Article - When the Global Debt Shuffle Hits Home - WSJ

With all of the talk about Greece's debt and how it's affecting the Global Economy, this article from the WSJ references that the general public is forgetting how much debt the U.S. holds as a country. Interesting statistics and outlook on how the U.S. stacks up when compared to Greece...

The market's terrifying drop was more than a technical trading glitch. It was a warning that the U.S. economy is playing a dangerous game. After all the massive bailouts, the federal debt is exploding.

Overall U.S. government debt now stands at 92.6% of projected 2010 gross domestic product, according to the International Monetary Fund.

The U.S. now has a heavier debt burden than several of the overleveraged countries that have been branded with the scornful nickname "the PIIGS." Portugal's debt, according to the IMF, is 85.9% of its GDP; Ireland's, 78.8%; Italy, 118.6%; Greece, 124.1%; Spain, 66.9%. Perhaps there should be a new acronym, with the U.S. added to Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain: "PIG IS U.S."

But joining this club is no joke. Economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, authors of "This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly," have shown that a rise in government debt above 90% is associated with a decline in economic growth of roughly one percentage point per year.

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