionaires. It's a revolution no one realizes has happened yet. Certainly not the republicans who want to have another round of tax cuts to spark the economy. "The treasury will monetize the debt."

"How?"

"By printing money."

"Meaning hyper-inflation."

"People going to the store with SUVs packed with enough dollars to buy a loaf of bread." Like in the Weimar Republic or Zimbabwe.

So get ready to buy diamonds and gold.

I'm open for business at the Plaza.