Ireland's Debt Mountain

[Sidewinder]

With only 4.2 million of us, we still manage to get into the top 10! Go us! Great job, Bertie!

Of course, we'd be way in front in #1 if the stupid Yanks had compiled it on a per-capita basis. It's a conspiracy I tells ya! :twisted:

1. World $ 44,620,000,000,000 2004 est.
2. United States $ 10,040,000,000,000 30 June 2006 est.
3. United Kingdom $ 8,280,000,000,000 30 June 2006
4. Germany $ 3,904,000,000,000 30 June 2006
5. France $ 3,461,000,000,000 30 June 2006
6. Italy $ 1,957,000,000,000 30 June 2006 est.
7. Netherlands $ 1,899,000,000,000 30 June 2006
8. Spain $ 1,591,000,000,000 30 June 2006 est.
9. Japan $ 1,547,000,000,000 30 June 2006
10. Ireland $ 1,392,000,000,000 30 June 2006
11. Switzerland $ 1,077,000,000,000 30 June 2006

From the CIA world factbook...

[qtman]

1. World $ 44,620,000,000,000 2004 est.

How can "The World" be in debt?

Are there interplanetary banks now?

[Sidewinder]

How can "The World" be in debt?

Are there interplanetary banks now?

Ah FFS. You people make my teeth ache. Ignore the substance and start wibbling on about irrelevancies....

Note I didn't compile the figures, but I assume the figure is the total aggregate amount of debt that every country owes. Therefore Ireland has the 9th largest total amount of debt of all the countries in the world. Happy now?

[gaelach]

So on average every man woman and child is aprox. 386,750 in debt

Any finacially minded people feel free to correct me!

[qtman]

How can "The World" be in debt?

Are there interplanetary banks now?

Ah FFS. You people make my teeth ache. Ignore the substance and start wibbling on about irrelevancies....

Note I didn't compile the figures, but I assume the figure is the total aggregate amount of debt that every country owes. Therefore Ireland has the 9th largest total amount of debt of all the countries in the world. Happy now?

Its not really surprising that we figure in this.

The US and Europe are the only global regions where property ownership is a mature legal principle. Debt doesn't exist in other regions because it is harder to legally prove the stability of personal collateral. I suppose we've jumped a few ranks in recent years because of inflated property prices and personal incomes.

It is obviously a cause for concern, but I think the distribution of national debt across our socio-economic strata is far more relevant than where we rank in world terms.

[TheBear]

How can "The World" be in debt?

Are there interplanetary banks now?

Ah FFS. You people make my teeth ache. Ignore the substance and start wibbling on about irrelevancies....

Note I didn't compile the figures, but I assume the figure is the total aggregate amount of debt that every country owes. Therefore Ireland has the 9th largest total amount of debt of all the countries in the world. Happy now?

Its not really surprising that we figure in this.

The US and Europe are the only global regions where property ownership is a mature legal principle. Debt doesn't exist in other regions because it is harder to legally prove the stability of personal collateral. I suppose we've jumped a few ranks in recent years because of inflated property prices and personal incomes.

It is obviously a cause for concern, but I think the distribution of national debt across our socio-economic strata is far more relevant than where we rank in world terms.

Is this not National Debt, the money owed by the government to other governments and to banks and other lending institutions?

[qtman]

How can "The World" be in debt?

Are there interplanetary banks now?

Ah FFS. You people make my teeth ache. Ignore the substance and start wibbling on about irrelevancies....

Note I didn't compile the figures, but I assume the figure is the total aggregate amount of debt that every country owes. Therefore Ireland has the 9th largest total amount of debt of all the countries in the world. Happy now?

Its not really surprising that we figure in this.

The US and Europe are the only global regions where property ownership is a mature legal principle. Debt doesn't exist in other regions because it is harder to legally prove the stability of personal collateral. I suppose we've jumped a few ranks in recent years because of inflated property prices and personal incomes.

It is obviously a cause for concern, but I think the distribution of national debt across our socio-economic strata is far more relevant than where we rank in world terms.

Is this not National Debt, the money owed by the government to other governments and to banks and other lending institutions?

I'm suggesting that analysis of debt should focus on who is indebted rather than our total debt.

For instance, it is of greater concern if a lot of people on low incomes are indebted than if a lot of students are indebted.

[MikeW]

No idea what thats based on, certainly isn't National Debt. That stands at something like 33bn, about 25% odd of GDP (working from memory with those, but its something like that) which is extremely good by European standards. Presume that it includes the debt of everyone in Ireland to any source, but how that constitutes "External Debt" I'm not sure.

[irishpeoplearewhingers]

Our household debt is somewhere around 125 billion, the total value of our property is over 500 billion, add in other assets like stocks and overseas assets and we have over 700 billion. Therefore, our assets cover both our personal debts and our national debt several times over. This is hardly terrible. The real issue is why we lack the imagination to tie up so much wealth in one asset at the expense of more productive assets, such as business that export or innovate.
The figures you quote include all borrowings both public sector and private sector, including those borrowings of private businesses(all business, not just those owned by citizens). In that context, it far from alarming given that business often finance expansion by borrowing. This is actually cheaper than issuing equity and as long as the return on debt is higher than the cost of servicing the debt, no one is too worried.

[Superman]

okay i may be wrong but your figure is a little misleading. The external debt which this figure is indicating is defined as "the total public and private debt owed to nonresidents repayable in foreign currency, goods, or services". thats from the factbook.

the national debt (which is what the government owes) was 35 billion at the end of 2006 (from National treasury Management Agency). Compared to our GDP, that is one of the lowest in Europe (according to finfacts). That is the part that is directly controlled by Bertie and Brian.

the question is, where does the rest of that figure come from? its unlike the CIA not to tell the truth...........?

seriously, the rest is private debt i think which includes all the population and any businesses based here i think (but thats just a guess). i could be wrong