In my last article, I wrote about the “average wealth of a German household. According to the Deutsche Bundesbank, it is around 51,400 Euros net value and surprisingly low when compared with other European countries”.
The issue kept haunting me. Consequently, I informed myself about our total federal debt. According to Zeit , the country, states and communities were indebted to the tune of more than two billion Euros in 2011. That is 24,711 Euros per citizen. During the last year, the number increased again. Neither does it take into consideration the probable liability caused by the gigantic guarantees of the “Euro Rescue Fund”.
The assumption that every German citizen has to stand up for 25,000 Euros of federal debt is definitely on the low side. Moreover, the number might very well increase dramatically in the near future. Getting back to the “average” household fortune of the Germans at a net sum of 51,400 Euros and assuming that every household has an average of more than two persons, then the “average” household debt is already considerably higher than 50,000 Euros.
In a nutshell:
Statistically spoken, the German households are ”publicly” higher indebted than what their private net fortune amounts to.
Poor, rich Germany?
As I said earlier: I am glad I never studied economy!
RMD
(Translated by EG)