The sum of America's liabilities and other financial commitments now exceeds the collective net worth of its citizens, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation has calculated using the latest official data. Growth in the government's unfunded promises for social insurance programs such as Medicare, combined with a drop in Americans' net worth due in part by lower home equity values, is causing this unprecedented milestone.
The Foundation's calculations are based primarily on the new consolidated federal financial statements as of September 30, 2008 which do not reflect the additional toll taken by more recent market declines, bailout packages, and record October and November deficits. The financial statements show approximately $56.4 trillion in debts, liabilities, and unfunded promises for Medicare and Social Security versus the Federal Reserve's estimate a total household net worth of $56.5 trillion, both as of September 30, 2008.
Please note: DocuTicker's editors collect citations for full-text PDF reports freely available on the web but we do not archive these reports. When you click a link to find and/or download the report, you are leaving the DocuTicker site. DocuTicker makes no representations regarding the ongoing availability of any report or any external resource. Links were accurate as of the date of posting.
The FreePint Family is a family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success.
'FreePint... provides most of my professional development because it won't come through work and [other resources] just don't cut it.'
FUMSI Forum: Do you have a research question? Post it to the FUMSI Forum, where professionals share Q&A and useful tips on how to Find, Use, Manage and Share Information. It's free.
Featured Report: DocuTicker Report: DocuTips on Health Literacy: "What has traditionally been understood as literacy has been disrupted, like so much else, by the advent of the Internet. No longer is it regarded as simply the ability to read and write. In the Information Age, information literacy is a concept that recognises skills in judging trustworthiness and quality as critical. Such matters of accurate interpretation have long been among the concerns of scholars."
FreePint Shop:
VIP LiveWire:
