tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post3486102001075170505..comments2023-09-25T04:26:51.568-06:00Comments on The Barefoot Bum: Another way to look at the national debt. More comforting, less scary.Larry Hamelinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-64350950737093163852013-02-13T21:20:30.420-07:002013-02-13T21:20:30.420-07:00Assuming that the distribution of ownership of gov...Assuming that the distribution of ownership of government debt is roughly proportional to the distribution of wealth overall, according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_in_the_United_States#Changes_in_wealth_after_2007" rel="nofollow">Wikipedia</a>, we would expect the top 1% to own about 34% of government debt held by households, with the top 20% holding about 85%. That does not, I think, count government debt held by domestic corporations, which are, of course, predominantly owned and operated by the top 1%. <br /><br />So yeah, the top 1% directly or indirectly literally owns a large proportion of US debt. Whether they can actually collect might be a different issue. Larry Hamelinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08788697573946266404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28755195.post-438052691162187242013-02-13T15:00:31.111-07:002013-02-13T15:00:31.111-07:00I'm confused about the precise mechanism claim...I'm confused about the precise mechanism claimed. In what sense is the national debt a debt owed to the 1%? Do you mean that government bonds are literally owned by the 1%, or that the 1% wields political control over the use of the debt?millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05990852054891771988noreply@blogger.com