According to the CIA's Worldbank data, the majority of countries carry huge sums of national debt. And for most countries - although there are exceptions - that debt is constantly rising.
Look at Mexico: In 2000, the country had a $150.3 billion national debt. That's miniscule by U.S. standards, yes, but, like the United States, Mexico's debt is growing. Worldbank estimates that the country's national debt has risen to $189.4 billion in 2010.
And Mexico is far from alone: Poland's national debt has risen from $65.8 billion in 2000 to a much higher $185.2 billion in 2010. Hungary's debt has jumped from $29.5 billion to $134.7 billion during the same time, a rather large bump.
Turkey, too, has seen its national debt soar. The country's debt stood at $117.3 billion in 2000, but is estimated to be at $310.6 billion now. In India, the national debt has risen from $99.1 billion in 2000 to an estimated $204.5 billion in 2010.
Not all countries, though, are adding to their debt. Some have managed to slash their debt over the years. Brazil has seen its national debt fall from $239.2 billion in 2000 to $232.3 billion in 2010. Argentina's national debt has dropped from a mark of $147.5 billion in 2000 to $132.7 billion today.
In all, though, most countries and regions have seen their national debts rise fairly steadily during the last decade. This might give some comfort to the people worried that the United States is growing its debt too quickly. Though to be fair to the critics, there is no country out there growing its debt quite as significantly as is the United States.
According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the U.S. total national debt has increased more than $500 billion each year since fiscal year 2003. This includes sky-high yearly increases of $1 trillion in fiscal year 2008 and $1.9 trillion in fiscal year 2009.
If the United States was a consumer, then, it would have long ago maxed out all of its credit cards.
there is no conspiracy!
Brilliant takeover from the looks of it.