Top 20 Most In Debt Nations

[mikey_the_redneck]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

Today we saw an announcement of roughly 300,000 new jobs created in the USA which in turn means more tax revenue. Companies are again booking profits. Etc, etc.

Cowperson

Does it accomplish anything if these new jobs are mostly government jobs though?
I read an article the other day saying that in the U.S., government job creation is out-pacing private sector job creation.

[burn_this_city]

I think the Saudis are probably owed the most out of any country. They've been producing massive amounts of oil since the 70's and the cash from that would be in the hundreds of billions if not trillions.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by mikey_the_redneck

Does it accomplish anything if these new jobs are mostly government jobs though?
I read an article the other day saying that in the U.S., government job creation is out-pacing private sector job creation.

The news today was particularly encouraging because most of the created jobs were private sector.

Basically, USA companies, many of which are now flush with cash, are starting to hire again.

Cowperson

[Calgaryborn]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

The news today was particularly encouraging because most of the created jobs were private sector.

Basically, USA companies, many of which are now flush with cash, are starting to hire again.

Cowperson

I hope you are right about the cause being US companies.

I'm a little skeptical about any up turn this year because of the fall elections and Obama's war chest of unspent stimulus funds. Between that money and the money the banks have returned Obama is in a great position to buy a short term economic boom.

Could this increase in jobs simply be caused by private companies creating short term jobs with stimulus money or hir
eing to fullfill a sudden flurry of government contracts\subcontracts?

[mikey_the_redneck]

Originally Posted by Cowperson

The news today was particularly encouraging because most of the created jobs were private sector.

Basically, USA companies, many of which are now flush with cash, are starting to hire again.

Cowperson

Hmmm..

This seems to be suggesting the opposite of what you are saying.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/127628/Fe...-Creation.aspx

[mikey_the_redneck]

Originally Posted by Calgaryborn

Could this increase in jobs simply be caused by private companies creating short term jobs with stimulus money or hiring to fullfill a sudden flurry of government contracts\subcontracts?

I suspect this is the case...

The temporary census workers being an example of that...

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by Pastiche

wouldn't those countries that owe each other debt cancel themselves out?

[Slava]

Originally Posted by mikey_the_redneck

I suspect this is the case...

The temporary census workers being an example of that...

Actually the temporary employment figures are exploding because as a business owner it's the first type of employee you bring back. There is an enormous gap between production and sales in the US right now. Probably the largest since the great depression. In order to ramp up production quickly you see a spike in the temporary employment figures. It's a great leading indicator.

[Cowperson]

Originally Posted by mikey_the_redneck

Hmmm..

This seems to be suggesting the opposite of what you are saying.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/127628/Fe...-Creation.aspx

Your poll is dated May 3. From today:

May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Payrolls in the U.S. surged by the most in four years in April, led by gains in private employment that indicate the economy is weaning itself from government support.

The 290,000 increase in employment exceeded the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News and followed a 230,000 gain in March that was larger than initially estimated. The jobless rate rose to 9.9 percent from 9.7 percent as thousands of jobseekers entered the workforce, a Labor Department report in Washington showed today.

The dollar rallied as private employers added 231,000 workers across the economy, from manufacturing and construction to services. Companies including General Electric Co. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. are adding staff in response to growing sales, indicating gains in consumer spending may spur more hiring.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...d=a5poBJkhz6z0

Job gains in April were widespread. Manufacturers, construction companies, retailers, professional and business services, education and health services, leisure and hospitality, and government all showed gains.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...rticle1559994/

Cowperson

[mikey_the_redneck]

We'll see if this lasts Cowperson...or maybe it's just a temporary illusion.

I think things are going to get much worse in America before they get better...

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by mikey_the_redneck

Does it accomplish anything if these new jobs are mostly government jobs though?
I read an article the other day saying that in the U.S., government job creation is out-pacing private sector job creation.

The largest US government employer hasn't hired anyone for over three years now.

[mikey_the_redneck]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

The largest US government employer hasn't hired anyone for over three years now.

?

Keep going....

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by mikey_the_redneck

?

Keep going....

Was just pointing that out. The US Postal Service is far and away the largest government agency and we haven't hired anyone for over three years.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

wouldn't those countries that owe each other debt cancel themselves out?

No, as different interest rates and the continuing need to turn the debt over means everyone has to keep borrowing from everyone.

We have got to the stage that our politicians are using one credit card to pay off another and because we are greedy we want to believe thats fine!

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Was just pointing that out. The US Postal Service is far and away the largest government agency and we haven't hired anyone for over three years.

Are you telling me my e mail isn't delivered by tiny mail men?

[Eric Vail]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Was just pointing that out. The US Postal Service is far and away the largest government agency and we haven't hired anyone for over three years.

Mail is a dying industry with the internet being able to transmit communication. It won't die out completely, but it makes a lot of sense that postal services are downsizing these days.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Eric Vail

Mail is a dying industry with the internet being able to transmit communication. It won't die out completely, but it makes a lot of sense that postal services are downsizing these days.

Absolutely.

Our company was slow to realize that and is bogged down by legislation that is preventing it from adjusting and changing to take advantage of the changes in the market.

It's a huge challenge and one that I am pretty proud to have been chosen to be a part of recently.

[Devils'Advocate]

I'm still completely confused.

Who are the people loaning the money? Countries? Banks?

And let's just assume that the French government is loaning the money to Greece. Now if the problem is that they are jacking up their interest rates to the point that Greece cannot afford to pay back their loan and Greece defaults, causing interest rates to go up all around, making Portugal and Spain to go bankrupt, then the world goes into a huge tailspin and we end up eating the dandelions on our lawns for dinner. How does that help France?

This all boggles my mind. If interest rates are so high, SOMEBODY must be making an absolute f*n KILLING out there. Somebody is owed a whole sh*tload of money and has the world by the balls.

If Fred loans Joe $10 and Joe spends it at the casino. Joe tells Fred he has no money so Fred has to borrow $10 from Wendy to buy smokes. Now the casino is happy because they have $10. Marlboro is happy because they have $10. And Wendy is in good shape since she is owed money and has no debt. So there are winners and losers in all this. Somebody, somewhere must have money.

It's like the mortgage crisis in the States. Okay, people took out loans for homes they could not afford. Now there are whole subdivisions of empty homes that people have left. However, those homes are an asset and belong to someone and eventually when things recover people will buy those homes. Somebody somewhere must hold the assets purchased with this debt.

[Caged Great]

Here's something that I've never understood.

Say country A owes country B 10 Billion dollars and is owed 10 billion by Country C
Country B owes Country C 10 Billion, but is owed 10 billion by Country A
Country C owes Country A 10 Billion, but is owed 10 billion by Country B

In that case where they are all owed 10 billion, and owe 10 billion to each other, why don't they make an agreement where they all just forgive each other the debts instead of having them on the books gaining interest?

[Sylvanfan]

Well for one, it's not the French and German Government that owns all this Greek debt. It's mostly private banks within those countries. So the governments of those countries agree to lend money to Greece in hopes that they'll pay back the banks in their country. Meanwhile with the banks in their own country being confident that they'll have the greek debt they own paid back, they'll be able to keep the economies in their own country going.