Both the WSJ and the NYT recently have been running stories and charts showing both corporate and personal debt, comparing it to GNP, etc., and as we all know it's higher in every way than ever before, and by a lot. Unlike the US gov, which can print money any time, companies and individuals must pay some time and with something. But the WSJ instanced a 28-year-old lawyer who already owed $100,000, who had obtained a no-down-payment $200,000 mortgage.
The one thing that seems sound is that the dilinquency rate on mortagages is down to a low level. When did this last happen? 1973, I think they said. I guess some credit cards charge less than mortgages, or maybe people borrow on their stocks.
I am a Democrat, and I will therefore not have my feelings hurt if W. gets elected because he will be blamed when everything caves in. I would hate to see that happen to a nice guy like Gore.
One tangential reflection: if Clinton had been a Roman Emperor instead of an American president, my oh my, what would the White House be like? |
