By Charles Hugh Smith
April 18, 2022
Let’s ask “cui bono” of the $33 trillion in added debt and the $9 trillion added to GDP: to whose benefit?
I’ve been thinking about how hard it is to get our heads around big numbers. Technical analyst Sven Henrich (@NorthmanTrader) recently provided one method to grasp the immense wealth of Elon Musk: How to become as wealthy as Elon Musk? Easy. Get paid $1 Million every single day. For 750 years in a row and you’re there.
How can we get a handle on the $33 trillion we’ve added in total debt since 2010? We can start by noting that’s a 60% increase in debt in about a decade, while the population of the U.S. rose by 7%.
Are we 60% better off than we were 12 years ago? How do we measure “better off”? GDP went up by 60% as well, but are we 60% more efficient or 60% more productive? Has the purchasing power of our wages gone up 60%? Can we buy 60% more with a day’s earnings?
I think it’s fair to say “no” to all these questions. We’ve added $33 trillion in debt to more or less tread water.
Does it illuminate the $33 trillion to say that’s $100,000 of debt for every one of the 330 million Americans? Are we each $100,000 better off for borrowing $33 trillion? Well, a few folks have benefited. The top 400 wealthiest folks have seen their wealth skyrocket by trillions of dollars, from roughly 8% of GDP in 2010–way up from a paltry 2.5% in 1985–to about 18% of GDP, which is now $24 trillion. That works out to $4.3 trillion.
I think it’s fair to say that hyper-globalization and hyper-financialization has generated hyper-wealth and hyper-inequality.
Read more at: https://www.oftwominds.com/blogapr22/big-numbers4-22.html
Giftoftruth Southern Africa 