I'm Good for the Money

Fictitious Case Study. Facts:
1. My name is James Smith.
2. My yearly income is about $14,600 a year.
3. I owe $13,500 in debt.
4. This basically means that I owe about 92% of every paycheck.
5. I use new credit sources to pay down old debt.
6. I have no reason to expect a strong increase in my income anytime soon.
7. Thinking the market had bottomed out, I invested heavily in real estate, and risky stocks.
8. A few of these risky stocks are going down in flames - so I invested more borrowed money to prop them up.
9. I expect my kids to tighten their belts and deal with the negative consequences of my reckless spending habits.
10. I expect this, despite knowing that the outlook is bleaker than 40 years prior.
11. I don't know why, but I still get about 5 credit card offers sent to me in the mail everyday - I just keep filling them out.

Factual case study. Facts:
1. My name is the United States of America.
2. My national "income" (Gross Domestic Product or GDP) is about $14.6 trillion a year.
3. I owe $13.5 TRILLION in debt (let me say that differently: I owe $13,500,000,000,000.00).
4. This basically means that I owe 92% of ALL transactions made in the US in a year (GDP).
5. I use new credit sources to pay down old debt.
6. I have no reason to expect receiving a strong increase in my GDP anytime soon.
7. To stem another potential depression, I invested in real estate (Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae), and risky stocks (GM, Chrysler, AIG, Citigroup, etc.).
8. A few of these risky stocks are going down in flames (AIG) - so I invested more borrowed money to prop them up.
9. I expect future generations to tighten their belts and deal with the negative consequences of my reckless spending habits.
10. I expect this, despite knowing that the outlook is bleaker than 40 years prior.
11. I don't know why, but when people get scared of losing money in bad investments - they always invest in treasury bonds (basically extending my credit limit).

Sounds like a safe bet to me...

US Debt Clock