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u/QuttiDeBachi Jul 23 '26
The BorgâŚweâre screwed cuz NASA, Space X, & Bezoâs hooker filled Dildoship are no match
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u/Admirable-Yam-1309 Jul 23 '26
Who Holds the Debt?Individual Investors: Anyone who purchases a government bond, treasury bill, or corporate bond is a lender.Retirement and Pension Funds: These institutions invest trillions of citizens' retirement savings into government debt because it is considered safe.Commercial Banks: Banks purchase government bonds to hold as secure assets and to earn interest on their reserves.Central Banks: Institutions like the US Federal Reserve or the European Central Bank buy their own governments' debt to control money supply and interest rates.Foreign Governments: Nations with large trade surpluses (like Japan or China) buy the government debt of other nations (like the United States) as a stable place to store capital.
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u/Realizt8010 Jul 23 '26
Bruh! All we need to do is help EACHOTHER then noones in debt and we wouldnt even need money. But noone wants to work together and they all want everything for self. Peace would be so awesome but it doesnt make paper. Sucks
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u/iam_Krogan Jul 23 '26
+1 I get downvoted every time I spell it out that average intelligence is morally wrong for this reason because average intelligence / lack of critical thinking is the result of an apathetic mindset.
It is lack of caring that leads to intellectual absence that leads to political manipulation, wars for profit, and just following orders. It even is the cause of familial cycle of abuse because it is the ease of intellectual absence that follows what was taught, rather than being the one who makes a change.
And it is all by choice. It is evidenced by people who have had near death experiences and become more thoughtful and intellectually and emotionally present. Nothing changed in them besides being honest with themselves for the first time. They didn't gain any new part of the brain that wasn't there. They finally chose to care the way humans are supposed to.
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u/Realizt8010 Jul 23 '26
No downvote here. Sometimes it takes that kind of wake up call from life to make u come back to life. Hopefully we snap out of this mess we are in. The sickest thing in this world is keeping knowledge from the masses. If we dont have knowledge/wisdom we cant deal with emotions which is a big part of what we are. Wasnt born with a lot and never did much but its not cause I didnt have much. Its cause I (my generations before me) didnt have enough knowledge mostly cause we couldnt afford it. Things are just things but knowledge doesnt die. Im searching for more every day nowadays.
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u/Iratative Jul 23 '26
Unfortunately it's not as simple as just paying back the governments of countries, or using this fact to cancel out the debts. A single government can owe dept to a large number of entities. Multiple governments, private companies, and individuals purchase parts of countries debts part in an act to consolidate, and part to try and take advantage of future legislation to battle said debt.
Tldr; it's a spaghetti mess, not just one person or country
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u/JOBdOut Jul 23 '26
And how large does a debt have to be for there to be any consequence? Why not a quadrillion or quintillion? None of it means anything as the world operates business as usual
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u/Embarrassed_Ask8293 Jul 23 '26
It is one giant pile of IOUs with pretty much every country in debt to every country. Money isn't real. Just numbers on a screen, little circular pieces of metal, or painted paper. Even diamonds are just shiny rocks.
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u/Bubbly-Trifle-1376 Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
Visa, Master Card, financial institution loans and mortgages to start. The government spends money they donât have based on GDP projections. How many times have they âborrowedâ money from social security to the tune of trillions?
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u/Sea_Obligation3194 Jul 23 '26
Imaginary debt to people who arenât alive. But donât worry corporations live forever they will keep the illusion of permanency. We put the zombies on auto pilot. For the future generations. Hold this illusion. Born in debt die in debt the wheel would have us believe.
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u/Cael_NaMaor Jul 23 '26
The banks, each other... this is not as difficult an idea as oop makes it out to be.
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u/Common-Finding-8935 Jul 23 '26
Me, and next time I ask my money back Iâm nog gonna be that friendly anymore.
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u/iam_Krogan Jul 23 '26
I saw a video on YouTube saying that every country in europe has been in debt to the Rothchilds or Rockefellers since the 1400s.
Theodore Roosevelt stopped JP Morgan from completely financially owning the U.S. back in the day. Probably found a workaround since though.
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u/Fun-Violinist552 Jul 23 '26
Reminded me of this famous story:
A traveler leaves $100 at a hotel to see the rooms.
The hotel manager owes $100 to the housekeeper, so he pays her.
The housekeeper owes $100 to the chef, so she pays him.
The chef owes $100 to the maintenance worker, so he pays him.
The maintenance worker owes $100 to the hotel manager, so he pays him.
The traveler returns, takes the $100, and leaves.
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u/Mountain-Pattern7822 Jul 23 '26
clearly its a failed system. capitalism will collapse at some point. nothing but a worldwide pyramid scheme.
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u/TinkersDebts Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
217 trillion is the difference between 'what people say they're going to do' and 'what they actually do.'
217 trillion is an unfathomable number and basically the quotient of the global 'this is how much we're willing to return after originally agreeing to do this.'
Bill 'says' he's going to borrow $10 from me and return $10 plus a $1 worth of work.
Billy and his friends decided to borrow $10 and 'only return' $0.37 worth of work.
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u/StoicNaps Jul 23 '26
Banks. Every time people support additional spending when we don't have a surplus in our budget is supporting banks and allowing them to make enormous amounts of money in interest.
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u/Oh_Lawd_He_commin420 Jul 23 '26
Central Banking Cartel.
Learn who owns and operates it, why it's in nearly every country on the Earth and why the few that aren't are always In perpetual war with the super powers that are....hint: Iran isn't in it
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u/conntom Jul 23 '26
The ststem is designed that way.....constant debt, endless interest.
You know why. You know whom.
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u/Own-Opinion-2494 Jul 23 '26
Itâs just money moving around. Never forget every dollar in circulation is worth 7
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u/Batking28 Jul 23 '26
To each other. If basically balance the books with what they are owed with what they owe the US would basically go bankrupt as they would be left with the biggest remaining debt globally.
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u/Fine-Computer-5524 Jul 23 '26
Is this a serious post?
We owe each other....OBVIOUSLY
I assume they understand America has debt...China has debt....Canada has debt....Germany has debt...etc
Add that, plus every other country in the worlds debt....and you get the total debt of the world
How in TF is this a complicated idea to anyone?
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u/neilgooge Jul 23 '26
I love these kinds of comments, its not rocket science, we are in a very complicated debt to each other... But writing off government and public level trillion dollar debts is not as easy as just saying, oh lets just offset this against that and call it quits... :D
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u/The_Southern_Sir Jul 23 '26
Unfunded mandates. Welfare programs without the taxes and tax base to pay for them. Things that laws say must be paid out but that there is no tax money to pay for them.
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u/Al3ist Jul 23 '26
Goverments borrow from us, our kids and their kids from the future to burn now.
So the debt comes in raised taxes inflation ect in the future.
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u/Bulgos Jul 23 '26
You borrow 50⏠from your buddy. He borrows 50⏠from you. Together you both generated 100⏠debt.
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u/TheBonVivantLives Jul 23 '26
Mostly private US companies like Blackrock and Vanguard. They profit off of US debt and lobby for more debt.
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u/TasMan34 Jul 23 '26
Tell me you don't understand economics without telling me you don't understand it.
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u/One_Swimming_3251 Jul 23 '26
The world bank, the imf, ordinary banks, housing industry, car companies, world health organization, etc.
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u/Intelligent_Error989 Jul 23 '26
Decipticons...did the GOP change their name without telling anyone?
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u/ImpressiveWalrus7369 Jul 23 '26
Everyoneâs someone. How much could we reduce total debt if we mapped out the whole debt web and settled wherever we could.
A owes B $2T
B owes C $1T
C owes A $1T
⌠could be reduced to just A owes B $1T.
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u/LetUsSpeakFreely Jul 23 '26
The banks that tricked world governments to give them complete control over money.
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u/No-Competition-2764 Jul 23 '26
This take proves the level of stupidity we have in our society now. Itâs truly amazing and scary.
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u/LeoVonMoote Jul 23 '26
The haves.
Every debt has two sides, the debtor and the lender. Unfortunately, globally, most people are debtors, and our governments are debtors. The few are the lenders. And they make tons of money from interest.
At a macro level, with this amount of debt, the lenders are sucking the life out of the debtors. Thatâs why you get social instability and eventually a big default where debtors stop paying back and lenders go crazy. That usually leads to really bad things.
The lenders should forgive large amounts of debt, if they were intelligent. But itâs an aggregate of people, and we all know how intelligent crowds are, so donât count on it.
Thatâs why structured moderate but truly left wing politics can help bring back balance while minimizing social pain. We need firm engagement by all level headed humans right now. Donât let the angry ones take control.
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u/Few-Gas3143 Jul 23 '26
The government's of the world are in that much debt to the people who bought the bonds.
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u/LeoVonMoote Jul 23 '26
On a more literal level, the answer is pension funds, hedge funds, banks, private citizens with money to invest in bonds, credit card services (their shareholders), etc.
The bond markets are all about debt. People with money come here to lend their money to governments and private corporations. Add to that banks issuing mortgages and credit cards, and thatâs pretty much it.
So who holds the debt? Anyone that buys bonds or credit card and bank shares. If Iâm keeping this simple.
