We cannot even pay our current bills, much less the gigantic future bills on the near horizon. $28,000 per person? Forget it, I won't pay it. I'll just keep writing checks on a closed account to pay the installments on previous debts on the same account. As long as everybody still accepts my checks, why should I care? "Everybody is doing it" and nobody else seems to care, until the police arrive and arrest us all for writing fraudulent checks.

MEJanssen I think the perverse beauty of this rather sad logic is the fact the U.S can just print money and sustain its way of life on the basis of just printing money! The U.S government is purchasing its own treasury bonds means other nations have stopped or significantly reduced purchasing the U.S treasure bonds. The dollar will not be able to retain its global hegemony as the primary global currency for commodity exchange in the near future. This may not bad for the U.S for it will learn how to work again and increase its productivity. The U.S has been sustaining its lifestyle-including global militarism- by just printing money! But this formula cannot be sustained forever. Just take a look at the euro- it’s rising again because Germany has increased its productive output. No wonder Russia and other countries- namely China- are using the euros as favorable reserve currency over the U.S dollar.

The value of the US Dollar is secured by the US military, which in turn is sustained and secured by the price of oil, a resource which in turn is secured physically and in value by the US military. As long as the US controls the worlds oil resources and other countries keep buying and selling oil, gold, and other commodities in US dollars, the currancy will stay artificially inflated. Whilst the US control the resources and markets (and can secure them via thier military) the Dollar will continue to have a notional value. As for bancruptcy, the US like its institutions, is too big to fail. Its debts will be written off / hidden / whatever and it will start again, after all who is going to march on US assests and seize them from under the protection of thier military?

Jim Jim, I think your circular argument is both elegant by tautology and powerfully dangerous because the U.S ruling elite actually believes in these circular imperatives. But there are number of caveats to these neat set of premises: First, the U.S military does not have access to unlimited cash, manpower and material. Second, it’s not clear Europe being hostage to the U.S militarism and the dollar imperatives. Third, Iran, Russia and China and EU will be able to trade in Euros and other currencies. The dollars cannot be protected with military might for long.

This is what happens when you allow a state to create money out of thin air and then spend it on limitless weapons of mass destruction and continuous war. The sooner this evil empire collapses the better off the world will be.

Now, that must be real breaking news from the US -- $200 trillion national debt, some 15 times more than the official figure. One cannot be sure how the economist arrived at the scary number. If he is right, the US will indeed go “bankrupt” in the not so distant future. Americans, please take note, this ought to be a very serious matter. (btt1943)

The USA will decline as a world power while Russia maintains its standing in the world.

The end of cowboy casino crony ponzicapitalistic criminalism is near

I think, the good solution for the United States would be to annihilate those country to which its has debts. It is not too late yet -- the US still has some strength. And so, the problem would be solved.