Response to France vs US per capita debt

mlg,

i am also looking into finding the national debt of france... and having a tough time with it as my french is not as good as it was in high school and college.

some pointers, as this is a area than interests me a lot. i always hear the same excuse, "well western european countries have a much higher debt than the u.s. because they have to pay for all the 'socialist' programs." well is just not true. i live in the netherlands and i did some research into this statement. here is what i found, and some misnomers and things to watch out for.

national debt vs. national deficit: national debt is how much money a country owes and deficit is the amount of money a country is short vs. income in any given YEAR. so the important one to focus is on debt, as this is the total owed.

compared to the u.s. holland has very little crime, affordable health care for everyone, affordable housing for everyone, virtually free education (even post secondary), and comprehensive and cheap public transportation, to name a few things. these are not what i would consider "socialist", these are things every society should do for its people if it can.

so what is the national debt, you ask, of holland - that socialist nation? well, less than the u.s. as a whole number, but more importantly, LESS AS A PERCENTAGE OF GDP! here are the numbers, roughly (conservatively).

u.s. GDP: 10.4 trillion dollars u.s. debt: 7.6 trillion dollars debt as a percentage of GDP: 72%

dutch GDP: 435 billion euros dutch debt: 225 billion euros debt as a perventage of GDP: 52%

thats, as you can see is a big difference. why you ask? priorities. the dutch believe the best way to take care of your people is to take care of your people. the u.s. believes the best way is to let markets take care of your people, and to spend money on corporate tax breaks and the military, not on schools, housing, and healthcare. that is why over 17% of the children in the u.s. are living in poverty. it's disgraceful.

hope this helps and if you find the french GDP and debt, let me know.

lennard

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