HappySqurriel on 05 July 2009
| famousringo said: The United States has more public debt than the UK has, by a large margin: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_pub_deb-economy-public-debt US - 60.8% of GDP UK - 43.6% of GDP You might note that Canada has a higher public debt than either country, yet seems to be only indirectly effected by the crisis. Our banks are as steady as a rock. Most of the trauma is from the general economic slowdown, the collapsing North American auto industry, and falling commodity prices. Perhaps a more relevant statistic would be domestic credit to the private sector, which "refers to financial resources provided to the private sector, such as through loans, purchases of nonequity securities, and trade credits and other accounts receivable, that establish a claim for repayment." http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/eco_dom_cre_to_pri_sec_of_gdp-domestic-credit-private-sector-gdp The top country on this list is the country which has been hit hardest by the crisis, Iceland, with the United States close on its heels. But once again, Canada is right up there, with our financial system relatively unscathed. If you're trying to single out the one most important factor in this current economic crisis, I don't think the answer is as simple as debt. |
You could look at debt another way by looking at the external debt per capita:
The United Kingdom has over $175,000 in external debt per capita
The United States has over $42,500 in external debt per capita
Canada has (roughly) $35,000 in external debt per capita.
When you look at it ias a function of GDP:
The United Kingdom is at 375% external debt to GDP
The United States is at 95% external debt to GDP
Canada is at 60% external debt to GDP
