US National Debt – Democrats vs. Republicans negotiations: Round 2

So here we go again. In July, they exposed their usually hidden political games, and the whole world understood that for US congressmen, trying to knock down their opponent in the next presidential race is more important than solving a real national issue like the public deficit. On the way, they ended up loosing their AAA sovereign rating. But in November, they put on the gloves again, and can't agree on a decent policy around the public budget management.

Could be funny if the clock was not ticking. But it actually is, and pretty fast... If you don't believe me, just check for yourself:

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

I fixed my eyes on that thing for less than a minute and the balance moved up by more than USD 2.5 millions... This must be something in the tune of 40 or 50 times the average US household annual income!

And overall, the US national debt points out at more than USD 15 trillions, making it an average of USD 134,000 per household, and around 100% of the GDP.

Now, I'm laughing, but to my American friends, please take no offense: I'm French. So if I'm laughing, it's sort of a nervous laugh, because we are next in line for the downgrade. With a debt to GDP ratio of 85-90% and a funding spread vs. German Bunds in the range of 200 pips, only the French President and Minister of Finance still believe that we deserve our AAA rating...