4 ms·
$13.6 trillion is a ton of debt (literally?). At the same time, I think debt versus net worth is a more descriptive metric. Back in 2008, household net worth (
by omgwtfbyobbq 9y ago
$13.6 trillion is a ton of debt (literally?). At the same time, I think debt versus net worth is a more descriptive metric.
Back in 2008, household net worth (HNW) was about $56 trillion, so household debt was about a quarter of HNW. With HNW at about $93 trillion, reaching $14+ trillion in household debt doesn't sting as much.
https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/current/z1.pdf
At the same time, interest rates are still near historic lows, and may assets have appreciated because of this. I wouldn't be surprised to see real estate drop a bit as the Fed raises rates, which would take a chunk out of HNW.
- redblacktree 9y agoWhat about the distribution of net worth vs debt? If the two are balanced, I agree with your point.
- hiddencost 9y agoThe change in HNW is not distributed evenly; the increase in individual debt is anti-correlated with increasing individual HNW.
- AnimalMuppet 9y ago> $13.6 trillion is a ton of debt (literally?) IIRC, in $100 bills, $100 million is a ton. $13.6 trillion is 136,000 tons of $100 bills.
- david927 9y agodebt versus net worth is a more descriptive metric. But over time debt will inflate the economy and make net worth look like it has been raised, when in fact, it's the effect of the debt itself.
- rsync 9y ago"$13.6 trillion is a ton of debt (literally?)." It depends ... if trillion dollar coins only weigh an ounce, that could be less than a single pound of debt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillion_dollar_coin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trillion_dollar_coin