Ken Fisher's argument that America is "under indebted" and that more debt will be a global phenomenon in the next 10-20 years raised a lot of eyebrows last week - and quite a few catcalls in our comments section.
Fisher may be technically right -- that there's appetite for more U.S. debt, but Marc Faber, editor of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report, scoffs at the idea that it would be healthy or smart.
More debt "comes at the expense of a falling dollar...and much higher inflation rates in the future," says Faber, who notes the U.S. has total debt-to-GDP ratio of 375%, "excluding contingent liabilities from Medicare and Medicaid."
Perhaps more important than absolute debt levels, Faber says much of America's debt has gone to pay for unproductive things like golf courses and big houses and investments with Bernie Madoff.
Meanwhile, emerging market economies, in Asia particularly, have much lower debt levels and have used leverage to pay for modernization of factories and educated workers when they've used debt, Faber says.
"The Western world is overleveraged," he says. "We've mortgaged the future and our children will have to pay for that somehow."
It is for these and related reasons that Faber is "ultra-bearish" on the dollar and much more optimistic about emerging market economies, as discussed in these earlier segments:
Bullish Today, Marc Faber Is "Highly Confident" the Future Will Be Very Bleak
Buy Stocks Because U.S. Dollars Will Be "Worthless," Says Faber
Faber: Emerging Market Economies Will Challenge and Surpass the West
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