Private Debt – Not Government Debt – Will Destroy America 

Thursday, 14 February 2013 15:15 
By Thom Hartmann, The Daily Take | Op-Ed 

There are two kinds of debt. One that’s relatively harmless. And one that can destroy us all. 

There’s public sector debt – or government debt – which is over $16 trillion. This is the sort of debt that politicians scream and holler about when they demand austerity.

And then there’s private sector debt – the debt owned by you and me and millions of Americans across the nation in the form of credit cards, home and auto loans, along with America's corporate debt. This sort of debt doesn’t seem to bother politicians at all, even though total private sector debt is $38 trillion, more than double government debt.