I made a table a few weeks ago, on US debt compared to a select few Latin American countries, to see how well off you really are. This is the complete table, using the information from the
US Treasure website whereas the rest of the information was pulled from the CIA World Factbook.
USA $7,500b/290m = $25,862 (2003 est.)
Argentina $155b/39m = $3,974 (2001 est.)
USA $865b/290m = $2,982 (1995 est.)
Chile $40.4b/16m = $2,525 (2002 est.)
Venezuela $38b/25m = $1,520 (2000 est.)
Mexico $150b/105m = $1,429 (2000 est.)
Brazil $222.4b/190m = $1,170 (2000 est.)
Peru $29b/29m = $1,000 (2003 est.)
Colombia $38.4b/42m = $914 (2003 est.)
Bolivia $5.9b/9m = $655 (2002 est.)
Paraguay $3.2b/6m = $533 (2002 est.)
Canada $1.9b/32m = $59 (2000 est.)
Dividing the result by the GDP per capita you'll get an index that's a bit more accurate, getting these results:
Argentina $3,974/$4.300 = 0.924
USA $25,862/$36.300 = 0.712 (2003)
Venezuela $1,520/$5,400 = 0.281
Bolivia $655/$2,500 = 0.262
Chile $2,525/$10,100 = 0.250
Peru $1,000/$5,000 = 0.200
Mexico $1,429/$8,900 = 0.161
Brazil $1,170/$7,600 = 0.154
Colombia $914/$6,100 = 0.150
Paraguay $533/$4,300 = 0.124
USA $2,982/$36.300 = 0.082 (1995)
Canada $59/$29,300 = 0.002
A few thoughts:
- GDP isn't really the best way of measuring how rich a country is, but it is the total value of producion in a country over the course of a year, and it should, I hope, be sufficient when it comes to loans and the ability to actually repay the debt.
- The US External debt was gotten from another source than the rest of them. For reference to the World Factbook, I've included those statistics as well. Bear in mind that that data was from 1995 as compared to post-2000 for the rest of them.
- Since the data from the US Treasury in 2003 and those from the World Factbook in 1995 differ so massively, it's up to you to interpret the numbers.