7 ms·
One thing to keep in mind is that "assets" are far from "spending". Governments generally do not accumulate assets, everything they collect is reserved for spen
by thinkloop 9y ago
One thing to keep in mind is that "assets" are far from "spending". Governments generally do not accumulate assets, everything they collect is reserved for spending (besides some operational accounts and things like foreign reserves). The student loan program is an exception and so figures heavily in this stat.
- philipov 9y agoGovernment owns a lot of land, and land is most certainly an asset. Does it figure into these stats? It would be rather deceptive to craft your definition of asset to exclude the most important one.
- bradleybuda 9y agoThese are so-called "financial assets" (which I'm guessing are a relatively small portion of the US government's total assets).
- d--b 9y agoYes, the title makes it sound like the US government is in a dire situation because it has its solvency tied to students paying back their loans... But mostly the government is a borrower of cash and not a lender. Here the government is indirectly financing people's education by offering cheaper loans than the market would give. There is not much to talk about...
- prostoalex 9y agoThe rate that the government can borrow at is determined by the quality of underlying assets. US 10-year note is 2.58% at the moment, but Argentina's is 7%.
- marshray 9y agoWell the US is somewhat special in that the dollar (or currencies tied to it) is used by 70% of all global transactions. The other day a minister in China floated the idea of buying less US Treasuries. It became apparent that there just weren't a lot of other instruments available with which to invest that sheer volume of money.