Timeline for Why is Greece's debt considered a problem but not US debt, which is much larger?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
30 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 21, 2021 at 19:46 | history | unprotected | JJJ♦ | ||
| Sep 2, 2019 at 19:39 | comment | added | Bregalad | @akvadrako This question was protected because it made it to the Hot Network Question, which unfortunately usually brings a rain of answers (when few high-quality answers are preferable). If you have new information that isn't already in the 13 existing answers, maybe it would be worth unprotecting the question for you. However if you just want to add some new minor information maybe existing one of the existing answers would be more appropriate. Or maybe this case should be discussed on meta. | |
| Sep 2, 2019 at 17:17 | comment | added | akvadrako | I would like to answer this question, but don't have enough reputation. If you want to understand the issue, look into IPSAS and the FT articles about it. Using proper accounting measures, Greece's debt is really quite low. It's only naive measures that make it look bad. | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 10:20 | comment | added | Flater | @Bregalad: The analogy is flawed there. Individuals do not start off with debt (basically because the parents cover for their childhood costs, until they are self sustaining); countries do not have parents and immediately accrue debt by their mere existence. | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 10:18 | comment | added | Bregalad | @Flater Why would Bill Gates borrow money in the 1st place? If he does I'd be afraid he's a Bernard Madoff kind of rich, which in fact isn't rich at all, and I'd be just as worried to get the money back. | |
| Nov 17, 2017 at 9:55 | comment | added | Flater | If A has $30k in debt, and B has $300k in debt, we should worry more about B's debt, right? But what if B is Bill Gates, who we're sure will pay back the money, and A is a homeless person who lives off of charity? This extreme analogy is in no way meant as disrespectful towards Greece, but it does highlight that worrying about debt is correlated to the financial viability of the debtor, because that directly translated into knowing how likely it is for the debt to be paid off. | |
| S Jun 28, 2017 at 20:44 | history | suggested | bandybabboon | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
Clearer statistical statement.
|
| Jun 28, 2017 at 19:54 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Jun 28, 2017 at 20:44 | |||||
| Jun 25, 2017 at 11:49 | comment | added | Relaxed | Also note that even countries with a rather low debt-to-GDP ratio and a downward trajectory in nominal terms still roll over their debt. They simply borrow a little less than they pay back in any given year. The way the debt is structured is a technical issue, unless you are forced to there is absolutely no reason to let the fact that a particular bond reaches maturity dictates the pace of debt reduction. In fact, that's also true for large companies. | |
| S Jun 24, 2017 at 19:42 | history | mod moved comments to chat | |||
| S Jun 24, 2017 at 19:42 | comment | added | Sam I am says Reinstate Monica | Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. | |
| Jun 23, 2017 at 8:44 | answer | added | Peter - Reinstate Monica | timeline score: 1 | |
| Jun 22, 2017 at 15:42 | answer | added | Francesco Dondi | timeline score: 2 | |
| Jun 22, 2017 at 4:32 | answer | added | grovkin | timeline score: 2 | |
| Jun 21, 2017 at 9:31 | vote | accept | Bregalad | ||
| Jun 21, 2017 at 6:04 | answer | added | Brythan | timeline score: 5 | |
| Jun 21, 2017 at 5:18 | history | edited | Brythan | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
deleted 1 character in body; edited title
|
| Jun 21, 2017 at 1:38 | history | protected | user11249 | ||
| Jun 20, 2017 at 9:28 | answer | added | mootmoot | timeline score: 3 | |
| Jun 19, 2017 at 19:20 | comment | added | Nat | "In both cases it seems extremely unlikely that this money will ever be refunded": This is very clearly false; people who have US bonds are getting their money back, consistently and on-time. You could buy a bond yourself if you'd like; then you'd own part of the US debt, and in all likelihood, get paid back the promised amount at the promised time. | |
| Jun 19, 2017 at 16:51 | comment | added | Maja Piechotka | "In both cases it seems extremely unlikely that this money will ever be refunded" - note that it doesn't matter if the debt will ever be paid of for lenders - only that all payments are made on time. It is similar as with credit card - they don't care if I'm having balance on it as long as I'm paying minimal payment and my debt-to-income ratio does not go too high. It might not be prudent to run balance (though goverment debt is more like mortage or college loan as in it may be benefitial to take as investment). | |
| Jun 19, 2017 at 15:55 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/StackPolitics/status/876830792537829377 | ||
| Jun 19, 2017 at 15:38 | answer | added | RCM | timeline score: 66 | |
| Jun 19, 2017 at 15:37 | comment | added | user2023861 |
In both cases it seems extremely unlikely that this money will ever be refunded Do you mean to say that you think the US and Greece are extremely likely to default on their debt? That's how I read this. It's not extremely likely, or somewhat likely, or any kind of "likely". If there was the remotest chance, interest rates would be much much higher.
|
|
| Jun 19, 2017 at 15:17 | answer | added | Chris Johns | timeline score: 7 | |
| Jun 19, 2017 at 13:14 | comment | added | Zibbobz | A minor nitpick, but there are plenty of people in the United States who do consider it a problem - however, the answers below should give you a clear indication of why other countries in the world don't consider it a problem that requires intervention. | |
| Jun 19, 2017 at 11:05 | answer | added | Panda | timeline score: 40 | |
| Jun 19, 2017 at 11:00 | answer | added | Royal Canadian Bandit | timeline score: 158 | |
| Jun 19, 2017 at 11:00 | history | edited | Bregalad | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 83 characters in body
|
| Jun 19, 2017 at 10:54 | history | asked | Bregalad | CC BY-SA 3.0 |