Jim Rogers Interview: U.S. National Debt Doubles Overnight

Jim Rogers was the topic of discussion following a recent interview at a wealth-management conference in Vancouver, B.C. when he stated that the U.S. national debt, which comes out to about $5 trillion held by the public, has essentially doubled due to credit crisis bailouts.

So much for free market economics.

Rogers goes on to say that interest rates will be forced to climb. Foreign investors will not buy American debt if there are no incentives to do so.  And Americans are clueless as to how bad things are going to get down the road.

Every time there is a problem, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his henchman come to the rescue. They just keep propping everything up and bailing out weakened institutions.

In my estimation, there’s also something to be said about our governing political parties. Now, I’m not here to say that one party is more fiscally responsible than the other. But there has been proof over the past thirty years or so that when a single party has both control of the Presidency and the U.S. Senate, we’ve gone on an incredible spending binge. Here's an interesting chart I stumbled upon:

Rogers came out with some sobering advice for the American public. He referred to the declines in Roman, Spanish and British empires of old, recalling how overreaching and financial blunders were made. Those who raised red flags were ignored – and we’ve all seen how things turned out.

Could the United States be next on the list? It certainly looks to be the case assuming the current collision course is not corrected soon. If your own financial house isn’t in order, perhaps it is time to do so.

Stanley Barnes
Analyst, Charts of the Week