Our debt

Household mortgage debt (2nd quarter 2008): $10.64 trillion
Total credit card debt (Sept. 2008): $2.59 trillion

Source: Federal Reserve System

"Americans are at the bottom of the developed world in how much we save."
--Ronald Wilcox on American debt

Explore listener stories about mortgages, credit cards, student loans, losing a job, changing one's lifestyle, the bailout, and who's to blame.

"I don't think we're close to a bottom now."
-- Dr. Richard K. Green on the housing market

China now owns more U.S. public debt than any other nation — about one out of every 10 debt dollars — a reflection of its growing global economic influence. Blame wars, bailouts and stimulus plans — all big-ticket and unbudgeted expenses. With China buying our debt, it is, in effect, boosting the U.S. dollar relative to the yuan, making imports cheaper (and more attractive). The United States has imported five times as much as it has exported to China this year.

Top owners of U.S. public debt (as of Sept. 2008):
China $585 billion
Japan $573 billion
United Kingdom $338.4 billion
Caribbean Banking Centers* $185.3 billion
Oil-Exporting Nations** $182.2 billion
Brazil $141.9 billion

* Includes Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Netherlands Antilles, Panama, British Virgin Islands
** Includes Ecuador, Venezuela, Indonesia, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Gabon, Libya, Nigeria

Financial educator and author Alvin Hall took your questions on personal finance and debt on Friday, November 21, 2008.