Who's that debtor?

If you've been reading my posts, it's no secret to you that I think our mushrooming debt is a major concern. I was interested then, to see this graphic over at the Daily Reckoning blog.

Give up? Alright, I'll give you some help. Two are "emerging economies" in South America, two are European, and one is the United States.

Still don't know? Well (A) is Brazil, (B) is Norway, (C) is Chile, (D) is Spain, and (E) is the good old U-S-of-A. Even Spain, which was a centerpiece of the European debt crisis just months ago (and, like most of Europe, has a highly socialized economy and, ahem, free universal healthcare), seems to be in significantly better financial condition than the United States.

With this as the case, it seems that the United States is sparing no expense to protect its position as a "developed economy", while the emerging global economies are in a much better and more nimble overall condition. Clearly the United States has well-developed institutions that enable that type of government debt to persist (more so than the emerging economies), but how long will those institutions last if we continue to go down this road?

Regardless of your views on American exceptionalism, the recognition that we are more indebted than Spain should be an eye-opener. How that indebtedness plays out over the next decade and century is anyone's guess for now, but it absolutely cannot be ignored.