If all the nations in the world are in debt, where did all the money go?
139854
These other answers are wrong. A nation's debt is the accumulation of each year's deficit or surplus. It is money owed by the nation's government, not all its people. The national debt is owed by the nation to its people, its banks, other governments, people in other countries, etc. Thinks of government bonds. When you invest in a government bond you give money to the government in return for the government's promise to pay you back even more money later. So that is an example of the government being in debt to you.
720906
Technically, no one. The United states isnt borrowing money from these people.\n\nWhen the govt began having deficits, they started selling treasury bonds and other countries bought them. When you purchase a treasury bond, you are actually investing in the American Dollar. \n\nOther countries and organizations are investing in the United states dollar. Not really a loan. \n\nHOWEVER< There is a good feasable solution, that WOULD work IF the American public actually wanted its govt to stay alive. BUY TREASURY BONDS!!!!!
551128
Money, money, money...Where is it going? Where is it coming from? Do I have enough? Do I owe anyone? Does anyone owe me?\n\nUGH.
764003
this is the first time we were trillions in debt, the whole reasons why WAR bonds were sold was to pay for the debt of the war, Back then it just was not thinkable to go into debt, now the Country goes into debt, The Average family of 4 owes about $120,000 to pay back for the war debt and tax cuts debts, (Its called the National Deficit) that out children will have to pay, but unfortunately its a proven fact, the more the country is is debt, the less REAL economic growth there is, what little there is is called (false growth). It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out if a family of 4 has to borrow 120,000 for NOTHING, in other words has NOTHING to show for it, they really are not in goods financial health, could you imaging getting hit with that type of loan, interest growing daily that you will NEED to pay back before you can start saving and be financially sound again?, Many people agree thats why the Country prospered while Clinton was in office because were were gaining a surplus, slowly getting into the black and were spending less then we were taking in.
481618
There is the debt the national government owes. Then there is the debt the population and corporations owe. Then there is the debt that states and localities owe. Which did you mean, or did you mean all?\n\nU S government $8+ trillion.  Does not include unfunded obligations such as social security and medicare. \n\nConsumer debt is over $10 trillion.\n\nCorporate debt is probably around another $10 trillion. GM alone owes 285 billion and that does not include unfunded pension and health care liabilities.\n\nStates and local governments probably $30 billion. Every town, school district, airport, library, college owes millions. \n\nHope I didn't ruin your week.
399743
Money makes the world go round, unfortunately greed comes with that.  We are the greediest country in the world.  It sucks, because there is so much to marvel at when you look at this country but also so much to mock.
682265
And create an insane amount of inflation.  The amount of money doesn't keep the value of the dollar Static, it would devalue the dollar.  We might as well become a third world country at that point
240599
One thing to keep in mind is that anytime money is spent on war it is usually in the form of debt.  Wars are paid for by borrowing money, or by raising taxes.  Neither one of these is desirable.  Eventually someone has to pay for the war.  Just because we spend the money on war does not necessarily mean that that same money would have gone to the poor or other social programs.\n\nGeneral MacArthur summed it up by saying:  "The powers in charge keep us in a perpetual state of fear, keep us in a continuous stampede of patriotic fervor with the cry of grave national emergency. Always there has been some terrible evil to gobble us up if we did not blindly rally behind it by furnishing the exorbitant sums demanded. Yet, in retrospect, these disasters seem never to have happened, seem never to have been quite real.”\n\nActually, the US gives more than just financial donations.  It provides military presence.  It provides the ability to trade through free trade agreements.  It provides benchmarks for other countries to follow the lead.\n\nThe US does give the highest dollar amount than any other country in the world.\n\nSee the supporting source for an in depth report on how the US aids other countries relative to the rest of the world.
1058034
It might be current account deficit or a similar term.  There's an article below that dicusses money flows in and out of a country.
945525
When  you include everything, all our debt, the number is over 50 trillion.  " A billion here and a billion there, soon you are talking about real money."  It is all a colossal shell game perpetrated on the public.  Social Security was supposed to be a fund that contributions went in to, and benefits were to be taken from the interest.  If left alone, there would be more than enough money now to draw from.  Instead, Congress adopted another criminal  practice and started, in the sixties, dumping that money in the general fund to be spent every year on their pet projects, like Vietnam.  Today is  the same with Iraq.  I imagine they call it creative bookkeeping 101.
261576
None. Some, I think, are doing better than other...\nI would say Sweden, Norway, maybe Denmark and Iceland (they really give a lot of money per inhabitant to the rest of the world).\nBut even this attitude is selfish!
713294
Here's the real problem:  What if our foreign creditors (Japan, China, the Arabs) dumped all their holdings in US debt issues?  Our economy would collapse!  Last year the Finance Minister of South Korea mused that it might not be a good investment (US Debt) and the dollar and the Dow both dropped that day.  Korea doesn't own as much as China.  Imagine what would happen if China actually did it.   Paying off the national debt is a matter of national security.
1009924
I think you mean Angola, because UNITA was using the diamonds and the government was using oil to fund the civil war. Now that it is over, though, it seems no one has any money now, it is all just being syphoned out of the country.
356771
Currently the US is borrowing from China and Japan.  Saudi Arabia has a fair share as well.  But I think most of the debt is privately held in bonds.\n\nIf you want to dig up a complete list, you might try to look at the federal reserve's website.\n\nhttp://www.federalreserve.gov/\n\nI cant guarantee you will find anything, but there is a very large amount of information there that most people choose to ignore.
597610
I think its China. We borrowed billions for the Iraq war. Though we do also owe a lot to France.
76220
billions and billions of us dollars
675780
Countries pay dues based on an assessment of their wealth.  The United States has the worst track record in terms making its payments.