Households in the US owe over $13 trillion in debt. World-wide official debt is at $255 trillion.
Let's imagine that debt were to be eliminated magically by a few mistaken keystrokes. What would happen. Well a lot of rich and middle-class people would lose money. On the other hand, consumers would suddenly have much more to spend. Governments, with no more debt-service could provide much more social service.
But there is another debt that is not so easily addressed. That is the money sunk into autosprawl. The world has many $trillions invested in cars, highways, roads, suburbs, refineries, tankers, military, and much more, to support the system of autos and sprawl. These are hard assets, which depend on oil, and are not easily replaced. This investment was never sustainable, and now it is collapsing.
Let's imagine that debt were to be eliminated magically by a few mistaken keystrokes. What would happen. Well a lot of rich and middle-class people would lose money. On the other hand, consumers would suddenly have much more to spend. Governments, with no more debt-service could provide much more social service.
But there is another debt that is not so easily addressed. That is the money sunk into autosprawl. The world has many $trillions invested in cars, highways, roads, suburbs, refineries, tankers, military, and much more, to support the system of autos and sprawl. These are hard assets, which depend on oil, and are not easily replaced. This investment was never sustainable, and now it is collapsing.
