YOU'LL NEVER BEAT THE IRISH

I OWE I OWE IT'S LOOKING FOR WORK WE GO

The external debt of a country is defined as the "total public and private debt owed to nonresidents repayable in foreign currency, goods, or services", where the public debt is the money or credit owed by any level of government, from central to local, and the private debt the money or credit owed by private households or private corporations based in the country under consideration.
The debt per capita in a country is defined as the total debt of that country divided by its population.

 How does the Irish debt position compare to that of other countries? 

In at 20. is the USA

External debt (as % of GDP): 94.3%
External debt per capita: $43,793

Gross external debt: $13.454 trillion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $14.26 trillion

19. Hungary

External debt (as % of GDP): 105.7%
External debt per capita: $20,990

Gross external debt: $207.92 billion (2009 Q1)
2008 GDP (est): $196.6 billion

18. Australia

External debt (as % of GDP): 111.3%
External debt per capita: $41,916

Gross external debt: $891.26 billion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $800.2 billion

17. Italy

External debt (as % of GDP): 126.7%
External debt per capita: $39,741

Gross external debt: $2.310 trillion (2009 Q1)
2008 GDP (est): $ 1.823 trillion

16. Greece

External debt (as % of GDP): 161.1%
External debt per capita: $51,483

Gross external debt: $552.8 billion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $343 billion

15. Spain

External debt (as % of GDP): 171.7%
External debt per capita: $59,457

Gross external debt: $2.409 trillion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $1.403 trillion

14. Germany

External debt (as % of GDP): 178.5%
External debt per capita: $63,263

Gross external debt: $5.208 trillion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $2.918 trillion

13. Finland

External debt (as % of GDP): 188.5%
External debt per capita: $69,491

Gross external debt: $364.85 billion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $193.5 billion

12. Sweden

External debt (as % of GDP): 194.3%
External debt per capita: $73,854

Gross external debt: $669.1 billion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $344.3 billion

11. Norway

External debt (as % of GDP): 199%
External debt per capita: $117,604

Gross external debt: $548.1 billion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $275.4 billion

10. Hong Kong

External debt (as % of GDP): 205.8%
External debt per capita: $89,457

Gross external debt: $631.13 billion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $306.6 billion

9. Portugal

External debt (as % of GDP): 214.4%
External debt per capita: $47,348

Gross external debt: $507 billion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $236.5 billion

8. France

External debt (as % of GDP): 236%
External debt per capita: $78,387

Gross external debt: $5.021 trillion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $2.128 trillion

7. Austria

External debt (as % of GDP): 252.6%
External debt per capita: $101,387

Gross external debt: $832.42 billion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $329.5 billion

6. Denmark

External debt (as % of GDP): 298.3%
External debt per capita: $110,422

Gross external debt: $607.38 billion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $203.6 billion

5. Belgium

External debt (as % of GDP): 320.2%
External debt per capita : $119,681

Gross external debt: $1.246 trillion (2009 Q1)
2008 GDP (est): $389 billion

4. Netherlands

External debt (as % of GDP): 365%
External debt per capita: $146,703

Gross external debt: $2.452 trillion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $672 billion

3. United Kingdom

External debt (as % of GDP): 408.3%
External debt per capita: $148,702

Gross external debt: $9.087 trillion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $2.226 trillion

2. Switzerland

External debt (as % of GDP): 422.7%
External debt per capita: $176,045

Gross external debt: $1.338 trillion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $316.7 billion

Ole Ole Ole Ole Ole Ole

 

YOU'LL NEVER BEAT THE IRISH

1. Ireland

External debt (as % of GDP): 1,267%
External debt per capita: $567,805

Gross external debt: $2.386 trillion (2009 Q2)
2008 GDP (est): $188.4 billion

YEP 1,267%

 

We're green with envy

Banking Expert Peter Mathews on fixing Ireland's Banking Crisis

Ireland's Banking Crisis

  click on the headline to view his page. Take a look at his videos too

THE END OF THE WORLD

Société Générale has advised clients to be ready for a possible "global economic collapse" over the next two years, mapping a strategy of defensive investments to avoid wealth destruction.

 

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Published: 6:12PM GMT 18 Nov 2009

Explosion of debt: Japan's public debt could reach as much as 270pc of GDP in the next two years. A bullet train is pictured speeding past Mount Fuji in Fuji city, west of Tokyo Photo: Reuters

In a report entitled "Worst-case debt scenario", the bank's asset team said state rescue packages over the last year have merely transferred private liabilities onto sagging sovereign shoulders, creating a fresh set of problems.
Overall debt is still far too high in almost all rich economies as a share of GDP (350pc in the US), whether public or private. It must be reduced by the hard slog of "deleveraging", for years.

 

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• 'Debt levels risk another crisis'

"As yet, nobody can say with any certainty whether we have in fact escaped the prospect of a global economic collapse," said the 68-page report, headed by asset chief Daniel Fermon. It is an exploration of the dangers, not a forecast.
Under the French bank's "Bear Case" scenario, the dollar would slide further and global equities would retest the March lows. Property prices would tumble again. Oil would fall back to $50 in 2010.
Governments have already shot their fiscal bolts. Even without fresh spending, public debt would explode within two years to 105pc of GDP in the UK, 125pc in the US and the eurozone, and 270pc in Japan. Worldwide state debt would reach $45 trillion, up two-and-a-half times in a decade.
(UK figures look low because debt started from a low base. Mr Ferman said the UK would converge with Europe at 130pc of GDP by 2015 under the bear case).
The underlying debt burden is greater than it was after the Second World War, when nominal levels looked similar. Ageing populations will make it harder to erode debt through growth. "High public debt looks entirely unsustainable in the long run. We have almost reached a point of no return for government debt," it said.
Inflating debt away might be seen by some governments as a lesser of evils.
If so, gold would go "up, and up, and up" as the only safe haven from fiat paper money. Private debt is also crippling. Even if the US savings rate stabilises at 7pc, and all of it is used to pay down debt, it will still take nine years for households to reduce debt/income ratios to the safe levels of the 1980s.
The bank said the current crisis displays "compelling similarities" with Japan during its Lost Decade (or two), with a big difference: Japan was able to stay afloat by exporting into a robust global economy and by letting the yen fall. It is not possible for half the world to pursue this strategy at the same time.
SocGen advises bears to sell the dollar and to "short" cyclical equities such as technology, auto, and travel to avoid being caught in the "inherent deflationary spiral". Emerging markets would not be spared. Paradoxically, they are more leveraged to the US growth than Wall Street itself. Farm commodities would hold up well, led by sugar.
Mr Fermon said junk bonds would lose 31pc of their value in 2010 alone. However, sovereign bonds would "generate turbo-charged returns" mimicking the secular slide in yields seen in Japan as the slump ground on. At one point Japan's 10-year yield dropped to 0.40pc. The Fed would hold down yields by purchasing more bonds. The European Central Bank would do less, for political reasons.
SocGen's case for buying sovereign bonds is controversial. A number of funds doubt whether the Japan scenario will be repeated, not least because Tokyo itself may be on the cusp of a debt compound crisis.
Mr Fermon said his report had electrified clients on both sides of the Atlantic. "Everybody wants to know what the impact will be. A lot of hedge funds and bankers are worried," he said.