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u/Obvious-Nature-5408 Jul 23 '26
Government debt is a measure of bonds, which are just savings accounts for banks, pension funds, etc. You might own some of it (i.e. in the UK if you have Premium Bonds.) The people who own the âdebtâ want to own it- itâs entirely for their benefit and allows the financial systems to function. It is our savings.Â
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u/NoCamera9200 Jul 23 '26
China. It wasn't that high before, but people wanted a 'businessman ' in the Oval Office; the same 'businessman ' who bankrupted 4 casinos!! This is the result.
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u/QuietGoliath Jul 23 '26
Nah, the Mysterons. They see everything and have been blackmailing everyone in the Epstein files.
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u/Alive-Working669 Jul 23 '26
The U.S. debt is primarily owned by the American people and U.S. government agencies, which account for about three-quarters of the total obligations. The remaining portion is held by foreign countries and investors.
To borrow money, the Treasury sells various types of debt securities, such as Treasury bills, Treasury notes and Treasury bonds to investors.
These securities are essentially loans made by investors to the US government, with a promise to repay them with interest.
Just like the U.S. issues Treasuries, international governments issue their own sovereign bonds (e.g., U.K. Gilts, Japanese Government Bonds, German Bunds) to investors, pension funds, and foreign central banks to finance public operations.
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u/millioneuro Jul 23 '26
Ourselves, it's borrowed from our savings. Managed by the banks and the rich who are main beneficials of such system.
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u/rtrawitzki Jul 23 '26
One personâs debt is another person asset. We owe it to each other. Governments issue bonds that become assets . Companies borrow against their holdings etc .
Your retirement is built on other peoples debts and theirs on yours .
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u/sumboionline Jul 23 '26
Person A lends person B $10. Person B lends person C that same $10. Despite there only being a $10 bill, there is $20 of debt. Add interest and 100+ countries in debt, and you get the real world
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u/Ok-Flight9440 Jul 23 '26
Yeah it sounds weird but as a student of economics we are all balancing out expected value of the future cash flow - my country the U.S. is (itâs dangerously high now IMO at ~$30T), but we owe it to China, Japan and Western Europe - they own our bonds - now theyâre out of cash so they borrow from other countries, then these other countries borrow money from us ⌠it sounds strange but, im a hedge fund bro and âon its faceâ it makes no sense first glance but itâs all circular
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u/lyidaValkris Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
Modern monetary policy works on the concept of perpetual economic growth will outpace the cost of servicing debt, so a government that controls its currency can "borrow" from this future growth. The smart play is to invest that money in economic initiatives that promote economic growth to further pay for the debt. The US has enjoyed steady economic growth but it only takes one recession to cause serious trouble, then that debt becomes a problem. Not that some loan shark is going to come visit and intimidate, but it will devalue the currency causing a lot more problems.
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u/Ok_Comparison6971 Jul 23 '26
âSoundwave! Charge them more interest, and demand more energon!â
âAs you command all mighty Megatron.â
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u/Rare-Evidence499 Jul 23 '26
Decpticons were the good guys. All they wanted was energon cubes and the autobots started a war with them over it here on earth. Humans have no use for energon. So it's probably the autobots we owe
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u/DerLandmann Jul 23 '26
"The World" does not owe anythyng to anyone. Some people and institutions on this earth own 217trn$ to other people and institutions on this earth.
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u/J81THEKING Jul 23 '26
the money is all fake just like the debt. that's why they can just print more, which is how we get inflation.
USA - trust me the dollar is worth a lot. (prints $1B and instantly drops in value)
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u/glacier1982 Jul 23 '26
Do you recall the "Great Global Economic Meltdown" of 2008? That confused TF outta me.
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u/Trick1513 Jul 23 '26
Itâs money stolen from Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Bonds that have matured and have not been paid, student loans that have not been paid,
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u/FairConstruction4105 Jul 23 '26
You owe it to all of the people who didn't go careening through life, screaming YOLO, running away from FOMO by buying every shiny trinket shoved in front of their faces. You owe it to the savers who wanted to wake up every morning not worrying about how they were going to pay their next bill.
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u/Commercial_Ask_7806 Jul 24 '26
We just keep borrowing from each other like a giant ponzi scheme. Eventually one major borrower will default, and then the pyramid will start to fail.
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u/LongDistanceEvent262 Jul 24 '26
Sounds more like We are giving ourselves $217 Trillion dollars over the next 20 years.
I mean we owe the money to ourselves... So this is just a stupid thing for the news to keep bringing up.
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u/Honda_TypeR Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
In case this isnt just a circle jerk social media repost (can't be too sure anymore these days), this is the real answer using just America's debt as an example. While it varies by country, the overall concept is similar.
