Sunday, 26 October 2008

Could the UK be the poorest country in the world?

In light of what has been happening recently with the Global Economy, I think it's worth reflecting on this......
Watch the trailer below of the I.O.U.S.A Documentary, it boldly examines the rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the US and its citizens. But first, as an introduction, here is Yvette Cooper (Chief Secretary to the Treasury) with Andrew Neil rightly asking about the UK household debt.

Plus some additional notes below.



I.O.U.S.A Documentary Trailer (2008)


US/UK Data:
----------------------------------------------------------
£1,854,000,000,000 -UK Government Debt (Oct.2008,Excl.Bank Bailout)
60,975,000 -UK Population
£30,405 - UK Debt Per Citizen

$10,501,460,801,365 - US Government Debt (September 2008)
304,965,608 - US Estimated Population
$34,434 - US Debt Per Citizen

Debt per citizen compared in the same currency (US$):
(Rate used: 1 GBP = 1.53748 USD)

$34,434 - US Debt Per Citizen
$46,747 - UK Debt Per Citizen

References:
UK Government Debt according to Center for Policy Studies
US Government Debt according to Treasury Direct

-------------------------------------------------
So whats actually in the Treasury? The countries in bold have negative balances.

CIA - The World Factbook
Rank--Country----Current account balance (2007)

1 China $ 371,800,000,000
2 Germany $ 254,500,000,000
3 Japan $ 210,500,000,000
4 Saudi Arabia $ 86,620,000,000
5 Russia $ 78,310,000,000
6 Switzerland $ 72,350,000,000

125 Zimbabwe -$ -649,000,000

177 Poland $ -15,910,000,000

183 Greece $ -44,400,000,000
184 Italy $ -51,030,000,000
185 Australia $ -56,780,000,000
186 UK $ -119,200,000,000
187 Spain $ -145,300,000,000
188 US $ -731,200,000,000


For full list click here

1 comments:

elzo said...

Wow im only 21 n im nearly at the adverage uk citizen mark....well £11, 000 more to go...and i aint got shit to show for it!
I aint worried about it at all, might aswell have fun now b4 i enter the "real" world....anyways Brown knew about this ages ago....he cud have done something like other countries such as Australia who paid of their debts but no....we just have a guy that likes to sit n wait for a while n let it all explode in his face!