THE MESSAGE OF DOLLAR DISDAIN

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With U.S. debt set to exceed 100 percent of gross domestic product in 2011, it's no wonder people are looking for alternative ways to preserve wealth...

Unprecedented spending, unending fiscal deficits, unconscionable accumulations of government debt: These are the trends that are shaping America's financial future.

Even with the optimistic economic assumptions implicit in the Obama administration's budget, it's a mathematical impossibility to reduce debt if you continue to spend more than you take in:

By the end of 2019, according to the administration's budget numbers, our federal debt will reach $23.3 trillion -- as compared to $11.9 trillion today. To put it in perspective:

• U.S. federal debt was equal to 61.4 percent of GDP in 1999.
• It grew to 70.2 percent of GDP in 2008 (under the Bush administration).
• It will climb to an estimated 90.4 percent this year and touch the 100 percent mark in 2011.
• The projected federal debt will continue to equal or exceed our nation's entire annual economic output through 2019.

Source: Judy Shelton, "The Message of Dollar Disdain," Wall Street Journal, October 14, 2009.

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