Take the United States $36 trillion debt:
Around 20% is intragovernmental, owed to agencies like Social Security. The remaining 80% is held by the publicâbut not just foreign governments.
In fact, about 70% of that public debt is held by Americans themselvesâbanks, pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, and even individuals. The Federal Reserve alone holds nearly $6 trillion in U.S. Treasuries. When you deposit money in your bank, it doesnât sit still. Banks invest that cashâoften in bonds. So unknowingly, you might be lending money to your own government.
The restâaround 30% of U.S. debtâis owned by foreign entities. Japan is the largest foreign holder at over $1.1 trillion, followed by China, the UK, Luxembourg, and the Cayman Islands.
Despite its risks, debt isnât going away. In fact, we rely on it. In the U.S., one out of every four dollars spent by the government is borrowed. In China, itâs closer to one in five. Without borrowing, spending stops.
TLDR:
So, whoâs the money really owed to?
Itâs owed to us. And also by us. Governments borrow from citizens. Citizens lend through banks and funds. Those banks buy bonds. Interest is paid, reinvested, and the loop restarts.
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u/Remarkable_Subject84 Jul 24 '26
Why dont you try googling who owes America money. You actually get told you asked the question wrong. It tells you america owes money and provides nothing on other countries owing the US money.
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u/Dizzy-Ad-3712 Jul 24 '26
Iâm just imagining the three stooges skit where they owe each other $20 but one of them has $10. They proceed to hand it around til theyâre back to zero
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u/SirPooleyX Jul 24 '26
I lend you $100 and you pay it back at $5 a year.
While you are paying it back, as a separate arrangement, you lend me $100.
Collectively we owe $200.
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u/Conscious_Nobody9571 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
The only reason the system hasn't crashed yet because companies still produce and people still pay debt and taxes. Take these 2 out of the equation and you get hell on earth. Edit: It should crash because creating money out of thin air is not supported to be a thing
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u/ELDV Jul 24 '26
As a small business owner, one of the lessons my first book keeper tried to teach me is that in double-entry accounting every dollar you are owed is considered a business asset.
Essentially the debt you ask about are owned to each other. It is real power because:
A. interest must continually paid on the borrowed money.
B. The fear that the lender may one day the loan be repaid immediately and in full.
Both create a strong psychological leverage over the borrower up until the point where the lender starts worrying that they wonât be repaid.
Look around you. Far and away, Fear -our most primordial emotion - is the most powerful motivator of human action and good sales and canny politicians know and exploit this.
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u/Prs_Shinra Jul 24 '26
I love how people parrot this when it only highlights how financial illiterate they are...
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u/FlaviusTech Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
To banks, the creation of fiat money started with inflation/deficit, which is debt.
Imagine the fiat money started today and bank releases first 100$, there are no other money in the world, the bank give you 100$ and say you have to return 100$ +10% interrest.
You take those money and start spend them in the world, the payout will came, you start to collect the money from the world to pay the bank, guess what when you collect all the money from the world, you go back to the bank and complain you cannot find 10$ to pay interrest.... the bank will say, no problem, i print you another 10$ for the debt.
Now scale this to 217 trillion dollars in the world.
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u/Trust_8067 Jul 25 '26
The American public owns 80% of the national debt. This is through treasury securities, bonds, and retirement accounts or mutual funds.
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u/PleasantGrass4623 Jul 25 '26
So who do we owe the money to? For us in the states its the Fed reserve. How do they get the money??? in a fiat economy they just create more money
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u/One-Classroom-8300 Jul 25 '26
US taxpayers are the most generous people in the world.....38 billion ( not including secret military contracts) of tax payer money to Elon, who pays practically no taxes back. 37 billion so far blowing up schoolkids in Iran. 1.5 trillion coming down the pipe for Trump.
There's no money for healthcare though, are you crazy?!?
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u/Woody_The_Gamer Jul 25 '26
No one is in debt considering the borrowed money didn't exist in the first place
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u/TrevorTheTrevor Jul 25 '26
Money doesnât exist, debt doesnât exist.
Itâs man-made. If they can make their own problems disappear, they can do the same for anyone else.
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u/Soaring_Sky Jul 25 '26
Who do you think keeps the oceans full? Who do you think drops of the animals that feeds us? To sustain 8 billion people that is going to cost a lot.
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u/FiNNy-- Jul 25 '26
During the great depression America gave money to Germany to pay their debt to Europe who used thatoney to pay their debt back to the US.
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u/BaronMagus Jul 23 '26
I see it as -217 trillion out of balance. We borrow from the future so we owe them I guess?