We can only do so much, as there are limits. Therefore, we must have priorities (poverty, health...). The following is designed to give a perspective on the relevant numbers.
See Wealth Distribution at the bottom.
Aggregate debt in US: $50.7 trillion
(3.5+ times the annual gross domestic product of the United States; 2009 debt owed by US households, businesses, and governments
Domestic financial assets $131 trillion
Domestic financial liabilities $106 trillion (as of the first quarter of 2010.)
Tangible assets $56.3 trillion.
(in 2008 (such as real estate and equipment) for selected sectors totaled an additional )
Net worth of U.S. households $51.48 trillion (end of 2008)
U.S. consumer Debt:
Mortgages & credit-card debt $13 trillion
(123% of after-tax income. In 1995, for instance, it was 83% of income.)
Pretax median household income $50,233 (2007)
Per capita GDP (PPP) $46,381 (the 6th highest in the world)
Labor force 154.5 million (includes unemployed) (2009 est.)
Ease of doing business - 5th
Exports, Jan 2012 $180.8 billion
Imports, Jan 2012 233.4 billion
Trade balance deficit 52.6 billion (annual rate $631 billion)
Money supply M1 M2
Jan, 2012 $2.23 trillion $9.765 trillion
Feb 2010 1.71 trillion 8.53 trillion
% increase 30% 14%
(More M1 money = more dollars floating around = "printing money" = potential inflation; M2 adds savings accounts, non-IRA, non-pension)
Wealth effect of financial collapse:
Between June 2007 and November 2008, Americans lost an estimated average of more than a quarter of their collective net worth. Since peaking in the second quarter of 2007, household wealth is down $14 trillion. [The Fed also said that at the end of 2008, the debt owed by nonfinancial sectors was $33.5 trillion, including household debt valued at $13.8 trillion.]
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As of 2007, the top 1% of households (the upper class) owned 34.6% of all privately held wealth, and the next 19% (the managerial, professional, and small business stratum) had 50.5%, which means that just 20% of the people owned a remarkable 85%, leaving only 15% of the wealth for the bottom 80% (wage and salary workers). In terms of financial wealth (total net worth minus the value of one's home), the top 1% of households had an even greater share: 42.7%. Table 1 and Figure 1 present further details drawn from the careful work of economist Edward N. Wolff at New York University (2010).
Table 1: Distribution of net worth and financial wealth in the United States, 1983-2007
Total Net Worth
Top 1 percent Next 19 percent Bottom 80 percent
1983 33.8% 47.5% 18.7%
1989 37.4% 46.2% 16.5%
1992 37.2% 46.6% 6.2%
1995 38.5% 45.4% 16.1%
1998 38.1% 45.3% 16.6%
2001 33.4% 51.0% 15.6%
2004 34.3% 50.3% 15.3%
2007 34.6% 50.5% 15.0%
Financial Wealth
Top 1 percent Next 19 percent Bottom 80 percent
1983 42.9% 48.4% 8.7%
1989 46.9% 46.5% 6.6%
1992 5.6% 46.7% 7.7%
1995 47.2% 45.9% 7.0%
1998 47.3% 43.6% 9.1%
2001 39.7% 51.5% 8.7%
2004 42.2% 50.3% 7.5%
2007 42.7% 50.3% 7.0%
