What does a Trillion Dollars Look Like?

I don't believe that is correct, Sir. In 1929 the GDP stood at 103.6 billion dollars ; if adjusted to 2007 dollars, it would be about 867 billion.

This GDP number was also matched to 100% of all American spending/debt (combined private and government), that was the last time the two matched before the Great Depression took over in the last quarter of 1929 when debt ended up higher than the level of GDP. We all know how well that turned out.

There have been only two years when Americans' debt becomes 100 percent of GDP -- 1929 and 2007. In the words of Columbia professor David Beim:

"The problem is us. The problem is not the banks, greedy though they may be, overpaid though they may be. The problem is us... We've been living very high on the hog. Our living standard has been rising dramatically in the last 25 years. And we have been borrowing much of the money to make that prosperity happen."
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In America things are bad but not Depression bad, yet. It is 1974 all over again, not 1929. That was also a terrible year for stocks, and guess what else? Remember that a failing Chrysler Corp. bailout was the "topic of the day". GM and Ford barely survived their Vega and Pinto debacles. 1974 was also a really bad period for real estate after about ten years of boom, that time it took five years for prices to recover, but that was largely thanks to inflation firing up in 1975, not to real value of homes and such.

The 1929 troubles followed nine straight years of Republican Congress and Administration, the 2007 "match-up" with debt to GDP, follows 12 straight years of a Republican Congress and six of this past Republican Administration. This time it appears that the financial institutions, of all stripes managed to finagle a way to leverage their worth by about 33 times their true value. That means for every $33 they claimed in worth, they actually had $1 in assets. This isn’t a good idea it seems.

Just my take on things here, don't jump me for reading the data that way.

 

I found the source of this article on the Canadian economy as interesting - as it was potentially relieving from a Canadian viewpoint!

PM optimistic about Canada's economic strengths - People's Daily Online

 

That is good to hear, or read rather. I hope this other little snag gets worked out soon. For the people who have jobs with Chrysler of Canada;

Chrysler threatens to pull out of Canada if it doesn't get labor concessions, government aid -- Newsday.com