Public debt-GDP ratio reaches 57.5 percent

Serbia is doing better than the US.

The US national debt to GDP ration is about $102.5% and rising.

Serbia's not yet up to EU standards:

Fourteen out of 27 countries in the European Union had public debt exceeding 60% of their gross domestic product at the end of 2010, according to official statistics.

The report by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, showed that the ratio of government debt to GDP across all 27 member states increased from 74.4% in 2009 to 80.0% in 2010.

For the 17 euro zone countries, the debt is even higher, increasing from 79.3% in 2009 to 85.1% last year.

Topping the European debt league is Greece with 142.8% government debt to GDP ratio, followed by Italy (119.0%), Belgium (96.8%) Ireland (96.2%), Portugal (93.0%), Germany (83.2%), France (81.7%) Hungary (80.2%) and the United Kingdom (80.0%).

The lowest government debt to GDP ratios were recorded in Estonia (6.6%), Bulgaria (16.2%) and Luxembourg (18.4%), according to the Eurostat report.

Under the Stability and growth pact, agreed when the euro began in 1999, member states are supposed to ensure their debt does not exceed 60% of their GDP.

"We may never, as a country, have a balanced budget again," said Marc Goldwein, policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget of the US in March 2012. "And you know what? We don't have to."

Is that so?

The U.S. is in worse long-term fiscal shape than Greece. The financial sharks are circling Greece because Greece is small and defenseless, but they'll soon be swimming to the US.

"We may never, as a country, have a balanced budget again," said Marc Goldwein, policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget of the US in March 2012. "And you know what? We don't have to."

What is important is being able to service the debt, to pay the installments as they come due. It is a practical, not a moral problem. Debt does become a problem when it crowds out necessary investment (by raising borrowing rates for business), but when you (i.e., the U.S. government) can borrow at 1.68% for 10 years, the debt level is a more a potential than a current problem. The time to pay down debt is when the economy is humming along and tax receipts are flowing in, not when it is still in recovery - that is, now. There are two ways to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio - pay down debt, or increase GDP. The second is of course less painful, but it looks like it probably won't be enough to take care of the U.S.' problem this time and taxes will have to go up. Most of Europe would tell us that with the current rates, there's plenty of room to do that.

According to this other B92 article it appears that the debt has increased worryingly quickly. http://www.b92.net/eng/news/business-article.php?yyyy=2012&mm=11&dd=19&nav_id=83226&fb_action_ids=3771904067546&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=246965925417366

However the public debt to gdp ratio is not the lone indicator of the financial performance of a country so i advise to others to learn a little bit more before going to futile comparisons. Amer has shed some light here.

Serbia is doing better than the US.

The US national debt to GDP ration is about $102.5% and rising.

"We may never, as a country, have a balanced budget again," said Marc Goldwein, policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget of the US in March 2012. "And you know what? We don't have to."

What is important is being able to service the debt, to pay the installments as they come due. It is a practical, not a moral problem. Debt does become a problem when it crowds out necessary investment (by raising borrowing rates for business), but when you (i.e., the U.S. government) can borrow at 1.68% for 10 years, the debt level is a more a potential than a current problem. The time to pay down debt is when the economy is humming along and tax receipts are flowing in, not when it is still in recovery - that is, now. There are two ways to lower the debt-to-GDP ratio - pay down debt, or increase GDP. The second is of course less painful, but it looks like it probably won't be enough to take care of the U.S.' problem this time and taxes will have to go up. Most of Europe would tell us that with the current rates, there's plenty of room to do that.

Serbia's not yet up to EU standards:

Fourteen out of 27 countries in the European Union had public debt exceeding 60% of their gross domestic product at the end of 2010, according to official statistics.

The report by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, showed that the ratio of government debt to GDP across all 27 member states increased from 74.4% in 2009 to 80.0% in 2010.

For the 17 euro zone countries, the debt is even higher, increasing from 79.3% in 2009 to 85.1% last year.

Topping the European debt league is Greece with 142.8% government debt to GDP ratio, followed by Italy (119.0%), Belgium (96.8%) Ireland (96.2%), Portugal (93.0%), Germany (83.2%), France (81.7%) Hungary (80.2%) and the United Kingdom (80.0%).

The lowest government debt to GDP ratios were recorded in Estonia (6.6%), Bulgaria (16.2%) and Luxembourg (18.4%), according to the Eurostat report.

Under the Stability and growth pact, agreed when the euro began in 1999, member states are supposed to ensure their debt does not exceed 60% of their GDP.

"We may never, as a country, have a balanced budget again," said Marc Goldwein, policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget of the US in March 2012. "And you know what? We don't have to."

Is that so?

The U.S. is in worse long-term fiscal shape than Greece. The financial sharks are circling Greece because Greece is small and defenseless, but they'll soon be swimming to the US.

According to this other B92 article it appears that the debt has increased worryingly quickly. http://www.b92.net/eng/news/business-article.php?yyyy=2012&mm=11&dd=19&nav_id=83226&fb_action_ids=3771904067546&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=246965925417366

However the public debt to gdp ratio is not the lone indicator of the financial performance of a country so i advise to others to learn a little bit more before going to futile comparisons. Amer has shed some light here.