US Public debt vs. gold

Still trying to see the debt mountain in context... So let's see how hard it would be to pay off in gold, assuming that in 1791 a single "bag" of gold would have cleared the account.

For the first 70 years, the gold-priced public debt was always less than twice its 1791 level, and often below the starting point.

Now to see the progress of the public debt since 1860:

... and second, since 1945:

These pictures seem to indicate the influence of:

(a) two world wars

(b) the closure of the "gold window" in 1971

(c) monetary expansion since the 1980s

(d) the Grand Bust of 2000, NOT 2007, and the consequent flight to commodities

- and on this way of measuring the catastrophe, we're 50% worse off than at the end of WWII - plus we're not rebuilding the economy, we're doing the reverse.

Glory days

How did they do it? How can we do it again?

Perhaps staying out of wars, and quickly jailing greedy bankers, would be a start.

US Public Debt - annual rate of change

And the rate of change in the past has been frightening at times.

Here's the overall view from 1791 onwards:

Next, from 1945 to now:

Before that, The Roaring Twenties up to the end of World War II:

1900 - 1920:

1835 - 1900:

And from 1791 to 1835:

US Public Debt - the long view

The figures in the following graphs are from Treasury Direct. They are not adjusted for inflation, population size or GDP - all three of which would make interesting bases for comparison. But perhaps these pictures will show that the USA has come through equally bad, or worse, times before now.

US Public Debt since 1997

Data source: Treasury Direct

The new debt in perspective

Figures are inflation-adjusted. Source: Barry Ritholtz. Htp: Bearish News. Click to enlarge.

Any more inconvenient truths?

"Only now can we afford the truth," concludes this book review . The book admits that the French Resistance made no significant difference to the course of the war, but the myth of the Maquis helped De Gaulle resist Allied attempts to break up the French Empire.

Do you believe that there is a right time for the truth to be revealed?

Can you give examples of any truths that should be revealed, or myths dispelled, now?