Interesting Debt Thingy.

[Mr Speirs]

So with all the Eurozone crisis and global economic meltdown the BBC decided to make an easy* to understand table of who owes what to who.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15748696

Was interesting to see that apart from Ireland the UK has the highest foreign debt per person than anyone else.

Also good note is how much we owe America....and then how much America owes us.

How little Germany owes anybody.

And also how little the 'in trouble' countries in the eurozone actually owe compared to the ones 'propping' up these troubled countries.

*easy in that it gives a basic figure rather than the interest rates each country are paying. Makes a big difference when people ask why don't they just write off the difference between two countries oweing eachother.

[maviczap]

Guess that's what having a good manufacturing base does for you in Germany's case?

It is a fascinating little wheel. My main thought was that it shows that none of it is real money. If it was, then it WOULD be as easy as saying "we owe you 1.2 billion but you owe us 2.1 billion so we'll just call it 0.9 billion you owe us then." How do we end up in a situation where country A can lend to country B at a different interest rate from the debt in the other direction? It's crazy.

[Mr Speirs]

It would be nice if each country looked at it rationally and said yeah we owe the difference...however as you said it's not real money and also any country that did that would automatically devalue their own country by the amount written off which would affect market values and their economies.

If only it was as simple as Mr USA and Mr UK working out the difference owed etc.

Is interesting though how much our debt exceeds our GDP and how much more money we owe per head compared to the 'failing countries'.

[G]

It's like monopoly, some will always go bust and loose.

and Im glad I work for a German company in Germany, they make everything you can think of, and they do it better than anyone else.

[Red ones]

How much can Germany place on a manufacturing industry, and how much on having to make WWI reparations which was only finally settled in October 2010?

[G]

The debt I'd probably only from reparations. Germany have so much manufacturing wealth it's mental. BMW, mercedes, Porsche, Lamborghini, skoda, volkwagon in the motor industry alone.

You can't compare debt like for like. Somebody who's just been made sacked with a £100,000 mortgage and is virtually unemployable is an issue. Somebody who has a secure job earning £100 grand a year with a £300,000 mortgage is not.

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by G

The debt I'd probably only from reparations. Germany have so much manufacturing wealth it's mental. BMW, mercedes, Porsche, Lamborghini, skoda, volkwagon in the motor industry alone.

Plus they still build, repair & own ships. Unlike our once great ship owning companies like P&O which was sold off after the shareholders who opted to take their money rather than invest it in more ships.

A lot of this countries wealth was made out of shipping, but now we just manage ships with foreign flags.

This is just one example, we sold out to overseas companies in many areas, who take the profits but don't necessarily invest it back in Britain.

Cadburys, Tate & Lyle, British Steel all foreign owned now