Sunday, October 05, 2003

A Few Financial Matters to Discuss

The current outstanding public debt down to the penny is:

$6,805,599,570,918.78

  • Debt Down to the Penny


  • In recent years, Asia has become the most noticeable buyer of Treasury debt. Japan is the largest holder of Treasury securities, owning some $442 billion at the end of June, followed by the UK with $123 billion and China with $122 billion.

    China, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong owned a combined total of about $696 billion in Treasuries at the end of June, up from $512 billion in December 2001, according to data from the US Treasury.

    According to Lehman Brothers, the Asian region now accounts for some 39% of international purchases of US bonds, nearing the 43% owned by Europe.

    The US government continues to print, borrow, and tax the American people into an early grave.

    The Congressional Budget Office forecasts a federal budget deficit of $401 billion in 2003 and $480 billion in 2004. The CBO forecasts a cumulative budget deficit of $1.4 trillion over the next decade.

    The White House projects that the federal budget deficit will exceed the CBO number and grow to $455 billion this year.

    Some of this money is being thrown around the world with disastrous repurcussions.

    The war on Iraq has cost approx. $40 billion so far. This figure does not include the recent request by the White house for an additional sum of $87 billion.

    Israel receives approx. $2.1 billion from the U.S. per year in military aid which is mostly used to purchase U.S.-made weapons. Israel also pockets $600 million per year in economic support.

    Egypt, gets $1.3 billion annually in military aid and about $615 million for social programs.

    The United States provided a $600 million disbursement to Pakistan for economic support in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. The United States also arranged for the World Bank and the IMF to forgive about $1 billion in loans to Pakistan.

    Colombia gets around $540 million per year to fund the drug war and crack down on local terrorist groups.

    Afghanistan has already received almost $450 million in humanitarian and reconstruction aid and will also get $140 million in economic and military assistance.

    Jordan will get about $250 million in economic support and $198 million in military financing in 2003.

    Russia, Ukraine, and Peru will each receive about $200 million in economic and military aid in fiscal year 2003.

    Indonesia and the Philippines will each receive more than $50 million in funding to combat terrorism.

    Uzbekistan will get $43 million.

    Turkey will receive $17.5 million in military aid.

    Yemen will receive $10 million in U.S. economic support as well as a new $2-million grant for training and equipment to stop infiltration by terrorist groups.

    Kyrgyzstan will get $4 million.

    And the dollar continues to lose value...